God breaks His silence
(Luke 1:8–17)

by Matt Privett

For Zechariah and his contemporaries, it seemed a very long time since anything big had happened in Israel. There had not been a miracle in a land in a very long time.

Sure, there had been brief — very brief — moments of national happiness in the past few centuries, but they were, again, brief — very brief — very few, and very far between. There had been no miracles in Israel. Nothing had happened which could not be explained by human reason. Nothing had happened for which the only possible explanation was divine intervention, the supernatural, the interposition of God Himself into human evens by speaking and/or acting.

Thus, much of Israel was wondering where God was. After all, although miracles were always rare, much of Israel’s history had been defined by them, defined by acts of Yahweh on Israel’s behalf to save the people He set apart for His own possession (Exod 19:6–7). The parting of the Red Sea was a miracle which saved Israel from the Egyptians. The falling of the wall at Jericho was a miracle which allowed Israel to carry out Yahweh’s plan for the conquest of the Promised Land. The angel of Yahweh killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in 2 King 19:35, a miracle which preserved Israel from certain annihilation.

Even so, not long after Israel’s return from exile in Babylon, miracles ceased. For about 500 years there was nothing. And there had been no prophet for 400 years. Yahweh, it seemed, went silent. But things were about to change, and in a big way.

While miracles dot the entire landscape of God’s unique dealings with Israel (both in the Old and the New Testaments), there had really been only two eras in which they were somewhat common: (1) the Exodus and Conquest during the lifetimes of Moses and Joshua, and (2) the prophetic ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Both eras were defined by Yahweh’s desire to reveal Himself to His people and demonstrate to other nations He is the one true God.

And that was about to happen again, and in the biggest manner yet. The first chapter of Luke introduces the reader to a new era of God intervening in human events. Yahweh would speak and act, and do so more during this new era than He had even before, and in new ways as well. Luke 1 introduces us to the greatest manner in which God would ever reveal Himself to His people (Israel), and show Himself to others (the nations) He is the one true God.

God breaks His silence in Luke 1:8–17:

8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear fell upon him. 13 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 will call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and HE WILL NOT DRINK ANY WINE OR STRONG DRINK, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

ZECHARIAH’S PRIESTLY PRIVILEGE

As seen in verses 5–7, Zechariah was a priest of the division of Abijah, one of the twenty-four priestly divisions in Israel (1 Chr 24:1–19). Each division would come to Jerusalem and administer the priestly service at the temple for two weeks out of the year, for one week, and then another week later in the year. Zechariah was there in Jerusalem, then, an ordinary priest doing his service within the system.

The priests would perform various services related to the sacrifices of animals Israel would bring, but among the most important roles any priest could perform was the administering of the offering of incense to Yahweh.

In Exodus 30 God instructed Israel exactly how He desired to be worshiped by them, and part of that would be through incense. An altar of acacia wood was overlaid with pure gold and set in the Holy Place, just on the outside of the veil which cut off access to the most holy place, the place called the Holy of Holies, where the presence of Yahweh dwelt. Only the High Priest, once a year, could enter into the Holy of Holies — on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Regarding the altar of incense, God said, “Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be continual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations” (Exod 30:7–8). Aaron, of course, had been dead for about 1400 years by the time Zechariah was a priest, but the priesthood God established maintained the incense. It was to be perpetual — always burning.

There were many priests in Israel in Zechariah’s day and not everyone had the privilege to administer the incense. Apart from the duties of the High Priest this was the most special, set apart task a priest could administer; yet, many priests would go their entire lives without having the opportunity, and you could only do it once.

Zechariah, being advanced in years (Luke 1:7), had to be thinking his time was running out — and it was. Yet, in the providence of God — His plan, His way, His timing — Zechariah was chosen by lot. Whether it was the morning or evening offering is not revealed, but Zechariah was chosen by lot “to enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense” which the rest of the people assembled in the outer courts praying.

And that is what the incense represented. The aroma going up was symbolic of the prayers of the people going up to God. Perhaps they prayed for personal needs. Perhaps for an end to Roman occupation. Or maybe, just maybe, some were praying for their Messiah to come. Whatever they were praying for, what was going on inside the Holy Place (the incense) represented what was to be going on outside in the courtyards (prayers of the people). The entire scene was to be an expression of Israel’s dependence upon Yahweh, to whom they belonged.

Normally the priest in charge, Zechariah in this case, would administer the incense as quickly as possible, for fear of doing something wrong or careless which would invite the judgment of God. But on this occasion something delayed Zechariah’s return to the people. This was the high point of his life, the pinnacle of his priestly career, yet something happened in the Holy Place that would turn the day of Zechariah’s privilege into a day he would never forget.

THE ANGEL’S AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT

Consider again Luke 1:11–14:

11 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear fell upon him. 13 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 will call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

I have no evidence to back this up. Just a hunch. But I bet Zechariah had just finished with his priestly duties and was about to leave when all of the sudden an angel of the Lord appeared. For the first time in four centuries, God broke His silence.

Zechariah, this priest who was righteous in the sight of God, reacted in a very human, very understandable way. He was terrified, troubled. Luke uses descriptive language you can picture in your mind’s eye: “Fear gripped him.” Zechariah was enveloped by fear.

That is the way most in the Bible respond to visitors from heaven. Manoah and his wife, the would be parents of Samson, saw the angel of Yahweh in Judges 13, and fell on their faces. Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord, seated on His throne, with angels crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is Yahweh of hosts.” Isaiah saw his own sinfulness and said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa 6:1–7). Ezekiel saw the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh and fell on his face (Ezek 1:28). Even Daniel was frightened and fell of his face at the sight of Gabriel (Dan 8:17).

Likewise, fear gripped Zechariah, and his response was the right response. After all, Zechariah would have known that God has often used His angels as agents of judgment and destruction. Zechariah didn’t know why the angel was there until the angel answered reassuringly, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah.” Angels say that, or a variation of that, several times. Mary will get a version of that later in this same chapter. For Zechariah, this supernatural act of God would not be one of judgment, so there was no reason for him to be terrified.

“For your prayer has been heard,” the angel continued, “and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John” (Luke 1:13). God heard their petition, which was likely a decades old petition at this point in their lives. They were “advanced in years,” probably in their sixties at least, perhaps significantly older — definitely well past the age of bearing children. This was, then, a prayer they had prayed many times going back several decades, and they’d probably given up on it. There was zero reason for Zechariah and Elizabeth, at their ages, to think God would give them a child. It would go against nature, so they had no reason to continue praying for it. Nevertheless, God had heard them, even many years prior, however long ago they prayed for it, every time they’d prayed for it. God heard them. Elizabeth would have her Mother’s Day.

Through the voice of an angel God was telling Zechariah, and thus Elizabeth, and Israel, that He heard their prayers and was about to act again. After centuries of silence, God was acting within His creation and speaking to His people once more.

That’s not to say that God stopped being God for those 400 years. By His design there was no new revelation, no miracles the way Israel thought of miracles. Yahweh was working, of course, but it was in what we might describe “ordinary” ways — providence. Even though there’s nothing ordinary about a sinner being saved, God was still doing that. And He was still preserving His chosen nation of Israel. Yet, He had been silent, and now that He spoke, He would be speaking a lot.

The angel’s announcement marked the beginning of the heaviest period of God’s supernatural acts in the world that His world has ever seen. Zechariah would have joy and gladness and many would rejoice at the birth of this son, John, which means “Yahweh has been gracious.” The joy would not simply be because an old man and woman had a child. Sure, they would be happy for Zechariah and Elizabeth, but more than that, they would have joy because of what their Scriptures said concerning this coming child.

JOHN’S CHRISTOCENTRIC CALLING

Consider again Luke 1:15–17:

15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and HE WILL NOT DRINK ANY WINE OR STRONG DRINK, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

In three verses the angel says four specific things about the child.

First, he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Now, if you read through your Bible you’re going to find plenty of times where someone did evil in the sight of the Lord. You’re going to find times where people were displeasing in the sight of the Lord. You’ll even see times where someone was good or they did right in the sight of the Lord. But there’s only one time, and one person, of whom it is said they would be “great in the sight of the Lord.” And this is it.

Remember that Zechariah and Elizabeth were both called “righteous in the sight of God” (Luke 1:6). That the angel says John would be great presupposes he too would be righteous in the sight of God. The angel was announcing ahead of time John would trust in Yahweh, also presupposing he would walk blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord — again, like his parents.

John would live with the obedience of faith. He would trust God and take Him at his word, living with the Messianic hope both of his parents had. But even more than that, he would be great. He would be out of the ordinary. He would be special — because God would make him that way. God would gift him that way. God would show John, so much grace that later on Jesus would call John the greatest ever born of a woman (Matt 11:11). High praise indeed, but it isn’t a greatness within John, but a greatness granted him from before birth by the Lord Himself. In his life, and inevitably his death, John would be great in the sight of the Lord.

Second, the angel then said he will drink no wine or strong drink. Note the angel didn’t simply say John should not drink wine or strong drink, he said that he would not. People in Israel did partake of beverage alcohol, but John would not. John would be set apart. He was not, and he would not, drink wine or strong drink. 

Some have suggested this indicates John the Baptist was a Nazirite, like Samson. This author suggests that, while they might have been the case, it goes beyond what is written to say that was the case. The requirements for a Nazirite vow in Numbers 6 include not cutting one’s hair, yet Scripture nowhere says anything about that with regard to John. What is more likely is that the statement about John and beverage alcohol stresses he would live a life of self-denial, befitting his office and position as, really, the last Old Testament prophet.

Third, the angels said John would be “filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.” This is a big one because not only does the presence of the Holy Spirit underscore John’s role as a prophet, but from the time he was conceived he would live under the control, power, and influence of the Spirit. In this it can be argued John serves as a sort of preview of the last days, for in the Old Testament one doesn’t really find the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling a person, taking up permanent residence. The Spirit would come and go. However, the language here indicates a permanent filling of the Spirit in John, and this may be why Jesus later says John is “a prophet… even more than a prophet” (Luke 7:26). The Spirit’s presence in the forerunner of the Messiah represents a bridge from the Old to the New Testaments, a bridge between the promises of God to Israel and their fulfillment in Jesus, the One to whom John would point.

Fourth, the angels said John would “turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.” Consider again what Malachi, the last prophet before John some 400 years earlier, wrote about him: “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me” (Mal 3:1). John would clear the way for the Messiah. John would, as Isaiah 40:3 says, “Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”

John the Baptist’s ministry would call Israel to be baptized in repentance for the forgiveness of their sins, because the promised kingdom of God was coming. That kingdom would be (and will be) centered on Jesus Christ.

John’s ministry would point the Jewish people away from looking to themselves and focusing on appearing righteous before men. It would point them away from thinking they were right before God simply because they were Jews. It would emphasize the need for each and every one of them to repent of their sins. His baptism is called a baptism of repentance.

The angel said John would be great in the sight of the Lord back in verse fifteen. He would have the noblest, the highest, of callings. He would be the forerunner for the Lord God Himself, taking on flesh and dwelling among us. He would be the one, the apostle John would write, who would testify about Jesus. 

John would come in the spirit and power of Elijah. Malachi had identified Elijah as that messenger who would come.

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And he will turn the hearts of the father to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction.” (Mal 4:5–6)

John was not Elijah in disguise, but he would be like that great prophet, pointing Israel back to the one true God, that they might demonstrate that to the nations. John would till the ground and make it fertile for the King.

This is what would happen in the life of John the Baptist, and it’s what the angel told his father, Zechariah, would happen. The question hanging at the very end of the Old Testament, and lingering here, is whether or not those hearts would turn, and whether or not Yahweh might strike the land and devote it to destruction.