Monday, June 8, 2020

The writings of Luke the physician starting with his version of the gospel - Luke 1:18-25 comments: Zacharias cannot speak





Luke 1:18  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.

Zacharias’ questioning attitude reminds me of Gideon and the fleece. Gideon had already perceived that he was talking to God’s angel so what he asks seems sort of shocking at first.

Judges 6: 22  And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. 23  And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24  Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites…36  And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 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. 38  And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39  And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 40  And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

The Jews required a sign and were not easily convinced of the intentions of anyone from the other side, even, it seems, God Himself. Just read over their stubbornness in the Exodus, their doubts, in spite of all of the amazing things they had seen.

Deuteronomy 29:2  And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; 3  The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: 4  Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

1Corinthians 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

The angel identifies himself as Gabriel. Do you think he stood there with the huge wings that Roman Catholic mythology has shown for two thousand years? No, there are no winged angels in the Bible. That was a myth brought over from Persian religion by the Roman Catholic Church. Gabriel is described as a man and no mention is made of wings.

Daniel 9:21  Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.

An angel looks like a person, not some kind of hybrid cross between a person and a bird.

Revelation 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Cherubim are winged creatures but they are not angels. They are winged creatures representing a type of animal on earth, perhaps the prototypes in the spiritual world for those animals. In Ezekiel 10 they are called living creatures. Satan was a cherubim, apparently reptilian in appearance as per Job 41 and is not a “fallen angel” although he did lead angels in defiance against God.

Ezekiel 28:14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Revelation 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

The point is that the angel Gabriel looked like a man, only a very impressive and scary presentation of a man, who as a glorified inhabitant of the eternal, unseen (to us) world, stands before the throne of God, that terrified Zacharias but did not keep him from questioning the truth of his statements.

While we are here our angel, our spiritual representative, is elsewhere. They understood this then.

Acts 12:14  And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15  And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel.

It is in heaven where the spirits, the angels, of the church on earth sit.

Ephesians 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Hebrews 12:22  …But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect

Revelation 5:11  And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; 12  Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

(Note the difference between the angels in Revelation 5 and the reference to the martyrs that came out of great tribulation in Revelation 7 who have their glorified bodies apparently, the souls slain for the word of God in Revelation 6.)

Zacharias is struck dumb, not being able to speak as a punishment for his unbelief. Elisabeth then conceives with him and goes apart for five months.

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