View all posts

21st April 2020

John the Baptist is a Type of Wilderness

Greg Simnor

As we looked at in previous messages where Jesus and Disciples of Jesus are a type of wilderness, so is John the Baptist. 

John was of the Levitical priestly line and was considered the greatest of all of the Old Testament prophets and yet he was not found in the temple, like all the other priests. He could be found in the wilderness, proclaiming the Word of the Lord. 

Matthew 3:1-3 Now in those days John the Baptist * came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’”

What is a priest of the Levitical line doing out in the wilderness when he should be in the temple preparing the sacrifices unto the Lord? He is preparing sacrifices unto the Lord alright, but not like those of the temple. His preparation is in the preaching of the Word about the One who is coming to cleanse the world of all its sin.

Everything about John was foreign to the normality of the priests who prepared the temple sacrifices and offerings. His choice of clothing, a garment made of camel’s hair, and his choice of diet, honey and wild locusts, reflects to us the wilderness. 

Matthew 3:4 Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

John was also filled with the Holy Spirit while being in his mother’s womb before his birth and he would be a forerunner before Christ’s return, running in the spirit and power of Elijah. 

Luke 1:15-17 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 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.”

More evidence of John being a type of wilderness as opposed to being a type of temple or palace priest. 

Jesus, Disciples of Jesus and John the Baptist, are all types of the same kind - the Wilderness.