Why Did John the Baptist Live in the Wilderness? What Was He Doing?

[Ron Gurley]

John the Baptizer was controlled by God the Holy Spirit from fetus until beheading. He was led there, similar to the prophetic ministry of Elijah.

 

[Deadworm]

Scholars recognize the genuine possibility that John the Baptist lived in the desert with the Qumran Essenes for several years. There are striking parallels between the Essene ideology and lifestyle and John's, most notably their objections to the Jerusalem Temple's system of forgiveness through sacrifice. John's baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins can be viewed as a rival ritual to secure divine pardon and and ritual ablutions were a standard feature of Qumran praxis.

And as has been noted, John's Elijah ministry may also have been a factor in his wilderness period.

 

[Colter]

Jesus basically said that John the Baptist was the most righteous man to ever live... and he lived in the wilderness, eating insects and wearing minimal clothing. But why?

My guess is that he was staying away from all worldly distractions at all costs so that he could be completely focused on God and not be influenced by the sinful societies of the world... because he feared God and how holy He is.

Anyone have any other ideas why John the Baptist lived the way he did? In the wilderness eating locusts and honey, wearing camel hair and a leather belt?

John was a Nazirite, they lived a sort of eccentric life in Judaism. He tended sheep in the wilderness and lived in much the same way as the prophets.

See the Nazirite vows in Numbers 6

 

[Kit Sigmon]

Sackcoth and ashes were the apparel of the prophets, John closed the prophetic age. It represented mourning and a call to repentance, I'm still trying to figure out how he was recognized as a prophet. There must have been something about how his words cut through the heart, that's all I can figure. Isaiah ran around naked for three years (Is. 20:3), they were a peculiar group. He was in mourning over the sin of Israel, that's what prophets do.

Grace and peace,
Mark

A biblical prophet is someone who speaks forth God's Truths to others...John did that.
His dad being a priest, John would of been taught Torah.
Although he was in the wilderness, John also had disciples...Luke 11:1.
people sought him out, he wasn't a total hermit...Matthew 3:5-10.

 

[A71]

Yes, not sure we need to split camel hairs. He was clearly a man of the sack-cloth

"Clothed in sackcloth." II Kings 1:8 is the response of some people who reported what they had seen to the king, Ahaziah: "So they answered him, 'A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.' And he said, 'It is Elijah the Tishbite." Matthew 3:4 describes John the Baptist: "Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locust and wild honey." So Elijah and John the Baptist both wore sackcloth. In a way, they are types of these Two Witnesses. (Bible verses about Sackcloth, Clothed with. From Forerunner Commentary)
​

All I said was that he was wearing the garb of the prophets, it seems pretty straight forward to me.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Jesus basically said that John the Baptist was the most righteous man to ever live... and he lived in the wilderness, eating insects and wearing minimal clothing. But why?

My guess is that he was staying away from all worldly distractions at all costs so that he could be completely focused on God and not be influenced by the sinful societies of the world... because he feared God and how holy He is.

Anyone have any other ideas why John the Baptist lived the way he did? In the wilderness eating locusts and honey, wearing camel hair and a leather belt?

I suspect he was not a popular guy, despised by the world, had he lived in a city, he may have been beheaded sooner.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Another reason is, in Scripture we see how God sometimes uses isolation to aid in setting His people, especially for certain purposes, apart from the influences that are opposed to the purposes of God.

 

[mark kennedy]

Yes, not sure we need to split camel hairs. He was clearly a man of the sack-cloth

What I've always heard was that it was usually goat or camel hair, it sounds kind of itchy. He must have had skin like raw hide and getting honey I can only assumed meant getting it from bees, I don't know how he did that but I imagine he got a lot of stings in the process. At summer camp one year they had us collect some grasshoppers, cook them on an open fire. Our instructor insisted we all try one, I still cringe when I think of it. I would have liked it a lot better if I could have dipped them in honey, but it's not much different then chocolate covered ants or sauteed larvae in some Asian dishes.

I get why he did it, but it sounds pretty unpleasant.

 

[Apologetic_Warrior]

Christ himself often sought solitude, it is an interesting theme.

 

[A71]

We that live in the country never think about these type of things. The answer to your question is because he was an on top of the mountain kind of guy.
M-Bob

Yes, well put. The Mountain of God and the wilderness can be the same place:

Exodus 4: 27 And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him

He was in a place exclusively for him and God. It was mission critical.

 

[mark kennedy]

Jesus basically said that John the Baptist was the most righteous man to ever live... and he lived in the wilderness, eating insects and wearing minimal clothing. But why?

My guess is that he was staying away from all worldly distractions at all costs so that he could be completely focused on God and not be influenced by the sinful societies of the world... because he feared God and how holy He is.

Anyone have any other ideas why John the Baptist lived the way he did? In the wilderness eating locusts and honey, wearing camel hair and a leather belt?

I'm not entirely sure but we do know that he was baptizing people in the Jordon, so he was camped out somewhere north of Jerusalem along the Jordon. His father was High Priest which tells me he was a Levite, apparently he left the comfortable confines of the Levites in Jerusalem and went out where the people he was preaching to lived, probably near Galilee. If he were to rent a room he would have had to work, which would have occupied a great deal of his time. This way, I guess, he was unencumbered by the daily toils of life and focus on his ministry.

 

[A71]

Honey is very nutritious and rich in enzymes, and locusts seem a bit of a wonder food too. Apparently they taste like smokey bacon. Yum. Double yum if you are Jewish.

The Nutritional Value of Locusts

Camel hair is apparently comfortable...

is camel hair comfortable - Google Search

Maybe time for a rethink?

 

[GUANO]

The government is a false God. In fact the government itself is an idol in the most occult sense. It's a real spiritual being, a beast. It has no life of its own but rules over the lives of many and makes war. In ancient times they were understood as archangels called Watchers, in visions they are seen as great beasts. If you are dependent on the government to feed you by providing a economic system you are replacing God. If you depend on the government to grant legitimacy to your religious sect, your making them God. If you want to find out if God is actually real you need to entrust Him/It with your life.... if you can't do that but
can easily entrust the government with your life and health then you are clearly serving another god.

Governments and organizations are spiritual beings known as Egregores since ancient times. They are the main antagonists in the Bible...

 

[mark kennedy]

Christ himself often sought solitude, it is an interesting theme.

He actually got up before dawn and sought isolated places, somewhere out of town I assume. The impression I get is this was a daily practice.

 

[mark kennedy]

Honey is very nutritious and rich in enzymes, and locusts seem a bit of a wonder food too. Apparently they taste like smokey bacon. Yum. Double yum if you are Jewish.

The Nutritional Value of Locusts

Camel hair is apparently comfortable...

is camel hair comfortable - Google Search

Maybe time for a rethink?

Oh sure, some crispy locusts dipped in honey while he sports the comfy camel hair toga, I assume he had a small tent as well. I have only ate one grasshopper and that was enough for me, as I recall it didn't taste like bacon but I was kind of tripping out that it was a bug. As far as the camel hair toga he wore it seems like it would have just a strip with a head hole cut out and held together with a belt. It wasn't exactly a designer coat.

 

[A71]

Depends whether God designed it ....on a more serious note, I live wild, and I much prefer it to human connurbation. You could wave 10 million $ at me but I would not live in a city or town...

 

[Kit Sigmon]

Jesus basically said that John the Baptist was the most righteous man to ever live... and he lived in the wilderness, eating insects and wearing minimal clothing. But why?

It is not certain what type locust John ate, there be also a pod-like edible plant that grow on locust trees...this tree grows in the wilderness like where John lived.
John wasn't far from the Jordan River, where he baptized repentant people.

My guess is that he was staying away from all worldly distractions at all costs so that he could be completely focused on God and not be influenced by the sinful societies of the world... because he feared God and how holy He is.

Anyone have any other ideas why John the Baptist lived the way he did? In the wilderness eating locusts and honey, wearing camel hair and a leather belt?

Luke 1:80, Luke 3:1-2, Isaiah 40:3...John was called out/ set apart to be before the Lord as nazirite, priest and prophet, wilderness time was that of forming John into a vessel God would use for a great work.

People journeyed out to see and hear the message God had given to John
to proclaim.
John had disciples too...Luke 11:1, Matthew 11:7

John clothing was like that of prophet Elijah... 2 Kings 1:8...John be like unto Elijah, they be about in the wilderness, set apart unto the Lord, wearing simple
but very durable camel hair garment and leather belt.

There be people living around the wilderness areas and not all of them were Jews,
for when the hebrew came out of Egypt, there came a mixed multitude who choose to live in or around the Jews, some converted if not then, later when John came preaching about sin, God's wrath and the Messiah's coming.
John said to the Jews that they can't depend upon father Abraham, they too must repent and show fruit of repentance. The pious ones must of been enraged that John put them on the same level as gentiles!

John the baptizer preached on sin, God's wrath and repentance,
he proclaimed the Messiah was coming and the people should get ready.

John be humble and would not exalt himself, he was consecrated to God while in the womb and he's a priest, prophet and Nazirite from birth...Numbers 6:1-21 be on nazirite vows, these are what John was adhere to.

You see that a nazirite can't have anything at all from grapes, no wine; no vinegar/nothing fermented, they can't cut their hair/beard, no contact with a dead body; nazirite is to be separated unto God...all of that, be reason for John living in the wilderness since John is to be a nazirite all his life....His calling came very early in life.
John's manner of clothing, uncut hair and beard, personal conduct and speech signified he'd been chosen by God.

 

[Mountainmanbob]

It wasn't exactly a designer coat.

I'm not too sure about that they had some people back then that all they did was make clothes.

Right now and eating toast with peanut butter and some honeycomb fromantic our beehives excellent.
M-Bob

 

[mark kennedy]

I'm not too sure about that they had some people back then that all they did was make clothes.

This sounds like it was homemade, probably from the same material as his tent, but who knows:

SACKCLOTH. A coarse cloth (Heb. śaq, Gk. sakkos, from which the Eng. word is derived), usually made of goats’ hair (Siphra 53b) and black in colour (Rev. 6:12). New Bible dictionary)

Sackcloth. Poor quality material or a garment of goat hair usually worn as a symbol of mourning, but also worn by some prophets and captives. (Baker encyclopedia of the Bible)

Sackcloth, a dark-colored material of goat or camel hair used for making grain bags and garments (The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary)​

Right now and eating toast with peanut butter and some honeycomb fromantic our beehives excellent.
M-Bob

Yea, heard that. Someone has pointed out that the locusts and honey were actually pretty nutritious.

 

[Devin P]

Sackcoth and ashes were the apparel of the prophets, John closed the prophetic age. It represented mourning and a call to repentance, I'm still trying to figure out how he was recognized as a prophet. There must have been something about how his words cut through the heart, that's all I can figure. Isaiah ran around naked for three years (Is. 20:3), they were a peculiar group. He was in mourning over the sin of Israel, that's what prophets do.

Grace and peace,
Mark

He prophesied of Jesus coming, and also was the one that wrote revelations by the vision Jesus gave him in the spirit.