Journey
John the Baptist, the voice in the wilderness
Follow John from the temple where his father fell silent to the wilderness, the Jordan and Herod's prison.
People in this journey
Opening stop: His lot was to burn incense, Luke 1:5
The law set incense to burn on the altar every morning and evening (Exodus 30:7-8), and Luke says the lot for it fell to Zacharias. The people praying outside at that hour fit Psalm 141:2, which sets prayer before God as incense. Scripture has a line of barren women who became mothers of key figures: Sarah (Genesis 11:30), Rebekah (Genesis 25:21), Rachel (Genesis 29:31), Samson's mother (Judges 13:2) and Hannah (1 Samuel 1:5). Luke's opening puts Elizabeth in that line.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
King James Version
The book opens with an address to Theophilus: many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of things most surely believed, delivered by eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, and the writer says it seemed good to him also to write in order, that Theophilus might know the certainty of what he has been taught. The account then names Zacharias, a priest of the course of Abia, and his wife Elisabeth, both called righteous and without child. While Zacharias burns incense, an angel promises a son to be called John. Zacharias asks how he shall know it, the angel names himself Gabriel, and Zacharias is left unable to speak. Elisabeth conceives and hides herself five months. In the sixth month Gabriel is sent to Mary in Nazareth with word of a son to be called JESUS; Mary asks how this shall be and then answers, Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Mary travels to the hill country, the babe leaps in Elisabeth's womb, Elisabeth blesses her, and Mary says, My soul doth magnify the Lord. Elisabeth bears a son, his mother says he shall be called John, Zacharias writes the name and speaks again, and he prophesies over the child. The chapter ends with the child in the deserts.
Continue the journey
This journey has 10 stops. The opening stop is free. Premium opens the rest of the guided path, and every Scripture chapter stays free to read.