Elizabeth's Silence

Luke 1

As a parent, I have played the game with my kids of who can go the

longest without talking. It doesn’t seem to last for more than a minute or so

because my kids, like me, like to talk! The game though is interesting to watch,

and to see how out it unfolds is always very funny!

In Luke chapter 1 we read about a man, although not from a game, who

could not speak for about 9 months or so. The man’s name was Zacharias and

he was married to a woman named Elizabeth. These two were considered

upright people who loved God and Zacharias worked in the temple. Zacharias

and Elizabeth were also childless and were getting up in their ages. One day,

while Zacharias was performing his duties in the temple, the angel Gabriel

appeared to him. The angel told him his wife was going to have a baby, and

for what purpose he was being born for. He was told that his child’s name

was to be John (who we know as John the Baptist) and that he was going to

be a messenger who would prepare the way for Jesus. Zacharias, because of

his circumstances of being older in age, could hardly believe what the angel

was saying and needed to know for sure that this would happen. The angel

then told him that because he did not believe him, the sign for disbelief would

be that Zacharias would not be able to speak until the baby was born. From

that day on Zacharias was left, as the angel said, unable to speak.

Can you imagine what his wife Elizabeth thought when he got home?

Can you picture her being so happy to see him and saying hello to him and

then quickly realizing that he couldn’t speak? She had to have been panicked,

scared, and wondering why he was that way. He then somehow had to tell her

why he couldn’t speak, which I’m sure shocked her, and then she had to have

been doubly shocked when she realized that she was going to have a baby.

Then on top of that to realize your child was going to be used so greatly by

God. What a day that had to have been for the two of them!

The Bible does not give us any details about how Elizabeth felt

concerning the fact that her husband could not talk and they would be living

in silence until she gave birth. After all, she was not even pregnant at the time

of this happening. So to her a lot had to happen for this silence to be over.

I’m sure her and Zacharias got to work on it though very quickly.

When I was pregnant with our children it was a great time sharing with

my husband all that was going on inside me and hearing what he had to say about how it would be for him to be a father. There is a lot of communication

that takes place when one is expecting a child, and talking is crucial. I imagine

that for Elizabeth and Zacharias they found creative ways to communicate

throughout their time, and that at times it was very hard for both of them.

Maybe even, at times, they both were upset that it had happened. After all,

silence is a hard thing to deal with, and to deal with it for so long can be

extremely frustrating. Maybe Elizabeth was angry that her husband just did

not believe the angel at the time. After all, who wouldn’t believe an angel who

appeared to them, even if it didn’t make sense and or sounded crazy? It would

seem after having that happen, one would believe. I imagine though, even

Zacharias himself had to have, at times, just wished he would have taken the

angels word for it. Then his silence could have been avoided. In any case,

their situation was what it was, and it had to be dealt with. In the end, their

marriage survived it.

Although Elizabeth’s husband’s doubt had caused this situation, she

knew it would eventually end, for that was the word from the angel. That is

something I’m sure she hung on to every day in faith along with Zacharias. So

even though every day they had to find out new ways to communicate during

this time of their pregnancy and just life in general, they knew it wouldn’t last

forever, and it didn’t. As also stated before, we are not given any insight as to

how Elizabeth felt about his silence, but we do know God would not have

allowed it to happen if she couldn’t handle it, because He does not allow more

than we can bear, even if we feel it is too much at the time.

So, because of her story we can learn so much. We can learn of the great

example of strength and perseverance that Elizabeth set for us. We may not

ever have to face the silence she did, but when things in life seem to be too

much to bear, and too hard to have the faith and belief for, we need to know

God is in control and He will get us through it. We have to trust in God and

every day rely on Him for the strength and perseverance needed to get

through it. When we come out of it, like the day Zacharias could speak again,

we will be singing God’s praises for all to see and hear!

From The Noble Woman Book, by Gina Burns.