Finally, after 400 years of silence from heaven, God sends the angel Gabriel to bring his good news to a priest named Zacharias, who is offering incense in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. When God last spoke to the people of Israel through His prophet Malachi, He told them:
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” -Malachi 4:5-6 (WEB)
When the silence from heaven is broken, God picks up right where He left off. His message to Zacharias is that the time is now ready for “Elijah” the prophet to come. Listen to what Gabriel spoke to Zacharias.
But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.” -Luke 1:13-17 (WEB)
Zacharias’ son will be the one who goes before the Messiah in the spirit and power of Elijah, preparing the hearts of the people to receive the Messiah’s message. This is amazing news! Zacharias, being a priest, will know exactly what Gabriel is talking about. But Zacharias’ response to the angel’s good news is perhaps a bit surprising. Well, maybe I should say it is a natural response. He really doesn’t have any experience with speaking with angels bringing heavenly messages, does he? So his natural, first response is more or less, “ That’s impossible!”
Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” Luke 1:18 (WEB)
Perhaps he is too stunned. Perhaps he finds this incredible. But for whatever reason, Zacharias cannot believe this message. His first instinct is to see all the impossibilities of this message, most notably, his age! But the angel is not giving up.
The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. Behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day that these things will happen, because you didn’t believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” Luke 1:19-20 (WEB)
After 400 years of silence, a message from God arrives, hand delivered by an angel of God, and what happens? It is not believed! So, the consequence of not believing is…more silence! Only this time, it is not God who is silent, it is the one who received the message.
And you know, the same is true of us today. Unbelief makes us silent. God has given us so many messages of good news in the Bible. But sometimes we find them too good to be true. And when we don’t believe it, we can’t use our voices to praise God for it.
What are some messages you might find difficult to believe? Is it too hard to believe that He loves you with an everlasting love? (Jeremiah 31:3) Is it too hard to believe that He will forgive your sin? (1 John 1:9) Is it too good to be true that He knows you and wants to have a relationship with you? (Revelation 3:20, Psalm 139:1-18) Can you believe that He will never leave you (Psalm 23:4, Hebrews 13:5b), or that He is powerful enough to meet every need (Isaiah 46:4, Philippians 4:19), or to help you forgive? (Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 4:32) All these things and more can be found in the Bible, and yet sometimes we don’t quite believe them. They are too good to be true.
And when we don’t believe them, we are silent. We don’t share these truths with others. And we don’t praise God for them.
Well, Zacharias has a good long time of silence to think this over. And months later, when his son is born, he is called on to settle a dispute about what the child’s name will be. Zacharias knows what the angel told him to name this child.
And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” So they all marveled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God.
Luke 1:63-64 (NKJV)
What is the first thing Zacharias does when he can finally speak? He praises God! The fulfillment of the Lord’s message is here. He believes! And Zacharias is overflowing with praise to God.
Let’s ask God to help us with our unbelief. Let’s trust that He is able to do what He says He will do. And then let’s get busy thanking and praising God for His messages of love to us.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the World English Bible marked as WEB. Public Domain.