Ezekiel 45-46
1 John 2
“Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years.’” —Luke 1:18
Were we ever told something too good to be true that we start to doubt? This was exactly what happened to Zechariah, who received news from an angel of the Lord that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son and they were to call him “John.” The name “John” means “Jehovah has been gracious.” The angel of the Lord revealed that John would not only bring Zechariah joy and delight, but also be the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy in Malachi 4:5 by preparing the way of the Messiah. How overwhelming was it for Zechariah to be standing in the temple with his dream of having a child realized and the hope of the long-awaited Messiah to finally arrive?
How did Zechariah respond to this good news? He doubted and started to question the angel who delivered this message. “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years” (Luke 1:18). In essence, Zechariah was saying, “I am too old, this is impossible.” The natural order of things seemed more certain to Zechariah than the divine order of things. But Zechariah was a priest who studied Scripture; he would have been familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah and the birth of Isaac when they were almost 100 years old as well as the story of Hannah giving birth to Samuel. The reality was, although Zechariah was a professing believer, he was a practicing atheist!
Some people go to church, sing the songs, know the stories and say they believe but have no living experience of Christ in their life. God is there and they believe in Him but they do not live rooted in a dependence upon Him. There is no faith of His abiding presence in their lives because they are trying to live the Christian life by their own resources. The danger of unbelief is that when God sends us good tidings and blessings, we reject them because they just seem to be too good to be true. We can become so accustomed to our hopeless situation that we cannot even see past it to a God of hope.
We have a living hope and His name is Jesus Christ. Whatever hopeless situation we face that is way beyond our abilities, it is not beyond His. We may have very little hope that our situation will change, but what we can gather from Zechariah is that God graciously hears our prayers. Even when we are full of doubt and unbelief, He works in spite of us.
Gracious God, praise You! Even when I am full of doubt and unbelief, You still work in spite of it. Thank You, God, for the grace and mercy that You have bestowed upon my life.
1 John 2
“Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years.’” —Luke 1:18
Were we ever told something too good to be true that we start to doubt? This was exactly what happened to Zechariah, who received news from an angel of the Lord that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son and they were to call him “John.” The name “John” means “Jehovah has been gracious.” The angel of the Lord revealed that John would not only bring Zechariah joy and delight, but also be the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecy in Malachi 4:5 by preparing the way of the Messiah. How overwhelming was it for Zechariah to be standing in the temple with his dream of having a child realized and the hope of the long-awaited Messiah to finally arrive?
How did Zechariah respond to this good news? He doubted and started to question the angel who delivered this message. “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years” (Luke 1:18). In essence, Zechariah was saying, “I am too old, this is impossible.” The natural order of things seemed more certain to Zechariah than the divine order of things. But Zechariah was a priest who studied Scripture; he would have been familiar with the story of Abraham and Sarah and the birth of Isaac when they were almost 100 years old as well as the story of Hannah giving birth to Samuel. The reality was, although Zechariah was a professing believer, he was a practicing atheist!
Some people go to church, sing the songs, know the stories and say they believe but have no living experience of Christ in their life. God is there and they believe in Him but they do not live rooted in a dependence upon Him. There is no faith of His abiding presence in their lives because they are trying to live the Christian life by their own resources. The danger of unbelief is that when God sends us good tidings and blessings, we reject them because they just seem to be too good to be true. We can become so accustomed to our hopeless situation that we cannot even see past it to a God of hope.
We have a living hope and His name is Jesus Christ. Whatever hopeless situation we face that is way beyond our abilities, it is not beyond His. We may have very little hope that our situation will change, but what we can gather from Zechariah is that God graciously hears our prayers. Even when we are full of doubt and unbelief, He works in spite of us.
Gracious God, praise You! Even when I am full of doubt and unbelief, You still work in spite of it. Thank You, God, for the grace and mercy that You have bestowed upon my life.
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