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What Does the Bible Say About...Doubting God?

In Luke 1:18 where Zacharias doubted the angel regarding the promise of God to give to him and his wife a son because of their old age, he was stricken with a curse until the manifestation. Now in Luke 1:34- 35...Mary also asks how can this be, but she was not cursed? Why is this?

Answer

I wouldn’t say that Zacharias was cursed in Luke 1. It seems more like a sign than a curse. He asked, “Whereby shall I know this?” In essence he asked for a sign, and Gabriel gave him one. He made him dumb until John was born.

Mary, on the other hand, merely pointed out that she was a virgin, and therefore unable to be pregnant. When the angel explained how it could happen she had a different reaction that Zacharias. “Let it be unto me according to thy word.” In other words, she showed faith where Zacharias showed doubt.

Paul pointed out the difference between requiring a sign and true faith. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:21-24) Those who readily follow God don’t need a sign.