This is a look at a guy who lost his head and had it served up on a silver platter. This guy's name was John the Baptist. He is a notable character in the New Testament. He prophetically ushered Jesus into his ministry, as well as, being the one to baptize him. John and Jesus were second cousins. Their moms, Elizabeth and Mary were cousins. The Bible tells us a little bit about Elizabeth when she was pregnant with John. So I will start with what we are told in the Bible about Elizabeth's pregnancy with John.
Luke 1:5-25
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[a] of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, 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 shall 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 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. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel 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 to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 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. 20 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.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 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. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
John the Baptist's parents were faithful to the Lord and all of his commandments and statutes, which is a great thing. The Bible says they were righteous before God. Do the right thing before God and you are considered a righteous person. John's dad was a priest. Both of his parents were getting up in years, which means they were old, like your grandparents. They were folks who lived Godly lives and John's dad was in service as a priest to God, but there was still one major problem to this story. John's mom is "barren", which means she can't have kids. It might also be the fact that she is old. Not having kids in those days was something you would be scorned for in social circles. Having kids was a honor and was important to carry on the family name. A couple would want lots of kids so as they got older they would have someone to take care of them. There were no nursing homes back then. Faithfully though, God steps in and sends the angel Gabriel to Zechariah, telling Zechariah that he and Elizabeth are going to have a son.
Gabriel appears to Zechariah inside the temple while others are observing the hour of incense outside. The people outside have no idea what is going on inside, but only if they did! Zechariah was also burning incense, but after hearing the news Zechariah doesn't believe Gabriel and he becomes a mute. How awkward would it be to all of a sudden not be able to speak to anyone? Not be able to say a single word. He leaves the temple and can't say a single peep. He's doing some pantomimes and hand gestures and they reply nonchalantly "Oh you had a vision in the temple." It wasn't a vision, it was a visit by one of God's messengers!
He stayed at work till it was time to leave, just kind of hanging out until he can punch the clock and go home. Here is where it gets even more awkward. He is supposed to get it on with his wife who is old and might break a hip in the process. So he's all thrusting himself on her and things get weird since he can't say anything, but I believe the Lord gives her a little spark to light her fire. (If ya know what I mean.)In verse 24 it says "after these days" means it wasn't a one shot deal. It took some time, which for Zechariah was a good thing. He's a guy right? So he's like "Oh it didn't work? We gotta do it again? Ok!"
So in short, it took time and they had to try a good number of times before Elizabeth got pregnant. When it finally happened she kept herself hidden for 5 months. She wanted to make sure she wasn't gonna miscarry or have problems before she showed people how God had looked over her. God took away the "reproach" of her people, which means disapproval. God came through with a blessing. It was a blessing in a big way, because John would have a very important role in Jesus' ministry.
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