Lessons Learned: Elisabeth, God’s Timing

Luke 1:5-58

Elisabeth plays a small role in the beginning of Luke as mother of John the Baptist.  She is a cousin to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Her husband, Zechariah, was a priest at the temple in Jerusalem.  The Bible says they are old.  I am not sure what the life expectancy was around that time, so I am going to put Zechariah and Elisabeth around sixty years of age.  Too old to have kids but young enough to raise them.  I use the name Elisabeth rather than Elizabeth because that is how it is written in the King James Version and I liked it so well I named my daughter Elisabeth.  Scripture is in italics and from the New International Version of the Bible.

Elisabeth’s Story

Growing up in a priestly family you are expected to be extra holy.  I laugh because I was not any better than any of the other girls my age in my town.  We all dreamed of meeting Mr. Right and marrying and having lots of babies.  We got into mischief and had fun, but we were not particularly naughty.  When I reach fifteen, I began to get noticed by the boys in my town.  One caught my eye.  Zechariah, oh, he was so handsome and still is even though we are in our old age.  He must have noticed me too because my father announced at supper one evening Zechariah had asked to marry me.  I was so thrilled!  Me, of all the girls he could pick from, he chose me.  We were married on my sixteenth birthday!  We were so happy!

Years flew by and I kept wondering why I was not getting pregnant.  All my sisters had a house full of kids.  I started to think I was barren.  I became a great aunt to all my sister’s children and my other relatives.  One of my favorites was one of my mother’s cousins who just had a baby named Mary. 

Zechariah was a priest and he worked hard at the temple whatever duties he was assigned.  We had a good life just the two of us but deep down inside there was something missing.  Children of my own.  We were both almost fifty so having children was no longer a possibility.

An Angel Visit

One day, when we were sixty-six years old, Zechariah learned he was chosen, by lot, to burn incense at the temple.  He rarely received this duty since there were a lot of priest to chose from.  Zechariah went into the temple to the incense burner just outside of the Holy of Holies but behind the curtain.  There was a large crowd of worshippers there that day and Zechariah was thinking about his duties.  Suddenly, he saw an angel.  He was very frightened.  The angel said to him “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

“How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

The crowd outside the curtain started to wonder what was taking so long for Zechariah to come out.  After a priest burned the incense they came out around the curtain and said a priestly blessing over the people. 

When Zechariah did come out, he started to make signs he could not talk.  Many understood Zechariah had seen a vision.  They started worshipping the Lord.  Zechariah finished his week of duties and came home to me.  He got a wax tablet to talk to me.  He told me what happened.  I started to get my hopes up I would become a mother after all.  And I did!  I was so thankful I praised the Lord saying 25“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

The Visit

Six months later my tummy was really starting to swell but I have not felt the baby move yet.  Surely, if the baby were alive, he would have moved by now.  I did not lose hope because I knew this was a miracle by God.

My young cousin Mary was coming to visit.  She was the daughter of a favorite cousin of my mother’s.  I met her when she was just a little girl and now, she is fifteen years old and engaged to a man named Joseph.  I hear she has news.  I wonder what it could be as I already know she is engaged.

As soon as Mary walks in my door my baby started moving.  Moving so much I thought he was dancing in my womb.  My heart was filled and immediately I knew why Mary came to visit and what her news was.  It was as if the Holy Spirit whispered it in my ear.  I shouted with a song in my heart “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

It was a sweet time those last three months of my pregnancy.  Mary and I grew so close.  She stayed until after John was born before heading back to Nazareth. 

The Birth of John

John was born easily according to the midwife who helped in his delivery.  Zechariah was beaming although he still could not talk.  We learned to communicate well these past several months using sign language.  He could hear he just could not talk.

At the Temple

Eight days after John was born, we took him to the temple to be circumcised.  All our friends and some relatives were there, it was a joyous occasion.  When the priest asked what the baby’s name was several spoke out and said Zechariah.  I said “No! He is to be called John.”  Many looked confused “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” they stated.  Then they started to use signs to ask Zechariah what the baby’s name was.  I guess they thought he was deaf too.  Zechariah asked me for the wax tablet, and he wrote on it “His name is John.”  Suddenly, Zechariah began to shout praises and sing songs. 

76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;

for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

77to give his people the knowledge of salvation

through the forgiveness of their sins,

78because of the tender mercy of our God,

by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

79to shine on those living in darkness

and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

It was a glorious day!  John was a wonderful son.  He grew up knowing his cousin Jesus whom Mary had, six months after John was born.  Jesus was an incredibly special boy.  I wonder what they will be like as men.  Time for me to close my eyes and rest.  I have seen my Salvation.

Lessons Learned from Elisabeth

God’s timing is not our own.  While I was married my husband and I tried to have kids for fourteen years before giving up and adopting.  (See https://northwoodsgirlblogging.com/my-adoption-story/ )  We were thirty eight years old when we went to the adoption agency and brought home our son Aaron.  A year and a half later we went and got Elisabeth.  They are both in their twenties now and I have grandchildren. 

Looking over my past I see God’s timing everywhere.  Many things led up to the point where I am at now, a writer who works part time at Walmart.  It has been two years since I started this blog.  I thought I would be making money by now.  Yet, as much as my wallet is empty my heart is full of God’s love for me and I know He always provides.  How have you seen God’s timing in your life?

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