The Lamp

by J.L. Ferguson, Barrhead, U.K. | Category: The Star, The Lamp And The Light | Sept 1983

The lamp began to burn in Israel. It was a burning and a shining light. It appeared for a little time then burned itself out. The lamp was John. the uniquely given son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. That little family, with their related family in Nazareth, together with Simeon and Anna, formed the new nucleus of eight souls, part of the small godly remnant of Israel with which the New Testament opens. They have been likened to the eight basic notes of music, the great octave, from which the whole melody of Christian testimony has been developed.

Normally John would have become a Temple priest, following his father in the circuit of sanctuary service, after the order of Abijah, that being also the eighth to come forth by lot in I Chron.24: 10. But the great prophecies of God overruled all normal circumstances. What a moment it must have been in the silence of the Holy Place in the Temple of God, Zacharias probably alone before the altar of incense, when the heavenly visitor suddenly stood at his side, saying, "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee!" Tremendous moment in human history. The forerunner of Emmanuel was about to be born. Messiah the Prince would shortly be on His way.

Thus there came to Israel a man sent from God. All that we know of his early years is that he was with God "in the deserts till the day of his showing to Israel." While Messiah the Prince was in preparation in a carpenter's home and shop in Nazareth, His forerunner was also in preparation, but he was seemingly alone with his God in the wilderness of Judea. Then the great day came when God showed him to Israel; and a lamp began to burn on the banks of the Jordan. It was a hot, burning lamp, yet clear-shining. Hot, burning, for he was the fearless voice to Israel of the last and greatest of all her prophets. denouncing sin and calling the nation to repentance. Clear-shining, for he left no one in doubt as he gave his personal testimony to the fact that the Son of God was now in their midst, as the gentle Lamb of God walking in and out among them.

There must have been a marvellous bond of affection and mutual understanding between the forerunner and Messiah the Prince. For a period John alone baptized and multitudes flocked to him. The nation for a season rejoiced in his light. He laid no claim to being the prophet of whom Moses had spoken, nor the Messiah of whom the prophets had written. So the leaders left him alone. But Messiah the Prince, in the very nature of things had to appear, and the forerunner would require to give place. His disciples sensed the effect of this and sadly, yet understandably, drew his attention to the transition in the hearts of the people. John's reply was characteristically large-hearted in its loyalty. "I am not the Christ, but... I am sent before Him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:28-30). Truly, noble words.

Then came the confrontation with Herod the tetrarch when the fearless Baptist denounced him for his moral transgression in the matter of his brother Philip's wife. So he bound in prison a man whose righteousness was as conspicuous as Herod's wickedness, and later beheaded him at the instigation of a wicked, unforgiving woman. "And his disciples came, and took up the corpse, and buried him; and they went and told Jesus" (Matt. 14:12) The voice by Jordan was silenced. The lamp had burned itself out in Judea.

Next month - The Light.

J.L. Ferguson, Barrhead, U.K. | Sept 1983
The Star, The Lamp And The Light