People Waiting for Zacharias - Luke 1:21

The Beloved Physician Luke wrote how an “angel” appeared to Zacharias and told him he and his wife Elisabeth would have a son who they were to name “John”. Afterward Zacharias asked the angel, “Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto you, and to show you these glad tidings. And, behold, you shall be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because you believed not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season”, and in chapter one and verse twenty-one of his book Luke shares how “the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long”, where we read:

And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.

The verse reads, “And the people waited for Zacharias, ...” Luke began with the words, “And the people waited” or “the group of people who were praying outside the temple were expecting, looking and tarrying” “for Zacharias” which means “toward Zacharias whose name means remembered of Jehovah”. Luke shared how the crowd who was praying outside the temple area were “awaiting” Zacharias' appearance.

The verse continues, “... and marveled that he tarried so long in the temple.” Luke added the words, “and marveled” which means “and wondered and admired” “that he tarried so long” or “that Zacharias lingered and delayed for such a long time” “in the temple” which means “within the sacred worship place”. Luke shared how the crowd waiting outside the temple “wondered” why he was taking so long to appear to them.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see not only how the people praying outside the temple were “waiting” a long time for Zacharias to appear. The priest assigned to “burning incense” within the temple did so on behalf of himself and the people of Israel, and after he was finished, he was to appear to the praying crowd to assure them that God heard their prayers. Zacharias was detained by the “angel Gabriel”, so when he took longer than the usual time, the crowd “marveled”. God's work is not always according to our timing, and when He doesn't act when we think He should, we should be patient and understand He has perfect timing for everything. God desires a “trusting” relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when a person yields their life to Him, they can rely upon His perfect “time” to appear on our scene.

Next time Luke shares when Zacharias came out, “he could not speak unto them”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".