John The Cactus Series

August 12, 2023

One Sabbath, after church, a mom asked her little girl what the picture she had drawn was supposed to be. It looked like a bunch of brown scribbles surrounding some kind of big green thing. The little girl said, “Well, this is the wilderness, and that’s John the Cactus.”

Today, we are going to talk about John the Cactus.

7-6 BC – Announcement of John’s Birth

400 years – known as the silent or quiet years – had elapsed since God had spoken to His people. But now, the fulness of time had come…. The “Hope of Nations” the “Messiah” was on His way.

The announcement of that longed for event came in quite an unexpected way – an angel – well, not just any run-of-the-mill angel, “THE angel - Gabriel” – the angel who had replaced Lucifer – appeared to an old childless priest:

In the time of Herod the Great - king of Judea - there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. Both he and his wife, Elizabeth, were descendants of Aaron. They were both upright in the sight of God, but they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. (Luke 1:5-7)

The 24 divisions of the priesthood were first listed in 1 Chronicles 24 (4-19), the 8th division being Abijah (v. 10). However, after the Babylonian Captivity, only four of the divisions were represented when the exiles returned to Judea (Ezra 2:36-38). Abijah was not 1 of the 4. The priests who did return were eventually divided into the 24 original divisions.

Fast-forward 500 years ---- The priests, from the division of Abijah, were on duty at the Temple. Zechariah was chosen to go into the Holy Place and burn incense before the Lord. As he stood before the altar of incense (located directly in front of the curtain separating the Holy from the Most Holy Place), the angel Gabriel appeared.

Gabriel: Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son. You are to name him, John. He will be a joy and delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth. He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. He will bring many in Israel back to the Lord their God. He will go before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous -- to make ready a people for the Lord.

As wonderful as it all sounded, Zechariah did not believe him, so Gabriel told him that because of unbelief, he would be unable to speak until the baby was born…. 9 months later Elizabeth gave birth to a son. True to Gabriel’s word, on the 8th day, Zechariah confirmed that the baby would be named John and his voice was restored.

Malachi had prophesied regarding the coming of the Messiah, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me” (3:1), and now the Holy Spirit rested upon Zechariah, and he prophesied regarding the mission of his son:

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us -- to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." (Luke 1:68-79)

John grew and the Holy Spirit rested on him. He lived in the desert until he began his ministry in Israel.

29 AD – “In the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar” – John began his ministry

• Ellen White {DA 104.2} - When the ministry of John began, the nation was in a state of excitement and discontent verging on revolution. At the removal of Archelaus (after a 9-year rule 4BC-6AD), 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.