Luke 1:5-20 (GW)
5 When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division of priests named after Abijah. Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron.
6 Zechariah and Elizabeth had God’s approval. They followed all the Lord’s commands and regulations perfectly.
7 Yet, they never had any children because Elizabeth couldn’t become pregnant. Both of them were too old to have children.
8 Zechariah was on duty with his division of priests. As he served in God’s presence,
9 he was chosen by priestly custom to go into the Lord’s temple to burn incense.
10 All the people were praying outside while he was burning incense.
11 Then, to the right of the incense altar, an angel of the Lord appeared to him.
12 Zechariah was troubled and overcome with fear.
13 The angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you will name him John.
14 He will be your pride and joy, and many people will be glad that he was born.
15 As far as the Lord is concerned, he will be a great man. He will never drink wine or any other liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.
16 He will bring many people in Israel back to the Lord their God.
17 He will go ahead of the Lord with the spirit and power that Elijah had. He will change parents’ attitudes toward their children. He will change disobedient people so that they will accept the wisdom of those who have God’s approval. In this way he will prepare the people for their Lord.”
18 Zechariah said to the angel, “What proof is there for this? I’m an old man, and my wife is beyond her childbearing years.”
19 The angel answered him, “I’m Gabriel! I stand in God’s presence. God sent me to tell you this good news.
20 But because you didn’t believe what I said, you will be unable to talk until the day this happens. Everything will come true at the right time.”
Seriously! Shut! Your! Mouth! And keep it shut until the Lord permits you to open it.
We commit destiny abortion daily on account that we can’t keep our mouths shut long enough to allow the Lord to complete the work He started in our lives.
Too many people speak before they are meant to, while others speak what they think and want God to do rather than speak what God says in the scriptures.
Have we ever wondered why angel Gabriel shut Zechariah’s mouth?
- Zechariah talked too much!
- He questioned what God had planned for them.
- He doubted the power and mercy of God.
There is a Zechariah in every one of us, the doubters, the chatterboxes (trying to drown out God’s voice) and the and the questionnaires. Which one are you?
Vs 6 states that Zechariah and Elizabeth were upright and holy in all their outward conduct in civil life according to the standards of the Torah, which means they know the God of Israel, the one whom all things are possible with according to Matthew 19:26, the only one who had the power to accomplish what He has spoken.
Gabriel’s response: shut your mouth and keep it shut!
Would the Lord have you shut your mouth for a time? And keep it shut until He accomplishes His purpose in your life?
Do we realise that sometimes it is better to shut our mouths than speak? According to Proverbs 13:3, keeping quiet might just be what will save our lives in certain situations. While Message translation of Ecclesiastes 3:7 says there’s a time to shut up and a time to speak!
If you’ve seen a police arrest in progress, the first thing you hear them say is “you have the right to be silent,” shut your mouth because as Jesus puts it in Matthew 12:37, your words could condemn you.
Unfortunately, so many believers are yet to understand “a time to shut up and a time to speak.”
We mouth off what we have told the Lord to do for us, what the Lord has said to us He will do and what we are waiting for the Lord to do. Speaking in faith to the one who will encourage and boost your faith is not a problem but speaking in the wrong quarters, the wrong time and in the wrong ears can easily abort that process.
Joseph was a prime example of a chatterbox. Genesis 37 recounts Joseph’s story: hey brothers! Want to hear my dream? And off he went, without discerning that they were not happy for him.
Shut your mouth! Keep it shut until you get to Carmel. The Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-28 was able to shut her mouth and keep it shut until she came to the prophet who had the answer to her need. We would scream and shout for the world to hear and blame God for such awful misfortune.
Proverbs 18:13 says to shut your mouth if you don’t have all the facts of a matter.
God needs us to know when to shut our mouth and keep it shut until the manifestation of the anticipated victory just like Zechariah in vs 64.
Shut your mouth and keep it shut for God’s promises to manifest.
Shalom