The Battle for Christmas

“Hmmm …” Gabriel didn’t like it. He was sure they would be here. As he entered the Court of the Israelites, he looked back over his shoulder. “Guard the doors and windows. Kill anything that tries to enter. I’m going in.”

“Yes, sir.” Rubin left.

Gabriel walked into the Court of the Priests and stood at the right side of the altar to wait for Zechariah. After a few minutes, Zechariah entered and went about his duties. He had no idea Gabriel stood beside the altar, invisible to humankind. Gabriel looked around one more time to see if he could locate any of Lucifer’s demons. It appeared as if none were able to make it through the defenses. In order to be something closer to human size, so he wouldn’t completely terrify Zechariah, he morphed into a smaller version of himself. Gabriel waited for Zechariah to turn toward the altar and then materialized in front of him. Zechariah shook with fear. He was about to drop to his knees when Gabriel spoke. “Do not be afraid Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.” As Gabriel continued to speak, he saw Doubt sitting on Zechariah’s shoulder. It was too late to do anything about it. He had to finish his speech.

“He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah was racked with fear. He was too afraid to lift his head and look at Gabriel.

Until Doubt spoke to him. Doubt whispered into Zechariah’s ear. Gabriel wanted to pull out his sword and slice Doubt in two.

He wanted to, but he couldn’t. It would be too much for Zechariah, and this was no place for swordplay.

Doubt knew it too. He finished speaking to Zechariah and turned to Gabriel.

“Did you really think Lord Satan would let you just walk in here?” Doubt snorted and laughed at Gabriel. His beady little eyes and sinister grin were almost too much for Gabriel to handle.

Gabriel feared what Zechariah would say after Doubt had whispered to him, but he had to let him speak. Zechariah looked up and began, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

“You’re a fool, Gabriel!” Doubt said. “You and your God are weak!”

Doubt had planted the seed. Gabriel was furious. Zechariah sensed his anger and quickly bowed his head. He closed his eyes and trembled with fear.

With lightning speed, Gabriel lunged toward Zechariah. He reached out with his right hand and struck Doubt off of Zechariah’s shoulder. Doubt sailed across the room and cracked his head against the far wall. He slid down the wall and collapsed, unconscious in a heap.

Gabriel’s left hand touched Zechariah’s lips before he’d returned to his position at the altar.

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” With that, he vanished.

Zechariah stood there for a moment with his head still down. It’s not every day one gets to see an angel, let alone infuriate one.

He gathered his courage and raised his head to see if Gabriel was still there. Not finding the archangel anywhere, Zechariah quickly left the inner sanctuary to tell those outside what had just happened.

“Hey, there you are,” Chaim said. “We were wondering what took you so long.”

Zechariah attempted to speak, but nothing came out.

“What’s wrong, Zechariah?”

Zechariah tried again, but he could not make any sounds.

“You okay?”

A small group of fellow priests gathered around Zechariah. He continued to try to make sounds, but his voice failed to engage. He flailed his hands about, trying to communicate with the others.

“I think he saw something.”

Zechariah pointed at the priest and nodded his head emphatically.

“What did you see, Zechariah?”

Zechariah pointed to the heavens.

“You saw the Lord Most High?”

Zechariah shook his head.

“Then who?”

Zechariah flapped his arms up and down.

“An angel?”

“What did he tell you?”

“That’s enough, men. Why don’t we give him a break?” Zechariah’s friend Chaim said. He put his arm around Zechariah to steer him away from the growing crowd. “Would someone please get him a drink?” Chaim walked him over to a bench as a handful of priests ran off to find him water.

Zechariah collapsed on the bench.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Rubin said. “We scanned the entire group. I have no idea how Doubt got through our defenses.”

Rubin stood in front of Gabriel, waiting for him to lash out at his failure for securing Jerusalem, but Gabriel said nothing. He continued to stare toward the Temple.

“Not to worry,” Gabriel said.

Rubin looked at him confused. How can he not worry?

“Go into the Temple and dispose of Doubt,” Gabriel said.

Rubin quickly turned to his warriors. “Sabin and Saraf go, now!”

The angels jumped to action.

Gabriel turned away from Rubin, tapped his lips, and spoke. “Michael, we need to talk.”