Zechariah Serves in the Temple

It doesn't take long when reading Luke 1 to realise that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth carry - internally, a degree of disappointment. Verse 7 says, 'But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.' Sociologically speaking this would have been a concern for them, especially Elizabeth considering the role that women played within the culture of this time. But before we're told, 'but they had no children', we're told that, regardless...'Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly' (v6).

V8 goes on to say, 'Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside'.

This is big for Zechariah. In reality, he may have received this kind of opportunity at best, once a year. So i began to wonder - what would be the subject of his agenda?
If we only had the opportunity to personally meet with the creator of the universe once a year - if that - what would our priority list look like? What pressing issues would we want to bring before the Lord?

Well considering verse 7 you'd safely assume that Zechariah was well prepared to bring before the Lord their inability to conceive! And considering the fact that right at that moment an angel of the Lord turned up and mentioned what he did (v11), you'd think that his urgent prayer had just been answered wouldn't you?

Well this may be controversial but i want to suggest that this wasn't the subject of Zechariah's prayer. See the greater, more pressing issue for Israel was a savior and i believe that Zechariah knew this and placed this above all else. I want to suggest that his mindset was moved from 'what can i bring before the Lord, personally speaking', to operating out of a reverence for the Lord and the office he was currently holding. And perhaps it was that that influenced his divine visitation at that point. I don't want to suggest that Zechariah's right motive brought about God's idea to send Jesus, but perhaps it confirmed for him the time to communicate his plan?

Zechariah's answer to prayer came not out of a heart that was consumed by it, but out of a heart for others, a heart for his nation and the freedom that awaits.
This then brings new perspective not only to how we must approach the church, but also our miracle and our answered prayer. Too often our miracle is about us - and it overrides our service unto the Lord.
For Zechariah, his miracle was his miracle, but his miracle had a greater purpose - to prepare the way for the Lord, the Savior that Israel (and Zechariah) had been praying for. And perhaps that's why Zechariah's miracle was John the Baptist and not someone else? Becuase God knew he could release this prophet - with the lifetime agenda that he had - to a father that wouldn't be so self consumed that he'd hinder his ability to release his son to activate that calling.

'Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly' (v6)

Interesting.

2 Samuel 22

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent men you save me.

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

"The waves of death swirled about me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the LORD;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came to his ears.

"The earth trembled and quaked,
the foundations of the heavens shook;
they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence
bolts of lightning blazed forth.

The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot arrows and scattered the enemies ,
bolts of lightning and routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at the rebuke of the LORD,
at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

"He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

"The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
I have not done evil by turning from my God.

All his laws are before me;
I have not turned away from his decrees.

I have been blameless before him
and have kept myself from sin.

The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.

"To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

You save the humble,
but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

You are my lamp, O LORD;
the LORD turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop ;
with my God I can scale a wall.

"As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
for all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the LORD ?
And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You give me your shield of victory;
you stoop down to make me great.

You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.

"I pursued my enemies and crushed them;
I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.

You armed me with strength for battle;
you made my adversaries bow at my feet.

You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the LORD, but he did not answer.

I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.

"You have delivered me from the attacks of my people;
you have preserved me as the head of nations.
People I did not know are subject to me,

and foreigners come cringing to me;
as soon as they hear me, they obey me.

They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.

"The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!
Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!

He is the God who avenges me,
who puts the nations under me,

who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
from violent men you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.

He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever."

Praise the Lord.

From unbelief to amazement

I read again this morning the account of the resurrection in Luke 24.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened

Verse 11 tells us that at first hearing of the resurrection from Mary and others, 'they did not believe them'. But what was most interesting to read was not so much verse 12 itself but the footnote attached to it (NLT) that explains that some ancient authorities lack this verse - thank goodness our account doesn't. If the disciples had remained in the unbelief of verse 11 then why wouldn't we remain there also? But according to verse 12 the difference between unbelief and amazement is this; Peter 'got up' from his unbelief, and he 'ran to the tomb'. Perhaps when we experience doubt, or confusion, or unbelief, rather than remaining in that place, we need to 'get up and run [closer] to Jesus'. When he got there he stopped and looked 'in'. He looked past his unbelief and 'in' with faith to the possibilities of Jesus. Perhaps he was able to look 'in' only because he'd positioned himself where he knew Jesus to be rather than looking from the position of somebody elses' account - or from all that his mind could comprehend at that moment. Instead, 'he went home, amazed at what had happened' :-)

In the desert...

According to Mark 1:3 we know of John the Baptist as "a voice of one calling in the desert", and the messages he was speaking, "'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "
So John is in the desert, speaking to those who are not.
But when you read Isaiah 40 it looks slightly different;
A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD ; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God."
So is John the 'voice calling in the desert'? or is John the voice calling... 'In the desert, in the wilderness... make straight a highway for their God?
Spiritually speaking we know that those who John was speaking to were in fact in a desert, and would remain there until they repented of their sin and accepted Christ as Lord.
Even as a Christian, Isaiah 40:3 provided fresh revelation for me. When you feel like you're in a dry season, when you're in the desert, when you're in the wilderness, 'make straight...a highway for the Lord'.

In the shadow of your wings

I've been studying Pslam 57 of late - way too much revelation to fit into this blog, but here's just one thought; David's in hiding because Saul and about 400 of his elite soldiers are after him. You'd excuse him for having a bad attitude not just because his life is under threat, but also due to the fact that he's been forced to sleep in a cave! But for David, his circumstance isn't a hole in the side of a hill, instead its rest...in the shadow of the wings of the almighty, and so he begins to Praise! That's kingdom perspective, and I think i want it :-)

Lamp unto my feet

The Lord reminded me of Psalm 119:105 this morning whilst I was running 'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path', (5:10am by the way…yes it was dark and yes the street lights did help :-) As I was running, I could see the path in front of me, but only as far as my next step. So I began to think...perhaps the lamp of God's word, sometimes, lights just enough for 1 step and not necessarily with too much more in view?
When your driving a car and your in thick fog, you're likely to slow right down & if its bad enough you'll even consider stopping and waiting till the fog clears. But as simple a revelation (reminder) as this is, God spoke to me again of the need for faith, for trust in God's word - but a trust that moves...faith without works is dead… I don't think we're called to sit and wait for the fog to clear. If we do I suspect we'll still be waiting until Jesus comes back! But how much of the stepping is trial and error? I think we too often step and only look to the word when we've discovered we've stepped into the wrong area...so how now do we get out...? The word only shines light on the pathway if it's alive in our life. Reminds me of a preacher firing up about people using the analogy of the bible being like a street directory...but don't we only ever pull that out when we're lost? or a cook book...but don't we only pull that out when someone comes over for dinner and we want to impress them...?

Abide with me

The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." (1 Samuel 3:1-2)

The moment I read this verse I thought of the hymn 'Abide with me' (Gold!).
What a sensational picture of Samuel as a little boy 'lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was.' I can even imagine him singing as he lay there...'Abide with me; fast falls the eventide: The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide: When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, o abide with me.'
We know Eli to be a good man, a great priest, but we also know that he failed because he failed to lead his own family. And surely Eli's two sons would have been as much an influence as Eli, if not greater, on Samuel as a boy. Today we would say, 'it's not Samuel's fault, he just got caught up in the wrong crowd...the wrong place at the wrong time...' But Perhaps we're too quick to bow to the influences of this world? With an awareness of what was happening around him, maybe Samuel fought to move in the opposite direction? I wondered whether the wisdom of Samuel grew at such an early age because he spent his life in the presence of the Lord. Whether it was that that led him to a place where he could make decisions for himself that would seem to be beyond the level of maturity that his age would suggest? And just maybe there's not only a direct relationship between the silence of the Lord and the silence of Eli, but also between the voice of God and a boy that was hungry to live in his presence? Notice Samuel's response wasn't...'I'll be there in a moment', but rather 'here I am'. So if God called to you right now, and your response reflected the place where you currently rest, would you be saying ...'I'll be there in a moment', or 'here I am'.
?