What You See in NOT What You Get

The distance in the Bible between the Old and New Testament is the turn of one page. Malachi to Matthew--one page flip and you're there.Historically, there is a gap of 400 years.

400 years of silence.

No utterances from heaven. No prophetic announcements. No heavenly visions

until

God decides to send out birth announcements of his son. And being a proud, first-time dad, he jumps the gun a little bit and sends out the announcements before the child is born (In fact, he'd been dropping hints about this birth all through the entire Old Testament).

The first person God decides to tell is a holy man, a priest, Zechariah, as he is burning incense in the temple while a "whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside...”.(Luke 1:9).

God breaks the silence by sending the angel Gabriel with the message that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth will have a son named John who will have the special job of preparing the hearts of the people for the coming of his son, "to make ready a people prepared for the Lord “(Luke 1:17).

Impressive. Out of the entire inhabited earth and after four centuries of silence, Zechariah is chosen to be a Breaker of Silence.

What is Zechariah's response?

Unbelief.

Why?

His experience and circumstances have taught him that what he sees is what he gets.

He and his wife are barren, in a culture when childlessness is a stigma and disgrace. Now they are old, past the childbearing years, so when this angel shows up and proclaims that their prayers have been heard (Luke 1:13), Zechariah is filled with doubt.

Which makes me wonder,

when did Zechariah stop believing that God would answer his prayer? When did hope die?

As a result of his doubt and unbelief, the angel declares that Zechariah will not be able to speak. The one chosen to be the Breaker of Silence is rendered silent.

But this is what I love about this story. Zechariah gets a second chance. While Elizabeth is pregnant with their son, Zechariah is pregnant with silence--that is, until after his son is born.

The neighbors gather at the naming ceremony, convinced the child will be named after his father, but Elizabeth says his name will be John. When questioned by his friends, Zechariah writes on a tablet that this is true, "His name is John (Luke 1:63)."

In that moment, the neighbors witness a miracle. For with that declaration, Zechariah can finally speak. He opens his mouth and his tongue is loosed.

And with his words we discover what God has been birthing in nine months of silence.

Faith. Belief. Courage.

Once afraid, filled with doubt and unbelief, Zechariah is now a Breaker of Silence, proclaiming the promises and goodness of God.

Two thousand years later, life has not changed that much. God continues to call his people to believe in the impossible. When God encounters doubt and unbelief, he patiently allows faith to grow until hearts are opened to the truth of his promises, because he is the God of second chances. And third. And fourth.

He calls us to be Breakers of Silence--to tell our friends and neighbors. To say, "What you see is not what you get."