Day 8 – Gabriel and Zechariah
Study Luke 1:21-25
“And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” Luke 1:19-20 NKJV
Much like Sarah’s doubt in Genesis when Abraham was told they would have a son, we see the same reaction from Zechariah at the announcement of the birth of the forerunner for the Messiah. And just like Moses and Gideon, Zechariah asked for a sign: “How shall I know this?”
I understand his wondering; he needed assurance – just like we still do today. It is not that he did not want to believe this promise; it could be that he felt it was simply too good to be true. In the human nature we all know so well, he might have wanted to protect himself from disappointment. Zechariah looked at his circumstances first, and what God could do last. We are tempted to think this is logical – BUT GOD is real, and there is nothing logical about putting circumstances before God. When we do not believe God’s promise for our lives, we do not necessarily destroy the promise, but we destroy our ability to enjoy it. We rob ourselves of the joy of God’s miracles in our lives with this attitude.
Gabriel (meaning 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 or mighty one) answered by announcing himself to give assurance to the priest. As a priest, Zechariah would have studied and known the prophecies; Gabriel appeared twice to Daniel, and this should have been highly familiar to Zechariah.
Since Zechariah asked for a sign rather than just believing the word of the Lord, he was given the sign of silence. Unbelief kept the priest from speaking until his faith rose. What made this such a severe punishment was that he had such great news to tell…
Pray with me: Father, please forgive my fallible humanity when I struggle to have faith in what I think is impossible. Help me build my faith to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that absolutely nothing is impossible for You. Thank You for answering my prayers with words from Heaven and teach me to incorporate them in a strong foundation of faith. Amen. ©
Love, Pastor Iriza
