A Voice in the Wilderness

Background Scripture: Luke 1:5-25; John 1:6-36
Lesson Scripture: John 1:5-8, 15-17, 23, 26-30

Introduction

For the next three months, we will be studying from the book of John for Sunday school. As each one reads, studies, and contributes, our Sunday morning worship to God will be meaningful, inspirational, and sincere. It will be in spirit and in truth as Jesus said and will ultimately honor and glorify God.

Over time, Sunday school as we now know it has developed into an integral part of our worship service. Without doubt, God’s watchful providence and care for the church has led to this. Throughout the gospel age God’s people have met in all kinds of settings and in many different forms, all within a surprising array of venue, manner, and custom. Believers have met in the tunnels and catacombs of Rome, in caves and dens, in secret clearings in the woods, in small crude meeting houses, and in many unique places too numerous to mention. Through each age and period of time, God has provided a way for Christians to worship, although sometimes it has been severely restricted.

In our time, God is providing a distinctive method of worship just like He has done for the church of past ages. Generally, most of our Sunday morning worship services are twofold. Both aspects, Sunday school and sermon, are part of corporate worship and complement each other. The Sunday school portion of our worship is comprised of members sharing their hearts one with another, learning from each other, and by counseling together, strengthening each other’s faith. Hearts are united, and love and understanding are communicated in a positive way. This is the fellowship aspect of our worship, and it honors God and blesses the brotherhood. Listening to God through a sermon also shows our devotion and reverence to Him by hearing his voice and receiving his counsel through the Holy Spirit. This is the more direct and personal aspect of our worship where we receive immediately and firsthand from God that which nourishes and gives guidance to the soul.

Let us never neglect the assembling of ourselves together, first in Sunday school and then in listening to God’s message through the preaching of the Word.

A Voice in the Wilderness

Lesson 1

December 7, 2025

Background Scripture: Luke 1:5-25; John 1:6-36

Lesson Scripture: John 1:5-8, 15-17, 23, 26-30

Introduction

God gave John a message to deliver to the Jewish people. John could have introduced himself by explaining the way he had been chosen and prepared to be the message bearer, but he did not bother with that. The message he was about to deliver was much more important than he was.

John could have gone to Jerusalem where the largest number of people lived, but then the religious and political authorities would have tried to control what he said and where and when he said it. So John began where he was, away from the towns and villages of Judea. No doubt there were only a few hearers to begin with, but the message was powerful and touched a longing within the hearts of the people. Soon there were multitudes coming from all over Judea.

John did not talk about the corruption of government or religious authorities. They were not the problem. The true problem was in the heart of each person. John told his hearers they needed to repent of that which would prevent them from welcoming Messiah when He appeared.

Key Verse

For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee (Matt. 11:10).

Lesson Scripture

Studying the Lesson

When the Jewish people returned from the Babylonian captivity, they built a new temple on the place where the first had stood. It was not nearly as glorious in outward appearance as the first temple, but what should have been far more alarming were the things missing inside. The ark of the covenant and the mercy seat above it, placed in the holy of holies, mysteriously disappeared from history. These were likely taken during the Babylonian conquest.

The glory of God in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, called the Shekinah, had once stood directly over the holy of holies as visible evidence of the presence of God. It never appeared over the second temple. The holy fire that fell from heaven at the dedication of Solomon’s temple and was to remain perpetually burning on the altar as long as the temple stood also never appeared during the time of the second temple.

Shortly before the New Testament era, King Herod spent lavishly to restore the outward glory of the temple in an attempt to curry favor with the Jewish people. This embellishment did nothing to bring back God’s glory. The priests continued holding the ritual offering and sacrifices, even though they were made with strange fire, a man-made fire, not the fire that came from God. Herod had been made king of Judea by the Roman conquerors. He was not of the lineage of David, nor of the tribe of Judah, nor even an Israelite, but an Edomite, a descendant of Esau.

The Old Testament kingdom of God was nearing its end. As the people remembered Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:10, surely the expectation grew that it must be time for Shiloh, the Messiah, to come. The Old Testament prophets had told of one who would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isa. 40:3), and “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Mal. 4:5).

During the four centuries following Malachi’s prophecy, there had not been any prophet nor any new revelation from God. Then one day, as the priest Zacharias ministered in the temple, he realized he was not alone. The angel Gabriel was standing to the right of the altar of incense, which represented the prayers of the people. Gabriel told him that his wife would bear a son who would prepare the way of the coming Messiah, going before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Zacharias’s wife, Elisabeth, had never been able to bear a child and was now well past child-bearing age. Nevertheless, this aged woman was the one chosen by God to be the mother of the last prophet of the old covenant, which by now was also past the point of being able to bear spiritual fruit. Zacharias was told that this son should be named John (Jochanan in Hebrew), which means “God is merciful.”

Six months later, Gabriel came to visit a very young lady, Mary, to tell her she would be the mother of the Messiah and that his name would be Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew), which means “God saves.”

The old covenant was about to die and the new kingdom about to be born, yet there was a kinship between the two. Thus, it was fitting that the old lady and the young lady were cousins. Their kinship must have been through their mothers, as Elisabeth was of the tribe of Levi and Mary of the tribe of Judah.

From their statements when Mary went to visit Elisabeth, evidently both ladies understood the momentous significance of the events in which they had been chosen to participate. Elisabeth said to Mary, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43). Mary said, “He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever (vv. 54-55).

Practical Truths for Today

Looking back, it seems as if the Jewish people might have realized something was wrong in their religious life. Divisions appeared according to the ideas people had of how to deal with what was missing. The Sadducees seemed to think all would be well if they could keep up the outward form of religion. The Pharisees believed a strict outward purity and piety, going well beyond anything required by the Scriptures, was necessary. The Essenes retired to their rural community to await the coming of the Messiah. The Zealots believed the Roman occupation was the whole problem and were continually plotting ways to gain enough support to seize authority and get rid of the Romans.

Then along came John. He told the people that the Messiah was about to appear, but first they needed to repent of their sins. The problem was not in the external circumstances but in their own hearts. The people came, confessing their sins and being baptized by John. He bluntly told people the truth, and most people recognized it as truth. “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matt. 3:7). No doubt even some of them realized the truth of this stark warning.

Some Bible scholars speculate that after the death of his parents, John was raised by the Essenes. This is based on some similarities in their teachings and on the statement in Luke 1:80 that he “was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.” The Essenian connection is possible but not likely. Josephus provides considerable information about the Essenes and about John but never links them. John’s teaching about the Messiah and his identification of Jesus as the Messiah were a major departure from Essenic teachings. The Essenes were a reclusive group; John boldly spoke the message he was given to everyone, great and small.

Many people came to John for baptism. Jesus also came to John to be baptized. It was to fulfill all righteousness and consecrate him to his ministry. Jesus and John very likely knew each other, though they may not have had frequent contact over the years.

John knew that he was the forerunner called to announce the coming of the Messiah’s kingdom, but did he fully understand what that kingdom would be like? It appears that individual prophets were given glimpses of things to come but less than the full picture. This, and not a lack of faith, could be the reason John later sent messengers to Jesus to ask whether there was yet someone else to come. The message Jesus sent back to John was that his works were evidence that the spiritual kingdom was already being established.

The natural tendency of humanity is to try to compensate for spiritual emptiness with some temporal thing or activity. Works of charity are good and necessary, yet their benefits are limited to this material world. John’s message makes people aware of their soul’s need. Satan tells us we can satisfy the hunger of the soul by outward religiosity, by adherence to outward forms and traditions, by superior and intellectual religious knowledge, by experiences that stir the emotions, or by constant activity. Sometimes he makes us keenly aware of problems beyond our control and prompts us to think everything could be put to right if there was a change in government. John reproved Herod Antipas for immorality but never called for a change in government. Governments do change, but the world is still the world. Paradise is promised to those who allow God to transform their hearts. Such concerns for outward things do not bring us closer to God. Can we hear the Holy Spirit tell us we need to stop looking at what is wrong in the world around us or with others and look at the world inside our own hearts?

John made no effort to impress people with his importance; he merely claimed to be a witness of the true Light that is within the reach of everyone. Like John, we have a role to play in making God’s message known to others. We are also called to be voices in the wilderness of this world, announcing that the Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world, but who will hear our voice if we have not first invited the Lamb of God to take away our own sins? This is the reason of the hope that is in us (1 Pet. 3:15) and is a message multitudes in the wilderness of this world are longing to hear.

Questions

1. What are ways in which we can become voices in the wilderness of our present world?
2. John knew that he was not the message. Do we subconsciously think we are the message of God to our world today and people will catch the call to repentance by simply observing the way we live?
3. How or why might our faith fade away to the point that we are just going through the motions of being a Christian?
4. How would we respond to a wake-up call such as John delivered?
5. How does it become sufficiently clear to us that we must accept and submit to the judgment of God in order to enter his kingdom?

Source: COGICM Daily Bible Readings (Daily Bible Readings, PO Box 124, Glenn, CA 95943).