Daily Archives: July 19, 2013

Dumbstruck

Bible Study, , ,

DUMBSTRUCK

“Zachariah said to the angel, ‘Do you expect me to believe this? I am an old man and my wife is an old woman.’

“But the angel said, ‘I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time — God’s time.'” Luke 1:18-20 (The Message).

Does old age dim one’s confidence in a good God, or had Zachariah become so sceptical that not even a high-ranking angel’s appearance could convince him that God was actually communicating with him?

Imagine speaking to an angel like that! Surely the presence of an angelic being so awesome that Zachariah was paralysed with fear, would have convinced him that this was no joke, especially after Gabriel had given him details about his son’s nature and upbringing

Gabriel was God’s messenger, particularly assigned to carry messages regarding the coming of Messiah. It was he who visited Mary six months later to announce that she was to be the earthly mother of the Messiah.

Why did Zachariah respond with such scepticism? There are probably many reasons. His longing, together with his wife, Elizabeth’s, had died as old age took away any hope of their having a child, and with it their confidence that God would finally answer their prayers, regardless of their physical impotence to bear a child.

The angel came so unexpectedly and pounced on him so suddenly that his elderly brain had no time to process this surprise. All he could think of was the state of his body and the body of his wife. He was so much like us. We tend to look at the impossibilities rather than God’s promises, and draw our conclusions from what we can see rather than what God said.

Israel reacted in the same way when they were confronted with the prospect of entering and conquering a land that was full of giants and had fortified cities to overcome. They did not reckon on God’s promise, made to Abraham centuries before, and the power of God to override natural difficulties with supernatural intervention.

Zachariah’s unbelief came with a price. God would not let him off for mistrusting His Word. Zachariah was not only emotionally dumbstruck by the angel’s appearance; he would also be literally dumbstruck for the nine months of his wife’s pregnancy. This would present him with some unusual difficulties including the neighbours’ idea that being dumb meant that he was also deaf! (Luke 1:62).

Fortunately Zachariah’s handicap only lasted until the birth of his son. Perhaps it was in the mercy of God that He shut his mouth so that he could utter no more words of unbelief until the promise of God was fulfilled.

How often do we not put God’s promises on hold, or even cancel them by our confession of unbelief because we are more impressed by what we can see and hear than what God has said in His Word. We might learn a lesson from this reluctant priest who robbed himself of speech until the Word of the Lord proved him a liar.

A Strategic Encounter

Bible Study, Christian life, , ,

A STRATEGIC ENCOUNTER

“After spending a considerable time with the Antioch Christians, Paul set off again for Galatia and Phrygia, retracing his old tracks, one town after another, putting fresh heart into the disciples.

“A man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures. He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.” Acts 18:23-26 (The Message).

How clever of God to set Priscilla and Aquila up for their encounter with Apollos in Ephesus! They had accompanied Paul on his return journey from Corinth to Antioch but remained in Ephesus while he continued on his journey home. No explanation was given, but God knew that there was to be a meeting with Apollos in Ephesus.

What a treasure Apollos turned out to be! How he came to be a believer from Alexandria is not recorded either. No doubt believers moved about in the empire, taking the message of Messiah wherever they went. Apollos was well trained in the Old Testament Scriptures and a native of Alexandria, a port city in Egypt where he would have grown up in a cosmopolitan culture, meeting people from all over the empire as they brought their goods to trade.

An introduction to the Messiah put a match to the Word, and Apollos was alight with the truth and comfortable in the company of Jew and Gentile alike. His passion and enthusiasm to spread the message took him to Ephesus where he “accidentally” ran into Priscilla and Aquila. They had been in Paul’s company long enough to have an accurate understanding of the gospel. Who better to take him under their wing and bring him up to speed with the things of the Lord?

Apollos was humble enough to be taught by these two “lay” people, sharpening his knowledge and skill as a preacher which he used to great effect in the synagogue in Ephesus, The fact that he was also, like Paul, a Jew who had recognised that Jesus was their Messiah, must have enhanced Paul’s credibility among the Ephesian Jews.

Why was it so important that Apollos be corrected regarding the baptism of John? After all, baptism is baptism, isn’t it? Does it matter into whose name it is done?

Yes, it matters a whole lot because baptism was an initiation into an office or movement, identifying the baptismal candidate with the leader of the movement and what he stood for and practised. John’s ministry was a preparation and introduction to Jesus as Messiah. His baptism was an initiation into and identification with him in what he was preaching. It was a baptism of repentance, preparing his hearers to receive the kingdom of God which Jesus had come to usher in.

The baptism of Jesus was an initiation into and identification with Him and His completed work of atonement for sin and reconciliation with the Father. To be baptised into Jesus meant being identified with the three-in-one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in what they had done to restore God’s rule in the people’s hearts.

Once Apollos had got that right, he became a fully-equipped and powerful ally of the apostles and the church, using his gift to bring encouragement to the church and enlightenment to his fellow Jews who, in the main, had rejected the gospel and become enemies of God.