We have seen that God’s ordained way always matches the nature of the things He desires to do and accomplish. In the New Testament, God has an excellent purpose which is to gain a group of sinners, whom, after saving them, He continues to separate, sanctify, and transform until they are one spirit with Him and become a people one with Him. These ones become inseparable from God. Not only are they joined to God, they are even mingled with God. They are simply a group of people that belong to God. In their daily walk and through their expression, when men see them they see God. They are the expression of God and are God manifested in the flesh.
The reason that God does all this is to gain a group of people who can win others to God. Not only can they win others to God, they can offer these same ones to God as offerings, that is, as food for God that He may be satisfied.
In the Old Testament, the duty and responsibility of a priest was to take the bulls and the goats to the altar and offer them up day and night as burnt offerings to God. These became food for God. They were living sacrifices to God, satisfying God’s heart. All these were only types.
In the New Testament, all the types are fulfilled. By now, what the priests of God offer as sacrifices are the sinners. We can see this turn in Matthew chapter three. Verse 1 says, “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea.” When John the Baptist came to fulfill his ministry he did not do it in the holy temple nor in the holy city. Rather, he went to a deserted wilderness. There was no religious flavor nor any cultural background there. Moreover, he “had his garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey” (v. 4). Leviticus 11:4 tells us that the camel is an unclean animal that cannot be eaten or touched. But here was John who put on camel’s hair. Not only he himself was wild, but his food was wild also. All this shows that he fulfilled his ministry in a wild way. He did not abide by any of the old regulations.
What he did was even more wild. He preached, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). If anyone was willing to repent, he would baptize such a one into the water. The baptism at that time was unlike today’s practice with a proper baptistry and changing rooms. John called for repentance, and group after group went out to him confessing their sins and were baptized by him in the River Jordan (vv. 5-6). John did not fulfill his ministry according to the Old Testament way of worship at all. What he did was absolutely contrary to religion and culture. This shows that he completely rejected God’s arrangement in the Old Testament in order that he might bring in God’s New Testament economy.
But we must not forget John’s family background. He did not come from a “wild” family. His father, Zachariah, was not only a priest (Luke 1:5), but one who took the lead in the priesthood. Hence, John was born into a priestly family. Moreover, his birth was of God (Luke 1:13). He was given to his parents by God. In addition, he was the firstborn who should have inherited his father’s career to serve in the temple. However, he did not put on the priestly garments. Rather, he put on camel’s hair. He did not eat any priestly food. Rather, he ate locusts and wild honey. Neither did he remain in the holy place burning the incense and dressing the lamps. Instead, he went to the wilderness, baptizing people into water. These were wild moves and methods. It shows that the old way of worshipping God was over; a new way was introduced. In reality John was the one who was serving as a true priest.