THE CALL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST by Stephen Nelson Haskell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 5, 1892

THE CALL OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

By Stephen Nelson Haskell

BY ELDER S. N. HASKELL.

THE scriptures concerning the birth of John the Baptist are very brief. Luke gives the fullest particulars. After the angel had appeared to Zacharias and told him that his prayer was heard, and that he should have a son, who should be great in the sight of the Lord, and should drink neither wine nor strong drink, he then makes the wonderful statement, "He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." He was a child of promise, called to a special work. But was God a respecter of persons in filling this child with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb, before he would know to choose the good and refuse the evil? Were all other children left without the influence of the Spirit of God at this early period simply because they were not specially called of God? And, if so, why were they not specially called?

In Jer. 1:4, 5 we have the following: "Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Isaiah thus speaks of an individual: "The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name." Isa. 49:1. See also Ps. 139:1-18. Has the Lord selected a few individuals from the human family and given them special privileges over the rest of the race? or are there principles underlying all this, why the Lord called these men before their birth to fill prominent positions in his work? A holy, just, and infinite God has no respect of persons. "But he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted of him." "For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;

for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Rom. 10:11-13. That God calls all from their infancy is also distinctly stated in Isa. 46:3: "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb." By Christ all have been redeemed (Eph. 1:7) for "he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

Why, then, should God make particular mention of certain individuals and call them for a special work, and not others. A key to this may be found in the thirteenth chapter of Judges. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and made the promise that she should bear a son, to her the angel said, "Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing" (verse 4); and when the angel appeared to Manoah, and he inquired, "How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him?" the angel answered: "Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. She may not eat of anything that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe."

Here lies the secret of God's setting apart individuals from the womb to do a special work. He takes the children of such parents as will properly train the child. A great duty devolves upon the mother. The mould of character given to the child even before his birth has much to do in the formation of character. "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" said God. "For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." Gen. 18:17, 19. The call of God is universal for all men to serve him. The prophet says, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth" (Isa. 45:22); and David says, "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord" (Ps. 22:27); and again, "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Rom. 11:29. But the mould of character given to a large proportion of the human family even before their birth, with their early training, is such as to wholly unfit them for positions of responsibility in God's plan of saving souls; for he can do but very little with them.

Of Zacharias and Elizabeth it was said before the birth of John, "They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." God could intrust to the care of such people a child to be fitted for a special work. They would appreciate the testimony of heaven in the instruction given them both before and after the birth of the child that would fit him for the work God had for him to do.

Of John we read, "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel." Luke 1:80. It would, therefore, appear that from the time the promise was made to Zacharias that they should have a son, they regarded the testimony from heaven, and lived in direct reference to the fulfillment of the promise; and John was shut away from the society of others, where his morals would not be tainted with evil, God being his instructor, until the time of his showing himself to Israel. The Lord, through his parents and his own experience, fitted him for the work he had called him to do.