Luke 1:19

‘And the angel answering said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you these good tidings.” ’

The answer comes. He can know that a son will be born to him because of the authority and position of the one who speaks. ‘I AM Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God.’ The ‘I am’ is emphatic. Could such a one lie? For one who stands in the presence of God could not come with lying promises. What he promises is directly from God. And he had been sent specifically to bring him these good tidings.

Gabriel (Daniel 8:16; Daniel 9:21) is one of two angels whose names are given in the Bible. His name means ‘man of God’. The other was Michael (Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:21; Daniel 12:1). These two therefore are supreme among angels. (He stands before God). But in Daniel also it was Gabriel, as the angel of mercy, who came as God’s messenger. Michael was more the defender of God’s people. To ‘stand in the presence of God’ is to be a close attendant, one in close service, ever ready to do His will.

The Jews believed in seven ‘angels of the presence’, among whom they named Gabriel and Michael, but while they gave them names no others are mentioned in Scripture, apart possibly from in Revelation 1:4; Revelation 4:5. (Raphael is mentioned in the Apocrypha, but the Apocrypha was never accepted by the Jews as Scripture).

‘Good tidings.’ This was a word intimately connected with the Isaianic promises concerning the Messiah, the Servant, and the Prophet, the Coming One (Isaiah 40:9; Isaiah 52:7; Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 61:1 compare Luke 2:10).