December 6
Fresh Silence
Luke 1:19-20
And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”
So here we have Zacharias the old priest serving in the temple by what some might call the luck of the draw. Zacharias, by the time of his service, was both old and burdened.
He was conscious of his nation’s predicament, they were God’s chosen people, but they were living under the weight of Roman occupation, that was often brutal in its execution. He was also burdened by his personal circumstances; he and the old girl had no child.
The Jews were a tough people, they had endured hardships and captivity and were found to be resilient and willing to push on. The Jews constantly inventing new rules to live by and to order their individual, family, community, and national life. These Jews they had a list of ways by which they could toss you out from your Godly heritage, for example, a Jew with no wife could be tossed out or a Jew with a wife who had no child (in fact childlessness was a ground for divorce).
So, Zacharias, with the privilege of being present in the place of prayer, the incense altar, seized the opportunity to pray, one more time, for a child with his old wife who he clearly loved, and to pray for his people Israel.
It was there, in that moment of anguish and hope, that Gabriel made his sudden, but silent, appearance. Gabriel, God’s messenger, God’s bearer of answers to prayer, was in the silence speaking to Zacharias.
To Zacharias this encounter was incredible. How could it be that angel Gabriel was talking with him face to face. The old priest was also incredulous at the declarations being made to him by this Gabriel. In one fell swoop God was going to answer the prayers of Zacharias for the nation, and the prayers of Zacharias for his family.
Old man Zacharias was going to have a child by Elizabeth, old herself. God was about to give Zacharias the thing that mostly represented his faith, a son. Dear old Elizabeth was going to have her reproach removed. And the nation, dragging itself under the weight of a seeming silent God was going to have a prophetic voice once in the streets again.
Zacharias couldn’t believe his good fortune. Now, not only was he chosen to serve, out of so many, he was again chosen to be the means through which the God of the universe would usher in the next extraordinary period of His redemptive intervention in human history. Zacharias, though faithful and prayerful, still couldn’t believe it.
Zacharias opened his mouth and expressed his doubt and for that he was struck silent. The silence was broken but new silence was given. Struck dumb the old man couldn’t perform his remaining duties properly, he couldn’t pronounce the blessing on a waiting congregation, he couldn’t tell them that their God had broken the silence because he was now silent.
Let’s just imagine Zacharias for a moment, he was the only one in the nation who knew that God was ‘active’ again in their lives for redemption. He had the convincing evidence that the nation needed but he was silent and could not speak it. Imagine the people waiting to hear him but he was not pronouncing the blessing that would change them. Imagine him having to serve for the rest of the week will all this information inside of him. Imagine him going home to Elizabeth silent and unable to explain his actions.
Think on these things:
- What are your expectations of God actually answering the prayers that you pray for things that seem to you unlikely?
- Silence does not mean that God is not at work, is there any area of your life or and situation where you see change even though you have not heard the voice of God?
- God often fixes the individual through whom He will fix the family and/or the community and/or the nation; are you in prayer for your family members, community, and nation?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that where people are living as though God has not spoken, we would become His voice to them.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
