Discovering God’s Will – A Life With A Hiccup - Zacharias Series

Series: Discovering God’s Will – Advent Style

Theme: Discovering God’s Will for Our Lives looking at the lives of some who are focused on during the Season of Advent – Zacharias the Father of John the Baptist, Mary the Mother of Jesus, Joseph the Father of Jesus and the Wise Men.

Title: Discovering God’s Will – A Life with a Hiccup - Zacharias

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6; Luke 1:5-25; 57-66

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Do you know God’s Will for your life?

Are you enjoying the life that God wants you to enjoy?

In other words, does your life plan and God’s life plan line up?

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at what it means to enjoy God’s Life Plan as we investigate the lives of four individuals that not only discovered God’s Plan for their lives but were enjoying that life plan.

We will be looking at the lives of:

+John the Baptist’s Father – Zacharias – the Man whose experienced a hiccup in his life plan.

+Mary the mother of Jesus – a young woman who was willing at any cost to follow God’s Will for her life

+Joseph, Mary’s Husband – A man who understood God’s plan for his life in progressing pieces

+The Wise Men – Some individuals who were willing to follow God’s plan in the most unusual of ways

Let’s get started:

This morning, we find ourselves looking at a man who knew exactly what God wanted him to do – after all he was a Levite from the division of Abijah.

During the time of King David, the Levites had been organized into 24 separate divisions. Each of the divisions would serve one week, twice a year, taking care of the Temple services. This of course would be in addition to the three major festivals (Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles) when all the priests were called on to help at the Tabernacle and later the Temple.1

For the clan of Abijah this two-week period would have included:

+The first week of the month of Sivan (around late May to early June) and the week following Shavuot (Pentecost).

When it was their week to serve, the division of Abijah would employ the use of a lottery system to see what each of their members would be doing that week.

This is what happened to Zacharias some 2,000 years ago.

His marker or number had been chosen and his task for that week was to burn the incense on the altar that was located just before the veil that separated everything from the Most Holy Place – the Holies of Holies.

You may remember that the burning of incense was a significant part of the worship service. The incense2 symbolized the prayers of the people rising to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.

Aside from being able to go into the Holy of Holies (only the High Priest could do this) the burning of the incense before the Lord was one of the most important duties any Levite was called upon to do for the people and for the LORD.

That is because you are not only holding one of the most sacred things (the incense) in your hands, but you are bringing the people’s prayers to the LORD. You are being a mediator between God and His People.

So, here is Zacharias around the age of 503 getting ready to serve for his final time in the Temple in any type of official capacity.

It must have been an exciting time in his life.

His time for active ministry was ending. The last 25 years had been great years of working in and around the temple and local synagogues.

Now, his remaining years with Elizabeth would be more relaxed while at the same time still staying engaged. It would be a time where he could enjoy life and spend more time studying, sharing with others and enjoying his family and friends.

I can imagine him as he is going forward to put the incense on the altar thanking the LORD for such a great opportunity towards the end of his active ministry. He would be going out on the top. Again, only the High Priest would have a greater ministry this year than the one he was about to accomplish.

I imagine he had to be reflective about the last 25 years. Being married to Elizabeth, growing up around family and friends and each year becoming more comfortable with being an active Levitical priest.

But now he was on Temple duty for his last time. The next time his division is serving he would be more of an encourager and a supporter as those younger than he would be in charge.

It all had to be rather bittersweet. You look forward to having more time off and at the same time there is sadness in knowing that your time of active service is coming to an end. It has been a great career and one that had been given to him by God’s grace.