December 24, 2025 • 29 mins
The hush before the first carol was not empty—it was charged. We step into the holy place with Zacharias, incense curling upward, when Gabriel appears and declares that the long night is ending. This is where Christmas begins: with a promise spoken into fear, a calling placed on an aging couple, and the first shockwave of good news that will roll from a quiet temple to a manger and beyond.
We walk through the world of Herod’s Judea and the deep ache of barrenness that marked Zacharias and Elizabeth, showing how faith endures when culture misreads suffering. Then the scene opens: a once-in-a-lifetime priestly duty, a famous messenger blazing with authority, and a message rooted in Malachi’s prophecy. Their son will prepare the people, turn hearts, and ready a nation for the Messiah. Along the way, we explore why angels matter without making them the main act—how Scripture positions them as servants of God’s redemptive plan and why the first New Testament use of “good news” comes from an angelic voice.
Doubt doesn’t disqualify; it gets refined. Zacharias asks for proof, and Gabriel answers with presence: I stand in the presence of God. The sign is silence—hard, humbling, and holy—until promise becomes reality. When John is born, the sunrise from on high is named and the dawn truly breaks. If you’ve wrestled with unanswered prayers, wondered about angelic ministry, or wanted to see how the Christmas story actually starts, this journey through Luke 1 will steady your hope and sharpen your vision.
If this story stirred your faith, share it with a friend, subscribe for part two on Gabriel’s message to Mary, and leave a review so others can find the good news that still breaks the dark.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
This is Zacharias, your prayer has been heard.
Look at verse 17.
He will go as a forerunnerbefore him in the spirit and
power of Elijah.
And again, he quotes fromMalachi to turn the hearts of
the fathers back to the childrenand the disobedient to the
attitude of the righteous, so asto make ready a people prepared
(00:56):
for the Lord.
Gabriel is telling Zachariasthat he and Elizabeth are going
to raise the prophet of God, whois the answer to the prophecy of
Malachi, who will prepare thepeople for the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
Some people today are skeptical of angels.
Others are a bit too infatuatedwith them.
Most of us consider angels to bemysterious.
We don't know much about them,and we don't understand God's
purpose for them.
When God wanted to communicatewith people, he would sometimes
(01:43):
send an angel named Gabriel todeliver that message.
One of those times was to a mannamed Zacharias.
Today on Wisdom for the Heart,Stephen Davy looks at that
encounter.
We're going to turn ourattention to the Christmas story
with this message calledDeclaring the Break of Dawn.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
An angel will announce the birth of John the
Baptizer.
An angel will deliver the newsto Mary of her conception.
An angel will assure Joseph thatMary is conceived of the Holy
Spirit.
An angel will deliver the newsof Christ's birth to shepherds.
And angels will chant theirpraise to God, and an angel will
(02:38):
warn Joseph to flee to Egyptwith his newborn son and wife.
Angels are literally scurryingall around the scenes, these
early scenes, carrying out thedetails of God's redemptive
plans so that all goes accordingto divine script.
There are those who don'tbelieve in the activity of
angels or that they for somereason have ceased.
(03:02):
I believe that they are engagedin ways that we perhaps would be
amazed to see.
I pulled off a volume from myshelf entitled All the Angels of
the Bible, and I thought it wasinteresting to read the preface,
which I had not read before, byHerbert Lockier, and the preface
to his work gave an interestingpersonal account that he
(03:24):
recorded.
He was in Kenya, Africa,preaching on a tour, and on one
occasion spoke at the missionaryschool outside of Nairobi.
In the audience was a nativetribesman who would end up
accepting Christ as his personalsavior there in the school's
(03:45):
chapel that afternoon.
After the service, he came upand talked to Dr.
Lockier and told him what ledhim to attend the service.
Earlier, several months earlier,he and other tribesmen, young
warriors, had decided to invadethe school compound with its
mission station and school formissionary children.
(04:06):
These ruthless warriors had madea pact together to climb the
hill up the school and captureand kill the children.
As they made their way up thehill under the cover of
darkness, suddenly he reportedmen dressed in white robes
surrounded the school, and inthe hands of each man was a
sword that seemed to be on fire.
(04:30):
The staff all agreed as theyheard the story, there was no
other explanation.
I personally had theopportunity, as many of you did,
some time ago, to hear theaccounts of missionary Steve
Saint, who preached here, theson of the martyred missionary
Nate Saint, who was killed alongwith Jim Elliott and other men
who had gone to deliver thegospel to the Alka Indians.
(04:51):
Steve told us that moments afterkilling the five missionaries
who'd come to deliver thegospel, these native men saw
hazy figures above the treelines singing music that they
had never heard before.
Many months later, in fact, itwas after Steve's aunt and
Elizabeth Elliott returned, Ithink, even with one of their
children, to deliver the gospeland try again, risking their own
(05:15):
lives that they, by the grace ofGod, were able to convert many
of these tribesmen to Christ.
And it was months later that uhsome of these uh tribesmen uh
sat listening to one of themissionaries' uh record player.
Uh that's a machine that playsmusic recorded on round plastic
things.
(05:36):
The natives said they recognizedthe music.
They had heard it that day onthe sandy beach, coming from the
figures hovering above the treeline.
No doubt to Steve and the othersit was the singing of angels.
There are many in our world whoare skeptical of the existence
and ministry of angels.
Obviously, you can overdo it.
(05:58):
You can look for an angel underevery bush and you can give
credit to them when all creditbelongs to God.
You can be either enamored withthem or you can ignore them and
you can even deny theirexistence.
One Puritan theologian in theearly 1600s by the name of John
(06:18):
Owen wrote that to ignore theangels is the height of
ingratitude.
He penned these words in hiscommentary on the book of
Hebrews.
We should search after what maybe known of them.
God hath neither appointed norrevealed them for nothing.
He expects a revenue of praiseand glory for it.
(06:41):
And how can we bless him for itwhen we know nothing of angels?
Let us bless God, I say, for theministry of angels.
You know, as I reread thesegospel texts describing what we
call the Christmas account, itoccurred to me that to deny the
existence of angels would be todeny the central declaration of
(07:04):
the gospel of Christmas.
God uses them to play asignificant role.
I read recently onewell-respected author who made
the statement that angels cannotpreach the gospel.
Only Christians can.
And I would have to disagree.
In fact, the very firstappearance in the New Testament
(07:25):
of the Greek word translated thegospel or the good news comes
from the lips of an angel.
It will be an angel who deliversthe gospel to shepherds in the
fields of Bethlehem, as hedeclares, Don't be afraid, for I
am bringing you what?
Good news.
Literally, Evangelion, thegospel.
(07:47):
I'm delivering to you thegospel.
It is of great joy, which shallbe for all the people, for today
in the city of David is born foryou a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord.
Of course, he is joined then bythe innumerable hosts of heaven.
One particular angel stands outabove all the rest.
(08:11):
One particular agent of God whoplays a unique role in the
incarnation accounts of Christ'sbirth and all those events
surrounding it.
He will be the angel who willappear delivering startling
news.
So what I want to do with youtoday and next Lord's Day is
just dig back into these textsand pull out the rich truths
delivered to mankind throughthis particular leading angel
(08:34):
who is part of the fabric of thegospel of Christmas.
His name is Gabriel.
Would you turn to the Christmasaccount by Luke in chapter 1?
Gabriel's first appearanceinside the magnificent temple of
Herod.
Look at verse 5.
(08:55):
In the days of Herod, king ofJudea, there was a priest named
Zacharias of the division ofAbijah.
And he had a wife from thedaughters of Aaron, that is a
descendant of Aaron.
And her name was Elizabeth.
(09:16):
She was named after the wife ofAaron.
And so she and her husbandZacharias descended from that
great family dedicated to theservice of God.
So, Gabriel, there's your firstmark.
This is your first assignment,God would say.
(09:37):
That old priest down there willbe the very first to hear the
news, the gospel, that theMessiah is on his way.
Now, before we go any further,let's set the stage for this
rather dramatic encounter.
The verse that we just readtogether told us a lot about
this scene.
This is in the days of Herod,which lets us know that this
(10:00):
particular priest is servingduring the days of a paranoid,
wicked killer.
But Herod was loved by the RomanEmperor, and the Roman Senate
was instructed by the Emperor togive him a title he had long
wanted to have.
And so they gave him the titleKing of the Jews.
So you can imagine a little bitmore how upset Herod would be
(10:23):
when the Magi will arrive laterand ask him, where is he born
king of the Jews?
He killed for less than that.
That was his title, which is whyhe will later order the murder
of every little boy under theage of two living in the
vicinity of Bethlehem to try toget rid of this rival to his
(10:45):
throne.
These are not easy days to be apriest serving God.
Notice how Luke describes thenthis faithful priest who is
serving in that glorious temple,and his wife, along with him, is
described in verse 6.
They were both righteous in thesight of God, walking
(11:09):
blamelessly in all thecommandments and requirements of
the Lord, but they had no child.
Elizabeth was barren, and theywere both now advanced in years.
Now that alone was startlingnews.
To the Orthodox Jew living inthe first century, barrenness
(11:30):
was considered the rebuke ofGod.
In fact, the rabbis taughtduring these days that we're
reading of today that there wereseven types of people who could
not expect a close walk withGod.
At the top of the list was aJewish man who had no wife.
So to be a single man, yousimply ruled out the possibility
of God ever being pleased withyou.
And secondly, was a Jewishcouple without children.
(11:56):
In fact, during the days ofChrist, barrenness was
considered valid grounds fordivorce.
So to live as a faithful couple,serving God no less in this era
under the covenant of promiseregarding children, the
inability to have them wouldhave written a volume of pain
and despair, of tears andquestions.
(12:18):
In fact, Elizabeth will describeher barrenness as disgrace.
I can't help but wonder as Ireread this text, would I have
served God as they did?
Would you?
Why do we serve him?
(12:38):
Because he is good to us, sothat he will be good to us.
Or like these two dear people,in spite of the fact that he
didn't seem to be good to them.
To live as a faithful coupleserving God speaks highly of
(13:02):
this one who will be the firstto hear the gospel.
Now that's just the setting ofthe scene.
Something really startling isabout to happen.
Notice verse 8, and it happenedthat while he was performing his
priestly service before God inthe appointed order of his
division, according to thecustom of the priestly office,
he was chosen by Lot to enterthe temple of the Lord and burn
(13:25):
incense.
Okay, slow down.
Let's stop a minute here.
To onlookers, this was, youknow, just a chance roll of the
dice, which uh selectedZacharias out of all the priests
to perform this rather sacredand special duty.
You need to understand thatduring the days of Zacharias
there was an estimated twentythousand priests.
(13:46):
Only at Passover and the Feastof Tabernacles did they all come
to serve in Jerusalem at thesame time.
For the rest of the year, theyserved in divisions.
There were 24 divisions, ofanywhere from 800 to 1,000 in
each division, serving two weeksout of the year.
The rest of the year they wentback to their farming and
(14:07):
managing whatever businessesthey had.
Zacharias was probably a simplecountry farmer.
He happened on this week, hejust so happened, to be serving
in the division of Abijah.
There's more out of thisdivision, those 1,000 priests
would be given their duties bythe casting of lots.
(14:30):
Every morning and evening therewould be a sacrifice made in the
temple for the whole nation, anunblemished lamb, one year old,
along with flour and oil and adrink offering of wine.
Now, before the morning andevening sacrifice was placed on
the altar, one priest, decidedby lot, would be given the
(14:55):
special privilege, either in themorning or in the evening, to go
into the holy place of thetemple, just outside the Holy of
Holies.
And he had a special job that hewas able to do in that sacred
place.
Of course, you had the table ofshowbread and you had the golden
candlestick and other articles,but there was that golden horned
altar of incense with live coalsthat were tended throughout the
(15:19):
day.
It would be the high honor ofthis priest, chosen by Lot, to
pour incense over those livecoals, so that just as the lamb
outside was being placed on thealtar, the sweet-smelling aroma
would ascend with the offeringas if it were a sweet-smelling
savor to God.
(15:39):
Now the fact remained that therewere so many priests, many of
them never, ever once had theprivilege of offering incense in
the holy place.
In fact, according tohistorians, if you were chosen
by Lot to burn incense upon thealtar, you could only do it one
time, your entire lifetime.
(16:01):
So here you have Zachariasreaching the apex of his life.
This is the high moment of hisministry.
He will enter the holy place,and while he is inside, verse 10
tells us that all of themultitude is outside in the
court praying.
All the priests, all the peopleare jammed there praying while
(16:24):
he is inside, praying that Godwill accept with pleasure his
offering.
Now, one more thing.
It was also the privilege ofthis priest, after offering the
incense, to finish his task andwhen he did, to come out to the
railing where he would deliver avery brief sermon.
(16:45):
It would be his one chance.
And he would bless the people inthe name of their faithful and
forgiving God.
What a moment that would be.
So here is Zacharias.
Picture him with trembling oldhands lifting the censer and
standing there and letting thecontent spill over the coals and
(17:06):
listen as they crackle andsizzle, and then watch as the
sweet-smelling aroma begins likefog to rise.
It's at that moment that herealizes he's not alone.
Verse 11.
And an angel of the Lordappeared to him, standing to the
(17:27):
right of the altar of incense,and Zacharias was troubled.
That's an understatement.
When he saw the angel, and feargripped him.
Now, later on in the text, theangel will identify himself as
Gabriel.
But I want you to stop with meanother moment or two here and
(17:50):
be introduced to this uniquelychosen messenger of God.
Zacharias has heard aboutGabriel.
Everybody's heard about Gabriel.
He's a rather famous angel.
They have read the prophecies ofDaniel, where Daniel describes,
(18:11):
I believe, Gabriel in chapter10.
He will describe him with sevendescriptions.
First, when Gabriel appeared toDaniel, he was wearing a linen
robe.
Highly significant because arobe made of linen was the
garment worn by the high priestwhen he entered the Holy of
(18:32):
Holies.
It was to be clean and perfectlyironed.
Daniel also described Gabrielfurther as having his waist
girded with a wide belt made ofsolid gold.
Would have been a ratherimpressive sight.
Daniel described the body ofGabriel like the stone barrel,
(18:54):
the precious stone.
It could be a reference to hisbody, which seemed hard and
firm.
Or the color, which would be ablue color.
Furthermore, Gabriel's face wasdescribed by Daniel as having
the appearance of lightning.
In other words, it was probablytoo bright.
It shone to be able to look atit for very long.
(19:15):
So here's this being in a roomwith you, whose body and face
are brilliant shades of blue andwhite, whose robe is perfectly
tailored, wearing a belt made ofgold.
Daniel goes on further anddescribes the eyes of Gabriel as
if they glowed with fire.
Daniel also mentioned theangel's arms and his feet
(19:38):
shining as if they were polishedbronze.
And finally, Gabriel's voice isdescribed like the voice of a
multitude, which would be along, rumbling, low, powerful,
forceful voice.
And the text says Zacharias wasfilled with fear.
(19:59):
That's the understatement of theChristmas story.
I'm shocked he stayed standingor breathing.
Here is the one, by the way, whoappeared to Daniel during the
evening sacrifice.
I would probably be led tobelieve easily that it would be
the evening sacrifice whereZacharias is also met by
(20:22):
Gabriel.
Daniel's response to Gabriel isthat he is terrified.
In fact, he falls down.
Zacharias also is terrified.
Daniel will also be renderedspeechless.
Zacharias will, although for adifferent reason.
But more importantly, it isthis: Gabriel has delivered a
message to Daniel describingfuture messianic times.
(20:47):
And Gabriel is now delivering amessage to Zacharias about the
dawning of messianic times.
He is announcing, ladies andgentlemen, the breaking of the
dawn.
The sun is going to rise.
Notice his words in verse 13.
He says, Don't be afraid,Zacharias, for your petition has
(21:12):
been heard.
And your wife Elizabeth willbear a son, and you will give
him the name John.
Now, some would suggest thatZacharias was in there praying
for a son.
I don't believe he was, becauseof his response to Gabriel, once
Gabriel tells him this.
I believe his faithful prayer asa priest there inside the holy
place would have been the prayerof redemption and the coming one
(21:35):
who would save the people, asall faithful priests would be
praying.
He says, Zacharias, your prayerhas been heard.
In fact, your son is going tohave a special role to play in
the coming Messiah.
Look at verse 17.
He will go as a forerunnerbefore him in the spirit and
(21:57):
power of Elijah.
And again, he quotes fromMalachi to turn the hearts of
the fathers back to the childrenand the disobedient to the
attitude of the righteous, so asto make ready a people prepared
for the Lord.
Gabriel is telling Zachariasthat he and Elizabeth are going
to raise the prophet of God, whois the answer to the prophecy of
(22:19):
Malachi, who will prepare thepeople for the Messiah.
Notice verse 18, and Zachariassaid to the angel, How will I
know this for certain?
In other words, can you give mesome proof that God will do
this?
Imagine, here's Zacharias in theholy place, all alone, except an
angel is in there with him, hisface like lightning, his arms
(22:41):
glowing like bronze.
And he says, I need another signfrom God.
Can you give me some more proofthat something unique is going
to happen in my life?
He says, verse 18, I'm an oldman.
And my wife is beyondchildbearing years.
(23:02):
Just like Abraham and Sarah ofold, who didn't believe that God
could produce through them theforefather of the Messiah.
Zacharias doesn't believe Godwill produce through them the
forerunner of the Messiah.
The angel in verse 19 answersand says to him, I am Gabriel.
(23:26):
Love that response.
There's a play on words lost tothe English.
Reader, Zacharias emphasizes, Iam an old man.
And the angel says, I amGabriel.
Hello.
Wake up.
And I stand in the presence ofGod.
(23:46):
In other words, I've just comefrom the presence of God to
deliver to you the news.
You should know, Zacharias.
Nothing is impossible with God.
Now notice this, verse 19.
I love this text.
I stand in the presence of God,and I have been sent to speak to
you and to bring you thisevangelion, this gospel.
(24:11):
I've come to give you the goodnews of God.
Zacharias, you've been waiting,you and the people, for all your
lives for good news.
Four hundred years of silence.
The news is that the silence ofGod is over.
(24:35):
You've longed for thefulfillment of Malachi's
prophecy that the sun would riseand fathers would turn their
hearts to their families, andthe people would repent and
prepare their hearts for thecoming.
Not only is God gonna do that,but He's chosen you and your
wife to have a son who will growup and with the spirit and power
(24:55):
of Elijah prepare the people forthe dawning of messianic
revelation.
Gabriel says, This is the goodnews, this is the gospel.
You're the first to hear it.
But since you don't believe mywords, you'll not be able to
speak your own words.
Verse 20.
Behold, you shall be silent andunable to speak until the day
(25:18):
when these things take place,that is the day when John is
born.
A little more than nine monthsfrom now.
Verse 62, if you look overthere, it implies that Zacharias
could neither speak nor hear,because other people are making
signs to him.
Where earlier in the chapter,verse 22, he is making signs to
(25:42):
people.
But can you imagine being thespokesman for God all your life
as a priest, and now you havethe scoop on the most exciting
news ever to hit Israel in thelast 400 years, and you can't
tell anybody?
I wondered, though, as I readthis again, for those of us who
can't communicate, can you thinkof a time and that you told
(26:03):
someone the gospel?
Have you told anybody this yearthe good news?
Not just that Christ came, butthat he's coming again.
Well, Gabriel has accomplishedhis first mission.
(26:23):
He leaves a stunned priest whonow gallops his donkey home as
fast as he can and begins toplay charades with his wife.
Maybe he settles down longenough to write it out for her.
When John is born, and we'llstop here, but when John is born
(26:45):
later, the birth of his son,Zacharias, will say, and he will
pull again from Malachi'sprophecy, and he will say these
words the sunrise from on highis going to visit us.
I'm delivering to you the newsthat the dawn is breaking.
(27:08):
The gospel is being heard.
SPEAKER_00 (27:20):
Gabriel has another message to deliver, and that'll
be to Mary, and we'll look atthat next time.
You're listening to Wisdom forthe Heart with Stephen Davy.
This was part one of a two-partseries called The Gospel
According to Gabriel.
This lesson is called Declaringthe Break of Dawn.
(27:41):
As we close this Christmas Evebroadcast, I want to remind you
that even though our offices areclosed today, you can still
connect with us anytime online.
Just visit wisdomonline.org.
There you'll find Stephen'scomplete Bible teaching library,
including every broadcast andhundreds of sermons from more
(28:06):
than 40 years of ministry.
Christmas is a wonderful time toreflect on God's greatest gift,
His Son, Jesus Christ.
And we want to help you continuegrowing in your love for Him.
So take a few minutes today andexplore wisdomonline.org.
(28:27):
And then be sure to join us nexttime.
This is Zacharias, your prayer has been heard.
Look at verse 17.
He will go as a forerunnerbefore him in the spirit and
power of Elijah.
And again, he quotes fromMalachi to turn the hearts of
the fathers back to the childrenand the disobedient to the
attitude of the righteous, so asto make ready a people prepared
(00:56):
for the Lord.
Gabriel is telling Zachariasthat he and Elizabeth are going
to raise the prophet of God, whois the answer to the prophecy of
Malachi, who will prepare thepeople for the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00 (01:21):
Some people today are skeptical of angels.
Others are a bit too infatuatedwith them.
Most of us consider angels to bemysterious.
We don't know much about them,and we don't understand God's
purpose for them.
When God wanted to communicatewith people, he would sometimes
(01:43):
send an angel named Gabriel todeliver that message.
One of those times was to a mannamed Zacharias.
Today on Wisdom for the Heart,Stephen Davy looks at that
encounter.
We're going to turn ourattention to the Christmas story
with this message calledDeclaring the Break of Dawn.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
An angel will announce the birth of John the
Baptizer.
An angel will deliver the newsto Mary of her conception.
An angel will assure Joseph thatMary is conceived of the Holy
Spirit.
An angel will deliver the newsof Christ's birth to shepherds.
And angels will chant theirpraise to God, and an angel will
(02:38):
warn Joseph to flee to Egyptwith his newborn son and wife.
Angels are literally scurryingall around the scenes, these
early scenes, carrying out thedetails of God's redemptive
plans so that all goes accordingto divine script.
There are those who don'tbelieve in the activity of
angels or that they for somereason have ceased.
(03:02):
I believe that they are engagedin ways that we perhaps would be
amazed to see.
I pulled off a volume from myshelf entitled All the Angels of
the Bible, and I thought it wasinteresting to read the preface,
which I had not read before, byHerbert Lockier, and the preface
to his work gave an interestingpersonal account that he
(03:24):
recorded.
He was in Kenya, Africa,preaching on a tour, and on one
occasion spoke at the missionaryschool outside of Nairobi.
In the audience was a nativetribesman who would end up
accepting Christ as his personalsavior there in the school's
(03:45):
chapel that afternoon.
After the service, he came upand talked to Dr.
Lockier and told him what ledhim to attend the service.
Earlier, several months earlier,he and other tribesmen, young
warriors, had decided to invadethe school compound with its
mission station and school formissionary children.
(04:06):
These ruthless warriors had madea pact together to climb the
hill up the school and captureand kill the children.
As they made their way up thehill under the cover of
darkness, suddenly he reportedmen dressed in white robes
surrounded the school, and inthe hands of each man was a
sword that seemed to be on fire.
(04:30):
The staff all agreed as theyheard the story, there was no
other explanation.
I personally had theopportunity, as many of you did,
some time ago, to hear theaccounts of missionary Steve
Saint, who preached here, theson of the martyred missionary
Nate Saint, who was killed alongwith Jim Elliott and other men
who had gone to deliver thegospel to the Alka Indians.
(04:51):
Steve told us that moments afterkilling the five missionaries
who'd come to deliver thegospel, these native men saw
hazy figures above the treelines singing music that they
had never heard before.
Many months later, in fact, itwas after Steve's aunt and
Elizabeth Elliott returned, Ithink, even with one of their
children, to deliver the gospeland try again, risking their own
(05:15):
lives that they, by the grace ofGod, were able to convert many
of these tribesmen to Christ.
And it was months later that uhsome of these uh tribesmen uh
sat listening to one of themissionaries' uh record player.
Uh that's a machine that playsmusic recorded on round plastic
things.
(05:36):
The natives said they recognizedthe music.
They had heard it that day onthe sandy beach, coming from the
figures hovering above the treeline.
No doubt to Steve and the othersit was the singing of angels.
There are many in our world whoare skeptical of the existence
and ministry of angels.
Obviously, you can overdo it.
(05:58):
You can look for an angel underevery bush and you can give
credit to them when all creditbelongs to God.
You can be either enamored withthem or you can ignore them and
you can even deny theirexistence.
One Puritan theologian in theearly 1600s by the name of John
(06:18):
Owen wrote that to ignore theangels is the height of
ingratitude.
He penned these words in hiscommentary on the book of
Hebrews.
We should search after what maybe known of them.
God hath neither appointed norrevealed them for nothing.
He expects a revenue of praiseand glory for it.
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And how can we bless him for itwhen we know nothing of angels?
Let us bless God, I say, for theministry of angels.
You know, as I reread thesegospel texts describing what we
call the Christmas account, itoccurred to me that to deny the
existence of angels would be todeny the central declaration of
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the gospel of Christmas.
God uses them to play asignificant role.
I read recently onewell-respected author who made
the statement that angels cannotpreach the gospel.
Only Christians can.
And I would have to disagree.
In fact, the very firstappearance in the New Testament
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of the Greek word translated thegospel or the good news comes
from the lips of an angel.
It will be an angel who deliversthe gospel to shepherds in the
fields of Bethlehem, as hedeclares, Don't be afraid, for I
am bringing you what?
Good news.
Literally, Evangelion, thegospel.
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I'm delivering to you thegospel.
It is of great joy, which shallbe for all the people, for today
in the city of David is born foryou a Savior, who is Christ the
Lord.
Of course, he is joined then bythe innumerable hosts of heaven.
One particular angel stands outabove all the rest.
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One particular agent of God whoplays a unique role in the
incarnation accounts of Christ'sbirth and all those events
surrounding it.
He will be the angel who willappear delivering startling
news.
So what I want to do with youtoday and next Lord's Day is
just dig back into these textsand pull out the rich truths
delivered to mankind throughthis particular leading angel
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who is part of the fabric of thegospel of Christmas.
His name is Gabriel.
Would you turn to the Christmasaccount by Luke in chapter 1?
Gabriel's first appearanceinside the magnificent temple of
Herod.
Look at verse 5.
(08:55):
In the days of Herod, king ofJudea, there was a priest named
Zacharias of the division ofAbijah.
And he had a wife from thedaughters of Aaron, that is a
descendant of Aaron.
And her name was Elizabeth.
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She was named after the wife ofAaron.
And so she and her husbandZacharias descended from that
great family dedicated to theservice of God.
So, Gabriel, there's your firstmark.
This is your first assignment,God would say.
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That old priest down there willbe the very first to hear the
news, the gospel, that theMessiah is on his way.
Now, before we go any further,let's set the stage for this
rather dramatic encounter.
The verse that we just readtogether told us a lot about
this scene.
This is in the days of Herod,which lets us know that this
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particular priest is servingduring the days of a paranoid,
wicked killer.
But Herod was loved by the RomanEmperor, and the Roman Senate
was instructed by the Emperor togive him a title he had long
wanted to have.
And so they gave him the titleKing of the Jews.
So you can imagine a little bitmore how upset Herod would be
(10:23):
when the Magi will arrive laterand ask him, where is he born
king of the Jews?
He killed for less than that.
That was his title, which is whyhe will later order the murder
of every little boy under theage of two living in the
vicinity of Bethlehem to try toget rid of this rival to his
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throne.
These are not easy days to be apriest serving God.
Notice how Luke describes thenthis faithful priest who is
serving in that glorious temple,and his wife, along with him, is
described in verse 6.
They were both righteous in thesight of God, walking
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blamelessly in all thecommandments and requirements of
the Lord, but they had no child.
Elizabeth was barren, and theywere both now advanced in years.
Now that alone was startlingnews.
To the Orthodox Jew living inthe first century, barrenness
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was considered the rebuke ofGod.
In fact, the rabbis taughtduring these days that we're
reading of today that there wereseven types of people who could
not expect a close walk withGod.
At the top of the list was aJewish man who had no wife.
So to be a single man, yousimply ruled out the possibility
of God ever being pleased withyou.
And secondly, was a Jewishcouple without children.
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In fact, during the days ofChrist, barrenness was
considered valid grounds fordivorce.
So to live as a faithful couple,serving God no less in this era
under the covenant of promiseregarding children, the
inability to have them wouldhave written a volume of pain
and despair, of tears andquestions.
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In fact, Elizabeth will describeher barrenness as disgrace.
I can't help but wonder as Ireread this text, would I have
served God as they did?
Would you?
Why do we serve him?
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Because he is good to us, sothat he will be good to us.
Or like these two dear people,in spite of the fact that he
didn't seem to be good to them.
To live as a faithful coupleserving God speaks highly of
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this one who will be the firstto hear the gospel.
Now that's just the setting ofthe scene.
Something really startling isabout to happen.
Notice verse 8, and it happenedthat while he was performing his
priestly service before God inthe appointed order of his
division, according to thecustom of the priestly office,
he was chosen by Lot to enterthe temple of the Lord and burn
(13:25):
incense.
Okay, slow down.
Let's stop a minute here.
To onlookers, this was, youknow, just a chance roll of the
dice, which uh selectedZacharias out of all the priests
to perform this rather sacredand special duty.
You need to understand thatduring the days of Zacharias
there was an estimated twentythousand priests.
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Only at Passover and the Feastof Tabernacles did they all come
to serve in Jerusalem at thesame time.
For the rest of the year, theyserved in divisions.
There were 24 divisions, ofanywhere from 800 to 1,000 in
each division, serving two weeksout of the year.
The rest of the year they wentback to their farming and
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managing whatever businessesthey had.
Zacharias was probably a simplecountry farmer.
He happened on this week, hejust so happened, to be serving
in the division of Abijah.
There's more out of thisdivision, those 1,000 priests
would be given their duties bythe casting of lots.
(14:30):
Every morning and evening therewould be a sacrifice made in the
temple for the whole nation, anunblemished lamb, one year old,
along with flour and oil and adrink offering of wine.
Now, before the morning andevening sacrifice was placed on
the altar, one priest, decidedby lot, would be given the
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special privilege, either in themorning or in the evening, to go
into the holy place of thetemple, just outside the Holy of
Holies.
And he had a special job that hewas able to do in that sacred
place.
Of course, you had the table ofshowbread and you had the golden
candlestick and other articles,but there was that golden horned
altar of incense with live coalsthat were tended throughout the
(15:19):
day.
It would be the high honor ofthis priest, chosen by Lot, to
pour incense over those livecoals, so that just as the lamb
outside was being placed on thealtar, the sweet-smelling aroma
would ascend with the offeringas if it were a sweet-smelling
savor to God.
(15:39):
Now the fact remained that therewere so many priests, many of
them never, ever once had theprivilege of offering incense in
the holy place.
In fact, according tohistorians, if you were chosen
by Lot to burn incense upon thealtar, you could only do it one
time, your entire lifetime.
(16:01):
So here you have Zachariasreaching the apex of his life.
This is the high moment of hisministry.
He will enter the holy place,and while he is inside, verse 10
tells us that all of themultitude is outside in the
court praying.
All the priests, all the peopleare jammed there praying while
(16:24):
he is inside, praying that Godwill accept with pleasure his
offering.
Now, one more thing.
It was also the privilege ofthis priest, after offering the
incense, to finish his task andwhen he did, to come out to the
railing where he would deliver avery brief sermon.
(16:45):
It would be his one chance.
And he would bless the people inthe name of their faithful and
forgiving God.
What a moment that would be.
So here is Zacharias.
Picture him with trembling oldhands lifting the censer and
standing there and letting thecontent spill over the coals and
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listen as they crackle andsizzle, and then watch as the
sweet-smelling aroma begins likefog to rise.
It's at that moment that herealizes he's not alone.
Verse 11.
And an angel of the Lordappeared to him, standing to the
(17:27):
right of the altar of incense,and Zacharias was troubled.
That's an understatement.
When he saw the angel, and feargripped him.
Now, later on in the text, theangel will identify himself as
Gabriel.
But I want you to stop with meanother moment or two here and
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be introduced to this uniquelychosen messenger of God.
Zacharias has heard aboutGabriel.
Everybody's heard about Gabriel.
He's a rather famous angel.
They have read the prophecies ofDaniel, where Daniel describes,
(18:11):
I believe, Gabriel in chapter10.
He will describe him with sevendescriptions.
First, when Gabriel appeared toDaniel, he was wearing a linen
robe.
Highly significant because arobe made of linen was the
garment worn by the high priestwhen he entered the Holy of
(18:32):
Holies.
It was to be clean and perfectlyironed.
Daniel also described Gabrielfurther as having his waist
girded with a wide belt made ofsolid gold.
Would have been a ratherimpressive sight.
Daniel described the body ofGabriel like the stone barrel,
(18:54):
the precious stone.
It could be a reference to hisbody, which seemed hard and
firm.
Or the color, which would be ablue color.
Furthermore, Gabriel's face wasdescribed by Daniel as having
the appearance of lightning.
In other words, it was probablytoo bright.
It shone to be able to look atit for very long.
(19:15):
So here's this being in a roomwith you, whose body and face
are brilliant shades of blue andwhite, whose robe is perfectly
tailored, wearing a belt made ofgold.
Daniel goes on further anddescribes the eyes of Gabriel as
if they glowed with fire.
Daniel also mentioned theangel's arms and his feet
(19:38):
shining as if they were polishedbronze.
And finally, Gabriel's voice isdescribed like the voice of a
multitude, which would be along, rumbling, low, powerful,
forceful voice.
And the text says Zacharias wasfilled with fear.
(19:59):
That's the understatement of theChristmas story.
I'm shocked he stayed standingor breathing.
Here is the one, by the way, whoappeared to Daniel during the
evening sacrifice.
I would probably be led tobelieve easily that it would be
the evening sacrifice whereZacharias is also met by
(20:22):
Gabriel.
Daniel's response to Gabriel isthat he is terrified.
In fact, he falls down.
Zacharias also is terrified.
Daniel will also be renderedspeechless.
Zacharias will, although for adifferent reason.
But more importantly, it isthis: Gabriel has delivered a
message to Daniel describingfuture messianic times.
(20:47):
And Gabriel is now delivering amessage to Zacharias about the
dawning of messianic times.
He is announcing, ladies andgentlemen, the breaking of the
dawn.
The sun is going to rise.
Notice his words in verse 13.
He says, Don't be afraid,Zacharias, for your petition has
(21:12):
been heard.
And your wife Elizabeth willbear a son, and you will give
him the name John.
Now, some would suggest thatZacharias was in there praying
for a son.
I don't believe he was, becauseof his response to Gabriel, once
Gabriel tells him this.
I believe his faithful prayer asa priest there inside the holy
place would have been the prayerof redemption and the coming one
(21:35):
who would save the people, asall faithful priests would be
praying.
He says, Zacharias, your prayerhas been heard.
In fact, your son is going tohave a special role to play in
the coming Messiah.
Look at verse 17.
He will go as a forerunnerbefore him in the spirit and
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power of Elijah.
And again, he quotes fromMalachi to turn the hearts of
the fathers back to the childrenand the disobedient to the
attitude of the righteous, so asto make ready a people prepared
for the Lord.
Gabriel is telling Zachariasthat he and Elizabeth are going
to raise the prophet of God, whois the answer to the prophecy of
(22:19):
Malachi, who will prepare thepeople for the Messiah.
Notice verse 18, and Zachariassaid to the angel, How will I
know this for certain?
In other words, can you give mesome proof that God will do
this?
Imagine, here's Zacharias in theholy place, all alone, except an
angel is in there with him, hisface like lightning, his arms
(22:41):
glowing like bronze.
And he says, I need another signfrom God.
Can you give me some more proofthat something unique is going
to happen in my life?
He says, verse 18, I'm an oldman.
And my wife is beyondchildbearing years.
(23:02):
Just like Abraham and Sarah ofold, who didn't believe that God
could produce through them theforefather of the Messiah.
Zacharias doesn't believe Godwill produce through them the
forerunner of the Messiah.
The angel in verse 19 answersand says to him, I am Gabriel.
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Love that response.
There's a play on words lost tothe English.
Reader, Zacharias emphasizes, Iam an old man.
And the angel says, I amGabriel.
Hello.
Wake up.
And I stand in the presence ofGod.
(23:46):
In other words, I've just comefrom the presence of God to
deliver to you the news.
You should know, Zacharias.
Nothing is impossible with God.
Now notice this, verse 19.
I love this text.
I stand in the presence of God,and I have been sent to speak to
you and to bring you thisevangelion, this gospel.
(24:11):
I've come to give you the goodnews of God.
Zacharias, you've been waiting,you and the people, for all your
lives for good news.
Four hundred years of silence.
The news is that the silence ofGod is over.
(24:35):
You've longed for thefulfillment of Malachi's
prophecy that the sun would riseand fathers would turn their
hearts to their families, andthe people would repent and
prepare their hearts for thecoming.
Not only is God gonna do that,but He's chosen you and your
wife to have a son who will growup and with the spirit and power
(24:55):
of Elijah prepare the people forthe dawning of messianic
revelation.
Gabriel says, This is the goodnews, this is the gospel.
You're the first to hear it.
But since you don't believe mywords, you'll not be able to
speak your own words.
Verse 20.
Behold, you shall be silent andunable to speak until the day
(25:18):
when these things take place,that is the day when John is
born.
A little more than nine monthsfrom now.
Verse 62, if you look overthere, it implies that Zacharias
could neither speak nor hear,because other people are making
signs to him.
Where earlier in the chapter,verse 22, he is making signs to
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people.
But can you imagine being thespokesman for God all your life
as a priest, and now you havethe scoop on the most exciting
news ever to hit Israel in thelast 400 years, and you can't
tell anybody?
I wondered, though, as I readthis again, for those of us who
can't communicate, can you thinkof a time and that you told
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someone the gospel?
Have you told anybody this yearthe good news?
Not just that Christ came, butthat he's coming again.
Well, Gabriel has accomplishedhis first mission.
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He leaves a stunned priest whonow gallops his donkey home as
fast as he can and begins toplay charades with his wife.
Maybe he settles down longenough to write it out for her.
When John is born, and we'llstop here, but when John is born
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later, the birth of his son,Zacharias, will say, and he will
pull again from Malachi'sprophecy, and he will say these
words the sunrise from on highis going to visit us.
I'm delivering to you the newsthat the dawn is breaking.
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The gospel is being heard.
SPEAKER_00 (27:20):
Gabriel has another message to deliver, and that'll
be to Mary, and we'll look atthat next time.
You're listening to Wisdom forthe Heart with Stephen Davy.
This was part one of a two-partseries called The Gospel
According to Gabriel.
This lesson is called Declaringthe Break of Dawn.
(27:41):
As we close this Christmas Evebroadcast, I want to remind you
that even though our offices areclosed today, you can still
connect with us anytime online.
Just visit wisdomonline.org.
There you'll find Stephen'scomplete Bible teaching library,
including every broadcast andhundreds of sermons from more
(28:06):
than 40 years of ministry.
Christmas is a wonderful time toreflect on God's greatest gift,
His Son, Jesus Christ.
And we want to help you continuegrowing in your love for Him.
So take a few minutes today andexplore wisdomonline.org.
(28:27):
And then be sure to join us nexttime.
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