When John came, baptizing with water, the Jews thought that he might be the prophet Moses risen from the dead; for he seemed to have a thorough knowledge of the prophecies, and to understand the history of the Hebrews and their wanderings in the wilderness in consequence of their unjust murmurings and continual rebellion. They also called to mind the peculiar circumstances of John’s birth, and wonderful manifestation of God to Zacharias, his father, in the temple, by the visitation of the angel from the presence of God, and the power of speech, being taken from Zacharias, because he did not believe the words of the angel, and the unloosing of his tongue at the birth of John. These important facts had in the past thirty years been measurably forgotten. But when John appeared as a prophet, the manifestation of the Spirit of God at his birth was called to mind. {2SP 62.2}

Da Johannes kom, døbte han med vand, mente jøderne at han måtte være den profet Moses oprejste fra døde; for han virkede til at have et grundigt kundskab til profetierne, og forstå Hebræernes historie og deres vandring i ørknen, på grund af deres uretfærdige knurren og stadige oprør. De huskede også de særlige omstændigheder ved Johannes fødsel, og den forunderlige manifestation (63) af Gud over for Zakarias, hans fader, i templet, hvor englen fra Guds nærhed besøgte, og at talens kraft blev taget fra Zakarias, fordi han ikke troede englens ord, og løsningen af hans tunge ved Johannes fødsel. Disse vigtige kendsgerninger var i de sidste tredive år næsten blevet glemt. Men da Johannes viste sig som en profet, kom Guds Ånds tilkendegivelse ved hans fødsel frem i tankerne igen.