<p>3:4&nbsp;<em>Now John wore a garment- </em>Lit. 'Had his clothing<em>'. </em>The Greek&nbsp;<em>ekho&nbsp;</em>translated &quot;had&quot; is also translated 'conceive', 'count' and 'take for'. He took himself as Elijah. Clearly John was consciously presenting himself as the Elijah prophet by the way he dressed. He had to make some personal effort to fulfil the prophecies about him. Even if a calling is intended for us by God, we still have to make conscious effort to fulfil it. We can easily overestimate the amount and frequency of Divine contact with Bible characters. It was not so much that John was told 'You are to be the Elijah prophet, now you must dress, act and speak like him!'. The choice of dress, appearance and even location in the wilderness were all probably John's own conscious attempts to be like Elijah, without being specifically asked. We too are set up with Bible characters whom we are asked to follow in essence- for this is why so much of God's word is really history. And there are ways in which the initiative is left with us as to how and how far we follow them.</p>
<p><em>Of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins</em>- This was not the clothing of the poor- their garments were typically made of goat's hair. Indeed, camel's hair coats were a luxury. We therefore conclude that John was consciously modelling himself on Elijah, who had dressed like this (2 Kings 1:8).</p>
<p><em>And his food was locusts and wild honey</em>- Not necessarily from bees, but perhaps tree gum e.g. from the tamarisk tree.</p>