My
beloved wife, has, from time to time, described me as being a bit on
the stubborn side. The phrase she uses is something like: “You
make a Missouri mule seem obedient.” Well, I may be a bit set in
my ways, but I do like to think I would at at least recognize, listen
to, and believe the words of an angel, should one appear to me. Not
so Zechariah. Zechariah was a priest in the order of Abijah. He was
old at the time of this story, and he and his wife had failed at one
of their most important cultural duties, bearing children. In
Israel and among oriental peoples generally barrenness was a woman's
and a family's greatest misfortune. The highest sanctions of religion
and patriotism blessed the fruitful woman, because children were
necessary for the perpetuation of the tribe and its religion. Indeed,
barrenness was considered a punishment, though for the life of him,
Zechariah could not understand why he was punished. Some scholars
suggest that by this time, probably the only time in his life he
would serve at the temple, his faith had been reduced to a mere
repetition of the prescribed rituals; he was simply going through the
motions.
How
many of us are, or know folks like that? Every Sunday finds them in
church; they start and end their day with prayer; they treat others
as they would want to be treated and even go out of their way to aid
and assist those in need. Yet, in their hearts the”re is no fire.
They even contemplate why they do all these things. Maybe it's like
my Daddy told me: “There are some things you do simply because they
are things you do. For Zechariah, going through the motions was what
one did simply because one was born a priest.
And
so, when Abijah's order was called, Zechariah dutifully reported to
the temple where he offered sacrifices, adjudicated legal matters,
pronounced blessings over the people and performed other priestly
tasks. Then one day he won the lottery. It was the custom that each
day a lottery was held to determine who would enter the Sanctuary and
burn the incense. The Sanctuary was the most sacred part of the
Temple. It was an impressively high building, of white stones some
of which were of very great size: 36 feet long, 18 feet broad and 12
feet high! The building had a vestibule and two halls. The first
hall was called the Holy Place. No one was allowed to enter it,
except priests twice a day. It was beautifully decorated, as
described in 1 Kings 6,15-36. The inner sanctuary was thirty feet in
length, width, and height. Solomon overlaid it with pure gold and
covered the altar with cedar.[a] 21 Solomon covered the temple’s
interior with pure gold. He placed gold chains in front of the inner
sanctuary and covered it with gold.
There
were three main religious objects in the Holy Place: the altar on
which incense was burned, the table with bread offerings and the
candlestick with seven branches.
It
was here that God interacted with humans, and here that God
interacted with Zechariah through the angel Gabriel. While there
are unknown thousands of angels in the bible, only three, Michael,
Gabriel, and Lucifer are named. Michael the Archangel is the leader
of all angels and of the army of God. Gabriel is the messenger
Most
modern images of angels are sweet, cherubic appearing creatures in
white flowing gowns, with halos and lovely wings...the parts played
by little children in the classic Christmas pageant. But that's not
an accurate or realistic image. Daniel was terrified when he saw
Gabriel and fell with his face to the ground. While we do not know
exactly what he looked like, we do know two things: His appearance
was frightening, and he was recognizable as an angel.
As
Zechariah was in the Sanctuary burning the incense, all the people
who gathered to worship were praying outside. 11 An angel from the
Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
12 When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and overcome with
fear.
“Don't
be afraid” Gabriel begins his message: “Your prayers have been
heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son and you must
name him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many
people will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the
Lord’s eyes. He must not drink wine and liquor. He will be filled
with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. 16 He will bring many
Israelites back to the Lord their God. 17 He will go forth before the
Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the
hearts of fathers[a] back to their children, and he will turn the
disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a
people prepared for the Lord.”
Poor
stubborn, faith-lost Zechariah. Not only can he not believe what he
has heard from the angel; he voices his disbelief. “I'm too old.”
he says; “so is my wife.”
“Well,
then,” answers Gabriel, “because you didn’t believe, you will
remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things
happen.”
When
Zechariah comes out of the Sanctuary, it is clear to those waiting
that something has happened. Because he was unable to speak to
them,and could only gesture, they realized he had seen a vision.
We
don't know how Zechariah explained to Elizabeth what had happened,
but Gabriel was right, an elated Elizabeth soon found herself
pregnant... (Luk 1:24) and for five months she did not leave the
house. She said to herself, (Luk 1:25) "What the Lord has done
for me will keep people from looking down on me."Even when we
doubt God, even when our faith is reduced to simply going through the
motions, God doesn't give up on us. Even though we may think God
doesn't hear our prayers, that they are just empty recitations, God
listens. God answers. It may not be when or how we think it should
be, but God listens and fulfills our needs. Somewhere deep down in
the bottom of his soul, Zechariah found the faith to recognize
Gabriel, and the courage to ask “How?” In silencing Zechariah's
tongue, Gabriel also silenced his doubts and restored his lost faith.
If we can only find the strength to confess our doubts, to continue
to pray when praying seems useless, we, too, will find our prayers
answered and our faith restored.
May
you see the angels this Advent. AMEN.
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