Holy Boldness

Israel’s legacy of Supernatural Births

Mary and Elizabeth were both women from the tribes of Israel and therefore would have been raised knowing the stories of divine interventions often initiated with some kind of supernatural birth. Israel’s story is filled with this kind of heavenly intrusion. Beginning with Abraham and Sarah and the supernatural birth of Isaac in their old age, and then on to Rebecca and Rachel. All three wives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were barren women whose womb God opened up after prayer. But it did not stop there. The birth of Moses was also considered a providential birth during a time of great distress due to Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the male children of Israel. His parents knew that he had a special calling from the moment he was born and so they hid him. But then there are many others: Hannah was barren and gave birth to Samuel. Samson’s mother was also barren but then she was visited by an angel, told she would have a son and that he was to be a Nazarite. Divine intervention through the giving of sons was such a prominent theme in ancient Israel that several of the prophets began to announce that God’s promises would be fulfilled through the giving of a special son. “For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given and the government shall rest upon His shoulders. Isaiah 9: 6 This theme ran deep in the hearts of the Jewish people. “Sing O barren woman”, wrote Isaiah, “for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of she who is married.” (Isaiah 54:1) Pregnancy was considered the work of God which played a role in seeing the king dom of God come to the earth. Mary and Elizabeth were two unexpectedly pregnant women caught up in a spirit-filled divine encounter with each other releasing an outburst of prophetic expression as they celebrated the implications of carrying in their wombs the future of the nation of Israel, the forerunner prophet, John the Baptist, and the savior of the world, Jesus.

Finding the right fellowship in the early stages

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