The Angel Gabriel Spoke to Zacharias and Mary
Gabriel and Zecharias - Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.
He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
And Zacharias said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.
And the angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time (Luke 1:12-20).
Gabriel spoke to Mary - Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her,
Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name
JESUS. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man?
And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:26-35). For with God, nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37).
From these messages, it looks as though angels spoke to people in the Old Testament, however angels spoke to people under the new and better covenant- The New Testament; the new covenant could not be effective until the Testator/Jesus died. A will is not valid until the owner of the will dies.
After Jesus died and rose from the dead, a new covenant came.
For where there is a testament, there must also be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives (Hebrews 9:16-17).
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second (Hebrews 8:6-7).
Betty A. Burnett ~ burnettministries.org
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