Why was John the Baptist's name dictated by God?
The prophecy in his name.
We went to see “The Savior of the World” last Saturday. It was pretty amazing. I’ve seen it a few times, and I have loved it every time.
During the production, I had a flood of information pour into my soul. Some of it I already knew, but a few pieces I didn’t; and I hadn’t made all of these connections before. I have wanted to write it up properly, but I haven’t had time with work demands and family demands, and so this will have to suffice. These are my crib notes on the subject:
The reason that the Lord wanted John the Baptist named John is as a sign of the Savior being the prophesied Messiah.
John is "Johannan" in Hebrew, which is a form of "Hannah", "favored or blessed of the Lord". So the name points Elizabeth's and Zacharias' miracle back to Hannah's miracle. Parallels:
Elizabeth and Hannah were both barren, and sought a miracle.
Both husbands were Temple workers, although it isn't exactly clear that Hannah's husband was a descendant of Aaron or not. At that time, it is possible that other tribes were able to work in the Temple, and they are said to be of Ephraim / in Ephraim. [I reviewed Hannah's story last night, and her husband Elkinah is said to live in Ephraim and called "an Ephrathite". That could mean he was from Bethlehem, or that he was of the tribe of Ephraim. It is not used to describe a Levite living in Ephraim. And so, the tradition that he was a Levite is incorrect, just as their description of the Temple they attended as being the tabernacle is incorrect. That's not the word they use.]
Eli is the high priest that gave Hannah the promise of a baby. That is the first part of Elizabeth's name, and means "my God". The rest of Elizabeth's name adds "covenants", to mean "covenanted with God".
Both John and Samuel were prophets who were forerunners. John the Baptist was dedicated / consecrated to the Lord, as was Samuel, from a very early age. John baptized the Savior. Samuel anointed King David, who was the epitome of a great king. Jesus is called the "son of David" and the greatest King of Kings.
As we've talked before, "David" means "beloved". The Savior is introduced to Joseph Smith as God's Beloved Son. Many deep parallels there.
Further, Mary is called "highly favored of the Lord", which is the meaning of Hannah's name. After the Savior's birth, Mary sings a song of praise, including the phrase that "all nations shall call me blessed", again recalling that prophetic parallel and indicating that she knew the meaning of these things.
Hannah also sang a song of praise after being told that she was going to have a baby, and in it is found the first Old Testament (recorded / still with us) prophecy of the Savior as the Messiah. There are some other good prophecies before hers in the Old Testament, but they don't indicate that He is the Anointed One.
If God simply wanted John to be named "blessed", He could have used a different name. Baruch, for example, is a common Hebrew name meaning "blessed". But the Hebrews use names that not only have a definition, but also recall a message. The message here is the birth of the Messiah.
One thing to add: this is a great example of how prophecies aren't always fulfilled linearly. Note that there are significant differences between the two accounts. A modern mind wouldn't have developed this fulfillment quite this way, but would have bent things to make them fulfilled more to the letter. An ancient Israelite mind, though, sees these differences as either unimportant particulars or as things which set apart the true Messiah from a forerunner.
