The Order of Abijah. The priestly order of Abijah to which Zacharias belonged originated with King David and his desire to build a Temple for the Most High God in Jerusalem. Not permitted to do so because he was a man of war who had shed much blood, David did the next best thing: He prepared for it with all his might (1 Chr. 29:1–5).
When the priests had become numerous, David divided the whole body into twenty-four classes or "courses," which were appointed to do service in weekly rotation, so that each of the courses had to attend at the temple twice in the year for a week each time. Of the twenty-four courses that of Abijah was the eighth.
As it is told in Luke 1, Zacharias was performing his duty in the temple when the angel appeared and told him they would have a son and to call his name John. Needless to say Zacharias was somewhat incredulous considering their age. As proof of his message the angel told Zacharias he would be unable to speak until the day the message was fulfilled.
Role in the TempleDivisionNameshould start workingFifthMalchijah24/2/2024SixthMijamin2/3/2024SeventhHakkoz9/3/2024EighthAbijah16/3/202420 more rows
In Iraq, the principal lambing season of Awassi ewes is in November, and in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and Israel in December-January. The mean gestation period in an Awassi flock in Lebanon has been reported to be 149.5 days for male lambs and 148.6 days for females (Choueiri, Barr and Khalil, 1966).
The text reads, "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." Some people have concluded that this would be an unlikely practice in the month of December, for it is argued that the weather conditions would be too cold to live outside or tend to a flock of ...
Luke states that during the week when it was the duty of Zechariah's family line to serve at "the temple of the Lord", the lot for performing the incense offering had fallen to Zechariah (Luke 1:8–11).
The date of birth of Jesus is not stated in the gospels or in any historical reference, but most biblical scholars assume a year of birth between 6 and 4 BC.
In ewes with multiple litters the interval between birth of the lambs varies from 10 to 60 minutes; intervention should be considered if the interval is more than one hour.
Dec. 25 is not the date mentioned in the Bible as the day of Jesus's birth; the Bible is actually silent on the day or the time of year when Mary was said to have given birth to him in Bethlehem. The earliest Christians did not celebrate his birth.
8:5) This meant that Jesus Christ's mortal life lasted almost exactly 33 years, and therefore his birth and crucifixion occurred in about the same season of the year. This would have been early spring because the New Testament indicates that Christ was crucified at Passover time, which falls in that part of the year.
If shepherds have become a kind of endangered species in Bethlehem, 73-year-old Carlos Nicola Sarras is an even greater rarity. He is one of the few remaining Christian shepherds in the area. His house sits next to the barrier that cuts Bethlehem and Beit Jala from the west.
sevenChapter 7 in 1 Kings mentions that Solomon also built a house for himself that took thirteen years to complete, while the temple only took seven.
Book of Zechariah, also spelled Zacharias, the 11th of 12 Old Testament books that bear the names of the Minor Prophets, collected in the Jewish canon in one book, The Twelve. Only chapters 1–8 contain the prophecies of Zechariah; chapters 9–14 must be attributed to at least two other, unknown authors.
According to the Gospel of Luke, John and Jesus were relatives. Some scholars maintain that John belonged to the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Jewish sect who expected a messiah and practiced ritual baptism.
Appropriately Isaiah 7:14 tells us that one of the names for the coming Messiah is Immanuel or “God with us”. Here take a look. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14.
But this not the only evidence which supports the birth of Yeshua during the Feast of Tabernacles. The apostle John beautifully describes Yeshua in the following passage: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
– Luke 1:67-73. This prophecy of Zacharias was given on the 8 th day after the birth of John the Baptist.
Immediately Zacharias was able to speak and then he gave the prophecy we just read. Now keep in mind that Mary the mother of Jesus had just spent 3 months with Zacharias and Elisabeth, having begun her visit in the 6 th month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy.
The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
What is neat about this information is that Zacharias served as a priest during the course of Abia (Abijah). A thousand years before, King David had arranged the priestly service into 24 courses.
Many of you know the story of Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth. They were without child but an angel appeared to Zacharias while he performed his priestly duties in the temple. The angel told Zacharias that he and Elisabeth would have a child and as a sign Zacharias would be unable to speak until it came to pass.
The Order of Abijah. The priestly order of Abijah to which Zacharias belonged originated with King David and his desire to build a Temple for the Most High God in Jerusalem.
The fact that the order of Abijah used lots to determine where one would minister indicates there must have been more priests than avenues of service. God’s people often used lots (Hebrew, purim) to discern His will and direction (Acts 1:26).
David gave Solomon all the plans for the Temple—“the plans for all that he had by the Spirit”—including “the division of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ” (28:12–13). Previously the priests and Levites worked with the Tabernacle, which was a much smaller, portable house of worship.
David divided the descendants of Levi into smaller divisions so that each family would have an equal opportunity to minister. Likewise, the priests were also divided. There were 24 divisions, which allowed each division, or order, to serve for two weeks each year (1 Chr. 24:4-6). 1 The order of Abijah was the eighth order (v. 10).
The sacred year was six months later, and began on 1st Nisan. (*2) The "city" is not named (possibly Juttah, some 30 miles to the south of Jerusalem). (*3) The conception of John the Baptist was, in view of Luke 1:7, as miraculous as that of Isaac; but it is not necessary to insist upon the complete period of forty sevens (p.198) ...
The day following the end of the "Course of Abia" being a Sabbath (Sivan 19), he would not be able to leave Jerusalem before the 20th.