John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. (Mark 1:6)
According to Mark’s explanation, John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He was a handsome guy clothing a high qualified fur coat! If the animal fanciers read this verse they may demonstrate in the desert where John was working. You may know who the first passion designer was. He was God. The Lord God clothed Adam and Eve with ‘leather garment’ when they hid themselves among trees in the garden after eating the fruit of the tree of knowing good and evil. (Gen. 3:21). The first cloth in the Bible also was a leather garment. Did God kill an animal and cut it up? And what animal’s skin was that? This is the Bible Quiz of today.
The cloth made of camel’s hair of John the Baptist was not a symbol of beauty and wealth. The cloth on the one hand made the spiritual charisma of John the Baptist who preached with burning passion look better and the other side it was the symbol that revealed his non-possession life. A camel is a mandatory animal to cross over the desert. A camel has a water hump that enables a camel to stay long in the desert without drinking water. Some who emphasized a prayer life examples a camel’s knee. In any case a camel clearly is an animal of patience. Isn’t John’s cloth made of a camel’s hair emphasizing his strong spiritual patience?
However, when we see his cloth made of camels’ hair it is clear that John didn’t inherit his father’s job despite he was a son of priest. Some of well-to-do pastors in Korea inherit a duty of the head of assembly to their son or son-in-law. However, Zachariah the father of John the Baptist might not to be such influential father. John didn’t wear a priest’s cloth nor wore a noble’s. He wore clothing made of camel’s hair and preached the word of God lonely in the desert.
I’m not sure but John might spend his entire life with a pair of cloth made of camel’s hair. Indeed his entire life was short. He was Jesus’ contemporary. If he left his home at the age of twenty for preaching then his life in the desert might maximum 5-10 years. However, the important point here is not the matter of short or long period of wearing a camel’s cloth. To John who absolutely put aside his own concern but concentrated on the future of his nation and God’s presence, other cloth was not required at all. For him a cloth was nothing but taking a role of protecting his body.
John the Baptist had lived with a pair of cloth made of camel’s hair only but we have too much clothes today. Though the same religious leader, compare to the pastors in Protestantism the priests in Roman Catholic and the monks in Buddhism wear very simple cloth. Especially, a Zen priest lives in one or two pairs of cloth in his life time. If it is worn out and then patching it up and again and again till it becomes the rags.
It is safe to be bet that what can be a big issue to have a cloth or ten that only covers our body. Everything for us should be adjusted in according to situations. In some cases in modern society we have to consume a certain level of cloth so that the workers in making cloth also can be survived. It is not easy to find out a certain level of consumption that satisfies in both activating human community and maintaining the ecosystem of the earth.
The cloth of heart is important indeed. Those who are proud of self are the same person who is dispossessed by cloth. The meaning of clothing made of camel’s hair for John the Baptist might be simplifying his heart toward God only. Such simplicity is the very spirituality to make his soul free. We also need a cloth of soul made of camel’s hair which is fitted to each of us.
Lord, please lead us to minimize our concern on ourselves so that we may concentrate on you only. May you grant us to distinguish what is the cloth of soul made of camel’s hair that needs for us. Amen.
6 comments:
And so, here it is: one's spiritual garment is his clothing. There is a parable that the guests would not come to the wedding dinner or reception when they were called, because of their many excuses. The host of the dinner sent his servants out to find anyone they could, so his house could be filled up regardless of the caliber of person. Many showed up and some had dingy looking rags on instead of wedding garments. These are people with terrible filth on their consciences, the result of sin. Adam and Eve became aware of their guilt in eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, after which point they covered themselves with garments made of fig leaves. Even though they were covered, they had lost what was important to God, the ignorance that comes from obedience. After that point, God made for them garments made from the skins of animals (symbolizing the later sacrifices that the Israelites would have to partake of by killing animals for sin offerings). Allegories and metaphors can be taken way too far sometimes, but these ones will help to explain about Jesus better. I hope this helps, but, to be honest, if the Holy Ghost doesn't open these things to you, it won't matter what I tell you. Please pray about what the Bible means and ask God to open up the meanings to you (giving you wisdom, which He has promised to do; in fact, God gives us advice that we should seek His wisdom over silver and gold). In Jesus' name, God bless!
Thank you for taking your time and writing this informative article, I appreciate it.
if the spirit does not teach, lead, and open-all man's wisdom and efforts will be futile. Why don't we lead others to seek God for themselves and forsake our titles, education, and traditions of men, and become like Jesus and John by REFUSING to accept the flattery of men. How we love to interpret and study but totally miss obedience to every word Jesus said, especially being born again and dying to self and sin no more ... hmm??? The kingdom of heaven is not without, it is within, but one will never find it, see it, or be one with God until sin is dealt with by self death and they become one with the Son and the Father and no longer see this world through the eyes of the flesh-not my words or wisdom, so praise HIM and work out your salvation with fear and trembling as you discover through the Holy Spirit who God is, it will bring you to your knees and without this knowledge and assistance from God, not man, how can one be born again?
A camel's hump does not contain water. It's fleshy fat. A camel survives well in the desert w/o water because unusually camel's Red Blood Cells are oval shaped rather than circular... somehow that makes an important difference.
He was probably living as a Nazerite (Numbers 6). He was all in to ministry, not troubleing with earthly things like clothing and food and self-indulgence. A camel hair tunic is cheap, very durable, very functional, very serviceable, and likely not very comfortable or attractive. He ate locusts because unlike other insects that fly, hoppers like grasshoppers, and locusts are Kosher. Abundant. Easy to procure. Absolutely non-indulgent. And honey, also clean and kosher and probably necessary to supplement a diet of mainly locusts. Bees are unclean. Honey is clean and kosher. He was the first Jesus Freak.
John was dressed like Elijah. "They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.” (2 Kings 1:8) Most likely because he came in the Spirit of Elijah who was to come to prepare the way for the Messiah. In the same way John prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus said, "and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come." (Matt 11:4)
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