Today’s reading: Psalms 70-71; Luke 1
I’ve never really considered before how illegitimate it was for Zechariah to ask for a sign from Gabriel.
In another situation, it might have been different, but Zechariah is alone in the temple before the altar of incense. There, in Yahweh’s temple, a man appears out of nowhere and declares this prophetic word to Zechariah. This isn’t like when the angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s parents out in a field and they had no idea He was anything other than a man until He ascended in the fire of the burnt offering. And this isn’t even like when the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, as there was nothing there to say that this was necessarily the God of his fathers that he was talking to, and not some other spiritual being. For Zechariah to question Gabriel’s words is to assume that Yahweh is not capable of keeping deceptive spiritual beings out of the holiest place in His temple that is supposed to be most permeated with His presence. How could Gabriel possibly be anything other than a true messenger of Yahweh??
So when Zechariah asks for a sign to validate Gabriel’s words, he is struck mute until John’s birth. I’m betting this was not the kind of sign he had in mind when he asked for one.
I’ve always felt like this “sign” was a little bit extreme for such a seemingly simple and reasonable request, but I never considered the context of the whole interaction before this morning, and that definitely helps frame the sign he is given.
It does also put me in mind though of how often Christians ask God for signs of His already clearly revealed will. Especially in times and situation when God has already made things clear through His Word, or where we receive clear counsel from mature, faithful Christians, but we just don’t like the answers, so we ask for a sign as a way to skirt responsibility for obedience. These situations wouldn’t be all that different from Zechariah’s in terms of the legitimacy of asking for a sign, so what if God answered us the way He answered Zechariah? Maybe we should be a little more careful about when we ask God for a sign in case He answers us as we deserve…
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