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 8th 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]
In 1 Kings 21, we learn of Naboth, the owner of a vineyard adjacent to King Ahab’s palace in Jezreel. A choice piece of real estate, Ahab wanted it for himself and offered to purchase or exchange it for other land. Property, however, wasn’t to be treated as a real estate investment—it was to remain in the family to which it had been allotted. Because Jewish law prohibited Naboth from selling his ancestral land, he rejected the king’s offer. Angry at his neighbor’s refusal’s, Ahab acted like a spoiled child, took to his bed, and refused to eat. Upon learning the reason for her husband’s sulking, Jezebel hatched a devious plan. She arranged for false accusations to be made against Naboth that would result in his immediate death. Jezebel’s evil plot went as planned and, upon news of their neighbor’s death, she told Ahab the land was his and he took it for himself!
Thousands of years ago, God told Noah to build a boat the height of a four-story house, the length of one-and-a-half football fields, and with the storage capacity of about 450 semi-trailers. Without benefit of Home Depot or power tools, he managed to do it. What would happen if God gave Noah those same instructions today?
Jeremiah’s instructions to work and pray for the welfare of Babylon was a unique and completely unprecedented concept in the ancient world. Rather than praying for retaliation and Babylon’s collapse, God commanded them to pray for their Babylonian captors and work for the peace and prosperity of the land! Rather than rebels and a source of trouble and insurrection, the exiles were to become reliable and valuable members of the community. It seems they took God’s command to heart.
When writing about the Annunciation of our Lord, I came upon some articles by women who take offense at the story of Jesus’ conception. Interpreting Mary’s response as involuntary, they picture the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary as some weird sort of supernatural rape. This is inconsistent both with Scripture and God as we know Him. The Archangel didn’t say, “Surprise, you’re pregnant!” and leave nor did he physically impregnate her. Read the words as reported by Luke; Gabriel told Mary what would happen, not what had already occurred. It was only after Mary asked how the angel’s words would be fulfilled and Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would make it possible that she accepted God’s invitation to motherhood. It was then that the miraculous power of God—the “Most High”—came upon her.
Devotions of the Heart 