Jesus Christ
The Passion
John the Baptist - Messenger of God
by Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.
"As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." -Mark 1.
According to prophecy and scripture, a messenger, a prophet, would be sent by God, to prepare the way for the Day of the Lord. Some believed that this messanger would be none other than the Prophet Elijah.
Elijah, was considered Israel's second greatest prophet, after Moses. Elijah was not just a prophet, and law giver, but could heal the sick and raise the dead (1 Kings, 17, 22).
It was the prophet Elijah who had previously paved the way for the Lord, by condemning Ahab, the King of Israel, and by defeating and destroying the pagan priests who worshipped the false gods Baal and Asherah.
"You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have become a worshipper of Baal" Elijah said to Ahab, the King Of Israel. And these were false gods.
Elijah then offered a challenge. "Now summon the people from all over Israel...and bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table...Get us two bulls" he said, and cut them to pieces and lay them upon two piles of wood, "but not set fire to them. Then you call on your god," he told the priests of Baal, "and I will call on the LORD . The god who answers by fire-he is God. Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
"Then they called on Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted, and they danced around the altar they had made.
"Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or on a journey. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed."
Then Elijah instructed the people to "Fill four large jars with water and
pour it on the offering and on the wood. Do it again," he said. Do it a third time, he ordered. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench."
Then Elijah began to pray: "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
"Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal and kill them." The people slaughtered them one and all.
That Elijah might return, was based in part on the belief that he had never died. According to scripture, God had "taken up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind" as he stood and prayed along the Jordan river--exactly as Elijah prophecied (1 Kings 18:33).
"And Elijah said to his disciple, Elisha, the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And it came to pass that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces." -2 Kings 2.
Elijah, it was believed, would return from heaven. Elijah would pave the way and then annoit and announce the Messiah to the peoples of Israel and to the world.
Thus the Day of the Lord and the Era of Righteousness would not be initiated and the Messiah could not begin his work until the way had been paved by the return and second coming of the Prophet Elijah, or by some unknown messenger of God.
As retold by Mark (1): "As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
Yet, no one knew in what way or form Elijah might reappear. As Elijah, according to the Bible, had never died, but had been taken straight up into heaven, some thought that Elijah would return in his own body.
Others believed he would become a transmigrating or reincarnating spirit which would enter and possess yet another man--a stranger who would come preaching and crying out in the wilderness for the people to repent.
Enter, John the Baptist, the son of a Temple priest, Zechariah, and Elizabeth, a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
"Now Elizabeth was quite old and was barren. But one day, the angel Gabriel appeared before Zechariah: The angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God." -Luke 1.
Six month later, the angel Gabriel also appeared before Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, and said: "Behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." -Luke 1.
How John spent his early years we do not know. However, as prophecied, during these times of Roman rule and near hysterical excitement, John, while wondering in the wilderness, heard the word of God. Like one of the ancient prophets of Israel, John emerged like an apparition from the Wilderness, proclaiming that the Kindgdom of God was at hand. And this was in accordance with prophecy:
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." -Matthew 3.
We can assume, that since they were cousins, that John the Baptist must have known of Jesus, perhaps since early childhood. Nevertheless, according to the Gospels, it was the adult John the Baptist, who upon laying his eyes on the adult Jesus, first proclaimed: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." -John 2.
Having received the prophectic annointing, it was then that Jesus Christ, who was now, '"about thirty years of age" (Luke 3) announced "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." -Mark 1.
|
