The Women of Christmas: Elizabeth, Part 1

Now that we have finished the study on Mary, let’s look at the life of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and Zechariah are only mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. Since it is such a long passage of Scripture, I encourage you to read all of Luke chapter 1 to get a clear picture of them. We will pull out specific Scriptures as we go along with this study.

In the study on Mary, and the introduction to the Women of Christmas, I mentioned that under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit would come on the prophet, priest, and king. In Mary’s story, we saw the element of The King. In Elizabeth’s story, we are going to witness the life of the priest.

Just like Mary and Joseph’s lineage both extended back to King David, Elizabeth and Zechariah’s lineage both extended back to Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was the first High Priest.

Let’s look at some verses that describe their priestly lineage, and what the priests would do.

“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years.

One day while Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.” (Luke 1:5-10 BSB)

Luke 1:5 tells us that Zechariah was a priest, and he was of the priestly division of Abijah. According to Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, there are eight people in the Old Testament named Abijah. One of them was a descendant of Aaron, who was a priest in the time of David.

We can find this Abijah in 1 Chronicles 24:10.

Luke also tells us that Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. Aaron was the first High Priest to the Hebrew people and the brother of Moses and Miriam. Aaron’s parents were Jochebed and Amram. Jochebed was a daughter of Levi. (See Numbers 26:59.)

Priests descended from Aaron who was a Levite. But not all Levites, who descended from Levi were priests. Priests came from the tribe of Levi, although the Levites didn’t have the same function as the priests. The Levites were assistants to the priests and served the priests in different ways.

So, Zechariah and Elizabeth both descended from the tribe of Levi and were both descendants of Aaron. The Israelites had the custom of marrying within their same tribe. That might be why we also see Mary and Joseph both being from the tribe of Judah. And I imagine if we could determine who Anna’s husband was, he would also be from the tribe of Asher, just like she was.

Another fun fact about Israel was the way the land was arranged. In the Old Testament they were given tribal allotments. All of Joseph’s sons, except two, were given portions of land throughout Israel. Those two were Joseph and Levi. Joseph’s portion went to Ephraim and Manasseh, his sons born to him in Egypt. And the Levites didn’t get a land assignment. They lived dispersed throughout the land of Israel, to serve God and meet the needs of the people.


What does all of this have to do with Jesus?

Under the New Covenant, Jesus is our Great High Priest. The book of Hebrews discusses the levitical priesthood and outlines Jesus as high priest in detail. Here are a few Scriptures that outline His service as High Priest.

“But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.” (Hebrews 7:24-28 BSB)


What does this have to do with you?

Jesus is our High Priest. Under the New Covenant, the Bible also refers to Believers in Jesus as priests.

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” (Revelation 5:10 BSB)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)




Many blessings to you as you continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him, and who you are in relationship to Him.

Beth

To learn more about Jesus as our High Priest, please read Hebrews 3:1 and 5:1-10.

To read one of my previous posts about Elizabeth, you can find it here, in my Women in the Life of Jesus series.

Angels

There was so much angelic activity surrounding the birth of Jesus! Luke tells us about the angel Gabriel coming to visit Zechariah about the birth of John, and then Mary about the birth of Jesus. Matthew tells us about the angel of the Lord visiting Joseph in a dream to confirm that Mary is going to give birth to a baby conceived by the Holy Spirit, and he is to give him the name Jesus. When Jesus is born, an angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus. And then a group of angels appears with that angel to announce praise and another message about what the birth of Jesus would bring.

Angels appear again and again throughout the Gospels and the book of Acts.

Hebrews 1:14 says, 

Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

Hebrews 13:2 says, 

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

What are some other verses that mention angels?

Do you think you have you ever seen an angel? Do you know someone who has?

Five Minute Friday: People

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "people."

People are the only thing you can take to Heaven with you.

When my brother died, it completely changed my world permanently.  Heaven became a whole lot more real.  

But, did Scott go to Heaven some might ask?  Well, I feel like God talked to me a lot that week, so I believe he did.

His life was not on par with what you would have expected a Christian life to look like.  He drank a lot.  And was in some serious emotional pain.

I have never told this story publicly, but at his funeral, my Uncle Mike was preaching.  And he said “When Scott was 8 years old, he made a profession of faith at," and then named a local Baptist church.”  I remember that moment just being sealed in time. I looked at my mom, and she looked at me, both with expressions like, “what???” on our faces.

Later I asked my uncle where he got that information from, and he said, “well, you.” I did not tell him that. I had completely forgotten.

So, I know it was the Lord trying to bring comfort to our family.

Is the Lord interested in our comfort? Is he interested in comforting the grieving? Yes, I believe He is.

Another thing, and the most important thing to take away from this, is the blood of Jesus efficacious enough to seal us for all time?

There are many scriptures that would support this.

Hebrews 9:12 says,

He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.

I believe I will see my brother again one day. Because I trust Jesus, and what He did.

Ever since that day, I have become completely more aware of people. And of heaven.

People are the only thing you can to Heaven with you.