The Baptism of John

Was It of Heaven or Was It of Men?

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”* (Malachi 4:56)

There was a group of Jews who really took these scriptures to heart. They were very careful people. They were so cautious! Not only did they reverence this prophecy in Malachi, they watched diligently for its fulfillment. And as they watched, they imagined and speculated. “The great and dreadful day of the Lord would be spectacular indeed!” they thought. And in due time, they added to the words of the scriptures their own particular set of expectations, and they distinguished not between their own ideas and the promise of God. This was not done deliberately. In fact, they did not know that they were doing it. The problem was that they were on their own, even while blindly trusting that they were not on their own, and their hearts were not taught of God. In this, of course, they were exactly like many careful people today. The closest examination would find no fault in their sincerity according to their own thinking.

We are told how they noticed the ministry of John the Baptist and how they questioned him.

“And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.”* (John 1:19-24)

You can see what a thorough, careful investigation they made. “Are you the Anointed [Christ]?” No. “Are you Elijah?” No. “Are you that prophet?”* (Deuteronomy 18:15,18) [“The Jews had a tradition that Jeremiah was to return to life, and restore the pot of manna, the ark of the covenant, etc., which he had hidden that the Babylonians might not get them. Besides this, they had a general expectation that all the prophets should come to life in the days of the Messiah.”—Adam Clarke’s Commentary]) After this investigation, they figured they were safe in rejecting this ministry. Had they not asked the right questions? Did not John reply “no” to each? “Evidently,” they thought, “this man just had some ideas, such as baptizing Jews who repented, which were not according to the Law of Moses or the traditions of the fathers, the Talmud.” According to their tradition, this latter (the Talmud) was the oral law, and the written Law of Moses and the oral traditions were regarded with equal value in their minds. “Should he and his ideas be accepted as part of the truth?” they thought. “Only if he were Christ, Elijah, or That Prophet!” And he said that he wasn’t.

Only he was Elijah! Not actually, of course. The real Elijah was enjoying his rest in Paradise. Shortly after, he came and conferred with Jesus and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3) and went back to Paradise. He and Moses are still there, resting from their labors, and awaiting the end of time and the general judgment. But it was said of John the Baptist, “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.”* (Luke 1:17)

After that experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, “his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”* (Matthew 17:10-13)

Is this not amazing? The work of God was accomplished under the very noses of those who had appointed themselves to watch for it, but “they knew him not.” Thus it has always been, and thus it will always be, “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”* (1 Corinthians 1:25) The poor, the common, the publicans, the harlots, and the soldiers were able to get help from the God-sent ministry of the new Elijah, John the Baptist, but the defenders of the truth, the watchful, the so careful, those who sat in Moses’ seat, they missed it entirely. What a lesson for you and me!

“And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”* (Matthew 13:14-15)

Thus it is with many in positions of authority and influence in the “Church-of-God” sects of today (and other parts of Babylon, too). The hearts and minds of those whom you might least suspect have waxed gross, and their eyes are closed, too. They are so busy “defending and upholding” their idea of the truth, that they are amazingly unconscious of the true work of God. They just won’t accept it unless it fits with their conception of truth. Mostly whether or not it fits or could fit into their church and their creed. Would their people accept it? It is either too strict or not strict enough. A work must fit into their creed to be accepted. They are as the congregation described in Revelation 3:17, “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

“The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.”* (Matthew 21:25-26)

The only difference in what is described in this scripture and what we have today is that most of these blind leaders of the blind are not under the public pressure that the Pharisees and scribes experienced. So they readily dismiss the different works of God around them without ever really addressing the vitally important question, “Whence was it? from heaven, or of men?” Reader, your dwelling place in eternity depends on the answer of your heart and life.