The Good News - The Voice - Part One

1.24.16

The Voice - Is Prophesied 

In Isaiah 40:3 we read about the messenger for the coming King - “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” In the United States we hold our elected officials to high places of respect. Much like a king, the arrival of a dignitary or President marks a special occasion. In the House of Representatives and the Senate, there a person appointed as the Sargent at Arms. This person has many duties, one of which is the announcing of the arrival of special visitors to the House or Senate floor. Much like these Sargent at Arms today, John was sent ahead of Jesus, the Messiah, to make it known that he had arrived!

The Voice  - Takes The Stage

Luke 1:80

“And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.”

Matthew 3:1-2

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

John was the son of a Priest and was the descendant of a line of priests on both his father's and mother's side of the family. He had all the pedigree needed to join the others who served in the Temple in Jerusalem, but he chose instead to live in the wilderness and rather than ask the people of the Israel to go to the Temple to seek forgiveness he went to where they were and delivered his message. He was a man who had a right to privilege and followed a different path - one prescribed to him by God. 

The Voice - A Man Of The Wild

Matthew 3:4-6

John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

There is a difference between being a wild man and a man of the wild. John was not a man without purpose of reason. He was not out of control, in fact he was specifically the opposite. He acted with purpose and his actions were orchestrated to achieve his goal: preparing the way for the coming Messiah. This included his choice in clothing. The bible records volumes of information concerning the clothing of priests in the Law, but camel hair and leather belts were not the biblical design. So why does John where this and why do the Gospel writers record this detail?

To answer this, we turn to 2 King 1:8. In this verse we read a description of the great Old Testament prophet Elijah. The very prophet that is predicted to appear before the coming Messiah according to Malachi 4:5. In fact Jewish tradition holds this belief and incorporates it into their Passover Seder. It is common for many families to have an open chair set to invite Elijah to join them and usher in the appearance of the Messiah. At one point in the Seder, a cup is filled and it is described that their salvation from Egypt is to be repeated in the future by the salvation of the coming Messiah. (You can read more about expecting Elijah HERE.)

For most Americans, if I describe a tall man with a beard, no mustache and wearing a a black stovepipe hat they will know I am describing our 16th president. To a well versed first century Jew, the picture of a man speaking for God in the wilderness wearing camel hair with a leather belt bound around his waist was a clear picture of the predicted prophet in the wild preparing the way for the coming Messiah. John's dress, behavior, and message were all fulfillment of depictions of his life given hundreds of years before he was born.