John

I taught a small study on the scriptures a few weeks ago. It was about John the Baptist and how he was a herald for the Messiah's return in Israel, preparing the hearts of the people for the return of Christ through confession of sin. Before I started the study I asked those attending (keep it mind it was not a large number) what they knew about John the Baptist. I got completely blank stares. At first I thought, "They are afraid to say what they know in case it is wrong." So i kind of fed them some answers through questions like, "What do you know about his birth?" "What he wore?" What did he eat?" And still blank stares. This really got me. These people had NO knowledge about John the Baptist. He is a pretty big character in the scriptures because of his relation to Christ and Old Testament prophecies fulfilled through him (see Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 4:5-6). Now I am no Bible scholar, but I do think regular people can have a basic understanding of the scriptures. How will we know when deception comes if we do not know what they profess to believe? Do they really believe it? This shocked me. We need to be in the Word daily.