Chapter 5—The Death of John
The spirit of reform stirred the soul of John. The light of wisdom
and the power of God were upon him. Inspiration from Heaven kindled
a holy zeal that led him to denounce the Jewish priests, and pronounce
the curse of God upon them. They made high pretensions to godliness
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while they were strangers to charity, mercy, and the love of God. They
sought, by the gorgeousness of their apparel and their lofty manners,
to inspire awe and command the respect of men, while they were
abhorred by the Most High.
Though their hearts and lives were contrary to the will of God, they
deceived themselves with the vain supposition that eternal blessings
were theirs by virtue of the promises made to Abraham, the father of
the faithful. They were not clothed with humility. They were destitute
of the faith and piety of Abraham. They had not earned by integrity
and purity of life, the moral worth which would ally them to him as
his children, yet they expected to share the promises given him of the
Lord. The fearless manner in which the prophet John had denounced
the Pharisees and exposed their iniquity and hypocrisy, startled those
who had been accustomed to seeing them honored and exalted.
His preaching had aroused intense interest everywhere. His earnest
appeals and denunciations had stirred the consciences of men. People
had flocked from towns, cities, and villages, attracted to the wilderness
by his earnest and fervent exhortations, his courageous warnings and
reproofs, such as they had never before heard. There was no outward
display in the dress of John to attract, or to awaken admiration. He
resembled the prophet Elijah in the coarseness of his apparel, and in
his plain and simple diet. He fed upon locusts and wild honey, which
the wilderness afforded, and drank the pure water flowing from the
eternal hills.
Yet so great had been the crowds that listened to him that his fame
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had spread throughout the land. And now that he was imprisoned,
the people waited with interest to see what would be the result, never
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