Zechariah’s Unbelief

Ezekiel 10 features a vision of the glory of the Lord departing the temple of Israel, signaling that the sanctuary and the land were no longer holy and were going to be conquered by the Babylonians, who would take the Jews into exile. The prophets also foresaw the end of the exile and the return of God’s people to their land (e.g., Jer. 31), but the full blessings associated with this return could not happen until the Lord came back to the land and temple as well. After all, the greatest covenant blessing for Israel was for God to dwell among them as their God (Ex. 29:45). The Jews did return to their land in 538 BC, but the return wasn’t particularly glorious, and God did not return to His temple. Despite being in their land, His people could not be fully restored until His coming. In keeping with this, Malachi 3:1–4; 4:5–6 predicted the sudden reappearance of the Lord in His temple to perform the full and final purification of God’s people and their worship, a coming that would be immediately preceded by a forerunner, the prophet Elijah.

The announcement of the birth of John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah as the Lord’s forerunner (Luke 1:17), was the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise to return to His people and usher in the final age. Today’s passage provides further confirmation of this. When Zechariah asked for a sign that the angel’s promise of John’s birth would indeed come to pass, the angel revealed that his name was Gabriel (vv. 18–19). Many angels are mentioned in Scripture, but only two are named: Gabriel and Michael (see Dan. 8:16; Jude 9). Significantly, Gabriel is the angel who told Daniel about the seventy weeks, a prophecy that concerns the coming of the Messiah to put an end to sin and animal sacrifices and to usher in the final age of blessedness (Dan. 9). Therefore, Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah has eschatological (last, final, or ultimate) overtones, suggesting that at least some of the events of the last days were about to take place.

Zechariah’s sign consisted of a temporary judgment on him. Because he disbelieved God’s word through Gabriel, Zechariah would not be able to speak until John’s birth (Luke 1:20–25). Although the disbelief of Zechariah had consequences for him, however, it would not keep the Lord from achieving His goal. John would indeed be born. Matthew Henry comments, “The unbelief of man shall not make the promises of God of no effect.”