Thoughts for the Day

Luke 1:9 [Zechariah] was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

Zechariah is one of those characters in the bible I really warm towards. As we will note later, he is described as blameless and well on in years but childless. It is a great sadness he has carried for decades, yet he has remained devoted to God. And he is about to be the one to whom God, through Gabriel, will break 400 years of silence, after which he will receive a longed-for son and a clear prophetic vision of what God is just about to do. Wow! He didn’t earn the privilege, of course, but I can’t help feeling no one could have deserved it more. Still, I get ahead of myself.

Today I’m struck by the statement that he was “chosen by lot … to go into the temple to burn incense”. Apparently, three priests were drawn daily for this ritual. They went in together, one removed the ashes, one put new coals in place on the altar, and they left the third alone to pray and sprinkle the incense on the coals. It was a highlight and privilege, “once in a lifetime” according to various commentators, either because they were only allowed to have the honour once or because the chance of being chosen was low. So here he is, at this pivotal moment in history, a devout man, conscientiously doing his priestly duty, deeply aware – as I imagine it – of his position representing before God the assembled worshippers who must stay outside.

What were the odds of Zechariah being chosen on that day? I read that there were 8-20 thousand priests in total, divided into 24 groups on duty for two weeks a year each. So his priestly division would be maybe 300-900. Taking the average, that’s odds of around 600:1 or nearer 90:1 if the angel Gabriel were there all week on the off-chance that he would be chosen! But there’s the point. The odds tell us the (un)likelihood of a coincidence, but scripture is consistent that God decides the timing of His plans. Certainly, his timing is a mystery to us, but it is not governed by chance. Surely, we must conclude that God intervened … and intervenes still … to achieve His purposes. And that should encourage us!