The Birth Of John The Baptist Foretold Series

Now, we don’t know exactly when Zechariah was serving at the temple in Jerusalem, but it was probably not during one of the major Festivals. Luke noted that “according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense” (1:9). Special services were assigned by lot. This was to ensure that a priest had at least one opportunity in his lifetime to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. Once a priest had been chosen to perform the special service, he was no longer eligible to do so again. With approximately 18,000 priests living in Judea at the time, and with special services being performed twice a day (in the morning and in the evening), it would take almost 25 years for each priest to get a turn. And since priests served only for 20 years, from the age of thirty to fifty (Numbers 4:3), there was a good chance that some priests would never perform a special service. So, being chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense was a once-in-a-lifetime highlight in the career of every priest.

Picture the scene. Zechariah was rehearsing in his mind what he needed to do when he got into the Holy Place. With sweaty palms and a racing heart, he went into the vestment room. He put on the robes that priests wore when they went into the Holy Place in the temple. Then he walked through the temple courtyards, passing through the growing crowd of people who were gathering for the evening prayer. Then he slowly walked up the stairs that led into the Holy Place where God was. As he opened the door and went into the Holy Place, he saw the sacred furniture that God’s people had made according to the instructions that God gave Moses centuries earlier. On his left was the golden lampstand, candles lighting the cavernous room. On his right was the table for the bread. And ahead of him, right in front of the curtain that guarded the entrance to the Holy of Holies (which the High Priest entered only once a year, on the Day of Atonement), was the golden altar of incense.

Zechariah walked slowly to the altar of incense. His heart was pounding, as he was acutely aware that he was in the very presence of almighty God. He poured the incense from his flask onto altar of incense. The incense wafted up afresh as he offered up his prayer to God. “And,” Luke wrote, “the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense” (1:10). Zechariah was deeply engaged in a ministry that was granted to very few people.

It is hard to know exactly what Zechariah prayed. Undoubtedly, he prayed for the salvation of the people of God. His people, who were under the brutal yoke of Roman oppression, were waiting for God’s ancient promise to send a deliverer to be fulfilled, and for God to come and save his people. Zechariah was asking God to fulfill his promise.

But, Zechariah also prayed for a son. For decades he and Elizabeth had been praying for God to grant them a child. They knew that humanly speaking, it was impossible for them to have a child. But, he was, after all, praying to God, the almighty, sovereign creator of the entire universe. With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).