This story of Esther, which has in it the real romance of life, has also a consummate blending of works and faith. Preparing a banquet of every luxury that could please a dangerous tyrant, and at the same time fasting and praying in heart-humbling agony for Divine deliverance.
CHAPTER VII.
Womanhood in the Time of the Saviour’s Nativity.
An Angel by the Altar of Incense—His Message—An Israelitish Home—In the Spirit of Elijah—The Desert Teacher—The Annunciation—The Visit of Mary to Elizabeth—Mary’s Magnificat—Journey to Bethlehem—The Nativity—Home Life in Nazareth—After Scenes in Mary’s Life—Her Residence and Death at Ephesus—The Prophetess Anna—Her Waiting for Redemption in Jerusalem—The Lesson of Her Pure and Beautiful Life.
Isaiah, looking adown the ages to the coming of Christ’s Kingdom, likened it to waters breaking out in the wilderness and streams in the desert. For centuries there was no voice of prophet in Israel or revelation from God to His chosen people, when suddenly the long silence was broken. It was in the days of Herod the Great, when sin and misery had reached their climax, and when the yearning for Messiah’s appearance was more intensely felt than ever. The Temple, so often the scene of the manifestation of the glory of God, became again the centre, whence the first rays of light secretly break through the darkness.
One of the priests, named Zacharias, while performing his duty in the service of the sanctuary, burning incense before the Lord, had a vision, in which he was assured that his prayer was heard, and great distinction conferred upon him in a twofold answer: First, the Messiah shall indeed appear in his days; and, secondly, that he shall himself be the father of the forerunner, who is to prepare His way—an honor he could not have ventured to anticipate. What human tongue could have foretold it to him, or how could he have ventured to hearken to the voice of his own heart, without direct revelation? Zacharias sought first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all other things were added to him.
In the service of the sanctuary the burning of incense before the Lord was considered exceedingly important and honorable. The people were accustomed to unite in the outer court in silent supplication, while the priest in the sanctuary offered the incense, which was ever regarded as the symbol of acceptable prayer.
Remaining longer in the sanctuary than was strictly necessary, the people, who were waiting in the outer court of the Temple, feared that some misfortune, or sign of the divine displeasure, had befallen him, for they “marveled that he tarried so long.” And when he finally appeared “he could not speak.” While standing before the altar, awaiting the signal to sift the precious incense, a heavenly messenger appeared unto him. When Zacharias saw the angel he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. The heavenly messenger quickly answered, “Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.”
Both Zacharias and Elizabeth were of the priestly race, and he himself was a priest of the course of Abia, and she was of the daughters of Aaron. Both, too, were devout persons, walking in the commandments of God, and waiting for the fulfillment of His promise to Israel. But in the midst of the glorious revelations the angel had made, strange to say, Zacharias had asked for some sign or confirmation of the glad tidings. The angel answered, “I am Gabriel” (the Might of God) “and, behold, thou shalt be dumb.” As faith is to be the chief condition of the new covenant, it was needful that the first manifestation of unbelief should be emphatically punished, but the wound inflicted becomes a healing medicine to the soul. The aged priest was constrained to much silent reflection, and, according to the counsel of God, the secret was still kept for a time.
There is here a remarkable coincidence between Zacharias and Abraham on the one side, and Elizabeth and Sarah on the other; not only in the fact of their lack of an heir during so many years, but also in the frame of mind in which they at length received the heavenly message. In these parallel histories, the man of the olden times is strong in the faith, the woman weak; while under the new covenant it is the man whose faith falters. On the very threshold of the new dispensation woman, in the person of Elizabeth, takes her place in the foreground by the heroism of a living faith. It is also quite in keeping with Divine wisdom that in this case unbelief in view of the rising sun of the gospel salvation is much more severely punished than under the old dispensation.
