by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
The Pharisees and Sadducees had the larger, more luxurious places to indoctrinate people with their corrupt doctrine. John the Baptist had to find secluded areas in the countryside where he could preach and baptize people.<\/p>\n
His was a voice in the wilderness, but word spread that he was even calling the teachers among the Pharisees to “repent.” Word spread that “you’ve got to hear this fellow!” It wasn’t long before folks were streaming out of the cities to hear this wilderness preacher talk about repentance, the kingdom about to come, the wonderful opportunity unfolding, the need for all Israelites to get ready.<\/p>\n
The Pharisees watched with much discomfort and disdain. Isaiah 40 had prophesied of this one, this voice in the wilderness. Many people came and were baptized, confessing their sins. The Messiah of so many prophecies was on His way to starting His ministry, and the kingdom of God was about to come. Man’s greatest opportunity was about to unfold.<\/p>\n
The voice does not have to come from the elite and materially wealthy in a sparkling gold and silver-laden temple. The voice would be heard from a poor man in poor clothes who ate what he could in the wilderness, locusts and wild honey.<\/p>\n
The voice of God is still found in the wilderness, away from the popular ideas and teachings of men. It is not in the popular book sections of the bookstore. It may be over in an obscure corner, maybe found occasionally under some dusty books at someone’s yard sale. It may be pushed aside or burned and banned by a new society that thinks they are more enlightened. But this voice will still be crying out in the wilderness.<\/p>\n
You may have to go out of your way to hear God’s word taught, but it is still worth the effort when you know the truth is being spoken there. The voice of God may be spoken and heard in unpopular places, not the popular places where sin is ignored! Listen carefully and seek the voice of truth, no matter how far out into the wilderness you have to travel to hear it! God’s kingdom is waiting for your interest to seek and find!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton The Pharisees and Sadducees had the larger, more luxurious places to indoctrinate people with their corrupt doctrine. John the Baptist had to find secluded areas in the countryside where he could preach and baptize people. His was a voice in the wilderness, but word spread that he was even calling the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[396,576],"class_list":["post-89024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-john-the-baptist","tag-wealth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2652,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-the-new-testament-quotes-of-the-old-testament-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":89024,"position":0},"title":"Why are the New Testament quotes of the Old Testament different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How would you punctuate\u00a0Isaiah 40:3? How do the authors of the New Testament get\u00a0Isaiah 40:3\u00a0wrong? Answer: \"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God'\" (Isaiah 40:3). \"For this is he who was spoken\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24543,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-was-john-the-baptist-elijah\/","url_meta":{"origin":89024,"position":1},"title":"How was John the Baptist Elijah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! I am wondering if you can please help me understand what the Bible is saying about John the Baptist when it refers to him coming in the spirit of Elijah? In Luke 1:17, it says John the Baptist will come in the \"spirit and power of Elijah.\" In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37779,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-baptism-commanded-in-the-old-testament-at-the-time-of-john-the-baptist\/","url_meta":{"origin":89024,"position":2},"title":"Was baptism commanded in the Old Testament at the time of John the Baptist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was baptism commanded in the Old Covenant at the time of John the Baptist? I thought baptism was not commanded in the Old Testament for salvation. I have always heard that baptism was not commanded in the Old Testament. Am I missing something here? Mark 1:4 mentions John's baptism\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88463,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-wouldnt-have-liked-john-the-baptist-if\/","url_meta":{"origin":89024,"position":3},"title":"You Wouldn\u2019t Have Liked John The Baptist If\u2026","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Diestelkamp via Think on These Things Magazine, Vol. 56 No. 3, July-September 2025 If you struggle to listen to a preacher because of the way he dresses, you wouldn't have liked John the Baptist. His clothing was rough and was neither stylish nor formal (Matthew 3:4; 11:8). If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29030,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-did-baptism-for-the-remission-of-sins-start\/","url_meta":{"origin":89024,"position":4},"title":"When did baptism for the remission of sins start?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the \"Articles\" section, under Baptism, \"Answering Arguments Against Baptism\".\u00a0 You state that \"Baptism for the remission of sins did not begin until the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38), so the thief (and Jesus) lived under the law of Moses.\" Please read Mark 1:4: \"John came baptizing in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14284,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-was-johns-baptism-different-from-jesus-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":89024,"position":5},"title":"How was John’s baptism different from Jesus’ baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have some questions about John's baptism. I've read about how it was a fulfillment of prophecy to prepare the way, but I'm really confused about what that really means and what the point of John's baptism was. I am curious about a few things: What does \"preparing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89024\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}