I always thought that John the Baptist lived off of locusts (a type of flying insect) and honey (a substance made by bees) Matt 3:1-4. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that I had it all wrong!
You see, there's an evergreen that grows here in Israel and is native to the Mediterranean basin, called the Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua). It's also been nicknamed the Chocolate Tree, the Egyptian Fig, the Weed Tree, and the Locust Tree.
The Carob Tree is a leguminous, thus a member of the pea family. It bears fruit in the form of pods (legume; locust beans) with seeds inside. This tree continues to produce crops in times of drought and famine.
These locust beans were primarily used during biblical times to feed livestock. This was the locust Johnny ate!
It was also the same pods that the swine ate and refused to share with the prodigal son (Luke 15:16).
Well, I just had to taste one! The pod tasted just like cocoa and the seed was real hard!
Lura pulled out a container of Carob Powder (ground up Carob pods and seeds). It’s used in place of cocoa powder in recipes and is caffeine free. You can also use it to make chocolate milk, over cereal, and so on. Lura happened to have a can of on hand because she’s allergic to chocolate.
As for the 'honey' it came from dates, like in Date Trees! Now who would have thought of that? I just assumed that all honey came from bees, right?
Living here in Israel is awesome! It's like hands on; cutting edge; the past, present, and future all in one!
Edwin Beckford