Expository Thoughts (continued)
predecessor into the other tribe. The priests were allowed to marry into any of the tribes of Israel" (Watson).
1. All the assembled worshipers were praying outside. "When the priest came into the holy place to offer incense, notice was given to all, by the sound of a little bell, that the time of prayers was now" (Lightfoot).
2. An angel of the Lord appeared. "The presence of angels is no novelty, but their apparition. They are always with us, but rarely seen, that we may awfully respect their message when they are seen" (Bishop Hall).
LUKE 1:13-17
We have, in these verses, the words of the angel who appeared to Zachariah. They are words full of deep spiritual instruction.
We learn here, for one thing, that prayers are not necessarily rejected because the answer is long delayed. Zachariah, no doubt, had often prayed for the blessing of children, and, to all appearance, had prayed in vain. At his advanced time of life, he had probably long ceased to mention the subject before God, and had given up all hope of being a father. Yet the very first words of the angel show plainly that the bygone prayers of Zachariah had not been forgotten— "Your prayer is heard—your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son."
We shall do well to remember this fact, whenever we kneel down to pray. We must beware of hastily concluding that our supplications