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Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and
his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and
Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the
word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. He came into
all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for
remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the
prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the
Lord. Make his paths straight. (Luke 3:1-4)
The passage
above begins by listing the political and religious rulers who reigned over
Israel during Christ's earthly ministry, the sum-total of the governments of
that day. This small privileged class represented all that the world considered
noble, mighty and wise.
Nonetheless,
the word of the Lord bypassed emperor's thrones, king's palaces, the courts of
the tetrarchs and the dynasty of the high priestly family, and came to a cryptic
figure, dressed in camel hair in the wilderness. Can you see the divine irony
here? After Luke names all these high and lofty men, he says, "The word of God
came to John in the wilderness."
Unlike the
rulers of the day, John claimed no titles. He lived like a pauper and had a
reputation for being a bit odd. John rejected the religious establishment and
they rejected him, but it was to HIM that the word of God was revealed. As far
as men were concerned, he was the outcast of outcasts. Nevertheless it was this
peculiar man that God chose to prepare the way for His Son. This same spirit was
in Paul when he said, "But God forbid that I should
boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been
crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14, NKJV).
Little is
known about John the Baptist. His early years were spent in silent preparation
for this time in the wilderness. He was a messenger prepared and sent from God.
He did not speak of himself. When asked who he was, his reply was, "I am the
voice of one crying. . ." John did not come to build a ministry but to prepare
the way for Christ. He was just a voice, and THAT voice spoke for God.
John was a
mystery to everyone but Christ. Most of what we know about him is extrapolated
from Christ's teachings. He was a prophetic representation of the end-time
messengers God will send in the spirit and power of Elijah. Every detail
regarding his life and ministry is significant, as we shall see shortly.
What Did You Go Out Into the Wilderness to See?
Jesus asked
the multitudes a number of revealing questions concerning John.
"What
did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
But what did you go out to see? A man
in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. But
why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet"
(Matthew 11:7-9). In His typical form, Jesus asked questions that
searched the heart of the hearer. Had they gone forth to see a prophet? Yes! But
John was "more than a prophet!"
John was a
walking, living, illustrated message. Everything about him was prophetic,
pointing both to the past and the future. He was a visual aid to the
understanding of end-time prophetic events. What was it that they had gone out
to see? His clothes, the location where he ministered, the river in which he
baptized the people and the message that he preached all spoke of the
spirit in which he came. All these
things were a part of the message that John brought.
John's
clothing was the first thing that Jesus addressed. John's clothes were very much a part of his message. Instead of
wearing the soft garments of a king, he wore the coarse aesthetic garb much like
that of Elijah (see 2 Kings 1:8) and probably wore a long beard. Today, John
would probably be considered a vagrant and a madman and ushered out of our
churches before he had a chance to sit down. He would not be the sort of fellow
that you would stop and pick up if he were thumbing along the highway.
Then there
was John's diet. Locusts are a kosher food (Lev 11:22) and were eaten by the
very poorest people. John was born into a priestly family and could have lived a
comparatively upper-middle-class lifestyle. Instead he chose the life and diet of the poor. He cared for
none of the things that people ordinarily live for, "what you shall eat, what
you shall put on." His life was dedicated to one purpose -- the increase of
Christ. His self-renunciation was a visible rebuke of the worldliness of his
day.
The location
of John's ministry was also significant. The Jordan valley is a 100 mile long,
10 to 15 miles wide depression in the earth's surface, reaching its greatest
depth in the Dead Sea (1,300 feet below sea level). The Jordan River where John
baptized the people flows from the Sea of Galilee south down the Jordan valley
to the Dead Sea, and is a geographical parable of spiritual things. It signifies
John's character and ministry. Jordan (Yaden) means,
"the descender" or to "go down" or "be prostrated." The Jordan River wound
down the deepest valley in the center of the country, ever descending, ever
decreasing.
Without
question John was the descender. Like
the Jordan River, he was ever decreasing. We love to quote his famous words
"He (Jesus)
must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). John
prepared the way for Christ and then he got
out of the way for Christ. John did
not promote his own ministry as is so common today even among those calling
themselves prophets. God has always chosen the lowly and the detestable to
manifest Himself to the world. He chooses the backdrop of death to set apart the
manifestation of His Spirit life. The Spirit of God drew the crowds to John
because he was only a lowly messenger pointing the way to God's own Son.
Jerusalem and
all Judea "went out to him.
. .and were baptized of him in
Jordan, confessing their sins." (See Matthew 3:5-6). The crowds went out to
John. He did not send out flyers, rent stadiums, or hold campaigns in the
larger, more affluent cities where it would be easy to draw a crowd. No one
invited him to be the keynote speaker at special gatherings. In fact, he didn't
come to town at all. If you wanted to see and hear John, you had to go out into
the wilderness. For the word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness, and there he
chose to remain.
John the
Baptist had none of the outward trappings of a respectable minister of his day
nor a willingness to employ their methods. He had no fancy buildings for folks
to meet in. He had no swanky robes that set him apart from the masses, no lofty
podiums nor pulpit, no priestly titles, no recognized eldership, no human
covering or authority structure that sent him out, and no accreditation (all of
which men in ministry cling to today!). He never performed any miracles that we
know of, but news about him spread far and wide, and people throughout the
region around Jerusalem and the Jordan came to see and hear him.
John was a
humble man but his humility was not measured by his submission to the priesthood
of his day. By today's standard, his speech would be classified as rebellious.
If he were here today, he would be accused of having a root of bitterness. He
often resorted to name-calling when unrepentant religious leadership came out to
spy on his ministry to the poor. Seeing them he said, "Brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
John the
Baptist was the messenger who came in the prototype of Elijah. God honored John
by calling him "my messenger." John came suddenly out of the wilderness of
Judea, in much the same way that Elijah came from the wilderness of Gilead. John
bore the same strange appearance as his predecessor; the message of John was
very similar to that of Elijah, "If Yahweh
[is] God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." The history of John the
Baptist was the fulfillment of that of Elijah in "the fullness of time."
Yet there is one more fulfillment still to come.
My Messenger. . .
preparing the way
Jesus went on
to speak of John by quoting from the Old Testament. "For this is he, of whom it is written, 'Behold,
I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.'" (Matthew 11:10)
He was
quoting the prophet Malachi. "'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare
the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his
temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!"
says Yahweh of hosts." (Mal 3:1)
Notice that
there are two messengers foretold here. The first prepares the way for the
second. With the advent of John in the wilderness, the people of Israel expected
that Messiah would soon appear. And He did. John was sent to prepare the way for
Christ by calling all Israel to repentance, just as Isaiah had prophesied seven
hundred and forty years earlier saying, "The
voice of him who cries in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of Jehovah;
make straight in the desert a highway for
our God. Every valley shall be
exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the knoll shall be a
level place, and the rough places a plain.'"
(Isaiah 40:3-5, Luke 3:3-6, LITV).
This passage reveals the nature of John's ministry and defines the repentance that God is calling for today. Just as there was a need for a forerunner to prepare the way before Jesus came the first time, so it is before He comes again. God is the great equalizer. The ground at the foot of the cross is perfectly level. Notice that the highway of our God is found out in the waste places of the desert! It is not found in the palaces and temples of self-exalted men. John equated the elevated ones to the lowest of beasts, calling them snakes and vipers. This theme of equality is the earmark of God who opposes the proud and gives grace to the lowly. Godly repentance is best described by the words, "Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low."
How do you
build a highway? You bring down the mountains, fill in the valleys. You
straighten the crooked places but still that is not enough. You must remove the
topsoil and get down to something solid. Only then can you start laying the
roadbed for the new highway. You can't build a highway for Christ without
removing the humus of the kingdoms of men. All those proud mountains that exalt
themselves and the despondent and downtrodden valleys must be brought to grade.
Jesus came as a suffering servant that He might break every yoke and let the
captives go free. Free to do what? Free to serve one another and the Father in
all humility as the family of God. Those mountains that are above such
servanthood must be brought low. Those valleys that are debased and devalued
shall be exalted.
John the
Baptist was both a fulfillment of prophecy and a prophetic picture, foretelling
future events. Jesus spoke of this
mystery in Matthew 17:11-13. "Elijah is indeed coming (future
tense), and will be restoring all. Yet I am saying to you that Elijah came
already (past tense), and they did not recognize him, but they do to him
whatever they will. Thus the Son of Mankind also is about to be suffering by
them" (CLNT). (Emphasis ours)
Here Jesus is
speaking of the coming of Elijah in both the future and past tenses. He is
indeed coming but he has already come. He had come the first time as Elijah.
He had come the second time as John the Baptist, and he will yet come in
the future to restore all things.
When the
angel of the Lord came to Zacharias and informed him that his wife, Elizabeth,
would bear a son and that they should call his name John, he also quoted a
prophecy from Malachi 4:5-6, revealing the spirit in which John would minister.
"He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and
power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children." (Luke
1:14-17)
John was
the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. In Matthew 11:13-14, Jesus removed any
doubt as to who this Elijah was. "For all the prophets and the law prophesied
until John. If you are willing to receive
it, this is Elijah, who is to come." The word
spirit is often used to describe a
person's character, disposition or nature and passion. John came in the spirit,
in the passion of Elijah. It is that spirit and passion that motivated and
impelled him.
The following passage reveals the
heart attitude and character of this
messenger who was sent from God. In
the declining days of John's ministry, some Jews created strife with John's
disciples about baptism. This is what followed.
They
[John's disciples] came to John, and said to him, "Rabbi,
he who was with you beyond the Jordan,
to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and
everyone is coming to him." John answered, "A man can receive nothing,
unless it has been given him from heaven.
You yourselves testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been
sent before him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the
bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full. He must increase, but
I must decrease. He who comes from
above is above all." (John 3:25-36)
John the
Baptist is the ideal messenger. His faithfulness is nothing short of
inspirational. His famous words, "He
[Jesus] must increase, but I must
decrease" were descriptive of his single passion, the spirit in which he
came. Do we really know what these words mean? Do we know it on the level that
John did? This is John's mission statement. It was his goal from the outset. It
never entered his mind to establish and maintain a high-profile ministry. He was
simply an anonymous voice crying in the
wilderness. He found his identity in Christ, not in his calling and
ministry. From the shores of Jordan, where he first saw the One whose shoelaces
he was not worthy to unloose, John never stopped heralding, he never stopped
pointing; he never stopped directing the eyes and hearts of the hearers to
Jesus. He never stopped saying, “Behold
the Lamb of God!”
But the time
came for John to decrease even further. His job was done and he saw the need to
disappear. He had prepared the way for Jesus and now it was time for him to make
way for the Bridegroom. He knew that if he stayed he would find himself in
competition with Jesus.
John's followers had not yet left him and gone after Jesus,
and now they were tempting him.
Their words were filled with jealousy against Christ. "He who was with you
beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing, and
all are coming to Him!” They wanted
John to get with the program; to compete with the very one he was called to
serve. Couldn't John see that his ministry was failing? That people were no
longer coming to him? Perhaps they were attempting to get John to hold more
meetings, to do what had worked for him in the past. Get up! Do something! Can't
you see that all are coming to Him?
John's
reply is teeming with significance. He reminded his disciples that "a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."
The final act
of the friend of the bridegroom was on that long awaited night when the groom
came to steal the bride away. When she heard the cry, "The bridegroom comes, go
out to meet him," she was swept away to the house that the Groom had been long
preparing.
According to
the Jewish tradition, the friend of the bridegroom followed the wedding
procession at a distance. When the groom took the bride into the bridal chamber,
the friend of the bridegroom drew near. Standing just outside the bridal suite,
he listened to the sound of lovemaking and at the first note of joy in the
Bridegroom's voice, the friend of the Bridegroom danced and shouted for joy. His
job over, the groom's friend turned and walked away.
So we see in
John a perfect messenger with a perfect heart. May God help us to be such
friends and messengers of the Bridegroom today and walk away from any clamoring
after our own gain under the guise of ministry!
In Genesis 24, we read the story of a similar servant, with the same passions. He also was the friend of the bridegroom. He was sent by Abraham back to his homeland to get a bride for his son, Isaac. Abraham gave this man ten camel loads of wealth, the bride's price, to purchase a bride for his son. The man is just a servant, has no wealth of his own, and nothing personally to gain! Yet he goes for great distance (some say it was about 470 miles) and weeks of travel with a king's ransom and no supervision to pick out a wife for Isaac. When he gets there he fell on his face and cried out to God that he might choose the right woman for his master's son. He put forth a test and Rebekah passed with flying colors. The servant gave all the wealth to Rebekah and her father, and took her back to Isaac. He never had the slightest thing to gain from the journey other than the knowledge that God had given to his master's son a bride of His choosing. In that only did he rejoice! (See Genesis 24:10-22).
As they
approached Beer Lahai Roi, they came
upon Isaac. When Rebekah saw Isaac
she dismounted and said to the servant, "Who is the man who is walking in the
field to meet us?" The servant presented the bride to the groom as a chaste
virgin by identifying him; "It is my master." (See Genesis 24:61-65)
Like John the
Baptist, this faithful servant knew that the bride belongs to the Bridegroom. We
see this heart also in Apostle Paul, who wrote, "For I am jealous as to you with
a jealousy, which is of God; for I
have espoused you unto one man, to present
you a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2 Darby)
What a lesson these servants provide us! God is looking for such servants to
serve the Body of Christ today. He is looking for those who will bring forth a
Bride worthy of the Son - one that is without spots or bruises from the
manhandling of presumptuous ministers. He seeks servants who will not spend the
Bride's price on themselves, or sully the bride for their own pleasures. God
seeks those who will not set up their own kingdom with the Father's wealth, but
are good stewards of all that is given into their hands, delivering it where it
belongs. For these servants who
share the Father's heart, bringing forth a Bride for the Son's good pleasure is
reward enough. In this their joy is fulfilled.
God often gives us an Old Testament prototype (as seen above) that exhibits the
essential features of a later type. The New Covenant fulfillment is in Christ,
but it does not stop there. The continuous work of the Holy Spirit is to form,
fill and fulfill all things that the prototype prefigured. Such is the case with
Elijah, John and the end-time Elijah Company. Elijah and John are prophetic of
an end-time company that God WILL send to restore all things.
But in what
form will Elijah come in these final days? Will he be a single high-profile
entity? Or will he be a whole company of dear saints that are flat out in love
with Jesus and want to see Him get what He so deserves as Savior and Lord? We
believe Revelation shows this final coming of Elijah to be a company of people,
not just a single man, this being depicted by the "two witnesses" (a sign of
plurality). The whole of the New Testament points to the Spirit's anointing
being on a body of believers, not just one or two empowered ones (see Acts
4:31-33, 20:32, 26:29, Rom. 8:32, 1 Cor 3:21-23, 12:5-7,11-13, 14:31, Gal. 3:28,
Eph. 1:22-23, 3:8-11,17-19, 4:10-16,25, 1 John 2:20, 27).
In what way
is this end-time company like Elijah and John the Baptist? In what way will this
Elijah Company sum-up or consummate the ministries of these forerunners? The
heart of their message will be the same.
Every word
John spoke pointed the way to that Prince that was not of this world, to that
other kingdom that is to come. His opening volley down at the Jordan River was,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." When Jesus came to be baptized,
John pointed to Him and said, "This is the ONE!" When his disciples still
refused to follow the ONE he scolded them. He said, "A man can receive nothing
unless it has been given to him from
heaven." John pointed to the Bridegroom and insisted that the bride belonged to
Jesus, not himself.
Who can be
part of the Elijah Company? Can we make ourselves part of this end-time
prophetic ministry? Can we go to some school of the prophets and learn the
techniques necessary to walk in the footsteps of these great men? NO! A man can
receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. The calling, the
preparation, the severing from this world, the message and finally the work all
come down from heaven. God is still sovereign and it is HE who chooses,
prepares, empowers and sends forth His messengers. He is looking for hearts that
seek only the Son.
Those who are
of the Elijah Company, like Elijah and John, will also find that they are in a
direct confrontation with the political and religious systems of this world. As
we can see from the lives of these messengers, ALL the kingdoms of men rejected
them and finally sought to kill them.
In the book
of Revelation, the two witnesses preach the kingdom of God in the streets of
apostate Jerusalem and prevail for a season, but when they are finally slain, a
great party is held in celebration of their demise. This is again a type of the
antagonism that exists between the kingdoms of the prince of this world and the
kingdom of God. As Jesus said so well, "He who comes from above is above all; he
who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven
is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one
receives His testimony."
What passion
inspires and propels these chosen ones of the Elijah Company? Is it to build a
great ministry? NO! They only want to see Jesus' kingdom increase. They
understand that for this to happen they must decrease. They must lose their
lives and identity, lest they be found stealing the attention of the Bride away
from the Bridegroom and defeating their very callings.
God is looking for those, like Abraham's faithful servant, who are willing to deny themselves to bring forth a bride without spot or wrinkle, fit for the Son. Individuals whose heart-desire is to build a ministry in their own name and for their own glory can never be faithful friends of the Bridegroom. They try to woo and possess the bride for their own gratification. To such unfaithful servants, the following words of John are a scalding rebuke. "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease."
On the other
hand, true friends of the bridegroom eagerly wait for those times of intimacy
when the groom takes the bride into His chambers. They rejoice when the bride
follows passionately after the Groom, when He sweeps her away to that place of
intimate communion. In this their joy is made full! They live for the Groom's
fulfillment. Hearing His satisfied voice is the delight of their ears. They
dance and shout for joy at the very thought of the union of the bride and the
Groom, even knowing that it marks the end of their work. Their lives have been
spent in preparation for this very moment.
They have
eagerly worked themselves out of a job. Having prepared the way for Christ, now
it is time for them to get out of the way for Christ. Only the faithful friend
of the bridegroom will turn and walk away. The unfaithful servant tries to
maintain his place and his ministry at all cost. He will fight to keep the bride
to himself. This is the very point that John was making when He told his
disciples, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom." Only such friends will
deliver an unmolested bride to the Groom. Only such friends can fully rejoice in
that union. This is the spirit of Elijah!
Some might
ask here, "But what about the power of Elijah? Won't this end-time Elijah
Company come in the power of Elijah as well?" We believe so, but only when their
passion is in full alignment with the Spirit's passion. The Spirit does not
squander His power on those with private ambition. The scriptures fail to yield
one instance where God commanded anyone to seek power. Fleshly men want the
power, but few have the passion for the Bridegroom that is behind the power of
Elijah and John. These two men's hearts were altars upon which the heavenly fire
descended. It was the effectual fervent prayer proceeding from the hearts and
mouths of such messengers that moved the hand of God. Their desire was not
miracles, but turning hearts toward God. Elijah did not independently seek
power, but the power came as he sought the restoration of all things. What would
make us any different from Simon, who tried to purchase power from Peter, if
our quest is for power? Would we not
likewise bring ourselves under a curse?
Today we see high-profile men in ministry posturing and selling "power." They
holding expensive seminars for the prophetic and apostolic ministers "so they
too, can receive the power." They often promise their adherents that if they
support them, then these supporters will be given their own power ministry. We
have even seen personal prophecies sold for seventy-five dollars a pop. O dear
Christian, it is time to weep between the porch and the altar (see Joel 2:17)!
The Spirit of God brings a selfless passion for the exaltation of Jesus before
He brings any power to those who are called. First "to will" THEN "to do," first
the passion, then the power. Without the cross in the lives of these called-out
ones, there will never be an impartation of passion or power. The natural man
cannot receive the things of the Spirit or God's kingdom, so kingdom power
cannot be wielded by fleshly ambition.
As we see
Christendom today so permeated with private ambition, and worse yet, see the
residue of that same ambition in our own hearts, we tend to become cynical. We
question whether the purity and passion of heart that was found in Elijah and
John the Baptist could ever be found in contemporary Christianity.
In spite of our doubts, God is doing it once again! He is bypassing the scholars and would-be kings. To the chagrin of many, He is also bypassing those who sit in the seats of ecclesiastical power. "Who is this coming up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved?" What is this fire glowing in the desert night? It is the lowly and humble wilderness-dwellers, a company preparing the way. They are nameless! They are voices crying! They seek no identity, no ministry and no fame. They are coming in passion, a passion to see the Bridegroom receive His bride! These are also coming in the power of Elijah!
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