John (the Baptist) Foretold
God’s words are amazing. They reveal God, His character and Person. God’s love for people prepared a Savior. God’s love prepared people through His prophets. God’s love then fulfills what He has promised.
God’s Promise:
(NASB) Isaiah 40:3-5 “A voice is calling,
‘Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 ‘Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,’
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
(NASB) Malachi 3:1 “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.”
(NIV) Luke 1:13-17 “…Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for 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 Sprit even from birth. 16Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17And he will go on 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 prepared for the Lord.”
Elizabeth and Zechariah’s baby son was the fulfillment of the above prophecies. John was the forerunner, the herald of Messiah. Dr. Luke carefully investigated this amazing man who would introduce Jesus, the Messiah, to the world. Luke chapter 3 explains exactly the fulfillment of what God had promised in the birth of John.
God’s words are amazing. You and I can read His promises and then ‘see’ them fulfilled in the lives of men and women in Scripture. God does not change; He is the same yesterday as He is today and will continue to be so into eternity.
You can turn to God and know that He is God. His words are truth. You can rely on Him in the circumstances of your life.