John the Baptist

Intro

Everyone take the Bible that’s in front of you and I want you to go to the very beginning of the New Testament. The Book of Matthew.

Put your hand in the center of the book as a divider.

Does anyone have any idea how many years are between the two testaments on each side of your hand???

400 years

Does anyone have any idea about what happened in those years?

Not much. No voice of God.

Lesson

Malachi’s Last Word

There may be times when it feels sort of like God is giving us the “silent treatment.” That may be God testing us, or it may be the result of our own sin.

When we continue to make bad choices which violate the principles of God’s Word, God may allow us to suffer the consequences of our decisions long enough for us to realize that we need to repent.

In between the Old and New Testament, there were 400 years. And those years can be viewed that way. God was absolutely present in the lives of His chosen people, but they were not hearing from Him.

History tells us that those 400 years as a rough time for Israel. There was war, revolt, and more. There were a lot of Jewish people who were writing, but it was all the words of man and not of God.

God’s people were experiencing something that the prophet Amos had talked about:

Amos 8:11 NLT

11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.

Before the Old Testament closed and the voice of God became silent, the final words of that Testament were written by a man named Malachi.

We don’t know much about this guy. But we do know that at the center of what he said was this promise that a messenger would come to announce the Messiah’s arrival. Someone who was what we call a “forerunner.”

This forerunner would fulfill prophecies and he would apparently embody the characteristics of Elijah. Here is some of what he said…

Malachi 4:5–6 NLT

5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Then, Malachi sets down his pen… and the time clock of God started winding down.

Now, 400 years is a long time. That is longer than it will take or has taken for you to be old enough to drive or move out of the house. It is equivalent to as many as ten different generations!

400 years ago… I asked Grok to help us out with describing 400 years ago. Here is what it spit out:

Four hundred years ago, around 1625, the world was profoundly different from today. Most people lived in pre-industrial agrarian societies, where daily existence revolved around agriculture, manual labor, religion, family, and local community. Life expectancy was typically 30–40 years (though many who survived childhood lived longer), infant and child mortality was extremely high, and most people never traveled more than a few dozen miles from their birthplace.

The world population was roughly 500–600 million — less than one-tenth of today's total. The largest and most advanced civilizations were in Asia, while Europe was in the midst of dramatic religious wars, early colonial expansion, and the Scientific Revolution's beginnings.

Americas

European colonization was just beginning in earnest.

The Plymouth Colony (Pilgrims) was only 5 years old.  

Most of the Americas remained under indigenous control, with advanced civilizations like the Inca remnants and many North American nations still largely unaffected by Europeans. 

Daily Life for Most People (the Common 90–95%)

Work and Economy

of people were farmers or herders.90%+ 

Days began atand ended at. Work followed the seasons: planting, weeding, harvesting, animal care, food preservation. dawn  dusk

Tools were simple — wooden plows, sickles, scythes. No machines.

Many also spun thread, wove cloth, made pottery, brewed beer/ale, or did small crafts at home.

Currency existed but barter was still common in rural areas.

Food

Staples: bread/porridge (wheat, rye, barley, millet, rice depending on region), pottage/stew (vegetables, grains, sometimes peas/beans), onions, garlic, cheese.

Meat/fish were luxuries for most — eaten perhaps once a week or less for the poor.

Drink: weak ale/beer (safer than water), tea (China), or water.

No potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, or maize in Europe/Asia yet (they were just beginning to spread from the Americas).

Housing and Comfort

Most lived inmade of wood, mud, thatch, wattle-and-daub, or stone (depending on region). one- or two-room homes 

Floors were often dirt or packed earth.

No running water, no toilets (chamber pots or outdoor latrines), no glass windows in poor homes (shutters or oiled paper).

Light came from candles, rushlights, or oil lamps.

Heating: open hearth/fireplace — smoky and inefficient.

Bedding: straw mattress or simple pallet, shared by family.

Health and Hygiene

No understanding of germs.

Water often contaminated → frequent dysentery, typhoid.

,,, andwere common killers.Plague smallpox typhus malaria 

Bathing was infrequent (once a month or less for many); clean linen was more important than washing skin.

Medicine: herbal remedies, bleeding, prayer, charms.

Family and Social Life

Large families (6–10 children common, though many died young).

Marriage usually arranged, often in mid-teens for women.

Strong community ties: church/mosque/temple, village festivals, saints' days, seasonal celebrations.

Entertainment: storytelling, singing, dancing, church/mosque attendance, occasional traveling theater or puppet shows, fairs, drinking in taverns/tea houses.

Religion and WorldviewReligion dominated life — every aspect of the day included prayer, rituals, or religious rules.

In Europe: intense Catholic vs. Protestant conflict.

In Islamic empires: daily prayers, Ramadan fasting.

In China: Confucian family duties mixed with Buddhist/Taoist practices.

Superstition, omens, witchcraft fears were widespread.

Key Differences from Today

No electricity, engines, or instant communication.

Travel: walking, horse, cart, or sailing ship (slow and dangerous).

Information: word of mouth, occasional broadsheets or letters for the literate (~10–30% literacy in Europe, higher in urban China).

Social structure: rigidly hierarchical — kings/nobles/clergy at the top, peasants/servants at the bottom.

Little individual freedom or social mobility for most.

In short, life 400 years ago was physically demanding, precarious, and deeply tied to nature, family, and faith. While elites in courts (Versailles precursors, Mughal palaces, Forbidden City) lived in splendor, the vast majority experienced a world without modern medicine, technology, or personal security — a world where survival itself was a daily achievement.

Imagine hearing a message at church today straight from God and then realizing how many times you will have to say “great, great, great…” before getting to the next generation of people who would hear directly from God - 400 years later.

The Old Testament saints didn’t know how long they would have to wait.

Years are marching by and God’s promises seem more and more distant.

Apparently the prophet Elijah would one day be showing up on the scene?! People’s hearts would be turned by what he said. Traditions would be reestablished. Families would be restored. Their culture would revive, and then the Messiah would appear!

Now, every time they read the promise from Malachi they must have had great hope and comfort… but how long would they wait? How many generations before it happens?

Maybe sometimes when we get impatient with God we need to think about those 400 years…

Figurative Language

Does anyone know what an idiom is?

It is a “figurative expression generally understood by those who share a language and culture.”

Let me give you a couple of examples of them, and you tell me what they actually mean:

“Don’t let the cat out of the bag.”

“Wake up and smell the coffee.”

Maybe you can think of more.

Think about how confusing like would be if you interpreted everything you heard in a literal (exact) way.

How can I let the cat out of the bag if there is neither a cat nor a bag anywhere near me?!

Since I am not currently asleep, why can’t I just smell the coffee right now?!

So part of what’s hard for people learning English as a second language is figuring out the difference between what is meant to be understood literally and what is figurative.

The same is true for those who are becoming familiar with the Word of God…

1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT

14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

So taking parts of the Bible that are meant to be understood figuratively and placing a literal meaning on them can be confusing.

So let’s try something… let’s read a few scriptures and see the danger of taking these literally…

Revelation 5:6 NLT

6 Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.

There is not a dead lamb standing in Heaven with seven horns and seven eyes. This is a symbolic representation of Jesus Christ.

Malachi 4:2 NLT

2 “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.

God does not have wings; He is a Spirit.

Also, as a general rule: we are not cows. Yea and amen.

Now when we look at the scripture we read earlier…

Malachi 4:5–6 NLT

5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

This can easily be explained if we understand the role John the Baptist played when he came in the “spirit and power of Elias (Elijah)” like this verse makes clear:

Luke 1:17 KJV 1900

17 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.

A Different Kind of Elijah

When we start reading in the first verses of the New Testament, it pretty much ignores the 400 years of silence and picks up as if the prophet Malachi had introduced the forerunner of Jesus the week earlier!

BUT… in order for you to recognize it, you have to use some spiritual discernment.

Somehow “John the Baptist” and “Elijah” don’t flow off the tongue in the exact same way.

Jesus Himself even confirmed this for us:

Matthew 17:12 NLT

12 But I tell you, Elijah has already come, but he wasn’t recognized, and they chose to abuse him. And in the same way they will also make the Son of Man suffer.”

If he’s already come, who could he be except John?!

And if you look at John’s personality and his way, it fit the mold of Elijah perfectly! (Can anyone give some details about what John the Baptist was like???)

John was a desert wanderer, dressed in clothing made from camel’s hair, who ate bugs. This was 100% Elijah-type behavior!

Also - John refused to allow the expectations of others to determine his actions.

And when the religious elite came to see why so many people were following this eccentric prophet, John refused to just play games. He called out their hypocrisy and told them to repent instead of play around.

Matthew 3:7–8 NLT

7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

Also translated: “Get right or get cooked.”

But for real, what John expected was true, visible repentance. This was John’s ministry. And it wasn’t just directed at the Pharisees.

He would tell Roman soldiers not to abuse their power.

He would let tax collectors who were doing wrong: “Don’t steal from people.”

Everyone heard the call to repent.

And we owe the giving of the plan of salvation to John’s ministry… because in Acts 2:38, what does it first say?

Acts 2:38 KJV 1900

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

But the same guy who was bold enough to call out those people who needed to change… he was humble enough to refuse people calling him the Messiah.

And when Jesus’ ministry began to grow, John’s followers began to leave and go hear Jesus instead. And do you know what John’s response to that was?

John 3:30 NKJV

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Later in John’s short life, he was thrown into prison for speaking the truth to a sinful Herod.

While he was in prison, we find something out about him: he definitely was all-in on being real, getting right, and living for God… but that doesn’t mean that John didn’t experience doubt.

From jail, John sent people to question Jesus: “Are you the one that is supposed to come, or should we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).

And Jesus answered by saying that He was the fulfillment of what the prophets promised! And because Jesus was the One, that meant that John, in fact, was the Elijah who had come!

After Jesus sent the men to tell John that, He turned to the disciples to reveal a truth about John that the prophet likely never heard:

Luke 7:28 NLT

28 I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”

What made John so great was not his fashion sense or his diet advice; it was the message he preached.

The same is true of any preacher or prophet in our day. It’s not the size of a church, the style of a designer outfit, dress, or suit, or a position that makes a person impressive in the eyes of God.

Nowhere in the Bible does God call us to be successful; He calls us to be faithful! If we are obedient to His direction, then we are wildly successful, no matter what the world thinks!

I just want to take a moment here at the end and talk to you guys: we live in a world of comparison.

Everyone is looking at others to see what they need to do next. And a lot of it involves material things.

People get caught up in the “if I don’t have this” and “if I don’t look this way” mentality and they end up living for other people!

In the end, the material things will be gone. All that will be left are spiritual things. No one will talk about the stuff you had or how you looked.

You think anyone was going on and on about how FLY John the Baptist looked? Negative!

It certainly wasn’t the way he looked and it definitely wasn’t how well he fit in around everyone else. John wasn’t “in” with the crowd. But you know what made the difference? His message and the way he lived!

That is what produced that last scripture. But I don’t want you to miss that last part of the verse… anyone who will live this message with all their heart… even the least of them are greater than John!

And this means you!

Conclusion

Guys, this message has to get into our hearts. It can’t only be surface level.

You know, for me, that’s what it was for awhile: surface level. Even being raised in a pastor’s home. But at some point, it had to become more than just going to church and being in a family who are Christians.

It has to seep down deep into your heart to where talking to Him is common. It’s your inner nature and not just the part you play!

“Lord, let my relationship be real!”

Prayer

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