Luke 1:80

And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.

Like a similar statement in Luke 2:52, this compresses thirty years of John's life into one sentence. A comparison of the two reveals some significant differences, there being no hint here that John increased in favor "with men." The strong, rugged, ascetic character of the herald contrasts with the loving, sociable nature of the Sun of Righteousness.

The deserts ... refers to the desolate and forbidding wastelands south of Jericho and along by the Dead Sea. The occasion of his dwelling in such places could have come about through the death of his parents, who were in their old age when he was born; but this is not stated. This region was not inhabited. "The Qumran covenanters (had) established their headquarters in this general area"[39] as proved by the Dead Sea Scrolls; but "any definite connection of the Baptist with the Qumranites is pure theory."[40] God certainly would not have brought John the Baptist into the world for his great work and then have turned his education over to such radical sects in the wilderness as the Essenes or the Qumranites! Besides this, any resemblances based upon the teachings are very superficial; and, as Ash said, "There are marked differences."[41]

[39] Merrill F. Unger, The Dead Sea Scrolls (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1957), p. 17.

[40] Ibid., p. 18.

[41] Anthony Lee Ash, op. cit., p. 51.