THE CENTRALITY OF THE WORD OF GOD Throughout history, the "holy prophets" (2 Pet. 3:2) have been a demonstration of God's desire to reveal His will. His heart so yearned for His fallen offspring that He inspired Amos to say, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:8). It was not His desire to obscure, but to reveal; not to conceal, but to open. It is man's sin that obscures God's purpose, not God's nature. Tomorrow:
"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for THOU HAST MAGNIFIED THY WORD ABOVE ALL THY NAME." (Psa 138:2) ". . . for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!" (Amplified Bible)
Devotion 3 of 30
When God had determined to destroy the world with a flood, He could not keep it quiet. He revealed it to Noah, and Noah became a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Pet. 2:5), and he prepared the ark "to the saving his house; by the which he condemned the world . . ." (Heb. 11:7).
For hundreds of years, God spoke through the prophets concerning the coming of a Redeemer. They faithfully foretold the "sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow" (I Pet. 1:10-11). The nature of the Savior was proclaimed centuries before His incarnation (Isa. 9:6-7). The manner of His sufferings, and the Divine reasoning behind them were announced (Isa. 53:1-12). The effectiveness of His ministry was boldly prophesied by Malachi (Mal. 4:2). Jeremiah foretold His prosperous reign (Jer. 23:5), and Zechariah wrote of the provision for forgiveness (Zech. 13:1).
Why were these prophecies given? Because our God delights to reveal, to open up, and to illuminate His objective. That is His nature, and that is the manner of His kingdom. The kingdom of God is no more manifest than where God's will is known and loved. The Lord reigns, but not as a tyrant; He rules, but not in obscurity. He is a God of light. In fact, "God is light" (I John 1:5). How wonderfully this is seen in the writings of the prophets.
WITNESSED BY JOHN THE BAPTIST
From the beginning, God's intention was to save man by a man – the "seed" of the woman (Gen. 3:15). Immediately after Eve had confessed to her voluntary submission to Satan, God announced His purpose – and He announced it to the deceiver himself. He could not keep it quiet; it would be against His nature to do so.
Four millennia of time passed before that promised "seed" was dispatched to our contaminated realm. "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." His mission was "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Gal. 4:4-5). Since the fall, man had been lulled into sleep. There was a general indifference toward the promise of a Redeemer, and "gross darkness" blanketed the people (Isa. 60:2).
To awaken mankind to the coming of the Redeemer, we again witness the desire of the Lord to make His will known. He chose to alert men with a messenger – John the Baptist. This prophet came out of the wilderness with a thunderous message – an intelligent word addressed to the conscience of the people; "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). He was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" (Matt. 3:3). He came publicly, with a public message. His words were the message, not merely his appearance; what he said, not just that he was there .
When he came, "John did no miracle," but utilized the highest form of Divine witness – speaking. It is witnessed that "all things that John spake of this man [Jesus] were true" (John 10:41). The most intelligent form of communication between personalities consists of words – of speech, of the transmission of thought. This is precisely what John was known for – the communication of the purpose of God in words.
Who will ever forget his arresting words, "Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). This was a precise expression of God's objective . . . an objective that could not possibly be discerned by merely looking on Jesus of Nazareth. A word was required, and that is what John gave.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for preparing men for the coming of Jesus.