"BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS!"

Luke 1:8-25                  (ESV)

"8 Now while he (Zechariah) was serving as priest before GOD when his division was on duty,

9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the LORD and burn incense.

10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense.

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.

20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, "BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS", which WILL BE fulfilled in their time."

21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple.

22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute.

23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying,

25 "Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people." 

The faithfulness of Zechariah and Elizabeth is recorded in Like 1:6, yet GOD had YET to bless their marriage with children.  One day when Zechariah was serving GOD in the Temple, an angel of the LORD came to him saying "your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John".  Now Zechariah and Elizabeth were well advanced in years and, in man's eyes, were too old to have children.  BUT GOD doesn't rely on physical eyesight!

Their son, John, was born to them to be a forerunner of JESUS CHRIST (v. 17), whose birth was spoken of by the angel some 6 months later.  That same angel, Gabriel, spoke then to Mary, mother of JESUS, and told her that she had "found favor with GOD" and she would bear a son a name HIM JESUS!  GOD brought John forth from a woman who WAS THOUGHT by the world to be past her time, and GOD brought forth JESUS from a woman who was a virgin!  Both were miracles from GOD, but we always tend to believe that when mankind is used to accomplish the miracle that there is an explanation for the miraculous?  

GOD is most readily recognized when mankind cannot EXPLAIN why, or what, has occurred.  Although it has happened billions of times since Creation, no one can explain to me HOW a baby is formed within the womb of a woman?  Although we seem to overlook most flaws when a baby is born, ALL of us have imperfections, because we are human!  The ONLY ONE who had no imperfections was crucified on Calvary for mine and your sins almost two thousand years ago!  Zechariah, as faithful as he was, was told that John and JESUS CHRIST was coming, but "BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS" was muted by the angel until John was born!  

I probably would have been just as skeptical as Zechariah.  Proof that GOD is WHO HE says HE is, and HE is in control, and that GOD hasn't lost any of HIS power, had to be demonstrated to Zechariah for him to believe!  GOD demonstrated to me just WHO was in control in July and August 2007, with NO DOUBT in my mind!  HE can STILL demonstrate today that HE is STILL in control of ALL things!  Will GOD say of you "BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS"?  Don't think that things are ever too desperate for GOD ALMIGHTY!  Just when it looks like there is NO HOPE, "BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE MY WORDS", that is when GOD delights in displaying HIS might!!!