Matthew 3:4
And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
John is marked out by rough clothing of camel hair bound with leather and by wilderness food of locusts and wild honey, the garb and fare of a plain and temperate man. His dress was that of the ancient prophets and made him like Elijah, with no display to win admiration, while his food was what the wilderness supplied, purely vegetable with no flesh, with pure water from the hills. That plain dress, self-denial and abstemious life disciplined appetite, shut out corrupting custom, and fitted him physically, mentally and morally to call the people to repentance and righteous living. His simple clothing rebuked the extravagance and display of his generation and his simple food rebuked indulgence of appetite and prevailing gluttony, in marked contrast to the rich soft robes of royal and religious officials who sought reverence by appearance rather than purity of character. As reformer preparing the way for Christ's first coming he represents the work of repentance, warning and reform needed to prepare people for His second coming, to be done now with the same self-denial, temperance and plain, bold, pointed preaching that calls sin by its right name.
Dress and Diet Described
Matthew 3:4 identifies John by his garment of camel's hair with a leather belt about his loins and his food of locusts and wild honey, marking him as a plain, temperate man. His plain dress and self-denial belonged to a simple life in the wilderness, separated from luxury and corrupting influences. His coarse clothing was worn without outward display, and his diet was plain and simple. The food called locusts may have been the insect still eaten in Judea, or the top of a plant, also explained as a bean-like fruit or pod similar to the carob husk.
His camel-hair garment with its leather belt was the dress of the ancient prophets and seers. Its coarseness and plainness, with no outward display to attract or awaken admiration, made him like Elijah. His unusual, prophetic appearance led people to think that one of the prophets had risen from the dead. His diet was purely vegetable, of locusts and wild honey. He ate no flesh and belongs with the pious and godly men who did not eat it.
His locusts and wild honey were what the wilderness afforded and were found there. He drank pure water from the hills, flowing from the eternal hills. He lived apart in the wilderness, separated from friends and kindred and from the luxuries, comforts, and customs of life. There, away from the customs and teachings of men, his preparation as forerunner took place in unobstructed communion with God.
Mission and Preparation
John's wilderness life grew out of a solemn dedication to God from his birth, which he made his own by lifelong consecration. His plain dress, self-denial, and abstemious life disciplined him for calling people to repentance and righteous living. By separation from luxury and corrupting influences he brought appetite under control, avoided having his character molded by prevailing customs, and was prepared physically, mentally, and morally. His simple wilderness food belonged to God's fitting him for preparing the way of the Lord, with separation from the customs and practices of men.
He had to learn away from the cities, for no earthly school could fit him for preparing the way of the Lord. His preparation as forerunner took place in the wilderness, away from the customs and teachings of people and in unobstructed communion with God. His study books were the Old Testament Scriptures, God, and the nature God had created, so that worldly engrossment had no part in forming his character. By deliberate choice he separated himself from friends and kindred and made his home in the wilderness, denying himself ordinary comforts and luxuries and withdrawing from depraved society where pride, envy, jealousy, and corrupt passions controlled men.
By that secluded life of hardship and privation he kept his mind undistracted for meditation and prayer, preserved a sense of the sinfulness of sin, learned from God's great book of nature, and discerned and resisted Satan. These privations disciplined his physical, mental, and moral powers to a high and noble type, forming an unbiased character with firmness and integrity. So he could stand among men as unmoved as the rocks and mountains of the wilderness, read the characters of men, adapt his instruction to them, enlighten them, give a new direction to their thoughts, bring them up to the standard of divine perfection, and call them to repentance and to a higher and holier life.
His simple clothing rebuked the extravagance and display of his generation, especially the Jewish priests and people generally, and his simple food rebuked indulgence of appetite and the gluttony that prevailed everywhere. His self-control and plain dress were both to rebuke the people's indulgence and extravagance and to help prepare him for turning Israel to God and preparing a people for the Lord. His plain, rough, coarse garment had no showy beauty but served clothing's practical purpose, the purpose clothing was first designed to serve. It stood in marked contrast to the rich, soft, gorgeous and splendid robes and breastplates of royal and religious officials, exposing their concern for admiration and reverence through outward appearance instead of purity of character, holiness of life, and a life approved by God.
As forerunner of Christ's first advent he preached repentance in the wilderness of Judea and proclaimed the nearness of heaven's kingdom. He baptized in the Jordan those who confessed their sins, called them to prepare for the Lord and to identify with Christ through repentance and baptism, and pointed to the coming One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. His ministry was marked by plain speech that rebukes sin and calls it by its right name, and his wilderness life accompanies his call as the model for a work of repentance and warning. As the Elijah messenger he denounced the corruptions of the Jews and reproved their prevailing sins with plain, pointed, and convincing preaching. Many were brought to repentance and were baptized by him in Jordan as evidence of that repentance, and this was the preparatory work for the ministry of Christ; but many convicted by those plain truths, by rejecting that light, became enshrouded in deeper darkness and were fully prepared to turn away from the evidences that Jesus was the true Messiah.
His ministry at the Jordan reached Jews widely dispersed in all civilized lands, who, coming to Jerusalem for the annual feasts, went out to hear him preach. There they heard his proclamation of Christ as the Promised One, and on their return home carried those tidings to all parts of the world, so that Providence prepared the way for the apostles' labors in missionary fields like Corinth and Ephesus. His preaching of the requirements for an inheritance in that kingdom could also convict people who considered themselves righteous, leading the honest in heart to seek salvation.
Example for Last Days
John was a reformer whose wilderness life of camel's-hair clothing and locusts and wild honey belonged to his call to prepare people for the Lord. That work of repentance and warning that prepared the way for Christ's first coming represents the reform needed to prepare people for His second coming. The same kind of work of repentance and warning must be done in the present day by those who present sacred truths to prepare the way for the second coming.
His self-denial, humility, temperance and self-control are to be presented in contrast to the extravagant, health-destroying habits of this degenerate age. That contrast is to turn God's people from idolatry, gluttony, and extravagance in dress and other things, since his simple dress rebuked extravagance and display and his purely vegetable diet rebuked indulgence of appetite and prevailing gluttony. Those preparing for Christ's work in the last days must likewise deny themselves, control desires and appetites, bring circumstances under God's authority rather than letting circumstances and appetites rule, and turn from baseness and worldly ambition.
His proclamation was spoken with no whispering voice and was no smooth, fanciful message designed to attract crowds. It was startlingly plain, bold, direct and pointed truth that told the situation, cut to the hearts of hearers, called sin by its right name and rebuked sin, and there was something in that message that drew people out to hear him. His pointed warning became more and more pointed even though it cost him his life, and by it the people would not be deceived.
A similar plain truth-telling message is to be borne now after that pattern. Warnings are to be given that hold minds to the necessity of heeding the true issues for this time, carrying the work to those who need the truth and have not exchanged the evidences of the truth for fallacies and scientific presentations of satanic origin, while being on guard against men who would divert the mind from those issues and without drawing souls to Battle Creek. It takes the Word and plainly states present truth, calling people to the renewed, sanctified, holy life they must live in this world with full purpose of a renewed heart to prepare for the future life through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.