God, Our Unbelief, and The Words We Say
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.”
Luke 1:18-20 ESV Read More
There are plenty of times when God shows mercy to people that don’t fully believe Him. He shows mercy to Sarah when she laughs at the announcement of Isaac’s birth. He works with Gideon to help him believe that God will really lead him to victory. God even gives King Ahaz a sign when Ahaz won’t ask for one to prove that God is true.
Not only does God show Zechariah mercy when he asks “how shall I know this?” but He also brings Zechariah into a closer knowledge of angels than anyone else has ever known. To know someone’s name in the ancient world was a big deal. People would welcome guests from far away and serve them a complete meal before asking who they were. When Gabriel says his name, he is revealing something that no other angel in Scripture has revealed about them self. His name represents a closeness to Zechariah and authority before God.
The stupid answer, of course, to Zechariah’s question is that he’ll know it when his wife has a baby. Since that would leave some room for doubt for a few months, Gabriel shuts him up. The mute miracle also makes something happen right then and there so that nobody can say that Elizabeth got pregnant from natural causes.
The old joke is that this mute miracle was a blessing for Elizabeth for Zechariah to be mute during her pregnancy. I think it was a mercy for Zechariah, actually. After years, maybe decades, of praying for a son, at some point he gave up. He conceded that God was not going to give him and his wife a child. Now that he hears this news, he can’t believe it. It would be super easy to go out from here and to continue to not believe it. It would be easy to actually start talking himself out of believing in it because it is such a miracle. All of that spreading disbelief would just make him look like a bigger fool when it came to pass. It might even make Elizabeth not believe it and lose hope that the child would really be born.
Every time something great happens to show off God’s power, there is doubt right there in the dust that the miracle stirs up. As soon as God answers a prayer, our gut is there to give an explanation that is totally rational and explainable without God.
In those times, it’s a good practice to keep our mouths shut. If we hesitate just a moment and wonder if maybe God is true, we get it. If Zechariah would have just stood there for a minute and thought, “On the one day of my entire life that I get to serve in the temple like this, an angel shows up, calls me by name, and tells me not to be afraid. Hmmmm, I bet I can believe anything he says.” He would have been known as faithful. Instead, he comes out mute.
Let us come out of our prayer times amazed, astounded, and vocal about what God has done. Let the speech that comes from the overflow of our hearts not be full of cynicism but full of rejoicing.
Something miraculous has happened, and even though we doubt, God has still given us the power to speak, so let’s use it.
You can get the Daily Bible Readings to your inbox via email every day by subscribing here. Join the discussion online on Facebook or Twitter.