Zacharias And Elizabeth - CCCM

1 Lesson 204 Zacharias And ElizabethLuke 1:5-25 MEMORY VERSELUKE 1:16 And He w ill turn m any of the c hildren of Israel to the Lordtheir God. WHAT YOU WILL NEED:As many 6 pieces of yarn as the number of children in your classplus one additional 12 piece of yarn, stickers or other spray bottle or can of perfume or slips of paper with the phrases I saw an angel, We're going tohave a baby or The Savior is coming. ATTENTION GRABBER!Drawing LotsPrecut enough 6 pieces of yarn for each child in your class. Cutone piece of yarn that is 12. Hold all the pieces of yarn in onehand so the ends look like they are all the same lengths. Have eachchild choose a piece of yarn and pull it from your closed the child with the 12 piece of yarn with the privilege ofpassing out a sticker or small prize to the entire class. Collect anddiscard the pieces of yarn, you will refer to this activity later inyour TIME!

2 Between the Old Testament and the New Testament there was a 400year period of silence. God had spoken in the Old Testamentthrough His prophets, but for 400 hundred years He had nomessage for the nation of Israel. How sad it must have been forGod s people to not hear from the Lord for that long period of He broke the terrible silence, just as He had planned, by doingsomething very extraordinary during one very ordinary day. Godcan do the U K E 1 : 5T h e r e w a s i n t h e d a y s o f H e r o d , t h e k i n g o f J u d e a , ac e r t a i n p r i e s t n a m e d Z a c h a r i a s , o f t h e d i v i s i o n o fAb i j a h . H i s w i f e w a s o f t h e d a u g h t e r s o f Aa r o n , a n dh e r n a m e w a s E l i z a b e t h . Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth lived during the reign of Herod theGreat (King Herod) who ruled over Judea for a long time.

3 KingHerod rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, but he also built pagantemples for worshipping idols instead of the one true God. He wasa man full of hate and cruelty who would do anything to keep histhrone; he even killed his wife and two of his land was full of evil. Life seemed dark and was bad for mostpeople. Herod made his main job war, and he was very good at liked to build things: big palaces for himself, towers, aqueducts,and amphitheaters. Many of his building projects are still in this dark and evil time lived a certain priest namedZacharias and his wife Elizabeth . In their day mothers and fathersdid not choose names for their children because of the way theysounded, they chose them for what they meant. A mother orfather would often pray for a name for their child. Zacharias andElizabeth had special names. Zacharias means Remembered ofGod and Elizabeth means One who gives loyalty to God.

4 L U K E 1 : 6An d t h e y w e r e b o t h r i g h t e o u s b e f o r e G o d , w a l k i n g i na l l t h e c o m m a n d m e n t s a n d o r d i n a n c e s o f t h e L o r db l a m e l e s s .In a dark and godless time, Zacharias and Elizabeth had hearts forGod, and God saw them. When the rest of the world ignored Godand His ways, Zacharias and Elizabeth chose His ways and walkedwith Him. Zacharias was a priest, but that did not make him of the priests in Zacharias day were not right with God; theyhad given their hearts to evil. Zacharias and Elizabeth were rightbefore God; they loved Him and obeyed were probably quite different from the other people aroundthem. They had a different way of life. They watched carefullywhat they did, thought, said, heard and read. They chose each dayto do only what would please U K E 1 : 7B u t t h e y h a d n o c h i l d , b e c a u s e E l i z a b e t h w a s b a r r e n ,a n d t h e y w e r e b o t h w e l l a d v a n c e d i n y e a r s.

5 Zacharias and Elizabeth had no children. That was probably a verysad thing to them. As much as they hoped and prayed, Elizabethwas barren. Barren means that she had never had a baby. Now,because she was so old, it was impossible for her to have a Bible times, people often thought that barrenness (not being ableto have a baby) was judgment from God on a couple He wasunhappy with. But that was not the case with Zacharias andElizabeth. Sometimes we do not understand God s plans orpurposes, but He always has the best in store for us. Maybe theyprayed for children for a long time. God heard the desire of theirheart, but He was going to answer in a way that would show Hisglory and power. God can do the U K E 1 : 8 - 9S o i t w a s , t h a t w h i l e h e w a s s e r v i n g a s p r i e s t b e f o r eG o d i n t h e o r d e r o f h i s d i v i s i o n ,a c c o r d i n g t o t h e c u s t o m o f t h e p r i e s t h o o d , h i s l o tf e l l t o b u r n i n c e n s e w h e n h e w e n t i n t o t h e t e m p l e o ft h e L o r d.

6 One day an amazing thing happened to Zacharias . He wasfaithfully doing his work when he was chosen by lot to burnincense in the temple before God. Now on the surface that may notvery amazing, but God was going to do a wonderful thing in his life. It is important for us to be faithful in what God has called us to faithfully served God in what he was given to do, andGod blessed him and used him for something we feel like God cannot use us until we are old enoughor smart enough or big enough, but just like Zacharias , when wefaithfully serve God, He will use us for His glory to do LotsAsk the child who drew the long yarn to describe to the class how itfelt to be chosen by lot and have the privilege of serving the the class to be faithful with what God wants them to chosen by lot to burn incense before the Lord in the Templewas a very high honor.

7 Out of all the priests who wanted to burnincense before the Lord each year, only one could perform thisservice. If a priest was chosen, he knew that it was a once in alifetime blessing to serve God in that U K E 1 : 1 0An d t h e w h o l e m u l t i t u d e o f t h e p e o p l e w a s p r a y i n go u t s i d e a t t h e h o u r o f i n c e n s e .This special offering of incense that Zacharias was about to offerwas a symbol of the prayers of the entire nation. At that particularmoment, Zacharias was the most important person in the entirenation of Israel, and God had planned it that way. God can do Pleasing FragranceSpray a perfume or potpourri into the air and explain how incensewould rise up as a sweet, pleasing fragrance. This incense was asymbol for the children of Israel of their prayers rising to heavenand pleasing the lives and prayers can also be incense to the Lord, a sweetsmelling fragrance.

8 How? We can be a sweet smelling fragrancethrough the work of the Holy Spirit in our U K E 1 : 1 1 - 1 2T h e n a n a n g e l o f t h e L o r d a p p e a r e d t o h i m , s t a n d i n go n t h e r i g h t s i d e o f t h e a l t a r o f i n c e n s e . An d w h e n Z a c h a r i a s s a w h i m , h e w a s t r o u b l e d , a n df e a r f e l l u p o n h i m .At this very special moment of Zacharias life an angel of the Lordappeared to him. How do you think he felt? There he was, alone inthe quiet of the temple, when out of nowhere a supernatural beingwas suddenly appears right in front of him! It was a very dramaticvisit, and it frightened Zacharias . He responded with awe and Fell Upon HimAsk for one or two volunteers to reenact Zacharias response as"fear fell upon him".Be prepared to use the attention-getting signal as this might causean energetic reaction from the class.

9 Ask the class to share whatthey might do if an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to U K E 1 : 1 3B u t t h e a n g e l s a i d t o h i m , " D o n o t b e a f r a i d ,Z a c h a r i a s , f o r y o u r p r a y e r i s h e a r d ; a n d y o u r w i f eE l i z a b e t h w i l l b e a r y o u a s o n , a n d y o u s h a l l c a l l h i sn a m e J o h n . "The angel saw that his appearing had frightened Zacharias ; so, hereassured him not to be afraid. God was going to answer hisprayer. Many times when angels appear to men in the Bible,especially in the Old Testament, the first thing they tell the peopleis, do not be afraid. There is a healthy fear, awe, and respect ofthe Lord, but we should not be terrified of the Lord. He isapproachable and wants us to come to Him and have fellowshipwith Him.

10 What do you think this verse indicates Zacharias had been prayingfor? Zacharias had made some special prayer to the Lord and theangel told him that God had heard him. Even though Zachariasand Elizabeth knew that it was impossible for them to have a child, Zacharias was still praying for a baby. The angel even toldZacharias the name of the baby that God would give him. (Ask thechildren if anyone can tell the name of the child.)We see here a truth that is wonderful and real even now. God cando the impossible . Elizabeth was too old to have a baby, but Godcan do anything. Can you think of an Old Testament story inGenesis that this reminds you of? (Abraham and Sarah How didGod show them He could do the impossible ?) The angel toldZacharias that Elizabeth would have a baby in a supernatural way;it would be a U K E 1 : 1 4 - 1 7" An d y o u w i l l h a v e j o y a n d g l a d n e s s , a n d m a n y w i l lr e j o i c e a t h i s b i r t h.