Staff Writer - Audrey Linton
Now you need to stay with me for this next piece. Are you ready? Good!
Do you sometimes feel that life is passing you by? Ladies and gents you may be wondering when is it going to be my time. You may not yet be in that wholesome relationship that you dreamed of as a child. Or may be you ‘would be mothers’ have not yet heard ‘yes you are pregnant!’
Well, come with me as I explore the life of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. (Luke Chapter 1). She was the cousin of Mary, the mother or Jesus and she was married to Zechariah who was a priest in the Jewish Temple.
To cut a long story short the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and told him that his wife Elizabeth (who was well past child bearing age) would have a son and he should call his name John.
‘Huh!’ – Have a son – are you sure?’ Zechariah gulped in disbelief.
‘You may have forgotten Angel, I am no spring chicken and my wife is well past child bearing age and we are just getting ready for retirement!’
Before we go further, maybe Zechariah had a point. He and Elizabeth had probably been trying to have children for some time. Being childless in those days was frowned upon. To put it bluntly it was a disgrace.
I supposed Zachariah and Elizabeth had just accepted their lot in life as being childless and had now resigned themselves to that fact.
Photo courtesy madinam.wordpress.com
But Angel Gabriel comes and upsets the equilibrium!
What would Zechariah say to his friends and family – he probably would be scorned if he told them that an angel came and said that he is going to be a daddy! Well fortunately (or unfortunately) for Zechariah he was struck dumb until after the birth of John the Baptist, so he no longer had a say in the matter!
Lo and behold as the story goes Elizabeth became pregnant and eventually had her son, who would be one of the greatest men that ever lived, according to Jesus.
But I think there is more to this story than meets the eye! Why would God wait until this woman was well into her fifties even sixties before giving birth? It’s not like there was the medical expertise that we have now with regard to surrogacy, test tubes or fertility treatment! Well here are the main themes that I draw from this story:
The promise is given
Elizabeth was the answer to someone’s obedience. Phineas, her great great great (and the rest) grandfather, was obedient in carrying out the Lord’s wishes according to Numbers chapter 25. Because of this, God gave him two promises:
- a promise of peace and
- an eternal priesthood.
All those years later Elizabeth was being prepared to be a carrier of John the Baptist.
Before I was born my mother prayed for a girl child as she had one male child after another (8 altogether!) After she prayed I was conceived – Yes I am an answer to someone’s prayer – I am sure you are too! Even if you feel as if you were not wanted – God wanted you here! That’s all I have to say about that for now!
The promise is reinforced
The childless woman will have children. In Isaiah 54 childlessness seems to be celebrated as it suggests that the childless should start celebrating because they have more children than the married. Could this have been a direct prophecy about Elizabeth and John the Baptist – the clue lies in verse 10.
The promise is fulfilled.
Elizabeth’s time had come. God’s promise to her ancestors was fulfilled. It was time for the ‘childless’ women to rejoice. It could not have been more precisely timed as John the Baptist would be the one who sets the scene, ready for Jesus, known to many as the Messiah.
Are you feeling a like a failure? Do you feel as if you have ‘past your sell by date?’ So did the poet John Keats who died at the age of 25. He died a Pauper and believed he had failed to accomplish his purpose, but his poetry has touched millions of lives since his death.
May be your dreams have not been fulfilled, goals have not come to pass, life seems physically, spiritually and emotionally ‘barren’. However, we are encouraged to start celebrating even in times of unfruitfulness for with God nothing shall be impossible.
