SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/17/2015
2:11 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 1st
Day, 1st Group, 1st Emphasis
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 1:19-28
Message of the verses: “19 This is the testimony of John, when the
Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are
you?" 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not
the Christ." 21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And
he said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he
answered, "No." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that
we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about
yourself?" 23 He said, "I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
’MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said." 24 Now
they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him,
"Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor
the Prophet?" 26 John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but
among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 “It is He who comes after me, the
thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." 28 These things took
place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”
We
will begin to try and better understand verse twenty-one as John is asked some
questions about who he is, and these questions have answers as to why he was
asked them. First question is “Are you
Elijah?” Let us look at a couple of
verses from the book of Malachi “1 "Behold, I am going to send My
messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek,
will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom
you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts (Mal. 3:1).” Next 4:5 where Malachi writes “"Behold,
I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
terrible day of the LORD.” John MacArthur
writes “Even today many Jewish people leave an empty seat at the table for
Elijah when they celebrate their Passover Seder. John’s appearance was strikingly similar to
Elijah’s; according to Mark 16 ‘John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a
leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey,” and 2
Kings 1:8 has this to say about Elijah “"He was a hairy man with a leather
girdle bound about his loins." And he said, "It is Elijah the
Tishbite."” The ministry of Elijah
and John the Baptist were very similar as well as how they dressed. Both men came to call the children of Israel
to repentance.
John
was not Elijah, at least in the literal sense that John knew that his
questioners meant for he was not Elijah who did not die but left earth in a
whirlwind on his way to heaven without the experience of dying. Jesus explained later to His disciples about
who John was and what about the return of Elijah to earth. “10 And His disciples asked Him, "Why
then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is
coming and will restore all things; 12
but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize
him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to
suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that He had
spoken to them about John the Baptist.”
The scene from this section of Matthew is what is called the
Transfiguration where Jesus was revealed in glory to the disciples that He
brought with Him and while this was going on both Moses and Elijah was with
Him, and so the disciples asked Jesus about Elijah returning to earth. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah “"It is he who will
go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE
HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude
of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke
1:17).”
Here
is the way that I see the answer to the question about Elijah is and that is
that if the people of John’s day would have believed that Jesus was the Messiah
then John would have fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah, but since they did not
then John’s answer to who he is given in verse 23 fulfills who he is and then
the prophecy in Malachi will be fulfilled when the Lord returns at the second
coming after the end of the Tribulation period.
Now when we were studying the book of Revelation we went over the two
witnesses were all about from chapter eleven.
We stated at that time that is our belief that they are Moses and Elijah
who will minister during the last part of the Tribulation period, so Elijah
will get his chance to finish his ministry at this time along with Moses
finishing his ministry too. Elijah did
not die and Moses sinned so he could not be allowed to bring the children of
Israel into the Promised Land, but Joshua did it for him.
I
want to quote a quote from John MacArthur’s commentary. “Leon Morris notes ‘No man is what he is in
his own eyes. He really is only as he is
known to God. At a later time Jesus
equated John with the Elijah of Malachi’s prophecy, but that does not carry
with it the implication that John himself was aware of the true position…Jesus
confers on John his true significance.
No man is what he himself thinks he is.
He is only what Jesus knows him to be.”
I find this quote very interesting and thought provoking to say the
least.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: We are beginning to see that John the Baptist
had a specific role to play while on earth, and I believe that all of Christ’s
followers, that is those who have confessed Him as their Lord and Savior have
specific thing to accomplish for His glory while on earth. I only hope that I am doing what He has
planned for me to do.
My Steps of Faith
for Today:
Trust that the Lord will show me what it is He wants me to do for His
glory while He gives me breath.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Philemon.”
Today’s Bible question: “Why did God remove Saul from being King?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/17/2015 2:49 PM
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