The very last book of the Bible, the book of Malachi, contains terrible indictments against the people of Israel.  It accused the people for questioning God's love for them, their offerings of polluted sacrifices and sneering at the very system of sacrifices.  It indicted the priests for being corrupt, being commandment breakers and covenant breakers, who had departed from the true way and caused many to stumble. 

The book blamed the entire nation, people as well as leaders, for the treachery of infidelity. They had all committed abominations, disregarded and profaned what God considered holy while constantly pretended to be true worshipers. As a result of their rebellious behaviour and their doing every thing that God hated, including robbing God, their spiritual deprivation led them to complain that it was useless to serve God. This would culminate in them being warned by Malachi that they would be cursed by God.  

The prophet Malachi had strong but encouraging words (3:16 – 4:2a, 5 – 6) for his people as follows: “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves Him…..

For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up”, Says the Lord of hosts, That will leave them neither root nor branch But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings;

…Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children,

And the hearts of the children to their fathers Lest I come to strike the earth with a curse.” 

The Physician Luke, a faithful companion to the Apostle Paul introduced the gospel that bears his name by telling us that he intends to give the longest, most comprehensive and in many ways the most detailed account of what happened when God broke his silence of four hundred years and set about to bring His salvation through His gospel.

Dr. Luke's Gospel was different from the others in many respects, for example

He stresses from the start that there are several other biographies of the life of Christ but affirms that his is the most complete.  He had sought out detailed and accurate information from eyewitnesses such as Jesus' mother Mary and “servants of the word” which would of course be the Apostles.  His research reveals intimate information about the thoughts and feelings of many people, their innermost thoughts, fears and opinions. 

He presents a carefully arranged sequence of events and addresses his gospel to a man who seemed to be a Gentile of high rank and status, in order that his perfect understanding of all things from the first would persuade this man of the certainty of the things in which he had been instructed. 

Luke aims to teach us that the things that the Christian faith calls on us to believe are true. The “faith” does not require us to believe things that are contrary to facts.  So there is a factual basis for the Christian faith and the gospel records reliable information.   

Luke's introduction to his gospel denies the accusations of ancient and modern critics that his and the other gospels were written probably two or three generations after Jesus' death.  Luke makes it clear that when he wrote there were already written histories of the life of Jesus and that he was writing the things that were already commonly known and believed among Christians of his time.

So let us not be afraid to face those who do not like to hear and who try to malign the truths of Christianity.  The faith is built on facts, not on emotion and on vague feelings.  Luke was certainly not writing to make people feel “good” and he did not shy away from exposing the superstitions of existing religions. 

Clearly Luke is writing about God engaging in battle in His unfolding plan, with a new phase in the history of salvation which began at the time of the miraculous birth of Jesus. 

It should be stated here and be recognized immediately that Luke's message is firmly rooted in Judaism.  Luke was probably the only Gentile to write a book in the Scriptures and may have thought that the spreading of the message of Jesus to the entire world would convince Gentiles like him, that they were not excluded from salvation. 

The theme is that there is a great plan of God that is now unfolding. The Scriptures had previously described this salvation plan of God.  To understand the essence of this plan of God, we have to go back to Isaiah 9:1-7. Isaiah spoke in this very important passage, of the very dark and gloomy days that would come upon the nation of Judah. It was at the time that the nation, which was living in outright rebellion, was under attack by its enemies who God was using to discipline them. Isaiah explained to the people what God was going to do.   

The prophet Isaiah told them that in the time of despair, darkness and judgment which was to come, God was going to bring light into the darkness and liberate them, giving them victory, by giving them a “child”. 

Isaiah used language which affirmed that the fulfillment of this promise was an accomplished fact.  The event spoken of would happen later, but its happening was a certainty.  God would deliver the people from devastation, gloominess and darkness and cause them to see a ‘great light’.  This would happen when they had nowhere to turn, when they were living in the “land of the shadow of death”. 

He would enlarge the nation, increase their joy, give them victory, burning up the garments of their oppressors. God would do this by giving them a miraculous Deliverer.  How is this going to be accomplished?  He says: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,

Up on the throne of David and over His kingdom To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever, The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

(9:6 – 7).

So this was the time of hope – the birth of Jesus Christ – of which Isaiah prophesied.

“He was a man of degeneracy, not a man of God.  He should have been a spiritual leader, a model to the people, yet he was everything but that.  The land was rife with immorality.  Herod had introduced Roman temples into the land and built idols to Roman gods.  He had introduced the Roman games into the life of Israel.  Gentile money flooded the country, causing great economic instability and imbalance.  He had encouraged Babylonian immigration into Israel which upset the economy.  Even the priesthood was corrupt; there was much buying and selling of priestly offices.  These were desperate times in Israel, times of darkness, weariness, injustice, disease, and economic desperation.”

It is in this period that Luke introduces us to an obscure and insignificant couple named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.  He was a simple priest, elderly, righteous and obedient.  Both belonged to the tribe of Aaron and as such would be a respected married couple, but unfortunately Elizabeth was barren. They had no children despite their spiritually beautiful life before God.  Elizabeth was considered to be “reproach before men” and lived a life of humiliation and shame, since it was the common opinion that childlessness was caused by the “judgment of God” for sins committed. 

Despite this the couple remained devoted to God, walked blameless in all the requirements and commandments of the Lord and thus were pious, pleasing God in every respect. 

Zechariah, unlike many of the men in those days who sought a divorce if there was anything displeasing in the matrimonial life, did not follow the trend to seek a divorce or separate from Elizabeth, though barrenness was an accepted grounds for divorce in that society.  He could have done that and then married a young woman, have children and thus prove to everyone that he was not cursed. 

But instead of that he prayed, asked God to give his wife a child and while he waited he kept on doing the job that God had given him to do, serving faithfully in the temple.  He and Elizabeth were now well advanced in years and having children seemed like a hopeless issue, an impossible dream.

Verses 8-9. Zechariah was from the particular lineage that could serve in the temple but there were so many eligible priests, that service in the temple became recognized as a great privilege, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enter the Holy Place and burn incense before the Lord. Incense was burnt on the golden altar in the Holy Place every morning and every evening.  Lots were cast to determine who would have this great privilege to enter the temple and officiate at offering the incense.   

At this particular time the priestly duties in the temple fell to the priests in the division of Abijah, and Zechariah was elected to the coveted task of burning the incense in the Holy Place. One can easily imagine Zechariah's great anticipation of fulfilling his task.  It is very likely that he would have talked to the other priests that had burned incense before the Lord, to find out what the experience was like to minister before the Lord in this special way.   

One writer describes the elaborate procedure and ritual, so that we would understand the extreme significance the nation and the priests placed on this unique practice.  Hopefully we will get some inkling as to how seriously we should take this matter of offering “sacrifice” to God, especially in view of the teaching of Scripture (Rev 8:4) that in Heaven our prayers are offered up to God with burning incense:  

“There were several lots cast to determine who did what at the morning sacrifice.  The first lot determined who would cleanse the altar and prepare its fire; the second lot determined who would kill the morning sacrifice and sprinkle the altar, the golden candlestick, and the altar of incense.  The third lot determined who would come and offer incense. 

This was the most privileged duty; those who received the first and second lots would repeat their duty at the evening sacrifice, but not with the third lot.  To offer the incense would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

Before dawn, hundreds of worshippers were gathered at the temple.  The morning sacrifice began when the incense priest walked toward the temple, through the outer courts, he struck a gong- like instrument known as the Magrephah.  At this sound, the Levites assembled and got ready to lead the gathered people in songs of worship to God. 

The other two priests chosen by lot that morning walked up to the temple on each side of the priest chosen to offer the incense.  All three entered the holy place together.  One priest set burning coals on the golden altar; the other priest arranged

the incense so it was ready to go.  Then those two priests left the temple, and the incense priest was left all alone in the holy place. 

In front of him was the golden altar of incense; it was eighteen inches square and three feet high.  On that small table lay the burning coals, with little wisps of smoke rising up, ready for the incense.  Behind the gold altar was a huge, thick curtain, and behind that curtain was the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place, where no man could enter, except the high priest, and that only on the Day of Atonement.  As he faced the golden altar of incense, to his right would be the table of showbread, and to his left would be the golden lamp-stand, which provided the only light for the holy place.” 

So Zechariah, at what he would consider to be the greatest moment of his life, entered the temple with a sense of awe and wonder, stood alone there in the dimly lit Holy Place, gazed at the curtain which hid from his sight the most sacred emblems of Israel in the Holy of Holies.  He would then proceeded to pray for the deliverance of Israel and the coming of King Messiah to fulfill those long-awaited and precious promises of God, and offer prayers of intercession on behalf of the people. 

Understand that God has given Christians the same privilege, for the prayers of the saints, whether uttered alone or uttered with others, are presented as an offering to God the Father along with burning incense and these prayers go before God as perfume in the ‘nostrils’ of God. 

(See Psalm 141: 2; Revelation 5: 8; and Revelation 8: 3-4. 

So that is why we should pray often to God the Father, for not only do these prayers for ourselves and the prayers of intercession for others work for the benefit of the saints, but they are part of a sacred heavenly ceremony before our Father. 

So Zechariah prayed.  He knew that for four hundred years his people had not heard a word from any prophet, that there were large divisions and antagonisms in his nation between those who were nationalists and the Herodians and Sadducees, groups that were considered to be in league with Rome.  The strict religious party of the Essenes had separated themselves from the Pharisees, the priests and all religious leaders and had condemned them as not following the way of God. The Zealots were trying to establish the kingdom of God with force by expelling the Romans from the country.  Practically everyone hated the ruler Herod the Great, who someone described as: 

“Jewish in religion, heathen in practice, and monster in character.” 

Even the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, who was well aware that Herod seemed to enjoy murdering members of his family in order to protect his throne, is reported to have said of Herod,

“It is better to be Herod's hog that his son”. 

This was a land of spiritual darkness and tension.

Verse 10.  Luke tells us that a multitude of godly people (Luke likes to use the Greek word laos as a synonym for crowd) had gathered in the temple courtyards. Typically, when they saw the two of the three priests who had entered the temple leave the temple, they would kneel or bow their heads before God and pray; for they knew that at that moment the priest who represented them before God was in the Holy Place and would be praying in the very presence of God.

Verse 11-12.  Suddenly, as Zechariah presented the incense on the altar and prayed, an angel materialized beside the right side of the altar of incense.  The supernatural emissary was an awesome, glorious and fearful creature, who understandably would inspire fear in the hearts of any man. 

When Zacharias saw him he was understandably troubled and was afraid. This was the first time he had faced a supernatural person face-to-face and his startled reaction was quite typical.  We should realize that an angel of God making a personal visit is something that has only happened to very few people.  It was not something usual and it invariably was a frightening experience when it happened. 

After four hundred years of God’s silence, nobody would have anticipated this kind of intervention by God in human affairs, or expected Him to send His angel to appear to a simple, rustic priest in the Holy Place of the Temple.

Verse 13.  The angel first spoke a few words of comfort.  He assured Zechariah that there was no need for fear.  In fact, his prayers had been heard.  This was most likely to be a reference to the priestly prayer that he had been making in line with his duty as a representative of the people of Israel.  He would have been praying that God would send Messiah and that His kingdom would finally come.  

Not only had God heard his official prayer, which we are sure he had spent much time preparing, but the angel told him that God would graciously give him the gift of a son, something for which he had long been praying but had for some time ceased. The angel's words were suggesting the soon fulfillment of his past long-held and delayed hopes.  This kind of extraordinary promise which covered both seemingly impossible things would rock Zechariah.  It all seemed too good to be true.  Many had prayed for the coming of Messiah and nothing that happened. Many had prayed for children and nothing had happened.  He himself had been praying for years for children and nothing had happened.  His prayers for Messiah’s coming had been many and yet nothing had happened. 

Verse 15. God would regard him as great, for he would have a special role in the plan of God.  The phrase “in the sight of God” means that God had chosen him and approved of him. John’s spiritual greatness would be the cause of joy. 

He certainly would be devoted to God and the rules followed by the Nazarites and priests would certain apply to him.  Indications are that he would have a very ascetic lifestyle, drinking neither wine nor strong drink.  Note that it is difficult to determine from the description whether or not he would be completely a Nazarite. 

The angel specifically stated however that from conception he would be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God.  He would be consecrated to God and empowered and enabled to do everything that God required of him during his lifetime. 

The Holy Spirit had historically been very selective in empowering persons in this way.  The Spirit’s choice certainly indicates that John was to be a chosen vessel of God.  He was so important to God that his fitting and moulding would begin from conception.

Verse 16.  John's ministry would be critically important, for he would fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 40:3-5, and the prophet Malachi, that is recorded in Malachi 4:5-6. 

Isaiah had said when he was speaking words of comfort to his people:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth;

The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The prophet Malachi in 3: 1 wrote: “Behold, I send My messenger And he will prepare the way before me.” Malachi 4:5-6 adds: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children,

And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

The passages of both Isaiah and Malachi are quoted by Luke in chapter 3:4-6 and referred to John the Baptist when he began his ministry. 

As the prophets of God had done previously John would turn the hearts of many of the people of Israel back to God.  The word “turn” is a term for “conversion”, the changing of one's way of life, a turning away from sin and toward God. 

So John would be the forerunner of Messiah, would preach a gospel of repentance, would stir up the desire for, and the expectation of the imminent coming of Messiah.  He would purify the hearts of the people. 

He would come with the same power and effectiveness of the great Old Testament prophet Elijah himself.  When Elijah’s ministry began, the people were rebellious and had turned away from God to Baal worship. Elijah had had to sternly rebuke King Ahab the idolatrous King of Israel, the husband of the idolatrous Jezebel, and told him to repent.  He had called for the remnant to turn away from apostasy and return to God.  Elijah had powerfully preached repentance and a pure covenant faith to that generation. 

Similarly John would restore the pure faith to a rebellious people and prepare their hearts for the preaching of the Messiah Jesus Christ.  He would have to deal with a rebellious generation of Israelites and corrupt leadership, and would have to be stern and unafraid in calling the remnant away from apostasy. 

The world was in darkness and needed a Savoir, and it was time for the prophesied forerunner to precede the Messiah and to call the people away from unbelief.

Verse 17.  It was time.  This was a generation badly in need of reconciliation.  The heart of the fathers had to become the hearts of the children, and the disobedient would have to learn the wisdom of the righteous. Very few had been following the path of the Fathers of the nation.  They had veered away from the path of Abraham and the patriarchs.  They had to be redirected, and reoriented, turning away from the life that they now led.  The Messiah was coming and when He did, those that did not have the wisdom of the just, whose heart were locked into sin, would face a terrible end.

Verse 18.  Zechariah should have believed the angel and thank God for his gracious promise, for now God was initiating a new phase in the plan of salvation. 

There was no question that he was a godly man, was obedient to the law, had ministered for a lifetime and knew the Old Testament Scriptures.  He knew that God had given Sarah a son in her old age.  It was not that God was doing something now that he had never done before.  He knew that God had several times intervened in history in a gracious way.  He knew that God had previously made and fulfilled many extraordinary promises. 

It was not that God was asking him to believe in a virgin conception, which would of course be something very new. God was simply telling them that he and his wife would have a son in their old age. 

The sad fact is that this was unbelief in someone that should never be found in that situation.  He was a man of God, but his behaviour proved he was just a man whose faith fell short.  He was like many of us, a person of faltering faith.  Because of faltering faith many men of God fail to hold on properly to the promises of God and depend on them.  It is sad and it is a tragedy but it happens all too frequently. 

Zechariah stood in the now brilliantly lit Holy Place, facing the gloriously shining angel standing there in all his splendour, and amazingly asked: “How shall I know this?  For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years”. 

This is what weak faith does to a believer.  It makes us waver and we do ridiculous things.  We forget to ‘count our blessings, and name them one by one’.  

Zechariah had ceased to believe that God would answer the greatest desire of his heart to provide a son for him, and would probably not send the Messiah for a long time.  It just didn't seem logical or meaningful anymore.

Verse 19.   But on this occasion as on many occasions since, God did something gracious to help Zechariah believe.  He often treats us the same way, graciously responding to our weaknesses. 

It is probably difficult for us to understand what was going on among the believing people of Israel.  If we did we probably would not be so hard on Zechariah, nevertheless, Zechariah made a serious mistake. 

It was not easy for the godly people of Israel to live through four hundred years of silence, crying out every night, asking whether God had forgotten them, had failed them, had decided not to keep his word. 

They had endured years of foreign rule, seeing the Maccabean dynasty come to power and quickly begin to violate many of the cherished dreams of the people of God.  There were continuing power struggles among them and infighting had been shameful.  And now an Edomite, a descendent of Esau, a person which should never ever be over the people of God, was on the throne. He was placed there by the cruel, barbarous, Gentile Romans, who delighted in worshiping a multiplicity of abominable gods.  No wonder faith had begun to falter.  Maybe Zechariah wanted to believe but couldn't. 

But then there never is any excuse for faltering faith. So Gabriel responded with a “Look man, do you know who I am?  Are your eyes open?  Just look at me!  Are you going to talk to me that way when I'm here to give you good news, the best news you could ever have?” (Excuse the interpretation). Gabriel just has to pull rank in response to Zecharias’ foolishness. (I wonder what God would have to do to us sometimes). 

He reminded Zechariah of who he was and where he came from.  He made it known that he stood in the presence of God, was a special messenger of God and had even previously communicated God's plan to Daniel.  He represented the power of God.  He always stood in the presence of God. The angel reminded Zechariah that he should be extremely happy for what he had been told and praise God, instead of questioning him.

Verse 20.  Zechariah wanted a sign and he would get one.  Actually this seemed like a very simple and gentle sign, but it was a stern one. 

Since he did not believe and since he had asked a silly question, he would be dumb and not able to speak until the predicted event of the birth of the child took place.  The discipline fitted the sin.   

It seems to happen to us that same way sometimes.  God seems to look at our sin and give us a dose of our own medicine.  When we are proud he does something to make us lose that sense of pride.  He shows us up and our pride appears to be silly. When we love too much money, he invariably takes it away from us.  When we like to speak what is not correct He invariably makes us too embarrassed to speak.  

But note that this generally happens only to people of God.  God wants to change his people.  Often he lets the wicked get worse and worse, allowing them to enjoy their sin and continue their slide on the slipper slope, for that is the only thing that they will enjoy.

Verse 21.  Note that what Zechariah had to do in the temple would not normally take very long.  His long delay would have led to the crowd outside wondering what had happened. Their level of concern would increase with each passing minute.  They would have remembered that some had been struck dead by God for behaving contrary to God in the temple. Remember the story of Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu. Everyone would have been worried. There were so many other troubles in temple life that had occurred. It would be a disaster if this priest had died in the temple.

Verse 22.  The custom was that the priest who had offered incense would come out with the other two priests who waited outside the door and then bless the people with the blessing from

Numbers 6:24-26.  The other priests would repeat the blessing.  The worshippers who gathered would then give the appropriate response which we are told was:

“Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.”

Then the Levites would sound the special silver trumpets and the choir would begin to sing the Psalm of the day. 

But when Zechariah came out he could not pronounce the priestly blessing.  He could not speak.  The people assumed that he had seen a vision after Zechariah tried to use hand motions to explain why he was unable to speak.  This would probably have heightened expectation among the people that God was finally doing something that had not been done for four hundred years.

Verse 23.  Zacharias came out from the Holy Place a completely different man, for he was now aware of God's power and his greatness. 

His faith undoubtedly was strengthened. Zecharias was a man who took his duty to God and his priestly obligation seriously. He did complete his week of priestly service before he hurried home to tell Elizabeth what had happened to him and to give her the good news that they would have a child.

When God is silent, does our faith falter?  Are we certain that God's promises will be fulfilled?

For example, are we ready for Jesus' second coming or have we grown to believe that God has changed his mind? 

Are we holding back from serving God because we are from the rural and rustic parts of the land and not sent by God to live in the bright lights and minister among the powerful, the rich and famous? 

Just remember that God has a plan, an eternal plan, and it will be accomplished.  

So let us consider the truths of God carefully and become fully aware of who we are, what God wants us to do and that God never forgets us, even if we might think we are in a hopeless situation. 

God has His timing.  He will do what is perfect in His time.  So we should try not to fret and worry to the extent that we do.  So keep on believing in Him, and be faithful to Him.  When we make mistakes accept His rebuke and patiently wait for His deliverance.