Bible Study Luke 1:8-12

[clark thompson]

Luke 1:8-12
King James Version (KJV)
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

Luke 1:8-12
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

These are my thoughts, please share yours.

8 Priests were sons of Aaron but by now there were many families that were of the priest they routed duties between the families. This was many generations after Aaron and the order was still in effect, this is good but after Christ dies this order becomes faulted because it is no longer God’s will.

9 This would have been frankincense. This was done with any offer that would be cooked. The frankincense was a good smell to the Lord.

10 The priest going in and doing this would have been the only one in there; the rest would have been outside. This most likely was the Day of Atonement, where everyone would leave the temple for the high priest to sacrifice that Passover Lamb for the sins of Israel.

11 The Lord had not sent someone before this time since the fiery furnace in Daniel. This was a transition because the Lord was coming and this is a period between the Old Covenant and New Covenant brought by Christ. Angels are servants of the Lord and often used to bring messages but have also been brought to do things of God such as bring Lot out of Sodom.

12 Angels often bring fear to people. No one was to be in the temple with him at this time but he would have clearly known it was an angel due to the fact that he was scared. God comes to us while we are living a normal life.

 

[Chopper]

Luke 1:8-12
King James Version (KJV)
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

Luke 1:8-12
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

These are my thoughts, please share yours.

8 Priests were sons of Aaron but by now there were many families that were of the priest they routed duties between the families. This was many generations after Aaron and the order was still in effect, this is good but after Christ dies this order becomes faulted because it is no longer God’s will.

9 This would have been frankincense. This was done with any offer that would be cooked. The frankincense was a good smell to the Lord.

10 The priest going in and doing this would have been the only one in there; the rest would have been outside. This most likely was the Day of Atonement, where everyone would leave the temple for the high priest to sacrifice that Passover Lamb for the sins of Israel.

11 The Lord had not sent someone before this time since the fiery furnace in Daniel. This was a transition because the Lord was coming and this is a period between the Old Covenant and New Covenant brought by Christ. Angels are servants of the Lord and often used to bring messages but have also been brought to do things of God such as bring Lot out of Sodom.

12 Angels often bring fear to people. No one was to be in the temple with him at this time but he would have clearly known it was an angel due to the fact that he was scared. God comes to us while we are living a normal life.

What a wonderful subject is angels. Although not the main subject of your thread, not many Christians really know much about angels. Many folk don't know that they have at least 1 holy angel who has been assigned to them by God to watch over them. Hebrews 1:14 says this. "Are they not all ministering spirits (angels) sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?"....There you go, we all have at least one or two ministering angels that help us in many ways. In the first chapter of Job we see angels having to appear before God to let Him know about those that they have been sent too. IMO it's very comforting to know that there is always an angel by my side. Also, if someone from God is watching me 24/7 I'd better be careful what I do!

 

[AirDancer]

Because of the very nature of angels and because of our limited mental understanding & general acceptance of angels, we adult humans have a tendency to be fearful when visited by an angel. Babies and small children have no problem with cheerfully greeting angels. Oh but that could be the way of it for adults as well!

Angels are awesome representatives of our amazing Lord!

 

[Chopper]

Because of the very nature of angels and because of our limited mental understanding & general acceptance of angels, we adult humans have a tendency to be fearful when visited by an angel. Babies and small children have no problem with cheerfully greeting angels. Oh but that could be the way of it for adults as well!

Angels are awesome representatives of our amazing Lord!

:amen

 

[for_his_glory]

King David on God's instructions (1 Chr 28:11-13) had divided the sons of Aaron into 24 groups (1 Chr 24:1-4), to setup a schedule by which the Temple of the Lord could be staffed with priests all year round in an orderly manner. After the 24 groups of priests were established, lots were drawn to determine the sequence in which each group would serve in the Temple. (1 Chr 24: 7-19). That sequence can be found in 1Chronicles 24:7-19.

Now each one of the 24 "courses" of priests would begin and end their service in the Temple on the Sabbath, a tour of duty being for one week (2 Chr 23:8, 1 Chr 9:25). On three occasions during the year, all the men of Israel were required to travel to Jerusalem for festivals of the Lord, so on those occasions all the priests would be needed in the Temple to accommodate the crowds. Those three festivals were Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Deut 16:16).

The Jewish calendar begins in the spring, during the month of Nisan, so the first "course" of priests, would be that of the family of Jehoiarib, who would serve for one week, Sabbath to Sabbath. The second week would then be the responsibility of the family of Jedaiah. The third week would be the feast of Unleavened Bread, and all priests would be present for service. Then the schedule would resume with the third course of priests, the family of Harim. By this plan, when the 24th course was completed, the general cycle of courses would repeat. This schedule would cover 51 weeks or 357 days, enough for the lunar Jewish calendar (about 354 days). So, in a period of a year, each group of priests would serve in the Temple twice on their scheduled course, in addition to the 3 major festivals, for a total of about five weeks of duty.

 

[for_his_glory]

Angels are essentially “ministering spirits,” (Hebrews 1:14) and do not have physical bodies like humans. Jesus declared that “a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:37-39).


The Bible classifies some angels as “elect” (1 Timothy 5:21) or “holy” (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38). Angels were also organized in ranks or orders with some having wings, but not all had wings (Isaiah6:1-3; 1Thessalonians 4:16). All angels were created to be holy, enjoying the presence of God (Matthew 18:10) and the beauty of heaven (Mark 13:32).


Other angels oppose God under the leadership of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-20) whom even Satan is a created spirit of God that is why God could never destroy him because a spirit can not die. (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Ephesians 6:12). We often call these types of angels demons for which an everlasting fire is prepared by God for these angels, (Matthew 25:41).


Angels have no gender (Matthew 22:30) and are innumerable (Hebrews 12:22). They are incarnate in human form at times (Genesis 18:2-8) for the purpose of ministry. Angels also express emotions (Luke 15:10), are wise (2 Samuel 14:20) and powerful (Psalms 103:20).


The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God…


Worship and praise - This is the main activity portrayed in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4-5).


Revealing - They serve as messengers to communicate God's will to men. They helped reveal the law to Moses (Acts 7:52-53), and served as the carriers of much of the material in Daniel, and Revelation.


Guiding - Angels gave instructions to Joseph about the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1-2), to the women at the tomb, to Philip (Acts 8:26), and to Cornelius (Acts 10:1-8).


Providing - God has used angels to provide physical needs such as food for Hagar (Genesis 21:17-20), Elijah (1 Kings 19:6), and Christ after His temptation (Matthew 4:11).


Protecting - Keeping God's people out of physical danger, as in the cases of Daniel and the lions, and his three friends in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3 and 6).


Delivering - Getting God's people out of danger once they're in it. Angels released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, and repeated the process for Peter in Acts 12.


Strengthening and encouraging - Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation (Matt 4:11), encouraged the apostles to keep preaching after releasing them from prison (Acts 5:19-20), and told Paul that everyone on his ship would survive the impending shipwreck (Acts 27:23-25).


Answering prayer - God often uses angels as His means of answering the prayers of His people (Daniel 9:20-24; 10:10-12; Acts 12:1-17).


Caring for believers at the moment of death - In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we read that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to “Abraham's bosom” when he died (Luke 16:22).


You never know when and where and angel of God will show up and as Hebrews 13:2 says be careful for you never know when you are entertaining angels unaware.

 

[Chopper]

Angels are essentially “ministering spirits,” (Hebrews 1:14) and do not have physical bodies like humans. Jesus declared that “a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:37-39).


The Bible classifies some angels as “elect” (1 Timothy 5:21) or “holy” (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38). Angels were also organized in ranks or orders with some having wings, but not all had wings (Isaiah6:1-3; 1Thessalonians 4:16). All angels were created to be holy, enjoying the presence of God (Matthew 18:10) and the beauty of heaven (Mark 13:32).


Other angels oppose God under the leadership of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-20) whom even Satan is a created spirit of God that is why God could never destroy him because a spirit can not die. (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Ephesians 6:12). We often call these types of angels demons for which an everlasting fire is prepared by God for these angels, (Matthew 25:41).


Angels have no gender (Matthew 22:30) and are innumerable (Hebrews 12:22). They are incarnate in human form at times (Genesis 18:2-8) for the purpose of ministry. Angels also express emotions (Luke 15:10), are wise (2 Samuel 14:20) and powerful (Psalms 103:20).


The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God…


Worship and praise - This is the main activity portrayed in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4-5).


Revealing - They serve as messengers to communicate God's will to men. They helped reveal the law to Moses (Acts 7:52-53), and served as the carriers of much of the material in Daniel, and Revelation.


Guiding - Angels gave instructions to Joseph about the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1-2), to the women at the tomb, to Philip (Acts 8:26), and to Cornelius (Acts 10:1-8).


Providing - God has used angels to provide physical needs such as food for Hagar (Genesis 21:17-20), Elijah (1 Kings 19:6), and Christ after His temptation (Matthew 4:11).


Protecting - Keeping God's people out of physical danger, as in the cases of Daniel and the lions, and his three friends in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3 and 6).


Delivering - Getting God's people out of danger once they're in it. Angels released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, and repeated the process for Peter in Acts 12.


Strengthening and encouraging - Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation (Matt 4:11), encouraged the apostles to keep preaching after releasing them from prison (Acts 5:19-20), and told Paul that everyone on his ship would survive the impending shipwreck (Acts 27:23-25).


Answering prayer - God often uses angels as His means of answering the prayers of His people (Daniel 9:20-24; 10:10-12; Acts 12:1-17).


Caring for believers at the moment of death - In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we read that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to “Abraham's bosom” when he died (Luke 16:22).


You never know when and where and angel of God will show up and as Hebrews 13:2 says be careful for you never know when you are entertaining angels unaware.

Wow Debbie, that is the best documented list of Angel activity that I've ever seen. Bravo! Thank you for all the time you spent in research them posting....

 

[for_his_glory]

Thank you Chopper. Forty years in the word has taught me so much, but will never exhaust all the teachings that the word of God holds for us. I do love digging deep!!!

 

[Chopper]

Thank you Chopper. Forty years in the word has taught me so much, but will never exhaust all the teachings that the word of God holds for us. I do love digging deep!!!

I certainly compliment you on how you put your studies into words. You are a valued member of CF.net and I for one know that when I see that you have commented on a thread, I don't cringe and think, "oh boy, what am I going to have to delete now". There are those who keep us moderators on guard. Then there are folk like you of whom we don't have to look for abusive speech, but helpful posts that instruct.

Just wanted you to know how much the Staff appreciates and loves you.

 

[for_his_glory]

I certainly compliment you on how you put your studies into words. You are a valued member of CF.net and I for one know that when I see that you have commented on a thread, I don't cringe and think, "oh boy, what am I going to have to delete now". There are those who keep us moderators on guard. Then there are folk like you of whom we don't have to look for abusive speech, but helpful posts that instruct.

Just wanted you to know how much the Staff appreciates and loves you.

Thank you for your kindness Chopper. I will say one thing that it's the Holy Spirit working in me and through me to bring the Gospel message and God gets all the glory, amen.

 

[About the Son of God]

Luke 1:8-12
King James Version (KJV)
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

...

10 The priest going in and doing this would have been the only one in there; the rest would have been outside. This most likely was the Day of Atonement, where everyone would leave the temple for the high priest to sacrifice that Passover Lamb for the sins of Israel.

11 The Lord had not sent someone before this time since the fiery furnace in Daniel. This was a transition because the Lord was coming and this is a period between the Old Covenant and New Covenant brought by Christ. Angels are servants of the Lord and often used to bring messages but have also been brought to do things of God such as bring Lot out of Sodom.

I thought that Zechariah was burning incense on the gold altar, which is not meant for normal meat sacrifices -- but for incense only:

A regular Levitical priest would do other sacrifices outside upon the huge bronze altar at the entrance to inner temple; eg: outside the room called holy of holies AKA (Naos) and outside the room called holy, too.

But only an Aaronite priest could enter the inner temple and go inside the Holy, in order to burn a pure incense sacrifice, or add oil to the menorah, or at Yom Kipur -- the high priest (not just an under-priest like Zechariah),could enter the place where the ark itself was kept AKA (Naos/Holy of Holies)

The altar is described here: ( A cubit is roughly 1.5 feet long...)
KJV.
Exodus 30:1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
Exodus 30:2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
Exodus 30:3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
Exodus 30:4 And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
Exodus 30:5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
Exodus 30:6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

So, it is just outside the curtain where the ark was kept (Naos/Holy of Holies).

Exodus 30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
Exodus 30:8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

As you can see, this priestly office did not include the animal sacrifices, but only incense.

8 Priests were sons of Aaron but by now there were many families that were of the priest they routed duties between the families. This was many generations after Aaron and the order was still in effect, this is good but after Christ dies this order becomes faulted because it is no longer God’s will.

There were 24 courses of Aaronite priests; and each course served for short fixed periods of time.

1Chro 24:7 Now the first lot came forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,
1Chro 24:8 The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
1Chro 24:9 The fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
1Chro 24:10 The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, [ Note the Greek old testament says "abia"]
1Chro 24:10 τω κως ο εβδομος τω αβια ο ογδοος
1Chro 24:11 The ninth to Jeshuah, the tenth to Shecaniah,
1Chro 24:12 The eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,
1Chro 24:13 The thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
1Chro 24:14 The fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,
1Chro 24:15 The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,
1Chro 24:16 The nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezekel,
1Chro 24:17 The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul,
1Chro 24:18 The three and twentieth to Delaiah, the four and twentieth to Maaziah.
1Chro 24:19 These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.

This order was temporarily destroyed at Babylonian captivity; but I understand it was reconstructed by Ezra after their return, so as to have the same names and order.

Luke uses the Greek OT. name of Zecharias course, saying:
Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth

And basically, I know each course of priests served twice a year for one week as a "division", plus three weeks a year at the three mandatory feasts, Passover, Pentecost, and Booths/Taberancles.

The part that's puzzling is that Luke says that Zachariah was serving in the order of his division, not at a feast....

Luke 1:8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

Now, the Jewish calendar has 51 weeks, 24 priest-weeks x 2 = 48 + 3 feasts = 51 weeks.

And Passover starts the Jewish liturgical calendar as the first Jewish month, passover being the 14th day; So, I understand that immediately after Passover, in the month "Nissan" -- that the courses began serving in order from first to last.

Therefore, I estimate the feasts vs. courses should go something like this.

[passover] 1 2 3 4 5 6 [Pentecost] 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 [YomK 17] [Sukot/Booths] 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Passover is roughly late March through April;
Therefore the first time course #8 served is roughly June; and the second time Abia (#8) served must be roughly December.

Given that Jesus and John are 6 months apart in age, and Jesus is generally understood to have been born in December;
December - 9months ~= March 25 - 6months = ~late September is roughly John's conception date assuming it happened right after his talk with the Angel and was not delayed.

That is relatively close to Yom Kipur.
But that's also nowhere near the two times of year that I would expect Zacharias courses to naturally have been ordered as Luke says.

I wonder what's wrong....

Yom Kuipper is on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishiri) and Sukot/Booths -- is on the 15th day of the same month.
They are nearly a week apart, and Zachariah could only be serving at Yom Kipur if Yom Kipur and Sukot were not separated by a Saturday; so unless Sukot/Booths happened to fall on a natural Friday or Saturday, that year, I don't see how Zacharias could legally have been a priest offering incense. So, with no other information, there's only a 2/7 =~28% chance of Yom Kipur being served at by Zachariah's course, let alone by Zachariah, in any given year.

 

[Deborah13]

I thought that Zechariah was burning incense on the gold altar, which is not meant for normal meat sacrifices -- but for incense only:

A regular Levitical priest would do other sacrifices outside upon the huge bronze altar at the entrance to inner temple; eg: outside the room called holy of holies AKA (Naos) and outside the room called holy, too.

But only an Aaronite priest could enter the inner temple and go inside the Holy, in order to burn a pure incense sacrifice, or add oil to the menorah, or at Yom Kipur -- the high priest (not just an under-priest like Zechariah),could enter the place where the ark itself was kept AKA (Naos/Holy of Holies)

The altar is described here:
KJV.
Exodus 30:1 And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.
Exodus 30:2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
Exodus 30:3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
Exodus 30:4 And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
Exodus 30:5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
Exodus 30:6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

So, it is just outside the curtain where the ark was kept (Naos/Holy of Holies).

Exodus 30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
Exodus 30:8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

As you can see, this priestly office did not include the animal sacrifices, but only incense.



There were 24 courses of Aaronite priests; and each course served for short fixed periods of time.

1Chro 24:7 Now the first lot came forth to Jehoiarib, the second to Jedaiah,
1Chro 24:8 The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
1Chro 24:9 The fifth to Malchijah, the sixth to Mijamin,
1Chro 24:10 The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah, [ Note the Greek old testament says "abia"]
1Chro 24:10 τω κως ο εβδομος τω αβια ο ογδοος
1Chro 24:11 The ninth to Jeshuah, the tenth to Shecaniah,
1Chro 24:12 The eleventh to Eliashib, the twelfth to Jakim,
1Chro 24:13 The thirteenth to Huppah, the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
1Chro 24:14 The fifteenth to Bilgah, the sixteenth to Immer,
1Chro 24:15 The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,
1Chro 24:16 The nineteenth to Pethahiah, the twentieth to Jehezekel,
1Chro 24:17 The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul,
1Chro 24:18 The three and twentieth to Delaiah, the four and twentieth to Maaziah.
1Chro 24:19 These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.

This order was temporarily destroyed at Babylonian captivity; but I understand it was reconstructed by Ezra after their return, so as to have the same names and order.

Luke uses the Greek OT. name of Zecharias course, saying:
Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth

And basically, I know each course of priests served twice a year for one week as a "division", plus three weeks a year at the three mandatory feasts, Passover, Pentecost, and Booths/Taberancles.

The part that's puzzling is that Luke says that Zachariah was serving in the order of his division, not at a feast....

Luke 1:8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

Now, the Jewish calendar has 51 weeks, 24 priest-weeks x 2 = 48 + 3 feasts = 51 weeks.

And Passover starts the calendar in the first Jewish month, 14th day; eg: it's after the third week of the Jewish month "Nissan", and immediately after passover,; so, that according to tradition -- the courses began serving in order right after passover....
Therefore, I estimate the feasts vs. courses should go something like this.

[passover] 1 2 3 4 5 6 [Pentecost] 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 [YomK 17] [Sukot/Booths] 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Passover is roughly late March through April;
Therefore the first time course #8 served is roughly June; and the second time Abia (#8) served must be roughly December.

Given that Jesus and John are 6 months apart in age, and Jesus is generally understood to have been born in December;
December - 9months ~= March 25 - 6months = ~late September is roughly John's conception date assuming it happened right after his talk with the Angel and was not delayed.

That is relatively close to Yom Kipur.
But that's also nowhere near the two times of year that I would expect Zacharias courses to naturally have been ordered as Luke says.

I wonder what's wrong....

Yom Kuipper is on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishiri) and Sukot/Booths -- is on the 15th day of the same month.
They are nearly a week apart, and Zachariah could only be serving at Yom Kipur if Yom Kipur and Sukot were not separated by a Saturday; so unless Sukot/Booths happened to fall on a natural Friday or Saturday, that year, I don't see how Zacharias could legally have been a priest offering incense. So, with no other information, there's only a 2/7 =~28% chance of Yom Kipur being served at by Zachariah's course, let alone by Zachariah, in any given year.

There was a thread not too long ago where someone had a really good explanation using the scriptures by when Mary visited Elizabeth, when John was born, and then Jesus and by when the feast were. Oh and by the stars, too. It made really good sense and showing that Jesus was born in the early fall. I think, around the feast of Tabernacles.So are you really off?
I knew I should have saved that in a file!!

 

[Sinthesis]

There was a thread not too long ago where someone had a really good explanation using the scriptures by when Mary visited Elizabeth, when John was born, and then Jesus and by when the feast were. Oh and by the stars, too. It made really good sense and showing that Jesus was born in the early fall. I think, around the feast of Tabernacles.So are you really off?
I knew I should have saved that in a file!!

If Jesus was born in September then Zachariah would have been visited in June. I do happen to believe Jesus was born in the Fall. (And it doesn't bother me in the least that we celebrate His birth Dec. 25th)

 

[Deborah13]

If Jesus was born in September then Zachariah would have been visited in June. I do happen to believe Jesus was born in the Fall. (And it doesn't bother me in the least that we celebrate His birth Dec. 25th)

It doesn't bother me either.
I do find it interesting in the light of scripture.

 

[Randy]

Luke 1:8-12
King James Version (KJV)
8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

Luke 1:8-12
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

These are my thoughts, please share yours.

8 Priests were sons of Aaron but by now there were many families that were of the priest they routed duties between the families. This was many generations after Aaron and the order was still in effect, this is good but after Christ dies this order becomes faulted because it is no longer God’s will.

9 This would have been frankincense. This was done with any offer that would be cooked. The frankincense was a good smell to the Lord.

10 The priest going in and doing this would have been the only one in there; the rest would have been outside. This most likely was the Day of Atonement, where everyone would leave the temple for the high priest to sacrifice that Passover Lamb for the sins of Israel.

11 The Lord had not sent someone before this time since the fiery furnace in Daniel. This was a transition because the Lord was coming and this is a period between the Old Covenant and New Covenant brought by Christ. Angels are servants of the Lord and often used to bring messages but have also been brought to do things of God such as bring Lot out of Sodom.

12 Angels often bring fear to people. No one was to be in the temple with him at this time but he would have clearly known it was an angel due to the fact that he was scared. God comes to us while we are living a normal life.

In regard to priesthood - Jesus is not a son of Levi - but a priest in the order of Melchiz′edek who was before levi was born. In other words a priest that is appointed by God not one based on genealogy. (Father and Mother) And as we believe the appointment term for Jesus, (the faithful High Priest), is forever.

Psalm 110
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest for ever
after the order of Melchiz′edek.”


In regard to Zacharias, who was on God's good side, he couldn't speak because at very the moment he was told about his soon to be son John he did not believe God.

Randy