Unbelief

March 23

Numbers 23-24

Psalm 37:1-6

Proverbs 8:30-31

Luke 1:1-25

Unbelief

“And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know this?  For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.’  And the angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.  And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe by words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”  Luke 1:18-20  LSB

Zachariah was a priest in Israel, and a descendant of Aaron.  It is estimated that there were 10,000-20,000 priests eligible to serve at this time.  Most priests only served in the temple one time during their life.  The assignment was given by lot and involved offering incense during the morning and evening sacrifice.  This would have been a special day for  Zachariah and his family when his lot was drawn and it was his turn to serve in the Temple.  Barrenness in Biblical times held a stigma and shame that was heartbreaking.  Longing for a child and being unable to conceive is always difficult, but in that day it was believed that barrenness meant you did not have God’s favor.  It was seen as either punishment for sin or that God had removed His blessing from you.  Luke described Elizabeth and Zachariah as righteous and faithful.  There was nothing that anyone could point to as an explanation for why Elizabeth could not bear children.  Yet their prayers had gone unanswered and they remained childless.  Elizabeth did not become bitter or angry or turn away from God.  In fact, Zachariah and Elizabeth remained faithful year after year. 

              When it came time for Zachariah to serve in the temple, he went in to burn the incense while the worshippers were outside praying.  He was standing at the right side of the altar of incense when an angel appeared to him and told him that his prayers had been answered and that his wife was going to bear a son.  The angel explained that they were to name him John, he would be a blessing to them and that he would prepare the way for the Lord to bring people back to God.  He was never to drink wine or fermented drink and he would be filled with the Holy Spirit before he was born. Zachariah was scared and asked how this could possibly be true because he and his wife were old.  The angel told him that because he did not believe he was going to be unable to speak until his words came true at their appointed time.  When he came out, he could not speak to tell them what had happened.  They knew that he had seen a vision and he tried to make signs to tell them but they didn’t understand.  It is interesting to note that when the angel came to Mary and told her she was going to have a baby, she also asked how it could happen because she was a virgin, but she was not punished for questioning.  It seems that Mary’s question was not in disbelief.  She was asking how it was going to happen believing that it was true but wanting an explanation about how it would come about.  God knew that Zachariah was questioning if what the angel told him was really going to happen.  He was asking because he didn’t believe it.  When Zachariah returned home, Elizabeth became pregnant as the angel had said.  Once John was born, Zechariah was able to speak and tell them what had happened, but he spent months unable to talk because he doubted.  There are consequences to unbelief.