Why Did She Hide?

So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed,

that he departed to his own house.

Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived;

and she hid herself five months, saying,

"Thus the Lord has dealt with me,

in the days when He looked on me,

to take away my reproach among people."

Luke 1:23-25

I think one of the more curious elements of this wonderful story is that Zacharias went home mute after his week of service in the temple was completed and managed immediately to get his wife pregnant. Someone with a sense of humor might suggest that not being able to talk might help any man's chances, but we'll just leave that alone for now. But being struck mute must have made an impression on Zacharias; he went right home and put God's promise to the test. Within weeks, Zacharias and Elizabeth both knew the whole angelic-appearance-promise-of-a-baby event had not been an hallucination or the figment of an old man's imagination.

And when Elizabeth was certain she had indeed conceived, the gospel tells us that she hid herself for five months. I don't think it had anything to do with being ashamed of her condition, being in the family way and all, but it might have had something to do with the reproach she had borne for the entirety of her marriage. In a culture that makes much of young marriages and quick conceptions, viewing pregnancy as a sign of God's blessing on a union, when a woman failed to conceive (and it was always perceived as a problem with the woman; even the gospel says it was Elizabeth who was barren) she was considered suspect in the community. What had this woman done to displease God? Why had God shut up her womb? Why was God choosing not to honor this woman?

The Bible shows us various ways that people handled similar situations. Sarah, the first barren woman of which we are made aware, sent her servant into Abraham to conceive a son that would be born on Sarah's knees (the ancient middle eastern concept of surrogacy). Hannah's husband took a second wife by whom he had several children, even though he still loved Hannah most. Jacob's wives constantly fought over him and competed for his affections, constantly bartering for his services and when their own wombs didn't give into their demands, they also sent their servants into him. But it seems that Elizabeth and Zacharias had resorted to none of these tactics. They followed the example of Isaac, who simply prayed for his wife for twenty years before she finally conceived the twins Esau and Jacob.

And now that she had conceived, Elizabeth went into seclusion and announced that the Lord had dealt with her, that He had also looked upon her, and after years of waiting and longing and hoping and praying, Elizabeth rejoiced that the Lord had at last removed her reproach among her people. God had finally favored her with a child; Zacharias would have an heir to carry on his family name and receive his family's inheritance.

But why hide herself? Perhaps she, like many women today, feared telling anybody for the first three months because it's in the first trimester that things tend to go wrong (if they're going to go wrong). Perhaps there was a little element of embarrassment, for when her peers were trading stories of their grandchildren, Elizabeth herself was still carrying on with her husband like a young woman...and it had finally paid off. Perhaps she closed herself off in order to prepare her for the magnitude of what she and Zacharias had been promised--a prophet who would arrive in the spirit and power of Elijah to do great things among the people before the arrival of the Messiah. One thing is sure, though. Elizabeth was taking her role in the unfolding plan of God very seriously. Something great was about to happen!