AWWR#8

Read: Luke 1:5-12

Sing: He Who is Mighty

Today lets turn our attention to God's sovereignty and the mystery of His messengers. 

Zechariah was doing his job when we meet him. His division was on duty and he was chosen by lot to offer the incense before the Lord. To the outside it might look as if by chance, after all casting lots or being chose that way was like picking a name out of a hat for lack of better explanation. But, we serve a sovereign God who had orchestrated all of history from eternity past and this event was His. Often, its easy to get stuck in the Christmas story as if its chronological. God only handling each event, each person one at a time. First He is with the priest, then Joseph and so on and so forth. But, this is not the case, and it does us well to be reminded. God is sovereign over the entire universe. Every moment every event...as a reformer likes to state... there are no such things as maverick molecules! Every moment is His, this is no exception.

Reformation Study Bible includes in the notes further insight to this event, "The large number of priests serving the one temple meant that a priests opportunities for taking part in the ritual were few. He might not offer incense more than once in his like (some priests never had the privilege). This is the high point of Zechariah's career. He would go into the Holy Place, after which others would withdraw, leaving him alone to perform the offering on the alter of incense immediately before the veil leading to the Most Holy Place."

Zechariah was at the pinnacle of his duties. A faithful man doing his job well, one might think he expected great merit, he himself, as a faithful man probably longed for this event. And at the very peak of his priesthood...it would be entirely disrupted.

An angel appeared. 

Zechariah did not shout for joy. He feared. A righteous man, in the tabernacle was surprised by the unexpected visitor. We will get more into his response tomorrow but I was to pause with J.C. Ryle's comments on this portion:

    "How are we to account for this fear? To that question there is only one answer. It arises from our inward sense of weakness, guilt and corruption. The vision of an inhabitant of heaven reminds us forcibly of our own imperfection, and of our natural unfitness to stand before God. If angels are so great and terrible, what must the Lord of angels be?"

Angels are seen with great frequency during the proclamation and birth of Christ. Heralds from heaven shouting forth the great news. Yet, in every circumstance they are met with fear. This gives us a chance to think of our possible false narrative and ideologies of not just angels but also wishing for a messenger from heaven to tell us directly. People met these heavenly hosts with terror. 

May the sovereignty of God, the perfect portion that he has poured for you and I today and the awesomeness of who He is fill your thoughts as we walk through the Word towards Christmas.