Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. [Matthew 3:4 (RSV)]

Aside from Adam and Eve’s fig leaves, Scripture doesn’t tell us much about people’s attire. Both Matthew and Mark, however, specifically mention the unconventional attire of John the Baptizer—a camel’s hair garment and a leather belt around his waist. Rather than the luxurious fabric of woven camel’s hair we know today, it probably was a dressed camel’s hide. Moreover, since Scripture rarely refers to people’s diets, the mention of John eating locusts and honey is equally unusual. When the Bible’s writers veer from the norm, we should take notice and ask ourselves, “Why?”

The reason may be tied to the last words in the Hebrew Scripture, found in Malachi 4. Written more than 400 years earlier, they promised a prophet like Elijah who would proclaim the coming of the Messiah. While all four gospels tie John to Isaiah’s prophecy of a voice in the wilderness who will prepare a way for the Lord [40:3], it’s the description of John’s attire that unmistakably connects him to Malachi’s prophecy and Elijah. Like John, Elijah wore a garment of animal skin with a leather belt around his waist. Anyone familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures should have recognized that the Elijah-like prophet who would announce the coming Messiah had arrived!

It was not unusual for the prophets of old to act bizarrely and use symbolism to help convey their message. For example, at God’s command, Jeremiah wore a yoke and Isaiah walked naked and barefoot for three years. Since a diet of locusts and honey was strange, perhaps there was something symbolic about John’s food choice. From the 8^th plague visited on Egypt and Moses’ warning in Deuteronomy that disobedience to the Law meant God’s discipline with locusts eating “all your trees and the fruit of your ground” [28:42] to Nahum’s warning that Nineveh’s punishment would devour them “like a locust” [3:15] and Joel’s warning that “the day of the Lord” was near and would be like an invasion of locusts,[1:4] Scripture has associated locusts with the need for repentance and God’s judgment. On the other hand, throughout Scripture we find the Promised Land frequently described as a bountiful land flowing with “milk and honey”! John’s diet reflects his combined message of judgment and blessing.

The gospels’ description of John the Baptizer are more than colorful details about an eccentric prophet. His unconventional attire and diet were as much a part of his message as were his words. Nevertheless, despite the obvious signs, when John proclaimed that Jesus was “the Chosen One of God,” [John 1:34] many turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to him. Two thousand years later, let us not make the same mistake!

Wild and lone the prophet’s voice echoes through the desert still,
calling us to make a choice, bidding us to do God’s will:
“Turn from sin and be baptized; cleanse your heart and mind and soul.
Quitting all the sins you prized, yield your life to God’s control.”
[Carl P. Daw]

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all. But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. … Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.” [Malachi 4:1-3,5 (NLT)]

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