689. The reason why John's baptising prepared the way was that by this means, as shown above, people were introduced into the coming church of the Lord, and brought into the company of those in heaven who were awaiting and longing for the Messiah. They were thus protected by angels to prevent devils breaking out of hell and destroying them. This is why it says in Malachi, 'Who will endure the day of his coming' and 'so that Jehovah may not come and strike the land with a curse' (Malachi 4:6). Likewise in Isaiah:

Look, the cruel day of Jehovah is coming, a day of wrath and an explosion of anger. I shall make the heaven tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place on the day of the explosion of His anger, Isaiah 13:6, 9, 13, 22; 22:5, 12.

Also in Jeremiah that day is called a day of laying waste, of revenge and ruin (Jeremiah 4:9; 7:32; 46:10, 21; 47:4; 49:8, 26). In Ezekiel it is called a day of wrath, of cloud and thick darkness (Ezekiel 13:5; 30:2-3, 9; 34:11-12; 38:14, 16, 18-19). Equally in Amos (Amos 5:13, 18, 20; 8:3, 9, 13); in Joel, the great and terrible day of Jehovah, and who will endure it? (Joel 2:1-2, 11; 3:2, 4). In Zephaniah:

On that day there will be a shout. The great day of Jehovah is at hand, the day of the explosion of His anger is that day, the day of anguish and affliction, the day of laying waste and devastation. On the day of the explosion of Jehovah's anger the whole earth will be consumed, and He will bring about an ending with all the inhabitants of the earth, Zephaniah 1:7-18.

There are other passages too.

[2] From these it is plain that if the way had not been prepared by baptism for Jehovah to come down into the world, the effect of which in the heavens was to shut off the hells and to protect the Jews from total extinction, [all there would have been struck with a curse and would have perished] ¹ . Jehovah also says to Moses:

In a single moment, if I were to go up in your midst, I should consume the people, Exodus 33:5.

The truth of this is clearly to be seen from John's words to the crowds who came out to be baptised by him:

You brood of vipers, who has warned you to run away from the wrath to come? Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7.

For John also teaching about Christ and His coming when he baptised, see Luke 3:16; John 1:25-26, 31-33; 3:26. These passages make it plain how John prepared the way.

Poznámky pod čarou:

A "field" in the Bible usually represents the Lord's church, and more specifically the desire for good within the church. It's where good things start, take root, and grow. When you have a desire to be a good person and to do good things, the natural first questions are "What does that mean?", "What should I do?", "What can I do?". You look for ideas, concepts, direction. Once you figure out something you want to do or a change you want to make in yourself, you seek specific knowledge. If you want to volunteer at a food pantry, say, you'd need to know whom to call, when they need help, where to go, what to bring. Armed with that knowhow, you're ready to get to work. That process could be compared to food production. You start with a field -- which is that desire to be good. Then you plant seeds -- those ideas and concepts. Those seeds sprout into plants -- the specific facts and knowledge needed for the task (easily seen in the food pantry example, but also true with deeper tasks like "being more tolerant of my co-workers" or "taking more time for prayer," or "consciously being a more loving spouse"). Finally, those plants produce food -- the actual good thing that you go and do. The Writings also say that in a number of cases a "field" represents the doctrine, or teachings, of the church. This sounds markedly different. The desire for good is emotional, a drive, a wanting; doctrine is a set of ideas. But for a church to be true, its doctrine must be centered on a desire for good, and must lead people toward doing what is good. So sound doctrine is actually closely bound up with the desire for good.