John 1:22-23 - So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.’

The son born to Zechariah and Elizabeth was named John, and was called John the Baptist after he began his God-given ministry. In the society of that day, John the Baptist would have had a greater standing than Jesus, because John was in the High Priestly family; many of these people became the religious rulers of the day. Since there were now hundreds or perhaps even thousands in this direct line from Aaron, however, the choice of who would be the next High Priest was a political decision. So John, when he was old enough to care for himself, went to live in the wilderness. This was often the choice of someone who wanted to spend extraordinary time alone with God (like Paul in Galatians 1:17). 

John turned his back on everything he could have had – power and wealth and influence. He lived off the land, eating locusts and honey, until he was about thirty years old. Then, at the time set for a priest to be old enough to begin serving (Numbers 4:3), he began to preach beside the Jordan River.

Because it had been over four hundred years since the last prophet had been sent to Israel by God (see lesson 12), many people came from all over the country to hear him. He told them he was the fulfillment of God’s prophecy in Malachi 3:1, the one to prepare the way for the Messiah.

*How much do you believe God’s prophecies?