Luke 1:11-25 A Quiet Old Man
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 9, 2018 Luke 1:11-25
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 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.” And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
(Understanding the Text) Speaking with Gabriel had delayed Zechariah from leaving the holy place. This was the time for offering a sacrifice to God, and many people were waiting outside in the courtyard. When Zechariah did not come out at the usual time, some of his fellow priests may have started to worry. Zechariah was an old man; maybe he had fallen down or had a heart attack or something like that. Should they go in and check on him, but they shouldn’t do that. It would disrupt the worship. The SDA commentary says “. . . the people were not free to leave until the officiating priest came forth to pronounce the Aaronic benediction (see Num. 6:23-26).” The people were relieved when they finally saw Zechariah exit the holy place.
When he emerged, they realized that something was different. They expected him to give the usual benediction after the burning of the incense, but no words came out. The SDA commentary says that the Greek word is /kophos/ which means “blunted,” or “dull” and that this could be translated to mean that Zechariah was not only mute but also deaf. Thus, the SDA commentary says that the text implies that Zechariah was deaf as well as mute. He tried to use his hands to make signs and from this they knew that he had seen a vision. The SDA commentary says that according to Desire of Ages page 99, Zechariah’s “face was aglow with the glory of God.” This is why it says “they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple.”
He finished off his work of service in the temple. The SDA commentary says “The wording of v. 23 strongly implies that several days of his term of duty remained, and that therefore the appearance of the angel did not occur on the Sabbath day.” He went home to the hill country of Judea. The SDA commentary says that if they were still following the practice of having special towns for priests to live in, that this would have been either the town of Hebron or Hilen (Holon). However, there is some doubt as to whether Hilen was still in existence as it had been destroyed during the Babylonian conquest. Also, it is unknown if priests were still living in special towns set aside just for them during Jesus’ time.
Zechariah still could not talk. He may have written down what happened for his fellow priests, but he could not carry a little notepad and pen with him everywhere simply because they did not exist back then. Thus, he would have spent nine months just gesturing to people to communicate and in some cases writing down information (maybe in the dust?).
Was he able to tell Elizabeth of his vision through writing, or did he simply not tell her at first? They had sex like normal and within a few months, Elizabeth realized that she was pregnant. She kept herself hidden away in her pregnancy. Why? Was it the custom? No, it was not according to the SDA commentary. Or did she simply not want to explain what was going on to everyone? She was old. Did she have problems with the pregnancy? She knew that the pregnancy was a miracle from God and that if she bore a child, people would stop judging her, but did she fear that the baby would not be born? Pregnancy after 40 is risky in many ways. Did she worry about the health of her baby, or did she simply believe that since the pregnancy was from God, that there was nothing to worry about? The SDA commentary says that no one really knows why, but adds “It may be, however, that in anticipation of the dedicated life John was to live, as a Nazirite (see on v. 15), Elisabeth sought to remove herself from the usual contacts with society and to give thought and study to the responsibility of rearing a child to whom so important a task as that assigned John was to be entrusted. Such a motive would seem to be fully in harmony with Elizabeth’s character (see v. 6).”
(Revelation of God / Application) God’s sign of silence actually made what was happening more famous and believable than if Zechariah had gone around telling everyone that his son was going to be famous. God has purpose when he causes something to happen. It is not arbitrary but carefully planned for the best effect on all involved. I need to remember to trust that God’s words and signs are for the best.
(Prayer) Help me to have faith in the promises the You give me and to obey when You speak to me.