It’s Not Just Christmas, It’s the End of the World
11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 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.”
Luke 1:11–19 ESV
When you watch TV and see Flo show up in blue and white, you know you’re hearing about car insurance. When you see Jeff Lyons you know you’re going to hear about weather. These are branded spokespeople that always talk about the same topics. Of the very very few named angels in the Bible, Gabriel also has a brand that reshapes the look of Christmas.
Daniel the prophet was basically a captured slave in the kingdom of Babylon. Stripped of as much of his religion as was possible, he remained faithful and was dedicated to the Lord in the midst of many difficulties. He had several visions and messages from the Lord, and in one of them God sent the angel Gabriel to explain what it all meant. (This is in Daniel 8 and 9.) From there, Gabriel spoke about the end of time and the final overthrow of the worldly kingdom.
If you were a good Jewish kid, especially a Levitical priest that was educated enough to be in there burning incense, you’d know all about Gabriel, the messenger of the end of the worldly kingdom.
So just like when you see a commercial, but as soon as you see Flo the context makes sense, a confused Zechariah asks “How can I know this will be?” And the angel reveals himself by basically saying, “I’m Gabriel Angel: Apocalypse Announcer. The end of the worldly kingdoms, like I explained to Daniel, is now at hand. Your son is going to kick it all off.”
Take another read through that, with all of the context and meaning of the name ‘Gabriel’ and look at the effect those words have. “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.”
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