The Raising up of Women “for such a time as this” Part II

Why did God make Zechariah mute?

            Zechariah and Elizabeth were from priestly families, Zechariah from the division of Abijah and Elizabeth from Aaron (Luke 1:5). Thus, they ministered before the Lord.  It says, “And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord” (v. 8).  They were both qualified by righteousness to prophesy of the coming Messiah!  Zechariah was briefly disqualified by unbelief!  In other words, he lost his chance at being the first to prophesy.  He did not lose it altogether because he prophesied when John was born.  Yet what happened in the interim?  How did God orchestrate the story? 

            So, why did God make Zechariah mute?  I believe it was so Elizabeth could open her mouth to declare divine revelation.

            Indeed, as soon as Zechariah’s mouth was closed the Lord began orchestrating a meeting between Mary and Elizabeth.  The Lord chose 2 women to bring about his promises.  2 women get to prophesy first about Jesus!

            First, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit had not even come yet.  No one else had yet been filled with the Holy Spirit.  She got to touch the glory of the Lord.  The extraordinary happened to a Jewish woman.

            Second, she prophesied the Lord was in Mary’s womb.  She declared, “why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43).  She knew and spoke before anyone else that Mary was carrying the Lord Jesus Christ.  Elizabeth prophesied the coming of Christ! “With a loud cry” a woman broke 400 years of silence.

            Fourth, she paid attention to what God did in the natural with her son.  She knew that her son was leaping for joy (v. 44).  She was aware that this was significant and she was not making it up.

            I see from this story that the Lord uses righteous vessels.  I broke into Zechariah and Elizabeth's lives because they ministered before him.  They were near to his heart and their lives showed it.  Yet man alone cannot bear the weight of what the Lord is going to do in this generation.  I need to realize as a woman I am more than qualified and seek holiness.

            From Zachariah's disqualification and Elizabeth's blessing of Mary I learn that our response to the knowledge that God is in our midst should be both humility and belief.  Belief means that our words and actions follow.  We don’t hide what we believe the Lord is saying and doing.  We are explicit about what the Lord is doing in the natural.  We are called to make known what the Lord is doing in our wombs. 

If the Lord used two women to prophesy about his first coming, how much more will he use women to prophesy about his second coming?  Today, the Lord has something for us.  The nations are raging against God (Psalm 2).  The land is crying about because of the bloodguilt of abortion.  I truly believe after 40 years of silence the Lord is raising up a “loud cry” again.  This time it will not just be two women.  It will be women across this nation.  To YOU women: raise your voices!