Day 2, The Christmas Story, Zechariah speechless

Good morning. Well, yesterday, we ended with Zechariah in the Holy Place, burning the incense, while the people outside were praying. Remember, he was overwhelmed with this duty/privilege that had fallen to him this day. So, where we pick up today, he is still in there, burning incense and praying.

11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer.

Zechariah, no doubt, deep in focus of prayer and offering, and in the great privilege which he was experiencing, was, I’m sure, expecting this as far as it would go. Which would be fine – this was a wonderful thing. How could it get any better than this? But God, in his ways and thoughts that surpass ours, had more in store for Zechariah this day. As he was praying, an angel appeared to him. Luke is careful to tell us that the angel was standing at the right of the incense altar. The “right” is referred to throughout scriptures, i.e. “seated at the right hand of the Father” “God’s strong right arm”, etc. It is a place of holiness and consecration. Right was considered good, so much so, that the left side in history became a connotation of evil. Unfortunately for us lefties, the root word for left-handedness is “sinister”, and attributes the left side to shamefulness, and evil. We even use it politically, “far left”, “far right”. Ever heard of having “two left feet”? So, Luke, the melancholy beaver that he was, was careful to include the angel’s position that day. Now I’m guessing that Zechariah was probably not taking note of the angel’s position at that very moment, because it obviously scared the bejeebers out of him, and he was probably doing all he could to stand on his noodle legs at that point. Hey, it would affect me that way too. If there ever were a “Depends” moment, this is one. You ever notice when an angel shows up in the Bible, he usually says “Do not be afraid.”? By the time he says that, it’s too late, don’t ya think??? But as soon as he said “Don’t be afraid”, he also said “God has heard your prayer.” Wow, did all the guys who got to burn the incense get a visit from an angel?! Much of the time, God spoke in dreams, and a FEW times by a visitation from an angel, but this??? The angel continues...

Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

The angel tells Zechariah, in detail, what is going to happen. He even tells him what to name his child – John – which means “The Lord is Gracious”. He tells him that John will basically take a Nazarite vow, an ancient vow of consecration, which included no drinking and no cutting his hair. In the Old Testament, Samson and likely Samuel had taken Nazarite vows. It was a sign of being set apart for special service to God.

The angel was preparing old Zechariah for what was to happen. Not only was he going to have a child, a son, he was told his name, how to raise him, and what God’s purpose for him was. God had determined this time in history was when he was going to finally bring the Messiah to earth, and Zechariah’s own son would be the one to lead people to him and to prepare the way for his coming. He even went as far as to compare him to Elijah and to say that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit before his birth!

Do you realize that, in essence, Zechariah was the first human on earth to be told that the time had come to set in motion the events to bring their Savior and Messiah into the world? What an honor was given him that day. What favor! The very thing he had been standing in the temple that moment praying for, he was going to get to physically be a part of. God was setting in motion a rapid chain of events now, and Zechariah was the first to receive this information, and the first to be included in the cast of people that would first-hand watch these events unfold, with the benefit of the special knowledge God had given them. And to the human eye, he was just in that place that day because he had the long straw! Do we ever even slightly comprehend what is going on that we can’t see at any given time in the spirit realm? I don’t think we do.

How many times do we pray and not even half-heartedly expect God to hear, much less to answer? Or quit praying after praying for something so long that doesn’t come to pass. Zechariah and the people, as well as all the people before them, had prayed in accordance with God’s will – that a Messiah would come. But, remember, God’s ways are not our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, his timing is not our timing, but it is impeccable. The truth is, God had heard the prayer of every individual person, every day for centuries, when the daily incense was offered up. He heard it every single time. I’m sure they began to doubt sometimes after so long if he heard it, or even paid attention to their prayers. But, He did not ignore it. It was just that his timing was divine. At any given time, you may be praying for an answer from God, and at that same time, I truly believe he is doing groundwork that you cannot see. That is the hardest thing for me. I am an impatient person. I want to see results immediately. I want the prayer answered today. But God has a different idea. And the wonderful part of it is, if we wait on Him, it usually turns out to be more than we could have asked or imagined. He always adds icing to the cake, with a cherry on top. You may have heard the saying “When God shows up, He shows out!”

What thing is it that you have quit praying about? What prayer is it that you’ve said a thousand times and felt it was within God’s will to pray it, and feel like God just ignores it? We all have one of those prayers. Maybe that is by divine design. I simply abhor coming to a place that seems “impossible”. I shouldn’t, though, because God adores that exact same impossible place. It is what He is waiting on it seems. It is like he says, “OK, now, I have your attention. You are at the end of yourself, there is no human way for this to happen, you have exhausted every attempt, every possible solution, and now all that’s left is Me. But, I AM”. (And at that point, we realize all there ever really was, and all we ever really needed, was Him.)

That day, for Zechariah, God was the “I AM” that creates life out of barrenness, that lights a glimmering flame of hope when it seemed all but extinguished.
My friends, this is the season of hope. In each life, there is an area we need hope. There is an end we come to. And it is precisely for this reason that we are studying these events this month. Because hope was on its way. Help was on its way. God’s timing and our prayers finally coincided. God showed up in a way that Zechariah, in his wildest dreams, never imagined.
We end here today, Zechariah trying to take in all the angel is saying, and how surreal it must have seemed. I will leave you with these verses to think about today:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—Ecclesiastes 3:1 NAS

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

Be blessed this day, and keep on praying....Teresa