The countdown of end-of-the-world events in the book of Luke was uttered by two prophets. The first was proclaimed by John the Baptist in his famous wilderness sermon, and the second was trumpeted by none other than Jesus Christ Himself from the crest of Olivet to the listening ears of His disciples. Both predictions dramatically chronicled the central object of the Christians’ hope – the Second Advent.
When I examine John the Baptist’s version of the prophecy I tend to get the feeling that there is something not so right with that part of his message. It is against the background of two important factors that I am of this opinion. They are as follows:
1. The purpose of John the Baptist’s mission
2. The overall context of his message
The purpose of John’s mission
God had raised up John the Baptist for a specific purpose. His mission was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. In his ministry John was supposed to point the people to Jesus and identify Him as the Lord’s Christ. This he did when he declared,
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” St. John 1:29.
The utterances of this wilderness prophet were so critical that it was to play a role in shaping the idea of the Jewish people concerning the work of the Messiah. Because John was respected as a great prophet, whatever he says would determine the people’s expectations.
The context of John’s message
As that voice crying in the wilderness, admonishing the people to prepare the way of the Lord, one would easily expect John to give a message that is confined to the First Advent. In accordance with this expectation he spoke thus of the coming Messiah:
“I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” Luke 3:16
In this proclamation John the Baptist did a great work. This is clearly a countdown to the First Advent and the fulfillment of the Father’s promise to send the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. It is also in keeping with Christ’s promise just before His ascension that He will be with His disciples even until the end of the world (St. Jn. 28:20). If that was all that John had to say about the coming Messiah, his work would have been completed. But the problem I have is found in the next verse.
The problem with John’s message
What I am about to say is not something that many of us are prepared to appreciate. We are taught to believe that every individual who occupies the office of a prophet is automatically endowed with infallibility and is above question. If you are one of those who hold this view, I refer you the story of the disobedient prophet in 1Kings 13. The fact is no prophet is perfect; they are just as fallible like any normal human being and I believe that John the Baptist had exhibited that weakness in the message he preached. We need to understand that the ministry of the prophets is the manifestation of perfect divinity working via the instrumentality of imperfect humanity.
After John prophesied of the coming Messiah, in the next verse he suddenly shifted gears and proceeded to give a countdown of end-of-the-world events. In continuing his message, here is what the prophet went on to say:
“Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” Lk. 3:17.
This prophecy is a clear end-of-the-world scenario, yet it was presented as if it will be fulfilled in sync with what he predicted in the preceding verses.
A misunderstanding of Christ’s mission
This part of John’s proclamation indicates what was going through his mind concerning the Messiah’s mission. It seems as if he had misunderstood what Christ was here to do. From this end-of-the-world proclamation, John was expecting the Messiah to abolish Gentile rule and establish an earthly kingdom. In common with the Jewish traditional beliefs, he was clearly mixing up the kingly role of Christ at His Second Coming with His Messianic role at His first. Here is the reason why I believe this was the case.
While John was in prison he began to doubt whether Jesus is really that Christ he prophesied of. He was so much in doubt that he decided to send his disciples to ask Jesus if He is really the one to come or should he look for another. From Jesus’ response to the question you can know that He was not pleased (See Lk. 7:20-23).
It was John who had witnessed the Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove descending on Jesus and heard the voice of God from heaven confirming Him as the promised Messiah (Matt. 3:16, 17). Therefore, for John to now doubt whether this Man is the Lord’s Christ is to manifest unbelief and a clear lack of understanding of the Messiah’s mission.
John’s end-time prediction leads to unwarranted expectations
John’s countdown of end-of-the-world events was a part of the reason why the Jews were disappointed with the direction that Jesus’ ministry had taken. Yes, they had accepted the prophecy of John, and they too were expecting Him to set up an earthly kingdom and restore the nation of Israel.
This goes to show how a true teaching can lead one astray when it is being misapplied. A last-day prophecy had indeed contributed to unwarranted expectations about the First Advent. We who are living in the last days need to be much more diligent in our observation of events connected to the end of the world lest we too become captives to false expectations about the Second Advent.
Countdown to the End of the World: An End-Time Prediction That Caused Israel to Make a Big Mistake
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