Jesus and John the Baptist

The goal of the worldwide course of restoration is nothing less than the liquidation of satanic sovereignty and the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Malachi, the last prophetic book of the Old Testament, promised that Elijah, the greatest of the prophets, would return to Israel "before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes." (Mal. 4:5)

The prophet Elijah was a most powerful spiritual champion. His mission was to unite the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, centering on the Temple and the Ten Commandments in preparation for the coming of the Messiah.

Unfortunately, his mission was left unaccomplished. To prepare for the Messiah, another "Elijah" was needed, as Malachi prophesied. Finally, approximately 400 years after the rebuilding of the Temple, this prophecy was fulfilled with the birth of John the Baptist.

John was born under miraculous circumstances. While his father, the priest Zechariah, was serving in the Temple, he received a revelation from the angel Gabriel concerning John's mission.

"And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." (Luke 1:16-17)

The central figure for the first worldwide course of restoration to bring the people into unity with the Messiah was thus none other than John the Baptist.

John was an ascetic from an early age and spent years of preparation for his mission through study, fasting, prayer, and meditation in the wilderness. After this period of preparation, John began preaching and baptizing people at the River Jordan.

The people of Israel were deeply impressed by John's faith, and many even wondered if he might be the Messiah.

As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, "I baptize you with water; but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Luke 3:15-16)

Through his time in the desert eating nothing but locusts and wild honey and his ministry of baptism at the Jordan, John established 40 days of separation from Satan.

Upon his victorious Foundation of Faith, he stood in a position to testify to the people concerning the Messiah. He also stood in the position to demonstrate to the people the proper standard of humility and discipleship to the one whose sandals he said he was "not worthy to untie."

The religious leaders from Jerusalem sent a delegation to John the Baptist.

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." (John 1:19-21)

While John was a man of great faith, he nevertheless denied the revelation that his father had received about him concerning his role as Elijah.

As we shall see, this was a crucial issue, for without an "Elijah," the Messiah could not be accepted by those who believed in Malachi's prophecy. John was the last prophet of the Old Testament era, while Jesus represented God's new covenant with mankind.

Thus, John stood in the position of the older brother, Cain, while Jesus stood in the position of the younger brother, Abel. Soon, Jesus appeared on the scene and asked John to baptize him. John immediately sensed that he should be baptized by Jesus.

The following day, John told his disciples that he had seen the spirit of God descend and remain on Jesus, and that Jesus was the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

It is therefore apparent that John knew the identity of Jesus. By applying the principle of restoration to John's course, we can understand that John's mission apart from Jesus should have culminated with his baptism of Jesus.

John and Jesus should have united like Esau and Jacob did at the ford of Jabbok.

Thereupon, John should have joined Jesus and devoted himself to testifying to Jesus as the Messiah.

John should have become Jesus' disciple, obeyed him, and served him, thus drawing people to Jesus, not to himself. But John was not convinced, for he took a position apart from Jesus and continued his ministry. John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)

Why should John decrease while Jesus was increasing? If John had truly united with Jesus, he too would have been blessed. He would have been with Jesus in his triumph and glory. However, doubts came to John's mind as he compared his life with that of Jesus.

It seemed to him that Jesus-a—humble carpenter from the backwater town of Nazareth—was too lax in his lifestyle and too liberal in his interpretation of the Mosaic Law.

Jesus' disciples were simple fishermen, and his followers included social outcasts such as tax collectors, harlots, and sinners. Jesus and his disciples ate and drank, whereas John and his followers refrained from alcohol, often fasted, and were generally ascetic. 3

John might have even expected the Messiah to come in glory on the throne of David. 4 But Jesus was a man of humble background. Instead of becoming Jesus' disciple and following through on testifying to him, John continued preaching and baptizing on his own. (John 3:22-30)

Originally, it was God's plan that John turn over this foundation to Jesus after baptizing him. Had John followed Jesus after baptizing him and testified to Jesus ardently enough, the whole of Israel might have turned to Jesus.

But John, the principal forerunner of Jesus, had failed in his mission of preparing the way. Thus, John lost the position of central figure for the Foundation of Faith, depriving the Jewish people of the leader with whom they could pay restitution to remove the fallen nature.

This blocked their way to complete the Foundation of Substance and the foundation for the Messiah. Consequently, the first worldwide course of restoration was aborted. Because John did not unite with Jesus and lead the people to establish the Foundation of Substance, Satan invaded John's Foundation of Faith.

Jesus himself had to reestablish John's foundation by withstanding the attacks of Satan throughout his 40 days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness.

"The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan." (Mark 1:12-13)