John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness.

Matthew 3:1-6

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

We often hear the question, “When does life begin in the womb?” The question should be asked, “When does the woman begin to be a mother?” A woman begins to be a mother the moment she learns she is pregnant.

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 3:1-2

In the previous chapters of Matthew, the virgin birth of Christ Jesus is talked about and how Mary and Joseph moved to Nazareth with the infant Jesus. Little else is mentioned about the life of Jesus until His ministry begins with John the Baptist proclaiming His coming. If anything would have been known about the boyhood of Jesus, the information would have come from Mary and Joseph. They would have kept His life secret because they would not have been able to tell everyone that they knew He was the Christ, Son of God, and Savior of the world. The Jewish culture would have stoned Mary and Joseph to death for blasphemy and others would have wanted to kill Jesus. I envision His brothers and sisters [Matthew 13:55-56] were not told that their Brother [1/2 brother] was the Son of God. John the Baptist came to proclaim the arrival of the Lamb of God when Jesus was about the age of 30.

The life of Jesus is revealed through the Scriptures, to the world, which began to be written about after His crucifixion on the Cross to forgive sin, after God raised Him from the dead after three days, after His ascension into Heaven, and after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. All of that began with a simple statement, from someone living in the desert, who said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John 1:29

John the Baptist was the son of a church minister, named Zacharias. John’s father was a priest that acted as an intercessor between God and the Jewish culture. He supervised other priests. And he offered sacrifices on behalf of the sins of the people [Luke 1:5-25]. In those days, to be a priest a person had to be born into the tribe of Levi, known as the Levitical priesthood. John was to be part of that priesthood! As a Levite, John would have inherited the duties of a priest. He gave all of that up to proclaim a simple message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” John gave up the prestige, honor, prosperity, and social acceptance that came with being a church minister and lived in the wilderness of Judea.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we do not rely on a membership in the fallen churches of today to minster the Gospel of Christ. We are nor seeking the prestige and social approval of today’s culture that lives for the beast that gives them what to do, say, think, and feel. We are not looking for earthly prosperity and comforts. The message we have comes from the Cross of Christ where we know the forgiveness of sin is the power that changes a person from within. We are living in the desert of social disapproval with a simple message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

“For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” Matthew 3:3

John the Baptist would have been a source of humility for his church-going parents. Elizabeth and Zacharias would have faced the scrutiny and criticism of Jewish society for having a son who left the ministry to live in the desert with no signs of God’s blessing being upon him [by their standards]. Even so, Elizabeth and Zacharias knew how special John was to God, as described in Luke 1:76-80, but no one else was aware of God’s Spirit being upon him. John was six months older than Jesus, his relative, they grew up together, and Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zacharias knew their children were “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and the Christ, the “Lamb of God”

Elizabeth and Zacharias paid no attention to what others said about their destitute son…their son was the fulfillment of prophecy, as spoken in Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Today, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are those living in the time prophesied about in the Bible when it is spoken, “All who dwell on the earth will worship [the beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelations 13:8 The world serves the beast that gives them what to say, do, think, and feel, but we are the voice in the wilderness saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.” Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Sin has caused people to be filled with all sorts of crimps, creases, wrinkles, and obstacles within themselves. Sin makes a person incapable of straightening things out by themselves because it is a spiritual problem, invisible to the eye. The only way to make the heart straight is to believe in God the Creator, to acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and the Savior of the world, and to let the Holy Spirit be part of who we are. Jesus has made all of that possible on the Cross where He atoned for sin and forgives our unbelief as we put our faith in Him. Jesus is returning and we say to all who will listen, “Prepare the way of the Lord“.

“Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” Matthew 3:4-6

As a Levite, John held all the rights to the privileges reserved for priests. Like his father Zacharias who was a priest over the temple, John could have followed in his father’s footsteps and have fine and luxurious clothing to wear, instead he wore camel’s hair. He could have worn a fancy sash but instead chose to wear a leather belt. John could have eaten from a bountiful supply of fine foods but instead ate locusts, which he would have had to gather on a day-to-day basis as needed. John ate wild honey, meaning he found bee hives soaking with honey that he ate with the locusts.

John was not part of the church, chose not to live among the mainstream culture, but had a ministry that the priests of the temple had never seen before. People from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan came to confess their sins and to be baptized by John. John was addressing the issue of sin that separated the people from God and spoke of the need for repentance. John didn’t need luxurious outward appearances, didn’t need the approval of other people, and didn’t need prosperity to say, “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”

Today, we are baptized into Jesus Christ who gives the Holy Spirit, as John himself said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11 Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? How can you know if you have the Holy Spirit? If you do not speak against Jesus and say that He is Lord then you have the Holy Spirit, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3

Among the other prophecies about John the Baptist, John’s leather belt matched him with Elijah who also wore a leather belt, “’A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.’ And he said, ‘It is Elijah the Tishbite.’” 2Kings 1:8 John the Baptist was the “Elijah” prophesied about, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” Malachi 4:5 Malachi was the last prophet before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he wrote his prophecy about John many years after Elijah was taken to be with the Lord. Christ Jesus said that John was Elijah, “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 11:13-15

Our Lord Jesus says that all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. That means that the coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy about His coming, death on the Cross to atone for sin, and His resurrection. That was summarized in one verse when John said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

People were coming to confess their sins and to be baptized by John the Baptist from Jerusalem [circled in red on the map below], from all the cities of the region of Judea [the light green area on the map], and all the region around the Jordan River. The Jordan River connects the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea [Salt Sea]. John was baptizing from the city of Bethany, John 1:28, which is the light blue spot just southeast of Jerusalem. John also baptized in Aenon, in the Jordan Valley, from a city called Aenon on the west side of the Jordan River, John 3:23. The Jordan Valley stretched from the south border of the Sea of Galilee to the north border of the Dead Sea, near to the brown line marked on the map.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.
I am coming soon. 
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.’”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11