DAY 4: Zechariah’s Muteness
“And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.’ And the angel answered him, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.’ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ‘Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.’” – Luke 1:18-25 ESV
My Thoughts:
Archangel Gabriel Struck Zechariah Mute by Alexander Ivanov (1824)
Zechariah, being a priest, knew God’s history with babies being conceived in impossible circumstances. For instance, when Sarah overheard the LORD tell Abraham that she and Abraham (who was 100 when Isaac was born) were to have a son in their old age, she laughed, because “the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah” (Gen 18:11). Thus, when the baby was born they named him Isaac, which means “he laughs.” Abraham had great faith in God. As the Apostle Paul says of Abraham and his faith:
“In hope he [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4: 18-21 ESV).
Likewise, an angel of the LORD appears to Samson’s mother. She was barren and had no children. He tells her that she will conceive and bear a son and to raise him as a Nazirite (one who abstains from wine, grapes, cutting of the hair, becoming unclean, etc). And He tells her that Samson will help to free Israel from the Philistines, their enemy (Judges 13). And we must not forget Hannah, the mother of Samuel, the judge and prophet. She was barren, for ‘the LORD had closed her womb’ (1 Samuel 1:5). And this made her very sad. She prayed to the LORD and vowed that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate his life to the LORD. The LORD remembered her and she conceived and bore a son, Samuel. She obediently gave him to the Temple priests to be raised ‘in the presence of the LORD’ as she had vowed.
And so when the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah, he should have believed. The births of Isaac, Samson, and Samuel were proof of God’s power in bleak circumstances. He should have believed that with God, anything is possible—even a child in old age. Thus, Zechariah would remain mute until John’s birth for his disbelief.
“God’s grace toward his children is infused in everything he does for them, even when he chastens them. God always turns his rebukes into rewards for his own.” – John Piper
Music: Fur Elise by The Vince Guaraldi Trio (click link to play music)
Prayer:
May Christ, the King of Glory, be manifest in you,
that your lives may be a light to the world;
and the blessing of God almighty,
Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life,
remain with you now and always. Amen.
