John the Baptist begins his ministry in the desert

A prophet is here!

John the Baptist began his work suddenly. Very soon people began to talk about him. He lived in the desert. The desert was east of Jerusalem, near the Jordan river. Very few plants grow there. Very few animals live there. It has bad soil. The soil has chalk in it. Stones and rocks cover the ground.

John the Baptist's clothes

John wore simple clothes. He wore a kind of long coat. Men made clothes like this from camel‘s hair (Matthew 3:4). Elijah wore a coat like this (2 Kings 1:8). Such a coat would last for a long time. It was cheap. It was suitable to wear in the desert. Also, it was a sign. It showed that this man was a prophet.

John the Baptist's food

John‘s food was very simple also. He ate ’wild honey and locusts‘. [The Bible mentions wild honey several times. It is honey that has appeared naturally (without the help of men). Locusts are large insects with legs and wings.] Probably John did not only eat wild honey and locusts. This shows us what kind of man he was. Most people tried to please themselves. They lived in that way. John did not please himself. He wanted to show people this. John did a special work for God. This lasted for only a few months. But it was very important. People listened to John‘s words.

There had been many prophets since Moses lived. The Jews knew this. But after the time of Malachi, no prophet had spoken for 400 years. People wanted very much to hear from God. There had been so many wars. God had promised them a Messiah. So, the people asked, 'When would the Messiah come?' Long ago Elijah had appeared quite suddenly. Now John came in the same way. He shouted out his message