Sunday School

THE LESSON BACKGROUND. Malachi, the last prophet of Israel prophesied during the 5th century. As a result, four hundred years passed without a message from God. The silence was finally broken when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, the elderly priest, while he served in the temple and revealed that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son who would prepare Israel for the Messiah (see Luke 1:5-17). Zacharias didn’t believe Gabriel’s message, so God took away his ability to speak until what was prophesied by Gabriel came to pass (see Luke 1:20-22). After Zacharias finished his term serving in the temple, he returned to his own house (see Luke 1:23). Then Luke tells us that Elisabeth soon conceived and stayed out of the public for five months while commenting on what God was doing in her life (see Luke 1:24-25). Six months later, God sent Gabriel again, but this time to a young virgin who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. This is where our lesson begins.