Welcome and thank you for taking a bible break to test your knowledge of God's word.This week's question:

About 700 years before the birth of Christ a prophet named Isaiah wrote about the coming of one whose voice would be calling to clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness:

Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert

a highway for our God. Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; And let

the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will

be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

An angel in Luke chapter one tells Zacharias that although he and his wife are advanced in years and she has been barren, they will have a son who would be great and drink no wine nor liquor as the Nazarites of Numbers 6:2-3 and Would prepare the way of the coming Lord:

Luke 1:76-79 "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the

Lord to prepare His ways; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their

sins, Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us, to shine

upon Those sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

This son lived in the wilderness wearing a garment of camel's hair and wearing a leather belt about his waist and his food was locust and wild honey (Matthew 3:1-4) He showed great courage before the religious groups of the day:

Matthew 3:7-10 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to

them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit

in keeping with repentance. And do not suppose you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our

father'; for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And the axe

is already laid at The root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and

thrown into the fire."

He did not call glory to himself but recognizes that one would be coming who is mightier than himself and that he would give way to Him.

Matthew 3:13-15 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by

him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying "I need to be baptized by You, and are You

coming to me?" But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now; for us to

fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.

With the beginning of Jesus ministry, the time for the declaring of the coming of the Lord was decreasing as the teaching of the Lord did increase and with full humility, he accepted this turn of events although some of his followers questioned this turn of events:

John 3:26-30 "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold,

He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him" (He) answered and said, "A man can receive nothing, unless

it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but,

'I have been sent before Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom,

who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has

been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease."

This great, humble man, whose father was told in by an angel that his wife would bear son, and upon questioning it, was not allowed to speak until after the son was born and the people wanted to name the child after his father, Zacharias. But after making signs that he wanted a tablet, and he wrote as follows:

..."His name is John." and they were all astonished (Luke 1:63) .

And so we have the answer to our question today, his name is John and of course we know him as Matthew 3:1 refers to him as "John the Baptist"! A man of great courage and honor who recognized his place in God's plan to pave the way for the Christ, and when people wondered if he might indeed be the one, he told them no.

(Matthew 3:11) ..."But He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His

sandals."

John does die a martyr as he condemns the marriage of Herod to his brothers wife, Herodias, and is jailed because of it. And when Herodias' daughter dances before Herod (Matthew 14:3-12), he vows to give anything she asks, and after being prompted by her mother, she requests the head of John the Baptist. Although Herod grieved because of the request, because of his and his dinner guests, he granted this wish,reminding one of:

Hebrews 11:36-38 …and others experienced mockings and scourging, yes also chains and imprisonment.

They were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins,

being Destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy)…