Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 9
October 30, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: John's clothing and diet also point to his legitimacy as the fulfillment of the "preparer" prophecies.
Introduction: The ancient biblical prophecies present a scenario in which the realization of God's promises regarding a coming Kingdom will be fulfilled because of the presence and activities of a "forerunner" who will "prepare" the people of God to accept His Christ as both His, and their, King.
In attempting to understand the message of God regarding His King through Mark, it will be helpful if we keep the big issues in mind as we seek to understanding the details. The big issues are two: for the promises of a "kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy" to exist and endure, a requirement exists that "people" be "prepared" to act in righteousness, live in peace, and exult in joy; and, simultaneously, a requirement exists for the environment of wickedness, aggressive conflict, and the rage of victim-hood to be destroyed.
In the initial stages of this scenario, a "shadow" reality was set up: a large mass of people had a "Law of Righteousness" imposed upon them; this mass was composed primarily of "brethren" who possessed a certain degree of familial harmony; and they were given a place to live that was filled with "milk and honey", vineyards and crops, and houses already built. Imposed upon them also was the task of, under God, purging the environment of wickedness, conflict, and rage. This "shadow" was just that: a shadow, not the reality. But, this "shadow" at least gave us certain parameters of expectation to guide us in our understanding of the myriad of details to come in "jot and tittle revelation" that was to be given over a period of something like 1500 years.
As it became necessary for the scenario to be "fleshed out" in historical developments, events took place and were accompanied by divine explanation. John's appearance on the world stage was one such "event" and Mark's words are at least a part of the divine explanation. Thus, we have been looking into Mark's argument that the appearance of John was long-anticipated by the prophets and that "this John" was a very real fulfillment of the words of those prophets.
In order to be able to "see" the significance of Mark's words, we have to grasp his "method". His "method" was to use the physical creation as a teaching guide for the relational creation, and his "spiritual mentor" was Isaiah who first introduced the analogies of both low and high geographical features of the land to set forth the low and high issues of relational conflicts between both God and men and men and men. In effect, he pointed to the "wilderness", with its tortured features that were designed to inhibit the progress of any travelers who found themselves within it, and said "your deceptive and corrupted hearts and minds are your 'wilderness' and that wilderness is inhibiting your progress in God's relational creation".
With these things in mind, we come to Mark's description of John's dress and diet.
- I. The John "Was, Having Been Clothed...".
- A. The English is awkward when the Greek is exactly translated, but the picture grows out of the facts revealed in Greek.
- 1. The definite article before the name simply means that Mark is doubling down on the historical man at the center of his initial information: This John rather than someone else named John.
- 2. The "was" indicates an on-going existence in the physical and relational universes in the past as viewed by Mark and his readers (This John was long dead before Mark's words were penned).
- a. Mark wants his readers to generate a mental video of This John as he calls the nation to repentance with his promise of forgiveness; he wants his readers to see, in their mental video, streams of people coming from all over Judea to the place at the Jordan where John is busily baptizing people while they are "confessing" their faith in the forgiveness of their sins.
- b. He presents this activity as the day-by-day-by-day vision to be considered.
- 3. The "having been clothed" indicates that, before John began his preaching and baptizing, he was "clothed" in garments that became the consistent, daily picture that all saw as soon as they saw him: his garments were always presenting this picture.
- B. Once the readers absorbed the details given in Greek, they were ready to come to grips with what John's message and activity meant for them.
- II. The Issues of Camel's Hair and a Long Leather Belt.
- A. "Having been clothed with 'hairs of a camel'" was a figure of speech referring to the fact that John's garment was woven from camel hair.
- 1. The weave was relatively loose.
- 2. The hair was relatively stiff and prickly.
- 3. The combination of the two indicated a decidedly uncomfortable garment.
- 4. But, the garment had a significance known to Judea that an uninformed reader would not pick up on immediately.
- a. Zechariah 13:4-5 gives us the necessary information.
- b. Biblical prophets, apparently, all dressed alike.
- c. Because of this, anyone who wished to be identified as a prophet would don such garments and any prophet who did not want to be identified as such would wear something else.
- 5. Mark's "point" was that John presented himself as a spokesman for God every day, and people either accepted his identity and, thus, his message and activity, or they didn't.
- B. The issue of the belt.
- 1. That is was a rather long belt is illustrated by the story given in Acts 21:11.
- 2. That it was made of leather is, like the garment of a camel's hairs, significant to the people who are streaming out to see him.
- 3. There is a story found in 2 Kings 1 that is highly revealing of the significance of this belt.
- a. This story says "the king" knew the identity of the messenger as soon as he was told that he was wearing a leather belt.
- b. Thus, the "leather belt", combined with the garment of a prophet, formed a "type of meaning" that signified "Elijah the Tishbite".
- C. Mark's "Point": The John deliberately presented himself to the people as a prophet with "Elijah" characteristics.
- 1. This ties the "forerunner" prophecies and John's message and activity together.
- 2. The particular "Elijah" characteristic for "The John" was "preparer".
- a. This is why the people asked if he was Elijah.
- b. But this is also why he made a distinction between Elijah and himself.
- III. The Issues of the Locusts and Wild Honey.
- A. At issue with the "locusts", as another "shadow" concept, is the constant biblical linkage of locusts and the judgment of God (starting in Exodus 10 and running all the way into Revelation 9:3).
- B. At issue with the "wild honey", as yet another "shadow" concept, is the constant biblical linkage of "honey" with the idea of delightful blessing, and the "wildness" referring to the initial stages of the establishment of the Kingdom because there are no bee-keepers as of yet.
- C. At issue with the "eating" is the biblical linkage between what a prophet eats and what he says (Ezekiel 3:3-4 and Revelation 10:10-11).
- D. Mark's "point" is that John's "grace" message has two primary "prongs": one of the threat of judgment to come (Matthew 3:7) and the other of the promise of great blessing through repentance.
- IV. Mark's Accomplishment.
- A. With the simple "picture of a prophet proclaiming a message" Mark ties The John to Isaiah 40:3 and Malachi 3:1.
- B. This is a part of his cumulative argument that John was God's messenger (with the automatic implication of wrath to those who will not hear and blessing to those who will).
