They were the recluses or
hermits of their age.

The aim of the Essenes was moral and ceremonial purity. They sought
after an ideal of holiness, which they thought could not be realized in
this world; and therefore, leaving villages and towns, they betook
themselves to the dens and caves of the earth, and gave themselves to
continence, abstinence, fastings, and prayers, supporting themselves by
some slight labours on the land. Those who have investigated their
interesting history tell us that the cardinal point with them was faith
in the inspired Word of God. By meditation, prayer, and mortification,
frequent ablutions, and strict attention to the laws of ceremonial
purity, they hoped to reach the highest stage of communion with God.
They agreed with the Pharisees in their extraordinary regard for the
Sabbath. Their daily meal was of the simplest kind, and partaken of in
their house of religious assembly. After bathing, with prayer and
exhortation they went, with veiled faces, to their dining-room, as to a
holy temple. They abstained from oaths, despised riches, manifested
the greatest abhorrence of war and slavery, faced torture and death
with the utmost bravery, refused the indulgence of pleasure.

It is clear that John was not a member of this holy community, which
differed widely from the Pharisaism and Sadduceeism of the time. The
Essenes wore white robes, emblematic of the purity they sought; whilst
he was content with his coat of camel's hair and leathern girdle. They
seasoned their bread with hyssop, and he with honey. They dwelt in
brotherhoods and societies; while he stood alone from the earliest days
of his career. But it cannot be doubted that he was in deep accord
with much of the doctrine and practice of this sect.

John the Baptist, however, cannot be accounted for by any of the
pre-existing conditions of his time. He stood alone in his God-given
might. That he was conscious of this appears from his own declaration
when he said, "He that sent me to baptize in water, He said unto me."
And that Christ wished to convey the same impression is clear from his
question to the Pharisees: "The baptism of John, was it from heaven or
from men?" Moreover, the distinct assertion of the Spirit of God,
through the fourth Evangelist, informs us: "There came a man, sent from
God, whose name was John, the same came for witness, that all might
believe through him." "The Word of God came unto John, the son of