and prayed outside the sanctuary. According to the Mishnah (a second-century AD document recording Jewish traditions), the priests performing the day’s duties were to stand on the porch before the people and pronounce a blessing.16 Unfortunately, Zacharias bore the telltale signs of a man who either had received a divine vision or had profaned the Lord’s temple. Clearly he had encountered God, but his inability to speak (or hear [1:62]) could have been interpreted in one of two ways. Both Ezekiel