And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.
The child is John, the promised son of Zacharias appointed as Christ's forerunner, who grew strong in spirit and lived secluded in the desert until his public showing to Israel after thirty years of preparation. Being strong in spirit meant the Lord worked with him by the Holy Spirit for the work of preparing a people to receive Christ, on condition of obedience to the angel's instruction to drink neither wine nor strong drink. His years apart were deliberate training through simple diet, self-denial, meditation and prayer that disciplined body and mind and formed a firm character able to stand amid temptation and public pressure. He was taught by God and nature rather than by the rabbinical schools, learning from the Scriptures, creation and providence away from corrupting customs and human tradition so he could proclaim pure truth. He grew thus because his God-fearing parents cooperated with God, instructed by the angel to train him in the country away from temptation and keeping his holy mission before him from childhood.
Child, Desert, and Showing
The child is John, the promised son of Zacharias, who arose among faithful Israel as the forerunner of Christ appointed to go before the Lord to prepare His ways. He grew and became strong in spirit while living in the deserts until the day of his public showing to Israel, when he appeared publicly and was revealed to the nation. That secluded preparation lasted thirty years before he was revealed, fitting him to stand firm amid the pressures of public life.
By choice he lived in a lonely desert region of barren hills, wild ravines, and rocky caves, foregoing the enjoyments and luxuries of life for the stern discipline of the wilderness favorable to simplicity and self-denial. Instead of being educated for the priesthood in the rabbinical schools, which would have unfitted him for his work, he was called to the desert to learn of nature and nature's God. Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, his wilderness life provided solitude for studying nature, revelation, Scripture, and providence, and helped form habits of simplicity and self-denial in preparation for his mission of preparing a people to receive Christ. His growth was linked with receiving wisdom from God rather than the mass of human tradition taught by the religious teachers.
Separation from society and its temptations, with simple food and clothing, self-denial, meditation, and prayer, helped form a steady, firm, disciplined and discerning character, and communion with nature and God prepared him to call the people to repentance while the Holy Spirit kindled his zeal for that work. From childhood his mission had been kept before him because his God-fearing parents had often repeated the angel's words to Zacharias, until he accepted the holy trust. To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from a society where suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading, for he distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin lest he lose the sense of its exceeding sinfulness.
He was directed there by God to shield him from the influence of priests and rabbis and to prepare him for a special mission. Yet his austere, isolated life is not an example for everyone to abandon duties, for he did not tell his hearers to leave their places but called them to show repentance by being faithful to God where they had been placed.
The same language of growing and becoming strong in spirit is also applied to Jesus, whose childhood and youth before public ministry were largely out of public view yet were important years of preparation. In that relative obscurity He developed a sound constitution and vigorous mind and laid the foundation of a sound body, and He entered His ministry at thirty in the strength of manhood. His youth was not wasted but prepared Him for His work, making His example relevant to young people facing their own critical years and choices.
Growth Strong in Spirit
To wax strong in spirit was to have the Lord working with the child through the abiding presence of the Spirit of God. He had been called to a great work, the greatest ever committed to men, and only that divine cooperation could fit him to accomplish it. The Spirit would remain with him on the condition that he heeded the angel's instruction given before his birth, that he should be great in the sight of the Lord, drink neither wine nor strong drink, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. His growth came because he received wisdom from God instead of the traditions and mass of human tradition taught by the religious teachers, and that separation unto God prepared him for his work as a prophet to prepare a people for the Lord.
His growing and becoming strong in spirit is the pattern of the life God intends children and youth to develop through obedience to His laws. That same life may be repeated in all who resist temptation and become consecrated workers through Christ. It shows that strength of character increases through hardship, for when young people keep their integrity under discouragement and trials their fortitude and stability and power of endurance grow until they are able to resist temptation.
Wilderness Training for Mission
The desert years were deliberate preparation for work as Christ's forerunner, to prepare a people to receive Christ by calling them to repentance and a holier life. Away from the shaping power of human customs and teachings, communion with God fitted him for that calling. There in the wilderness he received from God the very message he was to bear in preparing the way for the Coming One.
By choice he separated himself from society and its temptations, living in simple food and clothing apart from luxuries on a purely vegetable diet, and through self-denial, meditation, and prayer he disciplined body and mind. That life of solitude gave quiet for studying nature, revelation, Scripture, and providence and for forming habits of simplicity and self-denial. So he formed a steady, firm, and discerning character that fitted him to stand firm amid the pressures of public life, to resist temptation, and to serve with firmness in calling the people to repentance and a holier life.
To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from a society where suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading. He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin lest it dull his sense of its exceeding sinfulness.
Yet his life there was not idle nor wholly cut off from people. He sometimes went among them and mingled with them, observing events and human character to learn how to reach hearts with heaven's message. Guided by the Spirit in that study, communion with nature and with God prepared him for his mission, and the Holy Spirit kindled and strengthened his zeal to call the people to repentance and a holier life.
Taught by God Alone
John was not trained in the rabbinical schools for the priesthood, for that schooling would have unfitted him for his appointed work. He had no human scholarship, but God and nature were his teachers. His preparation and education did not depend on the usual schools or the established order, but came through his life apart in the wilderness and his connection with God as the great Teacher. His youth spent there away from the schools and sights of his time keeps God's people distinct, pure, and holy rather than mingled with the world.
In the wilderness nature was his open book and school, and its pure, natural scenes revealed God's character. Away from the flattering temptations of crowded cities he learned to look from nature to nature's God, from nature to its Creator. The Old Testament was his lesson book for his early formation apart from worldly society. He was kept from the false teachings of those who had departed from God, learning from nature with God as his teacher. Alone with God and His Word he prayed, and as he did the Scriptures were opened to him, for God instructs those who humbly seek wisdom from above.
The desert years kept human customs and teachings from shaping his mind so that he could commune with God and be prepared as Christ's forerunner. Separation from the city's corrupting influences and from the teachings and traditions of the scribes and rabbis allowed God to instruct him and shape him with the truth he would proclaim. In that retirement he could receive instruction from God and be prepared to give the people the pure truth that would prepare the way for Christ. He spent most of his life there away from religious teachers whose lax piety, pride, envy, and jealousy led them to distort Scripture and weaken right principles.
Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he studied the lessons of nature, revelation, and providence. His wilderness life provided solitude and quiet simplicity for studying nature, Scripture, and providence while forming habits of simplicity and self-denial for his mission. He chose the wilderness over the comforts of city life, where the quiet and simple surroundings helped him practice self-denial and study nature, Scripture, and God's providence. His time apart in the desert was a period of learning from God that fitted him for his work, showing that those who preach must first be formed and prepared for service.
Parents and Youth Application
John grew and became strong in spirit because his parents faithfully cooperated with God to form in him the character fitted for his assigned work as a competent messenger to announce the coming of Christ. Though he was a son of their old age and a child of miracle with a special work to do for the Lord, they did not reason that the Lord would take care of him without effort on their part. Instructed by an angel from heaven how to train and educate him, they moved to a retired place in the country where he would not be exposed to the temptations of city life or be induced to depart from their counsel and instruction. They sacredly fulfilled their obligation so that by no careless neglect on their part he would fail to become good and wise unto salvation, to give light to them that sit in darkness and to guide feet into the way of peace, and he remained in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.
His God-fearing parents taught him from childhood about the mission entrusted to him and often repeated the angel's words to Zacharias, keeping the holy trust before him until he accepted it. That early training came before and alongside his spending most of his life in the wilderness, away from religious teachers, before he appeared publicly to Israel. There the desert gave him space to develop simplicity and self-denial and to study nature, Scripture, and providence apart from corrupting influence and constant contact with sin. His life there was not idle or wholly cut off from people, for he sometimes went among them and observed events and human character to learn how to reach hearts with heaven's message.
His childhood character is an encouragement to parents as they train their children. His upbringing apart from worldly society, with nature as his school and the Old Testament as his lesson book and away from the schools and sights of his time, teaches that distance from worldly customs helps children form a pure, well-rounded character open to heavenly influence. The same upbringing illustrates the call for God's people to remain distinct, pure, and holy rather than mingle with the world.
The child is John, the promised son of Zacharias appointed as Christ's forerunner, who grew strong in spirit and lived secluded in the desert until his public showing to Israel after thirty years of preparation.
Being strong in spirit meant the Lord worked with him by the Holy Spirit for the work of preparing a people to receive Christ, on condition of obedience to the angel's instruction to drink neither wine nor strong drink.
His years apart were deliberate training through simple diet, self-denial, meditation and prayer that disciplined body and mind and formed a firm character able to stand amid temptation and public pressure.
He was taught by God and nature rather than by the rabbinical schools, learning from the Scriptures, creation and providence away from corrupting customs and human tradition so he could proclaim pure truth.
He grew thus because his God-fearing parents cooperated with God, instructed by the angel to train him in the country away from temptation and keeping his holy mission before him from childhood.
Child, Desert, and Showing
The child is John, the promised son of Zacharias, who arose among faithful Israel as the forerunner of Christ appointed to go before the Lord to prepare His ways. He grew and became strong in spirit while living in the deserts until the day of his public showing to Israel, when he appeared publicly and was revealed to the nation. That secluded preparation lasted thirty years before he was revealed, fitting him to stand firm amid the pressures of public life.
By choice he lived in a lonely desert region of barren hills, wild ravines, and rocky caves, foregoing the enjoyments and luxuries of life for the stern discipline of the wilderness favorable to simplicity and self-denial. Instead of being educated for the priesthood in the rabbinical schools, which would have unfitted him for his work, he was called to the desert to learn of nature and nature's God. Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, his wilderness life provided solitude for studying nature, revelation, Scripture, and providence, and helped form habits of simplicity and self-denial in preparation for his mission of preparing a people to receive Christ. His growth was linked with receiving wisdom from God rather than the mass of human tradition taught by the religious teachers.
Separation from society and its temptations, with simple food and clothing, self-denial, meditation, and prayer, helped form a steady, firm, disciplined and discerning character, and communion with nature and God prepared him to call the people to repentance while the Holy Spirit kindled his zeal for that work. From childhood his mission had been kept before him because his God-fearing parents had often repeated the angel's words to Zacharias, until he accepted the holy trust. To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from a society where suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading, for he distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin lest he lose the sense of its exceeding sinfulness.
He was directed there by God to shield him from the influence of priests and rabbis and to prepare him for a special mission. Yet his austere, isolated life is not an example for everyone to abandon duties, for he did not tell his hearers to leave their places but called them to show repentance by being faithful to God where they had been placed.
The same language of growing and becoming strong in spirit is also applied to Jesus, whose childhood and youth before public ministry were largely out of public view yet were important years of preparation. In that relative obscurity He developed a sound constitution and vigorous mind and laid the foundation of a sound body, and He entered His ministry at thirty in the strength of manhood. His youth was not wasted but prepared Him for His work, making His example relevant to young people facing their own critical years and choices.
Growth Strong in Spirit
To wax strong in spirit was to have the Lord working with the child through the abiding presence of the Spirit of God. He had been called to a great work, the greatest ever committed to men, and only that divine cooperation could fit him to accomplish it. The Spirit would remain with him on the condition that he heeded the angel's instruction given before his birth, that he should be great in the sight of the Lord, drink neither wine nor strong drink, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. His growth came because he received wisdom from God instead of the traditions and mass of human tradition taught by the religious teachers, and that separation unto God prepared him for his work as a prophet to prepare a people for the Lord.
His growing and becoming strong in spirit is the pattern of the life God intends children and youth to develop through obedience to His laws. That same life may be repeated in all who resist temptation and become consecrated workers through Christ. It shows that strength of character increases through hardship, for when young people keep their integrity under discouragement and trials their fortitude and stability and power of endurance grow until they are able to resist temptation.
Wilderness Training for Mission
The desert years were deliberate preparation for work as Christ's forerunner, to prepare a people to receive Christ by calling them to repentance and a holier life. Away from the shaping power of human customs and teachings, communion with God fitted him for that calling. There in the wilderness he received from God the very message he was to bear in preparing the way for the Coming One.
By choice he separated himself from society and its temptations, living in simple food and clothing apart from luxuries on a purely vegetable diet, and through self-denial, meditation, and prayer he disciplined body and mind. That life of solitude gave quiet for studying nature, revelation, Scripture, and providence and for forming habits of simplicity and self-denial. So he formed a steady, firm, and discerning character that fitted him to stand firm amid the pressures of public life, to resist temptation, and to serve with firmness in calling the people to repentance and a holier life.
To him the solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from a society where suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading. He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from constant contact with sin lest it dull his sense of its exceeding sinfulness.
Yet his life there was not idle nor wholly cut off from people. He sometimes went among them and mingled with them, observing events and human character to learn how to reach hearts with heaven's message. Guided by the Spirit in that study, communion with nature and with God prepared him for his mission, and the Holy Spirit kindled and strengthened his zeal to call the people to repentance and a holier life.
Taught by God Alone
John was not trained in the rabbinical schools for the priesthood, for that schooling would have unfitted him for his appointed work. He had no human scholarship, but God and nature were his teachers. His preparation and education did not depend on the usual schools or the established order, but came through his life apart in the wilderness and his connection with God as the great Teacher. His youth spent there away from the schools and sights of his time keeps God's people distinct, pure, and holy rather than mingled with the world.
In the wilderness nature was his open book and school, and its pure, natural scenes revealed God's character. Away from the flattering temptations of crowded cities he learned to look from nature to nature's God, from nature to its Creator. The Old Testament was his lesson book for his early formation apart from worldly society. He was kept from the false teachings of those who had departed from God, learning from nature with God as his teacher. Alone with God and His Word he prayed, and as he did the Scriptures were opened to him, for God instructs those who humbly seek wisdom from above.
The desert years kept human customs and teachings from shaping his mind so that he could commune with God and be prepared as Christ's forerunner. Separation from the city's corrupting influences and from the teachings and traditions of the scribes and rabbis allowed God to instruct him and shape him with the truth he would proclaim. In that retirement he could receive instruction from God and be prepared to give the people the pure truth that would prepare the way for Christ. He spent most of his life there away from religious teachers whose lax piety, pride, envy, and jealousy led them to distort Scripture and weaken right principles.
Uninterrupted by the clamor of the world, he studied the lessons of nature, revelation, and providence. His wilderness life provided solitude and quiet simplicity for studying nature, Scripture, and providence while forming habits of simplicity and self-denial for his mission. He chose the wilderness over the comforts of city life, where the quiet and simple surroundings helped him practice self-denial and study nature, Scripture, and God's providence. His time apart in the desert was a period of learning from God that fitted him for his work, showing that those who preach must first be formed and prepared for service.
Parents and Youth Application
John grew and became strong in spirit because his parents faithfully cooperated with God to form in him the character fitted for his assigned work as a competent messenger to announce the coming of Christ. Though he was a son of their old age and a child of miracle with a special work to do for the Lord, they did not reason that the Lord would take care of him without effort on their part. Instructed by an angel from heaven how to train and educate him, they moved to a retired place in the country where he would not be exposed to the temptations of city life or be induced to depart from their counsel and instruction. They sacredly fulfilled their obligation so that by no careless neglect on their part he would fail to become good and wise unto salvation, to give light to them that sit in darkness and to guide feet into the way of peace, and he remained in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.
His God-fearing parents taught him from childhood about the mission entrusted to him and often repeated the angel's words to Zacharias, keeping the holy trust before him until he accepted it. That early training came before and alongside his spending most of his life in the wilderness, away from religious teachers, before he appeared publicly to Israel. There the desert gave him space to develop simplicity and self-denial and to study nature, Scripture, and providence apart from corrupting influence and constant contact with sin. His life there was not idle or wholly cut off from people, for he sometimes went among them and observed events and human character to learn how to reach hearts with heaven's message.
His childhood character is an encouragement to parents as they train their children. His upbringing apart from worldly society, with nature as his school and the Old Testament as his lesson book and away from the schools and sights of his time, teaches that distance from worldly customs helps children form a pure, well-rounded character open to heavenly influence. The same upbringing illustrates the call for God's people to remain distinct, pure, and holy rather than mingle with the world.