Knowing The Word in Advent, Luke 1:24-25

Elizabeth Conceives

1:24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

Comments

Zechariah returned home and obeyed God’s directive and Elizabeth conceived a child. Why does Elizabeth then hide for five months? No one would have seen her pregnancy at the beginning. Perhaps she had suffered reproach from others for being childless and wanted to be seen as “really” pregnant and not as an old woman putting on weight. We do not really know. However, in biblical Israel, childlessness is considered a disgrace. Throughout Genesis, childbearing is considered a divine blessing. It is also seen as God acting to keep his promise to Abraham. That Elizabeth was now pregnant was a continuation of this promise. Perhaps her seclusion allowed her to focus primarily on God rather than the reaction of other people.

A note on Angels: angels are God’s messengers who belong to his heavenly court and service. Their primary mission in heaven, as we see throughout the Bible, is to praise God. When heaven comes down to earth, they have an earthly mission in which they devote themselves to carrying out the will of God and proclaiming his message to his people. They are active in the divine work of reconciliation from rescuing Lot in Sodom to proclaiming the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. They bring good news to everyone they encounter in the Gospel of Luke.

Application

We too can spend more time focusing on our relationship with God. We do not need to be hidden for five months, but perhaps we could spend one day each month focusing on God. Do you have a spiritual plan to do something like this? Why not mark down a day per month to spend extra time with God?

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for sending your angels to bring good news to your people. As they praise you in heaven, help us to praise you today. Encourage us not to stay hidden from our neighbors, but loosen our tongue of praise that we, like the angels, may bring the good news of Jesus to all who come across our path today, not only with words but by giving up ourselves to your service and walking in righteousness and holiness every day.