 |  |
positively affirm without any scruple' that the vine was the forbidden tree
of the garden of Eden. We do not, however, feel that there is any need to
identify the tree of Knowledge; any tree however innocent and good if put
under a ban would suffice. In the lapse of Noah, who stands to the earth
after the flood much as Adam did in the beginning, we see most positively how
the drinking of wine played into the hands of Satan, bringing a curse down
upon Canaan and his descendants. In the double story of Adam and Noah three
trees play a significant part: the Fig, the Vine and the Olive.
John the Baptist's mission, here defined, is that of a forerunner:
'And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their
God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias'
(Luke 1:16,17).
John categorically denied that he was Elijah.
'Art thou Elias? And he saith, I Am not' (John 1:21). After the
Transfiguration, and the appearance of Elijah on that memorable day, the
disciples asked the Lord:
'Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus
answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore
all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they
knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise
shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples
understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist' (Matt. 17:10-
13).
We may not have so understood the Lord's words upon reading them for
the first time, but already in Matthew 11 the Lord had said:
'For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And If Ye
WILL Receive It, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear' (Matt. 11:13-15).
John was not Elijah, he was to go before the Lord
'in the spirit and power of Elijah' (Luke 1:17), but conditionally he was
Elijah If the Jews were believing and accepting their Messiah -- but they
were not. The words 'He that hath ears to hear, let him hear' which follow
in Matthew 11:15, follow the cryptic or parabolic form of utterance in
Matthew 13:9,43 and Revelation 13:9. In like manner the Saviour could not
answer with a plain Yes or No the question, 'Wilt Thou At This Time restore
again the kingdom to Israel?' (Acts 1:6) because of the contingency
introduced by the call to Israel to repentance.
Should the reader still feel that John the Baptist was Elijah to the
exclusion of the coming of that prophet before the Second Coming of Christ,
let him turn to the prophet Malachi and ask whether John the Baptist was sent
'before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord' (Mal. 4:5), and
so, as a matter of course, before the fulfilment of Joel 2:31. 'Elijah',
said the Saviour, 'shall first come and Restore All Things, yet Peter in Acts
3:21 declares this restitution (same word as 'restore') of all things is yet
future. In like manner John the Baptist 'fulfilled' Isaiah 40:3, yet 'every
valley' has not yet been exalted, 'all flesh' have not yet seen the glory of
the Lord, Israel shall yet hear the words 'Comfort ye My people', and rejoice
to know that her 'warfare is accomplished'.