And in verse eighteen (1 Chronicles 24:18): “The three and twentieth (twenty-third lot) to Delaiah, and the four and twentieth (twenty-fourth lot) to Maaziah”. Under these chief men or chief priests were other priests made to serve. The question remains: What lot did Zachariah the priest, father of John the Baptist, serve? In Luke one and verse five (Luke 1: 5) we read: “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia:”. There you have it! Zachariah served during the course of Abia/Abijah.

The name “Abia” and “Abijah” refers to the same person. One is translated from the Hebrew (Old Testament) as Abijah and the other from the Greek (New Testament) as “Abia”. Another example is found in the book of Luke 17:26: where the Hebrew (Old Testament) name “Noah” is translated as “Noe” in the Greek (New Testament).   

Verse ten of first Chronicles chapter twenty-four (1 Chronicles 24: 10) tells us which lot Abijah served under. In it (1 Chronicles 24:10) we read: “The seventh [seventh lot] to Hakkoz, the eight [eight lot] to Abijah,”.   There is the answer! Abijah served in the eighth lot and Zachariah, serving under Abijah, would therefore have served in the eighth lot also (Luke 1:5). Now, remember, a lot consists of a two-week duty period, and a course is 48 weeks or one year. Therefore Zachariah, serving in the eighth lot under Abijah would have served in the sixteenth week (2 weeks per lot multiply by 8 for the eighth lot) or the fourth month of the year (16 weeks divided by four).  

It is very important to notice that God’s Biblical calendar does not start in the middle of winter (January) but, rather, in the month of “Abib” in the spring, right after the first new moon. The word “Abib’ in fact means: ‘tender or green, i.e. a young ear of grain” (Strong’s Bible Dictionary) and referenced the crop of Barley which was observed for clues as to what time of Spring the first month begins. Spring would usually begin in what is today called late March or early April and so, since Zachariah’s lot was in the fourth month that would therefore bring us to July or August by today’s calendar. The angel of the Lord would have appeared to Zachariah in what is today called July or August. 

In Luke 1: 23 – 24 we read: “and it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his [Zacharias] ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days [the days of his ministration] his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, …”.  Notice that as soon as his days of ministering his duty (two weeks) was over, he went to his “own house” and his wife conceived! Elisabeth would have carried the child in her womb for nine months and so John would have been born somewhere about March or April (nine months from the month of July). Therefore Christ, being born six months later, would have been born somewhere in September or October.  

Jesus Christ said that: “But the hour commeth and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such (true worshipers) to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4: 23-24). Are you a “true worshiper”? Are you worshiping God in spirit and in “truth”? What is “truth”? Jesus tells us in John 17: 17 (John chapter seventeen and verse seventeen): “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”. Yes, the word of God is “truth”. To worship God in “truth” means to worship Him according to His word, and not according to pagan customs and practices.