A sign for Zacharias
▸ ± Lu 1:18-25 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. 21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach among men.
This was not a curse! Too many try to divine meaning from this in order to teach that we should not test or tempt God. That is not what is happening.
- Gabriel גבריאל - 'pursue כ the revelation in the flesh and spirit בר is God in the flesh and spirit יאל. Gabriel represents the Word. His purpose is to make known the mystery (Da 8:16)
He gives the same sign to Zacharias as the sign that is being fulfilled. He cannot speak until John. There is no word until John.
▸ ± Da 8:26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told [is] true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it [shall be] for many days. John was the closing of the Old Testament (evening) and the beginning of the New (morning).
This is part of a doctrinal pattern.
God's name is Elohim 'God אל separated from man ים by ignorance; so he teaches us. This is foundational. It also means 'I א for ל her ה created all י and finished it by the Son ם'. Creation was an act of love.
God being an angry god wanting to squish you is a doctrine of the Niclaitans 'conquerers of the laity'. They maintain control through their priesthood using fear and a promise of grace through their authority and ritual.
Suppose Zacharis had simply has a visitation, and he engages it and dialogs with it. It would violate the principle of verifying your sources.
▸ ± 1Jo 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Too may people 'hear' from God and have no validation, and are unashamed to declare that God has told them this or that. They justify their hubris when they impose an interpretation that Zacharias was being punished.
"How do I know it is you, Lord?" is a statement of trust in God and distrust of one's experience. Not every door opened was opened by God. Balaam had a nice open door for a new job serving a pagan king.
Abraham asked:
▸ ± Ge 15:8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
Jacob bargained:
▸ ± Ge 28:22 And this stone, which I have set [for] a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Gideon tested:
▸ ± Jud 6:37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; [and] if the dew be on the fleece only, and [it be] dry upon all the earth [beside], then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
The child's father asked directly:
▸ ± Mr 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
If spiritual entities show up in your room, unlike some false prophets we know supposedly engaged them, we can just ignore them until God makes himself known in a verifiable way.
God declared that Zacharias was righteous:
▸ ± Lu 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
It was not a punishment, but a sign. The same sign as the prophetic pattern: There is no word until someone in particular speaks.
