You Were There (1/24/04)
First, I want to look at this from Zacharias' viewpoint. It becomes clear from the previous verse that Zacharias still hadn't recognized who he was speaking with or what he was hearing. He was so caught off guard by the suggestion of his having a son that he missed the rest of what Gabriel was saying. But now Gabriel announces his name, and his nature. I'm thinking that at the mention of his name, Zacharias' attention snaps back pretty immediately. If his knees had ever stopped shaking from the first discovery of somebody in the Holy of Holies besides himself, this probably set them to going again!
Gabriel was hardly unknown to Zacharias, though they had not previously met. This was the same one who had come to the great prophet Daniel. He was firmly associated with news of the end-times. Indeed, he is the one who announced Messiah, and it was for the swift coming of Messiah that Zacharias had expended so much prayer. Now the fog lifts from his understanding. "Your prayers have been heard." That he would have a son was of little consequence. What he was hearing was that Messiah was coming, that prophecies which had awaited fulfillment for so long that many had given up on them, would be fulfilled in his own lifetime, indeed in his own life!
It's hard to imagine the sweeps of emotion that must have come over Zacharias during the course of this conversation. Can you imagine this man! He is about to perform what will likely be the most significant act of a lifetime of service in the temple. Surely, given his righteous bent, and given the solemnity of the occasion, he has been preparing for this. Surely, also, the cool preparedness is mixed with a great deal of excitement. I wonder, had he ever before even been inside the Holy of Holies? I'm thinking not. There may indeed be a bit of dread mixing with his other feelings as he enters, for he knows the penalty of offending God. In that state of mind, to come in and find another already there, and then to hear such an odd message! Wow! The shocks to his system! And now this! To find oneself face to face with an angel, and him slightly insulted to boot! Were I there, could I have expected to do better? Could I have expected to do half as well?
Now, I think, it is useful to consider the state of those outside as well. The narrative of this section leads one to think that things happened quickly, yet we are told that the crowd was becoming concerned about the delay. How long would it normally have taken? Was the lamp-trimming still part of what was to be done, or would another take on that task? I'm not sure. Suppose, then, that the sum total of Zacharias' duties was to place the coal on the altar and, one supposes, to scatter the incense upon the coal. It seems improbable that the act was not to be accompanied by some prayer, perhaps specified as part of the ritual. If this were the whole of it, it might take no more than a minute or two. Well, those few moments had stretched to perhaps five, perhaps ten minutes, as the priest and the angel exchanged words.
The crowd, it is said, was beginning to wonder. There are shades of admiration and amazement in that word. Perhaps, as the moments stretched on, they thought he was offering particularly earnest prayer over the incense of their own prayers. Such a blessing, that Zacharias! Perhaps, also, there was a bit of concern over the length of his visit. Would he wind up offending the Holy One? Were the bells of his robe still to be heard within? I'm thinking with all the shakiness of shock they were heard quite well! It was likely the tinkling of those bells that kept the wonder from slipping into worry, and edged it towards admiration instead. This was a priest who took his task seriously!
Finally, he comes out. Was there a traditional something that he should have said to the waiting people when he did so? Perhaps something equivalent to 'see, your prayers are heard on high.' But, he says nothing as he comes out. By his look, he seems a bit excited over something. He points back into the Sanctuary, points at his mouth, perhaps points to heaven. His eyes are doubtless a bit wide. But what is it he is trying to tell us? Why won't he simply say something? Shortly, it becomes clear, in spite of the difficulties of communication he is suffering, that something important happened behind the veil. A vision! So long since Israel has had word from God! So long, since any has had news from on high. A vision! Oh, that we might know what it means!
New Thoughts (1/25/04-1/27/04)
If there is one thing to take away from this passage, it is an understanding of the importance of belief and the sinfulness of unbelief. In an age of scientific skepticism, unbelief has come to be worn almost as a badge of honor. We don't believe our politicians, we don't believe the newspapers, we pretty much live in an atmosphere of disbelief - no, not disbelief, unbelief. This is a dangerous thing, however, to bring to church with you!
Now, I would hope that it is understood that we can and should check out the things we hear from the pulpit. Any pastor worth his salt will tell you that. Any pastor that won't tell you that should probably be avoided, for if he's not willing to subject himself to the Word, he is no servant of God. That said, it is once more a matter of the heart behind the checking. When advocating diligence such as this, it is always popular to mention the Bereans, held up to us by Scripture as the example of proper approach. They are praised because every time they heard Paul, they went home to study, 'to see if these things be true.' A skeptical heart will look at that and think, 'see? They would not trust his words until they had verified them against the authority of Scripture.' The heart of faith, such as the Bereans had, though, understands that they checked not in doubt and unbelief, but in hope.
This is good news! The Gospel is good news! But the darkness will not hear of it. To the one who seeks to hide, the searchlight of Truth is most unwelcome. A heart of unbelief has most perilous consequences, for it is written that those who believe will be saved, whereas those who refuse belief - and unbelief is a matter of stubborn refusal to accept clear evidence - are condemned already (Mk 16:16). Why? Why is this matter of a mere man's opinion of such concern to God? Well, as belief applies to God, it is, as Thayer's Lexicon puts it a question of "the credence given to God's messengers and their words." Since it is God's messengers we are talking about, who speak as He directs them, it is really God's words that are in question.
God is a God of Truth. He is Truth, and He expects to be taken at His word. He has made it plain, in every possible way, that His words are never frivolous, never vanity and wind. Unlike the oracles of ancient Greece, He doesn't hide Himself in ambiguous and misleading declarations, but speaks to man in plain language intended to be understood. The parables of Jesus, the manifestation of God's Word, are a clear example of this. When He teaches, He teaches in a fashion which leads the hearer to an easily grasped conclusion, and then points to the similarity of this concept to the higher Truth He is explaining. Those who were confused by these things were not confused because His message was unclear, they were confused because of their stubborn refusal to get the point.
So, we come to this: God is True. He is so True that His words require no further oath. There is nothing He can do to make His words more certain, for they are already perfectly true. When He makes covenant, when He swears oath, it is not because such things are needed to hold Him to His word, as is so often necessary amongst men, but because of our inherent habit of unbelief. Because we are so accustomed to distrust, He speaks to us on our own level. But, He expects to be believed.
When we refuse to take God at His word, we reject Truth. In truth, we declare Truth to be a liar. For what other reason would we refuse Him? If we don't believe something, we are declaring our opinion that that something is untrue. If we don't believe God's word, we declare that we think His word untruthful, and therefore, that we think He who spoke the word is untruthful. At the base of it, we declare that God is not God, for if God is not True, He is not God; He has been stripped of His very essence, just as to remove Goodness, Justice, or Mercy from the Holy One would be to remove God from God. Can you see the magnitude of the offense now?
God extends this same concern about belief to His messengers. They are His representatives, His ambassadors to mankind. They speak as they are directed by Him who is Faithful and True. When they speak, God expects us to hear Him speak. When the prophet spoke, Israel knew it was God they were hearing. When the angels spoke, the prophets knew it was God they were hearing. When the apostles spoke, the church knew it was God they were hearing. Belief was expected under the circumstances. Check the message, indeed, but check in Hope, not Doubt! Don't you go calling God a liar because His words are too wonderful for you! If you cannot trust the messenger, then you are in fact declaring that he is not a true messenger. If that is the case, you ought not to be listening and checking, listening and checking. You ought to be fleeing in search of one who will speak truly. But, if there is established trust in this messenger, then rejoice in the hope that what he speaks is true. Study to make yourself certain in your hope! That is the purpose of study, after all, to establish a hope unshakable in the Rock of our Salvation.
I noted, in looking at the symbolism of this passage, that Zacharias in some ways stands as a symbol for what was coming in Israel, and I think it is important to grasp the full import of that symbolism. To that end, it must be held firmly in mind that Zacharias was declared righteous in God's sight. This was not his own self-assessment, it was God's assessment, the declaration of a true Judge of character, who cannot be deceived or misled. Zacharias suffered a moment of unbelief. Notice, though, that this moment of unbelief did not change God's assessment of Zacharias. God declares Him righteous, and God's words are Truth. Truth doesn't change, contrary to popular opinion today. Truth is. No, in spite of his lapse, he remained righteous in the sight of Him who sees the end from the beginning.
This is so symbolic of what would come to pass in Israel in the coming years. Israel had been declared God's chosen people. God said it. It is True. Truth doesn't change. There had been periods of apostasy and unbelief in Israel before, yet they remained God's people. As the long awaited Messiah came to His people, there would be widespread unbelief again. Like Zacharias, they would get caught up on a seeming impossibility that was really inconsequential in light of the whole message. Like Zacharias, they would miss the point. Like Zacharias, they would fall into the sin of declaring God untrue. "I cannot have a son!" "This cannot be the Messiah, can it?" It is the same heart of unbelief speaking.
The parallel continues. Because of unbelief, was Zacharias cast out from God's presence, removed from His promises and covenants? Not at all. God will be found faithful and true, though every man be found to be faithless liars. However, unbelief would not be without cost. Sins are forgiven, but they are not without consequence in the life of the believer. Zacharias, in light of his momentary unbelief, would be silenced for a time. The preist of the most High would speak no prayer, teach no teaching, declare no word of God. Indeed, he would declare no word at all, until the proper time when the words of Truth Gabriel had spoken were fulfilled.
So it was with Israel. Messiah came, but the nation was caught up in the improbability of His arrival. They expected a King, and came a Servant. They were so put off by the unexpected that unbelief crept in, and blinded them to what was unfolding before them. Truth had come, but a fallen people declared the Truth to be false. Yet, they remained God's chosen people. They remain so even today. However, the mission they had in His kingdom has been taken from them for a time. They have been silenced, when it comes to being the speakers of God's truth. And they will remain so until the proper time, when God's word regarding the Gentiles has been fulfilled. This is important to understand! They have not been lost to the kingdom. Paul makes that clear, and we ought to recognize this, as well. Those who seek to exclude Israel from salvation are guilty of declaring God a liar. That's the basic fact of it. He says they are His people. His word does not change. Truth is.
Of course, we of the modern day church need to learn from the example of Israel, whose number we have joined. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." We are as capable of bringing a silencing upon ourselves as ever Israel was, and the reasons will be the same, should it be so. We have been entrusted with the Word of God, the Word of Truth. But, these are the words of One who is far beyond us, whose ways are not our ways, and whose thoughts are high and away above our own. There will come those matters which will be too wonderful for us. What will we do? Will we hopefully look to confirm them in His own message, or will we reject them out of hand because they don't make sense to our limited senses? Over the centuries, we have built up a pretty hefty set of expectations regarding what the return of Messiah will be. So had Israel. Will we recognize Him when He comes? Will we recognize Him when He shatters all our preconceptions and comes according to His own plan and purpose?
Let's make it personal, now. There are two applications I think need to be made from this; one positive in aspect, and one negative. I'll start with the latter. We are, every one of us, called to be God's representatives on earth, to bear forth His message. We are called to be true as He is True. "Let your 'yes' be 'yes,' and your 'no' be 'no.' No further oath should be needed to keep you honest." That's the essence of Scripture's teaching on the subject (Jas 5:12). There was this thought behind it: all the oaths in the world will not make your words any more or any less true. In the end, we all know that intuitively. It is the flesh, the old man, that has made oaths and sureties such a necessity between men. But you are a new creation, you are being renewed daily by the working of the Holy Spirit in heart, mind, and soul!
Your reputation, built upon the aweful weakness of the flesh, has led to an expectation of prevarication. But now! There ought to be a new reputation being built up in your case. You have become a son of the Most High God. You have become of Child of the Light. The child must reflect the Father from whom he receives his heritage. Spiritual genetics insist that as a child of True God, your habit ought also to be truth. Let your words be such, let your reputation be such, that truth is assumed of you, that oaths are not required by those who hear you before they will believe what you say.
That said, there will be moments of failure in us. The righteous will know occasions of sinfulness so long as flesh continues. This is God's word to us. This is Truth. If we claim we have no sin whatsoever, that we never fall short of God's standard, we are calling Him who is True a liar (1Jn 1:8). Truth tells us that while we strive for perfection to our utmost, so long as we live, we will remain prone to stumbling and failure. Like the rest of creation, we are subjected to futility (Ro 8:20), but we are thus subjected in hope. We have hope because of Him who has saved us, who has declared us righteous by His own righteousness. This is the positive part of the message of Zacharias' silence. Our lapses do not destroy our salvation! Salvation is by grace. God gives it to us as a gift, not because of anything we have done, nor because of anything we will do, but simply because it suits His plan and purpose to do so. He declares us righteous. His Word is Truth, and Truth is. What He has declared to be the case is the case. Jesus could declare, as He prayed what has become known as His 'High Priestly Prayer,' that He had not lost a one who had been entrusted to Him by the Father (Jn 17:12). He can make that same claim today, and He will make that same claim on the day we stand before the throne. He has promised that not one those who know Him will be taken from Him (Jn 10:27-29), because it is the Father who gave them to the Son, and there is no one NO ONE who can snatch us from the Father's hand. There is none greater than the Most High, and the Most High is the One who holds you!
Such blessed hope, my God! Such blessed assurance to know that I am safe in the hands of I AM. Yet, Lord, I cannot but know concern. I would not repeat the sins of unbelief. I would that I might never know the consequences of refusing to accept Your words. Destroy in me, Lord, every root of skepticism. No, I don't pray to be gullible, but I pray to hear Your Truth in hope. I pray to hear Your voice, and only Yours, never to accept the stranger's.
Lord, I know, because You have said it is true, that so long as this earthly life continues, I will be subjected to failures of the flesh, yet I would that it were not so. Oh, how it makes me long for the time I will be home with You! Is that the reason, Father? That we won't become attached to the pleasures of this life? God! How it pains me, though! How often I find myself administering a mental dope slap to myself over a careless word, a burst of anger. "Put these things away from you," You tell me. I know, Lord, but how? Oh, that You would so renew this mind that the flesh had no say in matters any longer. Oh, that this body of death were sundered from me, and my spirit set free to worship You alone! Yet, I know the day will come. Even so, Lord, come quickly, and help my unbelief.
When last Gabriel had spoken to man, he made clear that there would be a time of heavenly silence coming. He spoke of seventy weeks during which no visions would be seen and no prophecies heard (Da 9:24). It was relative to this same seventy weeks that it was announced that Messiah would be coming, showing up one week before the full number was realized (Da 9:25). Clearly, with Gabriel's message to Zacharias, this time has come to an end. Here, it is said that those who had been waiting outside realized that Zacharias had seen a vision. I wonder if the import of that vision having come was also understood. It seems to have taken time for the Messianic import of Gabriel's words to register with Zacharias. It seems quite probable that the shock of the event may have postponed understanding in those outside.
And what of the priesthood at large? God, by this action, made certain that the announcement of the proper time would not be missed. He made the whole thing a matter of note in the city. It is impossible, under the circumstances, that any would be unaware that something important had happened, utterly impossible that the priesthood of Israel should be unaware of how important that something was. Surely, Zacharias was questioned during the remainder of his term of service! If not, then I should think at least one or two curious observers might have gone so far as to visit him at home to find out what the story was.
Let's put it in modern-day terms. If some major player on the world stage, say a Billy Graham or the like, were suddenly discovered to have been struck dumb - incapable of uttering so much as a word - in the middle of one of his events, do think it might get some notice? Do you think there might be those who would come rushing with paper and pen that he might jot down a bit of an explanation? This is not so far from the situation we see in Jerusalem. The city is gathered for the offering of prayers. It being a particularly difficult period in the history of the nation, there was doubtless better attendance than usual. The earnestness of prayer has a sad tendency to be proportional to the sense of need.
Even if his fellow priests did not pester him with questions, they surely discussed the meaning amongst themselves. The Sanhedrin could hardly be unaware of the event. The self-declared spiritual leaders of the nation, they would be called on to explain the meaning of this thing, and had best have an answer. Would they not have pulled Zacharias in for questioning? Could they possibly have missed the importance of Gabriel's message? I think it highly unlikely that they did not hear, or in this case, read the words. They could not miss the significance of those words, or of the presence of the messenger, himself. Seventy weeks were apparently up. Messiah was imminent. The message could not be missed. There would be no excuse of ignorance.
Beyond this, for nine months or so, Zacharias continues to be a sign and a wonder amongst the people of Israel. At least once in that period, he will have returned to serve in the Temple again. If we can assume that questions were asked of him, we can also assume that his answer included some indication of the reason for his prolonged silence. "This is the price of unbelief." A sign and a wonder stood before them, a sign of what would befall so many in Israel, who refused to believe the great good news which God was announcing upon the earth. All would not necessarily be lost, God's choice would stand, but there would be a heavy price for unbelief.
After such a long silence from heaven, a vision had been seen. I find it utterly impossible that the religious leadership of Israel missed the significance of this. They knew the meaning. If they missed the fulfillment, it was clearly a matter of willful stubborn refusal to believe what their God had clearly said. Their attempts to disguise their rejection of Messiah as righteous indignation are shown baseless right here at the outset. He had been announced. The prophecies were clearly being fulfilled, and in such a way as to ensure that the leadership would notice. To then claim offense and charge blasphemy when the One who was announced is found to be present, this was at best obstinacy on their part, at worst, a naked, grasping lust for the power of office that had total disregard for the significance of the office.
What ought, perhaps, to scare us a bit today is the verse that follows the announcing of Messiah in what was told to Daniel. Messiah comes after seventy weeks of silence, but there is also something said of the time after Messiah arrives. After another sixty two weeks, Messiah will be cut off. He will have nothing of His inheritance. The people of that other prince, the current ruler of this world, will come and destroy both city and sanctuary (Da 9:26). Now, this may be taken as a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which, if we take a week to be a year, would be at about the right point relative to Jesus' birth. For those, however, who insist on using the 'day is as a thousand years' measuring rod for all mentions of prophetic time, this clearly won't do, though. For, if we will insist on that equation, the 62 weeks works out to be 434,000 years or so, and we've got a bit of a wait on our hands.
I suspect both of these views are wrong. The message doesn't end seventy years after Jesus' arrival. If that were the point of reference, then it would seem that His ministry must have lasted sixty two years, and the standard dating of the Crucifixion is way off. At the same time, the larger number seems absurdly large. In the end, it's not the timing of the event that is of import for us, it's the fact of the event. This is generally true of God's messages regarding events future. To get caught up in trying to figure out the exact date at which things will happen is to get lost in the technicalities. It will leave us completely missing the point as we worry away at the inconsequential bone of timing. In fact, the word that so often gets used in these predictive message tells us that this is the case. That phrase 'proper time' translates the word kairon, a word that has less to do with the passage of time, and more to do with what it is that time gives opportunity to.
When God speaks of proper times, it is not the passage of time that is in view, it is the thing that will happen that is of critical importance for us. We need to be careful not to fall into Zacharias' mistake of missing the thrust of God's message due to being sidetracked by an aside He makes. That Zacharias would have a son was an aside. The real message was that Messiah's arrival was imminent. That there are proper times marked out on God's calendar is an aside. What He has them marked out for is of great moment. There is something in Zhodiates' discussion of this word that I think really needs to be taken to heart when considering the occasions God speaks of as the proper time. It is not the convenience of the moment that is in view, but the necessity of the thing to be done at that moment.
Going back to Daniel, God says at the proper time, Messiah will come, but at the proper time thereafter, this same Messiah willb e cut off. He will have nothing. What a horrifying thought. Forget the question of when. The very idea that Messiah will be cut off should shake us to the core. If He is left with nothing, then that would indicate that of all who remain on the earth at that time, whenever it is, not one will be His, not one will remain from among the redeemed. How to square this with the truth that God will hallways have His remnant? It would seem to me, given a moment's reflection on the matter, that this must speak of the final moments, as it were. All of God's remnant, given that none of them are on earth, must be gathered in heaven. Fallen creation has finally and horribly been left to the fallen. All restraint has been removed, truly a hell on earth. Yet, Gabriel indicates that the sacrifices continue. But, those who make the sacrifices enter into covenant with one who will destroy them in the end. Then comes the complete destruction, but even this is not the end, for after this destruction is decreed upon the one who destroyed all. Is this, then, death swallowed up in victory? I am not sure.
There is much to be concerned about in that verse. If Messiah has nothing among mankind at that time, who or what is the church? Sacrifices continue, services continue, but they are nothing to do with God. His name may remain on the door, but it's no longer His house. In how many churches is this already true today? Too many, I suspect, when those in the pulpits are busy condoning what Scripture absolutely forbids; when we are told that all roads lead to God, whatever name the seeker may call Him by, but Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, the life. None comes to the Father but through Me."
How is it possible that a people truly devoted to God could even contemplate making covenant with something that is not God? This is not the Church, this is Compromise! This is not the spirit that filled the martyrs, it is a spirit that is timid because of unbelief. It is rank hypocrisy disquised in robes of religiosity. It is stubble that will not survive the fire, empty works of meaningless ritual. Nothing else can explain it. That God's people could so fully fail to learn from the experiences of those who fill the pages of Scripture scares me. That I live in a time when the fulfillment of these things seems to be happening makes me long to get home soon.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Meeting the People - Zacharias (1/27/04-1/31/04)
