The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 10: The Voice in the Wilderness
This chapter is based on Luke 1:5-23, 57-80; 3:1-18;
Matt. 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8.
From among the faithful in Israel, who had long waited for
the coming of the Messiah, the forerunner of Christ arose. The aged priest
Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth were "both righteous before God;" and
in their quiet and holy lives the light of faith shone out like a star amid the
darkness of those evil days. To this godly pair was given the promise of a son,
who should "go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways." {DA 97.1}
Zacharias dwelt in "the hill country of Judea,"
but he had gone up to Jerusalem to minister for one week in the temple, a
service required twice a year from the priests of each course. "And it
came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the
order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot
was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord." {DA 97.2}
He was standing before the golden altar in the holy place of
the sanctuary. The cloud of incense with the prayers of Israel was ascending
before God. Suddenly he became conscious of a divine presence. An angel of the
Lord was "standing on the right side of the altar." The position of
the angel was an indication of favor, but Zacharias took no [98]
note of this. For many years he had prayed for the coming of the Redeemer; now
heaven had sent its messenger to announce that these prayers were about to be
answered; but the mercy of God seemed too great for him to credit. He was
filled with fear and self-condemnation. {DA 97.3}
But he was greeted with the joyful assurance: "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. . . . And many of the children of Israel shall
he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and
power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord. And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an
old man, and my wife well stricken in years." {DA 98.1}
Zacharias well knew how to Abraham in his old age a child
was given because he believed Him faithful who had promised. But for a moment
the aged priest turns his thought to the weakness of humanity. He forgets that
what God has promised, He is able to perform. What a contrast between this
unbelief and the sweet, childlike faith of Mary, the maiden of Nazareth, whose
answer to the angel's wonderful announcement was, "Behold the handmaid of
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word"! Luke 1:38. {DA 98.2}
The birth of a son to Zacharias, like the birth of the child
of Abraham, and that of Mary, was to teach a great spiritual truth, a truth
that we are slow to learn and ready to forget. In ourselves we are incapable of
doing any good thing; but that which we cannot do will be wrought by the power
of God in every submissive and believing soul. It was through faith that the
child of promise was given. It is through faith that spiritual life is
begotten, and we are enabled to do the works of righteousness. {DA 98.3}
To the question of Zacharias, the angel said, "I am
Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and
to show thee these glad tidings." Five hundred years before, Gabriel had
made known to Daniel the prophetic period which was to extend to the coming of
Christ. The knowledge that the end of this period was near had moved Zacharias
to pray for the Messiah's advent. Now the very messenger through whom the
prophecy was given had come to announce its fulfillment. [99] {DA 98.4}
The words of the angel, "I am Gabriel, that stand in
the presence of God," show that he holds a position of high honor in the
heavenly courts. When he came with a message to Daniel, he said, "There is
none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael [Christ] your
Prince." Daniel 10:21. Of Gabriel the Saviour speaks in the Revelation,
saying that "He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant
John." Revelation 1:1. And to John the angel declared, "I am a fellow
servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets." Revelation 22:9, R.
V. Wonderful thought—that the angel who stands next in honor to the
Son of God is the one chosen to open the purposes of God to sinful men. {DA 99.1}
Zacharias had expressed doubt of the angel's words. He was
not to speak again until they were fulfilled. "Behold," said the
angel, "thou shalt be dumb, . . . until the day that these
things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be
fulfilled in their season." It was the duty of the priest in this service
to pray for the pardon of public and national sins, and for the coming of the
Messiah; but when Zacharias attempted to do this, he could not utter a word. {DA 99.2}
Coming forth to bless the people, "he beckoned unto
them, and remained speechless." They had waited long, and had begun to
fear, lest he had been cut down by the judgment of God. But as he came forth
from the holy place, his face was shining with the glory of God, "and they
perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple." Zacharias communicated
to them what he had seen and heard; and "as soon as the days of his
ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house." {DA 99.3}
Soon after the birth of the promised child, the father's
tongue was loosed, "and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all
that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad
throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all they that heard them laid
them up [100]
in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be!" All this
tended to call attention to the Messiah's coming, for which John was to prepare
the way. {DA 99.4}
The Holy Spirit rested upon Zacharias, and in these
beautiful words he prophesied of the mission of his son:
"Thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest;
For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
Whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us,
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace." {DA 100.1}
"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and
was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel." Before the
birth of John, the angel had said, "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." God had called the son of Zacharias to a great work,
the greatest ever committed to men. In order to accomplish this work, he must
have the Lord to work with him. And the Spirit of God would be with him if he
heeded the instruction of the angel. {DA 100.2}
John was to go forth as Jehovah's messenger, to bring to men
the light of God. He must give a new direction to their thoughts. He must
impress them with the holiness of God's requirements, and their need of His
perfect righteousness. Such a messenger must be holy. He must be a temple for
the indwelling Spirit of God. In order to fulfill his mission, he must have a
sound physical constitution, and mental and spiritual strength. Therefore it
would be necessary for him to control the appetites and passions. He must be
able so to control all his powers that he could stand among men as unmoved by
surrounding circumstances as the rocks and mountains of the wilderness. {DA 100.3}
In the time of John the Baptist, greed for riches, and the
love of luxury and display had become widespread. Sensuous pleasures, feasting
and drinking, were causing physical disease and degeneracy, benumbing the
spiritual perceptions, and lessening the sensibility to sin. John was to stand
as a reformer. By his abstemious life and plain dress he was to [101]
rebuke the excesses of his time. Hence the directions given to the parents of
John,—a lesson of temperance by an angel from the throne of heaven. {DA 100.4}
In childhood and youth the character is most impressible.
The power of self-control should then be acquired. By the fireside and at the
family board influences are exerted whose results are as enduring as eternity.
More than any natural endowment, the habits established in early years decide
whether a man will be victorious or vanquished in the battle of life. Youth is
the sowing time. It determines the character of the harvest, for this life and
for the life to come. {DA
101.1}
As a prophet, John was "to turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord." In preparing the way for Christ's
first advent, he was a representative of those who are to prepare a people for
our Lord's second coming. The world is given to self-indulgence. Errors and
fables abound. Satan's snares for destroying souls are multiplied. All who
would perfect holiness in the fear of God must learn the lessons of temperance
and self-control. The appetites and passions must be held in subjection to the
higher powers of the mind. This self-discipline is essential to that mental
strength and spiritual insight which will enable us to understand and to
practice the sacred truths of God's word. For this reason temperance finds its
place in the work of preparation for Christ's second coming. {DA 101.2}
In the natural order of things, the son of Zacharias would
have been educated for the priesthood. But the training of the rabbinical
schools would have unfitted him for his work. God did not send him to the
teachers of theology to learn how to interpret the Scriptures. He called him to
the desert, that he might learn of nature and nature's God. {DA 101.3}
It was a lonely region where he found his home, in the midst
of barren hills, wild ravines, and rocky caves. But it was his choice to forgo
the enjoyments and luxuries of life for the stern discipline of the wilderness.
Here his surroundings were favorable to habits of simplicity and self-denial.
Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of
nature, of revelation, and of Providence. The words of the angel to Zacharias
had been often repeated to John by his God-fearing parents. From childhood his
mission had been kept before him, and he had accepted the holy trust. To him
the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from society in which
suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading. He
distrusted his own [102] power to withstand temptation,
and shrank from constant contact with sin, lest he should lose the sense of its
exceeding sinfulness. {DA
101.4}
Dedicated to God as a Nazarite from his birth, he made the
vow his own in a life-long consecration. His dress was that of the ancient
prophets, a garment of camel's hair, confined by a leather girdle. He ate the
"locusts and wild honey" found in the wilderness, and drank the pure
water from the hills. {DA
102.1}
But the life of John was not spent in idleness, in ascetic
gloom, or in selfish isolation. From time to time he went forth to mingle with
men; and he was ever an interested observer of what was passing in the world.
From his quiet retreat he watched the unfolding of events. With vision
illuminated by the divine Spirit he studied the characters of men, that he
might understand how to reach their hearts with the message of heaven. The
burden of his mission was upon him. In solitude, by meditation and prayer, he
sought to gird up his soul for the lifework before him. {DA 102.2}
Although in the wilderness, he was not exempt from
temptation. So far as possible, he closed every avenue by which Satan could
enter, yet he was still assailed by the tempter. But his spiritual perceptions
were clear; he had developed strength and decision of character, and through
the aid of the Holy Spirit he was able to detect Satan's approaches, and to resist
his power. {DA 102.3}
John found in the wilderness his school and his sanctuary.
Like Moses amid the mountains of Midian, he was shut in by God's presence, and
surrounded by the evidences of His power. It was not his lot to dwell, as did
Israel's great leader, amid the solemn majesty of the mountain solitudes; but
before him were the heights of Moab, beyond Jordan, speaking of Him who had set
fast the mountains, and girded them with strength. The gloomy and terrible
aspect of nature in his wilderness home vividly pictured the condition of
Israel. The fruitful vineyard of the Lord had become a desolate waste. But
above the desert the heavens bent bright and beautiful. The clouds that
gathered, dark with tempest, were arched by the rainbow of promise. So above
Israel's degradation shone the promised glory of the Messiah's reign. The
clouds of wrath were spanned by the rainbow of His covenant-mercy. {DA 102.4}
Alone in the silent night he read God's promise to Abraham
of a seed numberless as the stars. The light of dawn, gilding the mountains of
Moab, told of Him who should be as "the light of the morning, when the [103]
sun riseth, even a morning without clouds." 2 Samuel 23:4. And in the
brightness of noontide he saw the splendor of His manifestation, when "the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
Isaiah 40:5. {DA 102.5}
With awed yet exultant spirit he searched in the prophetic
scrolls the revelations of the Messiah's coming,—the promised seed
that should bruise the serpent's head; Shiloh, "the peace giver," who
was to appear before a king should cease to reign on David's throne. Now the
time had come. A Roman ruler sat in the palace upon Mount Zion. By the sure
word of the Lord, already the Christ was born. {DA 103.1}
Isaiah's rapt portrayals of the Messiah's glory were his
study by day and by night,—the Branch from the root of Jesse; a King
to reign in righteousness, judging "with equity for the meek of the
earth;" "a covert from the tempest; . . . the shadow of a
great rock in a weary land;" Israel no longer to be termed
"Forsaken," nor her land "Desolate," but to be called of
the Lord, "My Delight," and her land "Beulah." Isaiah 11:4;
32:2; 62:4, margin. The heart of the lonely exile was filled with the glorious
vision. {DA 103.2}
He looked upon the King in His beauty, and self was
forgotten. He beheld the majesty of holiness, and felt himself to be
inefficient and unworthy. He was ready to go forth as Heaven's messenger,
unawed by the human, because he had looked upon the Divine. He could stand
erect and fearless in the presence of earthly monarchs, because he had bowed
low before the King of kings. {DA 103.3}
John did not fully understand the nature of the Messiah's
kingdom. He looked for Israel to be delivered from her national foes; but the
coming of a King in righteousness, and the establishment of Israel as a holy
nation, was the great object of his hope. Thus he believed would be
accomplished the prophecy given at his birth,—
"To remember His holy covenant; . . .
That we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our
life." {DA
103.4}
He saw his people deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in
their sins. He longed to rouse them to a holier life. The message that God had
given him to bear was designed to startle them from their lethargy, and [104]
cause them to tremble because of their great wickedness. Before the seed of the
gospel could find lodgment, the soil of the heart must be broken up. Before
they would seek healing from Jesus, they must be awakened to their danger from
the wounds of sin. {DA
103.5}
God does not send messengers to flatter the sinner. He
delivers no message of peace to lull the unsanctified into fatal security. He
lays heavy burdens upon the conscience of the wrongdoer, and pierces the soul
with arrows of conviction. The ministering angels present to him the fearful
judgments of God to deepen the sense of need, and prompt the cry, "What
must I do to be saved?" Then the hand that has humbled in the dust, lifts
up the penitent. The voice that has rebuked sin, and put to shame pride and
ambition, inquires with tenderest sympathy, "What wilt thou that I shall
do unto thee?" {DA
104.1}
When the ministry of John began, the nation was in a state
of excitement and discontent verging on revolution. At the removal of
Archelaus, Judea had been brought directly under the control of Rome. The
tyranny and extortion of the Roman governors, and their determined efforts to
introduce the heathen symbols and customs, kindled revolt, which had been
quenched in the blood of thousands of the bravest of Israel. All this
intensified the national hatred against Rome, and increased the longing to be
freed from her power. {DA
104.2}
Amid discord and strife, a voice was heard from the
wilderness, a voice startling and stern, yet full of hope: "Repent ye; for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." With a new, strange power it moved the
people. Prophets had foretold the coming of Christ as an event far in the
future; but here was an announcement that it was at hand. John's singular
appearance carried the minds of his hearers back to the ancient seers. In his
manner and dress he resembled the prophet Elijah. With the spirit and power of
Elijah he denounced the national corruption, and rebuked the prevailing sins.
His words were plain, pointed, and convincing. Many believed him to be one of
the prophets risen from the dead. The whole nation was stirred. Multitudes
flocked to the wilderness. {DA
104.3}
John proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, and called the
people to repentance. As a symbol of cleansing from sin, he baptized them in
the waters of the Jordan. Thus by a significant object lesson he declared that
those who claimed to be the chosen people of God were defiled by sin, and that
without purification of heart and life they could have no part in the Messiah's
kingdom. [105] {DA 104.4}
Princes and rabbis, soldiers, publicans, and peasants came
to hear the prophet. For a time the solemn warning from God alarmed them. Many
were brought to repentance, and received baptism. Persons of all ranks
submitted to the requirement of the Baptist, in order to participate in the
kingdom he announced. {DA
105.1}
Many of the scribes and Pharisees came confessing their
sins, and asking for baptism. They had exalted themselves as better than other
men, and had led the people to entertain a high opinion of their piety; now the
guilty secrets of their lives were unveiled. But John was impressed by the Holy
Spirit that many of these men had no real conviction of sin. They were
timeservers. As friends of the prophet, they hoped to find favor with the
coming Prince. And by receiving baptism at the hands of this popular young
teacher, they thought to strengthen their influence with the people. {DA 105.2}
John met them with the scathing inquiry, "O generation
of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth
therefore fruits meet for repentance; and think not to say within yourselves, [106]
We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these
stones to raise up children unto Abraham." {DA 105.3}
The Jews had misinterpreted God's promise of eternal favor
to Israel: "Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day,
and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which
divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If
those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel
also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus saith the Lord; If
heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out
beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have
done, saith the Lord." Jeremiah 31:35-37. The Jews regarded their natural
descent from Abraham as giving them a claim to this promise. But they
overlooked the conditions which God had specified. Before giving the promise,
He had said, "I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people.
. . . For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their
sin no more." Jeremiah 31:33, 34. {DA 106.1}
To a people in whose hearts His law is written, the favor of
God is assured. They are one with Him. But the Jews had separated themselves
from God. Because of their sins they were suffering under His judgments. This
was the cause of their bondage to a heathen nation. Their minds were darkened
by transgression, and because in times past the Lord had shown them so great
favor, they excused their sins. They flattered themselves that they were better
than other men, and entitled to His blessings. {DA 106.2}
These things "are written for our admonition, upon whom
the ends of the world are come." 1 Corinthians 10:11. How often we
misinterpret God's blessings, and flatter ourselves that we are favored on
account of some goodness in us! God cannot do for us that which He longs to do.
His gifts are used to increase our self-satisfaction, and to harden our hearts
in unbelief and sin. {DA
106.3}
John declared to the teachers of Israel that their pride,
selfishness, and cruelty showed them to be a generation of vipers, a deadly
curse to the people, rather than the children of just and obedient Abraham. In
view of the light they had received from God, they were even worse than the
heathen, to whom they felt so much superior. They had forgotten the rock whence
they were hewn, and the hole of the pit from which they had been digged. God
was not dependent upon them for the fulfilling of [107] His
purpose. As He had called Abraham out from a heathen people, so He could call
others to His service. Their hearts might now appear as lifeless as the stones
of the desert, but His Spirit could quicken them to do His will, and receive
the fulfillment of His promise. {DA 106.4}
"And now also," said the prophet, "the ax is
laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth
good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Not by its name, but by
its fruit, is the value of a tree determined. If the fruit is worthless, the
name cannot save the tree from destruction. John declared to the Jews that
their standing before God was to be decided by their character and life.
Profession was worthless. If their life and character were not in harmony with
God's law, they were not His people. {DA 107.1}
Under his heart-searching words, his hearers were convicted.
They came to him with the inquiry, "What shall we do then?" He
answered, "He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none;
and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." And he warned the publicans
against injustice, and the soldiers against violence. {DA 107.2}
All who became the subjects of Christ's kingdom, he said,
would give evidence of faith and repentance. Kindness, honesty, and fidelity
would be seen in their lives. They would minister to the needy, and bring their
offerings to God. They would shield the defenseless, and give an example of
virtue and compassion. So the followers of Christ will give evidence of the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit. In the daily life, justice, mercy, and
the love of God will be seen. Otherwise they are like the chaff that is given
to the fire. {DA 107.3}
"I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance,"
said John; "but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I
am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with
fire." Matthew 3:11, R. V., margin. The prophet Isaiah had declared that
the Lord would cleanse His people from their iniquities "by the spirit of
judgment, and by the spirit of burning." The word of the Lord to Israel
was, "I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and
take away all thy tin." Isaiah 4:4; 1:25. To sin, wherever found,
"our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:29. In all who submit to
His power the Spirit of God will consume sin. But if men cling to sin, they
become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must
destroy them. Jacob, after his night of wrestling with the Angel, exclaimed,
"I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Genesis
32:30. [108]
Jacob had been guilty of a great sin in his conduct toward Esau; but he had repented.
His transgression had been forgiven, and his sin purged; therefore he could
endure the revelation of God's presence. But wherever men came before God while
willfully cherishing evil, they were destroyed. At the second advent of Christ
the wicked shall be consumed "with the Spirit of His mouth," and
destroyed "with the brightness of His coming." 2 Thessalonians 2:8.
The light of the glory of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay
the wicked. {DA 107.4}
In the time of John the Baptist, Christ was about to appear
as the revealer of the character of God. His very presence would make manifest
to men their sin. Only as they were willing to be purged from sin could they
enter into fellowship with Him. Only the pure in heart could abide in His
presence. {DA 108.1}
Thus the Baptist declared God's message to Israel. Many gave
heed to his instruction. Many sacrificed all in order to obey. Multitudes
followed this new teacher from place to place, and not a few cherished the hope
that he might be the Messiah. But as John saw the people turning to him, he
sought every opportunity of directing their faith to Him who was to come. {DA 108.2}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"The Baptism"
|
