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The Verse:
But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Luke 1:43-45 (NASB)
The Story:
It has been 400 years since Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, spoke.
God is an Oath
Nestled in the hill country of Judah lived a Jewish woman named Elizabeth. Now, whenever anyone spoke her name, they declared this truth: “God is an oath.” For her name meant something far more than simply Elizabeth. In her name was a promise from God. A four-hundred-year-old promise waiting to be fulfilled. The prophet of the Highest would come and prepare the way for the Lord.
Malachi words, written in the books of the prophets, faded with time. So the people went about their daily lives. The men went fishing. The women cared for their children.
All the women except Elizabeth. For she, being advanced in years, didn’t have children of her own. Still, she walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
In the mornings, Elizabeth walked to the well to fill her clay pot. Young mothers gathered there and spoke with joy about their children, saying things like, “She’s growing so fast” and “He’s already memorized the writings of the prophets.”
Elizabeth filled her clay pot in silence and carried it to her empty home. Her husband, Zacharias, was away fulfilling his priesthood duties at the temple in Jerusalem.
God takes away our shame
One day, Elizabeth watched from her window for her husband, Zacharias, to return from Jerusalem. He came around the corner at dusk. She ran to greet him, and to her surprise, he was speechless!
He wrote about everything that happened on a tablet. An angel of the Lord appeared to him while he was burning incense inside the temple in Jerusalem.
The angel announced, “Elizabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.”
Elizabeth giggled like a young girl and hugged Zacharias. "The Lord has looked on me with love and mercy."
God’s timing in everything
“Elizabeth, are you home?” called her cousin Mary. And when Elizabeth saw her for the first time since the angel appeared to Zacharias, Elizabeth’s baby leaped in the womb. Then Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Mary shared the news with Elizabeth that she, too, was going to have a Son. “The angel told me His name is Jesus.”
The time came for Elizabeth to give birth.
Now the people of the village rejoiced with Elizabeth. When she announced, “His name is John," her friends and relatives gasped!
At once, they turned to Zacharias, looking for answers. It was customary in those days to name a boy after his father or a relative.
The crowd hushed when Zacharias reached for a tablet. He wrote, “His name is John.”
Suddenly, Zacharias could speak. And he praised God.
Mary returned home to Nazareth and prepared to give birth to her Son, Jesus.
John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah through a woman whose name declared, “God is an oath,” just as Malachi had prophesied four hundred years before Elizabeth gave birth to her son.
God is an oath. These words remind us that God can't lie. He will fulfill His promises. But we must remember He fulfills His promises in His timing, not ours.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A mother like Elizabeth? A nurse? Or a doctor? Maybe an influencer for Jesus? Be confident in knowing God has a special purpose and plan for your life just like He did for Elizabeth.
Remain faithful and obedient to God and His will for your life while you wait on Him.
*retelling of Elizabeth's story from Luke 1:5-80
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