In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord,
       make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
       and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
       and the rough places shall become level ways,
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" And he answered them, "Whoeer has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than you are authorized to do." Soldiers also asked him, "And what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."

As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He wll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."

So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also ahd been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

-Luke 3:1-17; John 1:29-34, Luke 3:18-22

"For behold, the day is coming...the day when I act...remember...the statutes and rules that I commanded...I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes..."

More than 500 years later...

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitneses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
-Luke, Luke 1:1-4

Backstory: Luke was a Gentile(non-Jewish) believer who journeyed with Paul and wrote a very complete narrative of the life of Christ and the Acts of the Apostles. He was a physician, and therefore well educated. He wrote to a Theophilus, which may have been a person's name, or may just be a word he used for Christians, as it is greek for "friend of God."

It has been around 500 years since the last words of Malachi. The Messiah has still not arrived, or Elijah who was to come first. Some Jews had lost patience, and their religion had simply turned into a cultural role, a lot like what we see today with the 2000 years of waiting for the second coming of the Messiah. The leaders of the Jewish synagogues's piety was often just a show of pride. Israel as a nation was far from what it was, now only a province of the Roman empire and ran by governors and weak kings. There were yet those faithful. Many Jews still believed the Messiah, the Christ, was coming. And our story starts among some of these...

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."

And Zecharaiah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my word,s which will be fulfilled in their time." And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, "Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among people."
-Luke 1:5-25

*Interesting note: Look through Gabriel's words and then read what God said through Malachi(last entry). A few repeated phrases. Neat, huh.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, joints and of marrow, and intentions of the heart. -Hebrews 4:12

I'm making this Xanga to share God's word with anyone who will read it. I'm going to start like a story, and I believe it should be interesting to everyone who takes the time. The Bible is the greatest book ever written. Please take the time to read.

Backstory: The kingdom of Israel is declining. God's chosen people are not getting the blessings they were promised in their covenant with him because they are not following through with their part. God has been speaking to them through the prophets...but his voice is about to go silent...

"They(the remaining ones who fear God) shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

"For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all the evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction."
~Jehovah, LORD of hosts, Malachi 3:17-18, 4:1-6

With those words, God stopped speaking. For hundreds of years there was nothing. No hope, but in a promise of the sending of Elijah, a prophet carried into heaven by a flaming chariot around 250 years before. He was to make the way for the Messiah spoken of by the prophets. The Messiah was coming...but how long will it be...