Zacharias – A Lesson to learn from
Luke 1:10-13,15-20 KJV
[10] And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. [11] And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. [12] And when Zacharias saw him , he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. [15] For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. [16] And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. [17] And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. [18] And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. [19] And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. [20] And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Contrary to popular belief, the New Testament story of Jesus doesn’t begin with the angel and Mary.
Before Mary was visited by the angel; before the Savior’s birth in a stable, there was the story of Zacharias.
Zacharias was a priest, and on the day which Gabriel the angel appeared to him, it was allotted to Zacharias to keep the alter of incense in temple.
The angel Gabriel starts by saying to Zacharias that “his prayer has been heard.”
There seems to be no distinction here between the prayer being “heard” and being “answered”.
The prayer that God “hears”, is the prayer that God “answers”.
Zacharias was upright before God, but there were obviously those in the Old Testament whose prayers were not heard by God because of their sin.
Many Christians today, would not agree that God answers every prayer of the believer, but that is contrary to what the Bible teaches us.
After all, sometimes people die despite our prayers, and sometimes those that pray for a child are left barren.
Does this mean that God doesn’t hear their prayers, or see their tears?
No.
I believe that God hears every prayer, and that God always wants the best for us. I also believe in healing and miracles. When we don’t see a healing or a miracle, it doesn’t mean that God didn’t do His part.
God has given everything to us through Jesus.
We must believe, and when faith seems to fail, we should still bless the Lord.
God is not responsible for our issues.
Zacharias had prayed for a child, but in his old age, he did not believe that his prayer would be answered.
If Zacharias had simply said that he was too old, perhaps that could be understood as merely a lack of faith, but Zacharias wasn’t humble and proceded to not only refute the glad tidings from God but to also blame his wife for their inability to have children.
Does that sound familiar?
Zacharias was not unlike Adam in the garden of Eden, who fearfully blamed his wife when answering to God.
Gabriel knew that Zacharias had prayed for a child; something that could only be divinely known, and still Zacharias didn’t believe.
Zacharias is a priest who is extolled in the scriptures as walking blameless before God, following all the commandments and ordinances, and yet this priest did not believe an angel of the Lord.
You would expect a priest to believe whatever the angel said with a perfect faith, but we must remember that in those days, faith was hard to find in Israel.
Zacharias responds to this “answer” of his prayer with an attitude of unbelief and a demand for proof that it will happen.
Religious ordinances and rituals had replaced faith, love and mercy, and Zacharias must have been profoundly religious, following all the laws, traditions and rituals to the letter of the law, while completely missing the faith, love and mercy that God intended for him to have.
Today, many Christians go about doing “good works”, trying to meet every requirement, tradition and ritual that their religion demands, while completely missing the Gospel truth of God’s love, grace and power.
Scholars believe that Zacharias was punished by God for his unbelief and made mute to teach him humility.
I don’t believe that is true. I believe that God had a very specific reason for making Zacharias mute until John the Baptist had been born.
You see, God’s Word created the Heavens and the Earth. His Word being spoken by prophets over many many years is what brought about the birth of Christ. Christ was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but God required that men would prophecy Christ into being! It was by our rejection of God’s Word that we fell from grace in the garden of Eden, and God required that it be our faith in speaking forth God’s Word to bring about the Savior of mankind.
Zacharias specifically was made mute so that he would be unable to utter any more words of unbelief. It may be hard to believe that mankind could play such a pivotal role in God’s plan, but this should come as no surprise! God has always accomplished His will through men.
Zacharias displayed such overwhelming unbelief in the middle of overwhelming truth that his unbelief surely would have cancelled and made of no effect the miracle that was about to become manifest.
Zacharias could have poisoned this miracle with his unbelief!
The alter of incense was in the Holy place, and only priests would have been allowed inside.
Despite the appearance of Gabriel (obviously not a priest) by the alter, and the nearly too-good-to-be-true news that Gabriel provided, Zacharias could only see in the flesh. His response was “From who/where does this knowledge come from?”
Here was a man that was completely dedicated to God, and the work of God, who completely missed God when God revealed Himself.
When we ask God for direction, God hears and God answers.
He never withholds His will for us when we ask.
Like Zacharias, we can find ourselves so out-of-tune with faith, love and mercy. We become self-absorbed and focused on our problems that we are unable to hear God’s directions, even when they appear so clearly in front of us.
Jesus found faith in Israel. He found it amongst the hurting; the sick; the outcasts; the unbelievers.
It was often among the religious; the zealots; even His own disciples that He could find no faith.
Let us remember that our words are powerful, and we can either speak life or death.
God wants to bless us and lead us all the time. Our words can either speak positively about God’s best for our lives or speak negativity and foolishness that can prevent us from receiving every good thing that God has for us.
Before Mary was visited by the angel; before the Savior’s birth in a stable, there was the story of Zacharias.
Zacharias was a priest, and on the day which Gabriel the angel appeared to him, it was allotted to Zacharias to keep the alter of incense in temple.
The angel Gabriel starts by saying to Zacharias that “his prayer has been heard.”
There seems to be no distinction here between the prayer being “heard” and being “answered”.
The prayer that God “hears”, is the prayer that God “answers”.
Zacharias was upright before God, but there were obviously those in the Old Testament whose prayers were not heard by God because of their sin.
Many Christians today, would not agree that God answers every prayer of the believer, but that is contrary to what the Bible teaches us.
After all, sometimes people die despite our prayers, and sometimes those that pray for a child are left barren.
Does this mean that God doesn’t hear their prayers, or see their tears?
No.
I believe that God hears every prayer, and that God always wants the best for us. I also believe in healing and miracles. When we don’t see a healing or a miracle, it doesn’t mean that God didn’t do His part.
God has given everything to us through Jesus.
We must believe, and when faith seems to fail, we should still bless the Lord.
God is not responsible for our issues.
Zacharias had prayed for a child, but in his old age, he did not believe that his prayer would be answered.
If Zacharias had simply said that he was too old, perhaps that could be understood as merely a lack of faith, but Zacharias wasn’t humble and proceded to not only refute the glad tidings from God but to also blame his wife for their inability to have children.
Does that sound familiar?
Zacharias was not unlike Adam in the garden of Eden, who fearfully blamed his wife when answering to God.
Gabriel knew that Zacharias had prayed for a child; something that could only be divinely known, and still Zacharias didn’t believe.
Zacharias is a priest who is extolled in the scriptures as walking blameless before God, following all the commandments and ordinances, and yet this priest did not believe an angel of the Lord.
You would expect a priest to believe whatever the angel said with a perfect faith, but we must remember that in those days, faith was hard to find in Israel.
Zacharias responds to this “answer” of his prayer with an attitude of unbelief and a demand for proof that it will happen.
Religious ordinances and rituals had replaced faith, love and mercy, and Zacharias must have been profoundly religious, following all the laws, traditions and rituals to the letter of the law, while completely missing the faith, love and mercy that God intended for him to have.
Today, many Christians go about doing “good works”, trying to meet every requirement, tradition and ritual that their religion demands, while completely missing the Gospel truth of God’s love, grace and power.
Scholars believe that Zacharias was punished by God for his unbelief and made mute to teach him humility.
I don’t believe that is true. I believe that God had a very specific reason for making Zacharias mute until John the Baptist had been born.
You see, God’s Word created the Heavens and the Earth. His Word being spoken by prophets over many many years is what brought about the birth of Christ. Christ was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but God required that men would prophecy Christ into being! It was by our rejection of God’s Word that we fell from grace in the garden of Eden, and God required that it be our faith in speaking forth God’s Word to bring about the Savior of mankind.
Zacharias specifically was made mute so that he would be unable to utter any more words of unbelief. It may be hard to believe that mankind could play such a pivotal role in God’s plan, but this should come as no surprise! God has always accomplished His will through men.
Zacharias displayed such overwhelming unbelief in the middle of overwhelming truth that his unbelief surely would have cancelled and made of no effect the miracle that was about to become manifest.
Zacharias could have poisoned this miracle with his unbelief!
The alter of incense was in the Holy place, and only priests would have been allowed inside.
Despite the appearance of Gabriel (obviously not a priest) by the alter, and the nearly too-good-to-be-true news that Gabriel provided, Zacharias could only see in the flesh. His response was “From who/where does this knowledge come from?”
Here was a man that was completely dedicated to God, and the work of God, who completely missed God when God revealed Himself.
When we ask God for direction, God hears and God answers.
He never withholds His will for us when we ask.
Like Zacharias, we can find ourselves so out-of-tune with faith, love and mercy. We become self-absorbed and focused on our problems that we are unable to hear God’s directions, even when they appear so clearly in front of us.
Jesus found faith in Israel. He found it amongst the hurting; the sick; the outcasts; the unbelievers.
It was often among the religious; the zealots; even His own disciples that He could find no faith.
Let us remember that our words are powerful, and we can either speak life or death.
God wants to bless us and lead us all the time. Our words can either speak positively about God’s best for our lives or speak negativity and foolishness that can prevent us from receiving every good thing that God has for us.