The Voice Calling

“A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”  Isaiah 40:3 

St. John the Baptist preaching

The voice of John the Baptist was prophesied about by Isaiah over 700 years before John was born. Old Testament prophecies were the first “voice calling” to the Jewish people so they could begin to anticipate the coming of their Messiah. What they expected, however, was someone quite different.

When Jesus came, the Jews thought He should be more like a warrior. They were looking for the Savior to set up His earthly rule and reign, conquering Israel’s political enemies. They weren’t expecting the Messiah to come and die a criminal’s death on a cross! And they were certainly not expecting Christ’s resurrection. Jews believed resurrection only happened at the end of this age. What they failed to comprehend was that Christ was coming twice to earth: once to die for the world’s sin, and the second time will be to judge the world. This is why many Jews missed His First Coming—unmet expectations.

History is a great educator. The Jews were wrong in their interpretations of Scripture, and their misguided expectations were a result of this misunderstanding. We mustn’t do the same thing. There are hundreds of interpretations about Christ’s Second Coming. What if we get it wrong, too? What if it doesn’t unfold in the way we think it’s supposed to? Sometimes we also misunderstand Scripture, especially when it comes to the symbolism of prophecy.

Here’s how I deal with the ‘End Times’ prophecies… I think it’s best to remain humble, and to focus on what is most important—relationship with Jesus. How do we do that? Scripture says in a parable about the ten virgins (in Matthew 25) that we’re to keep our oil lamp full. This means we are to keep the intimacy with God first in our lives, as the oil represents the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell within us once we’re saved. Then, when He finally comes, if you’re still on Earth at that time, your lamp will be lit; in other words, you will have the ability to “see” because you’ve maintained your relationship spiritually. And that ability to see will prepare you for however the End Times events go down in history.

Think Divinely: The voice calling today is the Lord’s. He desires intimacy with you right now, in this very moment.

18 Comments

  1. Beth Bingaman December 3, 2019
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