Zechariah

A Quick History

Priest

Division of Abijah - Zechariah belonged to the eighth priestly division, according to King David’s arrangement (1 Chr 24:1–10).

Each division of priests served in the temple twice annually, with each session lasting one week.

In the narrative we find Zechariah engaging in his priestly duties.

Married to Elizabeth

“from the daughters of Aaron” Indicates that Elizabeth (as well as Zechariah) came from the priestly class.

Barren

A very common theme among women of the Old Testament

Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel

By identifying Elizabeth with these women Luke hints that God will provide a child for her.

Old

Righteous

Walking blamelessly

In all the commandments - i.e. the Law (They made an honest attempt to keep the law.)

Time in History

“The days of Herod the Great”

Herod the Great ruled 37–4 BC.

Paranoid - “it would be safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.”

One of the reasons that his slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem was not recorded in secular history is that it would barely be a blip on the radar of Herod’s overall cruelty.

430 Silent Years

The 400 years of silence refers to the time between the Old Testament and New Testament, during which, so far as we know, God did not speak—no Scripture was written.

The 400 years of silence began with the warning that closed the Old Testament: Malachi 4:5–6 ““Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.””

It is obviously no accident that the Old Testament ends with a prophecy concerning a second Elijah who would be the forerunner of Christ and the New Testament opening with the birth of John the Baptist in Luke.

At the time of Malachi’s warning, about 430 B.C., the Jews had returned to Israel from the Babylonian captivity. The Medo-Persian Empire still ruled Israel, and the temple had been rebuilt. Both the Law and the priesthood of Aaron’s line had been restored, and the Jews had given up their worship of idols.

Nevertheless, Malachi’s warning was not without cause. The Jewish people were mistreating their wives, marrying pagans and not tithing, and the priests were neglecting the temple and not teaching the people the ways of God. In short, the Jews were not honoring God.

In 333 B.C., Israel fell to the Greeks, and in 323 B.C. it fell to the Egyptians. The Jews generally were treated well throughout those reigns, and they adopted the Greek language and many of the Greek customs and manners, and in Egypt the Old Testament was translated into Greek. That translation, the Septuagint, came into widespread use (and is quoted frequently in the New Testament).

Jewish law and the priesthood remained more or less intact until Antiochus the Great of Syria captured Israel in 204 B.C. He and his successor, Antiochus Epiphanes, persecuted the Jews and sold the priesthood, and in 171 B.C. Epiphanes desecrated the Holy of Holies. This desecration resulted in an uprising by Judas Maccabeus of the priestly line of Aaron, and in 165 B.C. the Jews recaptured Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. However, fighting continued between the Jews and the Syrians until the Romans gained control of Israel in 63 B.C., at which time Pompey walked into the Holy of Holies, once again shocking and embittering the Jews. In 47 B.C., Caesar installed Herod Antipater, a descendant of Esau, as procurator of Judea, and Antipater subsequently appointed his two sons as kings over Galilee and Judea.

As the New Testament opens, Antipater’s son, Herod the Great, a descendant of Esau, was king, and the priesthood was politically motivated and not of the line of Aaron. Politics also resulted in the development of two major factions, the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

The Sadducees favored the liberal attitudes and practices of the Greeks. They held to only the Torah as regards religion but like most aristocrats they did not think God should have any part in governing the nation.

The Pharisees were conservative zealots who, with the help of the scribes, developed religious law to the point where the concerns and care of people were essentially meaningless. Additionally, synagogues, new places of worship and social activity, had sprouted up all over the country, and religious and civil matters were governed by the lesser and the greater Sanhedrins, the greater Sanhedrin being comprised of a chief priest and seventy other members.

Zechariah’s Story

Zechariah is a priest in the temple doing his job.

An angel appears to him with a message. Luke 1:13–17 “But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.””

Zechariah has a moment of doubt which results in his inability to speak until the birth of his son.

Mary and Elizabeth have a visit.

Elizabeth delivers a healthy baby boy even in her old age. Everyone rejoices with them.

They name him John which the neighbors don’t understand.

Zechariah’s tongue is loosed and the first thing he says is a blessing to God.

There is a recognition in the neighborhood that this is a unique situation.

Finally, Zechariah prophecies.

This song has been historically known as the “Benedictus” based on its Latin name.

It contains four concepts

Praise

Messiah

“He has visited and redeemed his people” - how?

By raising up a “Horn of salvation” from the line of David

Foreseen and Foreshadowed by the prophets of the Old Testament.

To save us from our or His enemies.

To show us mercy

To keep the covenant He made with Abraham.

Forerunner

This Messiah which was foreseen and foreshadowed will be preceded by a forerunner.

A prophet of the Most High. A prophet which Jesus Himself would say is the greatest prophet.

The forerunner will prepare the way for the Messiah by sharing God’s message of salvation, forgiveness, and mercy.

His message will give light to those in darkness, it will guide their feet into the way of peace.

This section of the narrative ends with a word about John’s affinity for camping. Which is a literal fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

The Divine Purpose

Messianic Preparation

What was the purpose of a king’s herald?

To announce the coming of the king so that the people could prepare.

To deliver the kings messages.

John served as the herald of the Messiah. The people should have been prepared for the coming of Christ.

John delivered the message of the Messiah. Repent!

The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth verify and qualify John as the Messiah’s herald.

Prophetic Fulfillment

Every prophecy fulfilled verifies and qualifies Jesus as the Messiah.

We are therefore without excuse if we reject Him.

We have all the proof we need.

Timeless Application

The positive and negative examples of Zechariah

Positive

He was blameless and genuinely wanted to serve the Lord.

He acted in obedience by naming his son, John, as the angel instructed him.

He was a man of great faith.

Negative

That moment of doubt that he has become known for.

It is important to note that God used Zechariah’s shortcomings for His glory. Striking him mute and then reversing it after John’s birth served as a miraculous sign validating John’s role as the forerunner.

Primary

Jesus is the Messiah.

Everything in the first chapter is leading to the birth of Christ, not the birth of John.