The life and times of Elizabeth - the mother of John the Baptist

Her name means “God is my oath”

Key Scripture

What we know is 400 years have passed since the last prophet spoke and the Israelites had heard from God.  The interlude in most of our bibles is scarcely noticeable; we simply turn the page and you leave the Old Testament to enter the New Testament.  Yet, you will notice that the world in which we are seeing here, 400 years later looks much different.  Rome (which lies in the West)  is now the dominant empire and the Eastern empires of Babylon, Assyria and Persia no longer dominate the Israelites.  

The Israelites are still continuing to pass on what they learned from their ancestors and they are people of God, not the culture for which they are residing in.  What we also notice is that the Israelites are constantly living under foreign rulers.  Under the Roman rulers, the Israelites are allowed to worship freely.  They long for more as they read the prophecies of the Old Testament and wait and watch for the Messiah.

In society like Israel at the time of Elizabeth’s life, a woman’s value was largely measured by her ability to bear children.  To be a person without children often led to hardship and public shame.  For Elizabeth, being childless and old, was a painful and lonely time - but she remained faithful to God.

Elizabeth is a descendant of Aaron.  The bible calls her “upright in the sight of God.”  She is praised for observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations without blame.  We see that Elizabeth showed no doubts about God’s ability to fulfil His promise and she became the mother to John the Baptist, whose name means, “The Lord is Gracious.”

Elizabeth is married to Zechariah, who is a Jewish priest, who was told before anyone else that God was setting into motion His own visit to earth.  Zechariah was also known for his holiness and had been granted, by lot, to perform the duties in the temple in Jerusalem.  Suddenly, to his surprise and terror, he found himself face to face with an angel.  This angel’s message is too good to be true.  But the news of the coming Savior was eclipsed by doubts about his own ability to father the child the angel promised him.  His age spoke more loudly than God’s promise.  As a result, God prevented Zechariah from speaking until the promise became a reality.  

As I read through the history of this chapter, the question I had to ask is; are our hearts turned toward God in faithfulness and trust?

Please come back tomorrow as we hear how Elizabeth’s legacy can be applied to our own lives.