Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.”

Matthew 3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

John the Baptist preached repentance before he introduced Jesus Christ to a lost and dying land. Given that those reading this may have already repented and are seeking to discover Jesus as their savior, then sequence is important. Repentance has to come first.

The teachers of the law did not preach repentance at this time, and baptism by water immersion was unheard of in Torah. The baptism of repentance was new and controversial.

That was then but in this time and place baptism is common and performed in different ways by different sects. Resist the temptation to seek which method is right and remember this is all about repentance.

Strong’s Definitions

נֹחַם nôcham, no’-kham; from H5162; ruefulness, i.e. desistance

Desistance is the process of abstaining from crime by those with a previous pattern of offending. It is an ongoing process and often involves some false stops and starts. 

Source: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/

This is how the world defines repentance in relation to crime. Not all sins are of a criminal nature. In the spiritual sense which is defined by God the Father it is a turning from the path we are on and begin to follow God. In the truest sense, following after righteousness, Jesus.

At this point I have gotten ahead of the gospel of John and the order in which John presented Christ to us. What comes next?

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Can you see light? Light must be reflected off a subject in order to make those objects visible. Light exposes things so that we can perceive them. Perception is not truth, the light is truth.

John 3:19-20 English Standard Version

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Order: state what it is and then define the effect.

John 1:19-28 English Standard Version

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Let us not ignore the obvious. The Pharisees would never humble themselves in order to listen to a crazy man shouting at the rocks in the wilderness. The baptist was alone in the wilderness. Why was John the Baptist in the wilderness? He knew he was called to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah. If he was to be in the wilderness by the will of God, then as an obedient servant he did not question the prophecy, he simply obeyed.

What wasn’t in the wilderness? The temple, the priests, the ceremony or the leaders of the Jews at that time. Travelers on the trade routes saw this strange man shouting at the rocks and brought a tale of mystery to the cities on their route. People love a circus oddity and went to see for themselves about this wild man in the wilderness. They listened to what he had to say and began to question what their teachers had been saying in their synagogues. Since those teachers did not have a clear answer to their questions they sought the opinion of their leaders in the temple in Jerusalem, their higher authority.

What was John preaching that was different from what was being taught in the synagogues?

John 1:29-34 English Standard Version

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

This John proclaimed late in his ministry. What did he preach first? Ezekiel 18:30