If Leviticus says that flying insects are unclean, why was John the Baptist eating unclean locusts?
Question:
In Leviticus God tells the Jews not to eat winged insects which fly. Why, then, did John the Baptist eat unclean locusts and honey in the desert?
Answer:
About locusts being clean, Leviticus 11:20-23 addresses this issue. This passage declares all flying insects as unclean with the exception of those which walk and hop with jointed legs. Leviticus 11:22 specifically states that locusts are clean as well as katydids. It is interesting to me that someone told you that John the Baptist was eating unclean insects, because the same passage in Leviticus which tells the Jews not to heat winged insects because they are unclean is the one which gives the exception about locusts. Common sense tells me that John the Baptist could not have been eating unclean insects, otherwise the masses of the Jews never would have gone to him in the wilderness. Nevertheless, this was an interesting question.
John Oakes
