In the Bible John eating wild honey?

Question

In Mark 1:6 we are told that John the Baptist was "eating wild honey." What is the spiritual significance of 'wild honey?'

Honey in the Bible is usually a picture of salvation (Ex.3:8, Is.5:14-16, Ps.81:16) but John was eating wild honey. The word "wild" changes things. In Is. 5:17 God speaks of Israel as a vineyard He planted. They were to yeild good grapes but they yielded "wild grapes" They did evil in the sight of God. Isaiah said they would be punished for their rebelion. John's eating wild honey graphically showed that Israel had been feeding on other gospels and was in rebellion against God. The camel hair coat John was wearing came from a ceremonially unclean animal (Lev.11:4). In the Bible unclean animals are a picture of those who are under the curse of God. The camel hair coat is a picture of Israel being unclean in the sight of God. Locusts always show Judgment. John eating locusts signified that Israel was going to partake of God's wrath because of their unfaithfulness. God sometime uses the lifestyle of a prophet to show judgment or blessing. In Mark 1:6 He is showing his Judgement of Israel.

Answer 1

He ate locusts too.

Answer 2

In the Bible John eating wild honey?

Answer 3

He ate locust and wild honey because he lived in the wilderness and lived off the land. God made those things so you could say that he let God provide for him. Think of how much of that you would have to eat to stay healthy. God made sure there was enough of those things available for John to eat AND be healthy. He wasn't a sick worm. He had the guts to get in peoples faces and say the truth. He got knocked around but not down. In 1Samuel 14 the people had been fighting all day and were told not to eat. God provided honey for them in a woods but they were too afraid to eat it because of King Sauls oath. Jonathan ate of the honey and was strenthened. Same with John, the wild honey strengthened him.

Answer 4

I didn't know there was a spiritual one, I thought it was sort of practical.

From some things I've read, it seems John the Baptist and Jesus were sent to the Essene sect as young men (perhaps teenagers), and one of the prerequisites for entering the Essene's monastary in Qumran was the initiate had to live off the wild in the caves above Qumran for 2 years. Seems John the Baptist liked living that way so much he continued to do so, while Jesus entered into the monastary to learn. Sorta like going to private school I guess lol.

You may recognize the names above because it was in the caves above Qumran that the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

Answer 5

Grasshoppers as food In many places around the world, grasshoppers are eaten as a good source of protein. Some countries supposedly instruct military personnel to collect grasshoppers to eat as a food source. Raw grasshoppers should be eaten with caution, as they can contain tapeworms.[1] Locusts See also locust and desert locust. Locusts are several species of short-horned grasshoppers of the family Acrididae that sometimes form very large groups (swarms); these can be highly destructive and migrate in a more or less coordinated way. Thus, these grasshoppers have solitary and gregarious (swarm) phases. Locust swarms can cause massive damage to crops. Important locust species include Schistocerca gregaria and Locusta migratoria in Africa and the Middle East, and Schistocerca piceifrons in tropical Mexico and Central America (Mesoamerica). Other grasshoppers important as pests (which, unlike "true" locusts, do not change color when they form swarms) include Melanoplus species (like M. bivittatus, M. femurrubrum and M. differentialis) and Camnula pellucida in North America; the lubber grasshopper Brachystola magna, and Sphenarium purpurascens in Northern and Central Mexico; and species of Rhammatocerus in South America.

Answer 6

Wild honey was considered provided from God. Meaning in his wanderings as a prophet, John didn't need mankind to help him survive.

Answer 7

no significance or hidden meaning on this one. he's just eating wild honey because he is living out in the wilderness off from the land...and finds and eats yummy wild honey.

Answer 8

There's no spiritual significance that I know of except to point out that John was living on his own in the wilderness and God was providing for him. He wasn't just an average guy.

Answer 9

Purity of the food (wild honey)?

Answer 10

John was a holy hermit who did not depend on man for his needs but on God,and living and eating in this fashion showed his utter dependence on God for everything.
If you want to you could say that this signified his humble obedience to the will of God.

Answer 11

What are the names of the days which come before Valentine's Day?