13
וְקִרְעוּ לְבַבְכֶם וְאַל־בִּגְדֵיכֶם וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל־יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם כִּי־חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם הוּא אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד וְנִחָם עַל־הָרָעָה׃
Yoel 2:13
True Christianity # 689
689. John's baptism prepared the way because, as shown above [677-678], it brought the baptized people into the Lord's church that was to come, and brought them into the company of those in heaven who were awaiting and desiring the Messiah. Therefore angels protected them by preventing devils from breaking out of hell and destroying them. This is why we read in Malachi, "Who can endure the day of his coming?" (Malachi 3:2), and "so that Jehovah will not come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6).
There are similar statements in Isaiah: "Behold, the cruel day of Jehovah has come, a day of indignation and wrath and anger. I will shake heaven, and the earth will quake out of its place in the day of the wrath of his anger" (Isaiah 13:9, 13; see also Isaiah 13:6; 22:5, 12).
In Jeremiah that day is called a day of devastation, vengeance, and disaster (Jeremiah 4:9; 7:32; 46:10, 21; 47:4; 49:8, 26). In Ezekiel it is called a day of anger, cloud, and darkness (Ezekiel 13:5; 30:2-3, 9; 34:11-12; 38:14, 16, 18-19). Amos, too, refers to it in similar terms (Amos 5:8, 18, 20; 8:3, 9, 13). We read in Joel: "Great and dreadful is the day of Jehovah. Who will endure it?" (Joel 2:11; see also Joel 2:1-2, 29, 31). Also in Zephaniah: "In that day there will be the sound of a cry. The great day of Jehovah is near. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and repression, a day of devastation and desolation. In the day of Jehovah's wrath the whole earth will be consumed, and he will make an end of all the inhabitants of the earth" (Zephaniah 1:7-18). There are similar statements in other passages as well.
[2] These passages make it clear that if baptism had not prepared the way for Jehovah as he was coming down into the world - a baptism that had the effect in heaven of closing off the hells and protecting the Jews from total annihilation - [all people there, as stated above, would have been struck with a curse and would have perished]. Likewise Jehovah says to Moses, "If I rise up among you, I will consume the entire population in a single moment" (Exodus 33:5). This is further reinforced by what John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him: "Brood of vipers, who warned you to escape from the impending anger?" (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7). For references to John teaching about Christ and his Coming as he was baptizing, see Luke 3:16; , 31-33; 3:22 and following. All the passages just given clarify how John prepared the way.
Isaiah 22
1
The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops?
2
You that are full of shouting, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; your slain are not slain with the sword, neither are they dead in battle.
3
All your rulers fled away together. They were bound by the archers. All who were found by you were bound together. They fled far away.
4
Therefore I said, "Look away from me. I will weep bitterly. Don't labor to comfort me for the destruction of the daughter of my people.
5
For it is a day of confusion, and of treading down, and of perplexity, from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, in the valley of vision; a breaking down of the walls, and a crying to the mountains."
6
Elam carried his quiver, with chariots of men and horsemen; and Kir uncovered the shield.
7
It happened that your choicest valleys were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at the gate.
8
He took away the covering of Judah; and you looked in that day to the armor in the house of the forest.
9
You saw the breaches of the city of David, that they were many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool.
10
You numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.
11
You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. But you didn't look to him who had done this, neither did you have respect for him who purposed it long ago.
12
In that day, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, called to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to dressing in sackcloth:
13
and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die."
14
Yahweh of Armies revealed himself in my ears, "Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die," says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
15
Thus says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, "Go, get yourself to this treasurer, even to Shebna, who is over the house, and say,
16
'What are you doing here? Who has you here, that you have dug out a tomb here?' Cutting himself out a tomb on high, chiseling a habitation for himself in the rock!"
17
Behold, Yahweh will overcome you and hurl you away violently. Yes, he will grasp you firmly.
18
He will surely wind you around and around, and throw you like a ball into a large country. There you will die, and there the chariots of your glory will be, you shame of your lord's house.
19
I will thrust you from your office. You will be pulled down from your station.
20
It will happen in that day that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah,
21
and I will clothe him with your robe, and strengthen him with your belt. I will commit your government into his hand; and he will be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.
22
I will lay the key of the house of David on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open.
23
I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father's house.
24
They will hang on him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers.
25
"In that day," says Yahweh of Armies, "the nail that was fastened in a sure place will give way. It will be cut down, and fall. The burden that was on it will be cut off, for Yahweh has spoken it."
