12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
What is the source of this fear? Perfect love casts out fear. 1Jn. 4:18 Ordinary fear is generated by the evil one who gets us confused and immobilized with fear. Chiefly figmented thoughts of failure, rejection, loss, even death. Once we allow ourselves to be influenced by fear of this sort, we in effect give the enemy of our soul an invitation to torment and frolic to his giggles and grins.
Though I suppose this fear that Zechariah is gripped with is not the ordinary sort of fear. Instead it is a Holy fear. One that is generated by the instantaneous reflection of being in the presence of glorified and uncorrupt being. This is the same reaction of Isaiah when the mist of the Lord’s presence filled the Temple with His Glory. He was hushed and overwhelmed as one who recognizes the vast difference between his sinful self and the nature of the Divine.
application
I need to be still and know that He is God and that His presence in my life is a privilege and that He is Holy, and by association that can make me Holy, set apart for His good pleasure.
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