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18 December 2007
Word on the Web
Luke 1: 18-25
Zechariah said to the angel, "How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too."
The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand before God, who sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen. "
Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple. When Zechariah came outside, he could not speak to them, and they knew he had seen a vision in the Temple. He could only make signs to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service at the Temple was finished, he went home.
Later, Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and did not go out of her house for five months. Elizabeth said, "Look what the Lord has done for me! My people were ashamed of me, but now the Lord has taken away that shame."
Angels have a reputation for being sweet-natured and ethereal creatures - but not Gabriel. He was a 'don't mess with me because I work closely with The Boss' sort of angel! Zechariah really should have known better - after all he had been a priest for many years and a god-fearing man all his life. Yet here he is questioning the truth of the great archangel's God-given message, and Gabriel is not impressed! It was not the fact that Zechariah questioned Gabriel, but that his question revealed his inability to accept and believe what God had said through him. Zechariah wanted confirmation and so Gabriel gives him a sign, he silences him for nine months!
Zechariah doesn't even seem to have communicated to Elizabeth what Gabriel had said (was he still disbelieving or did he not want to get her hopes up?). Neither does God send an angelic messenger to her. Yet she is in no doubt that her pregnancy was miraculous, she was after all considered old and barren. In contrast to her husband, Elizabeth responds with belief and wonder to what God is doing. She is deeply grateful to God, for this pregnancy takes away the shame of her infertility.
Zechariah and Elizabeth now enter a time of waiting. They have already waited many years for God to answer their prayers but I expect that these last nine months were highly significant. Zechariah has time to reflect on what Gabriel said and what God was going to do for them, and for the nation of Israel. Elizabeth withdraws and also keeps silent until she is through those early vulnerable months and until it will be physically obvious even to the sceptics. Waiting for God to act is a faith-building exercise - taking patience, hope and trust in a faithful God.
Take a moment to think about something that you have prayed for for a long time. Then pray this prayer:
Father God I have waited so long for you to answer this prayer. Please help me as I wait to wait with patience, hope and trust - knowing you to be a God who is utterly faithful and able to do far more than I can ask or even imagine. And when you answer my prayers, help me to be like Elizabeth and respond with belief and wonder, and not respond like Zechariah with scepticism and disbelief. Amen
Written by Christine Gore
Word on the Web
Luke 1: 18-25
Zechariah said to the angel, "How can I know that what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too."
The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand before God, who sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, because you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen. "
Outside, the people were still waiting for Zechariah and were surprised that he was staying so long in the Temple. When Zechariah came outside, he could not speak to them, and they knew he had seen a vision in the Temple. He could only make signs to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service at the Temple was finished, he went home.
Later, Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and did not go out of her house for five months. Elizabeth said, "Look what the Lord has done for me! My people were ashamed of me, but now the Lord has taken away that shame."
Angels have a reputation for being sweet-natured and ethereal creatures - but not Gabriel. He was a 'don't mess with me because I work closely with The Boss' sort of angel! Zechariah really should have known better - after all he had been a priest for many years and a god-fearing man all his life. Yet here he is questioning the truth of the great archangel's God-given message, and Gabriel is not impressed! It was not the fact that Zechariah questioned Gabriel, but that his question revealed his inability to accept and believe what God had said through him. Zechariah wanted confirmation and so Gabriel gives him a sign, he silences him for nine months!
Zechariah doesn't even seem to have communicated to Elizabeth what Gabriel had said (was he still disbelieving or did he not want to get her hopes up?). Neither does God send an angelic messenger to her. Yet she is in no doubt that her pregnancy was miraculous, she was after all considered old and barren. In contrast to her husband, Elizabeth responds with belief and wonder to what God is doing. She is deeply grateful to God, for this pregnancy takes away the shame of her infertility.
Zechariah and Elizabeth now enter a time of waiting. They have already waited many years for God to answer their prayers but I expect that these last nine months were highly significant. Zechariah has time to reflect on what Gabriel said and what God was going to do for them, and for the nation of Israel. Elizabeth withdraws and also keeps silent until she is through those early vulnerable months and until it will be physically obvious even to the sceptics. Waiting for God to act is a faith-building exercise - taking patience, hope and trust in a faithful God.
Take a moment to think about something that you have prayed for for a long time. Then pray this prayer:
Father God I have waited so long for you to answer this prayer. Please help me as I wait to wait with patience, hope and trust - knowing you to be a God who is utterly faithful and able to do far more than I can ask or even imagine. And when you answer my prayers, help me to be like Elizabeth and respond with belief and wonder, and not respond like Zechariah with scepticism and disbelief. Amen
Written by Christine Gore
