Enjoying Numbers

I’ve been recently reading through the first five books of the bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, also known as the Pentateuch, and there have been a lot of interesting things going on that I have noticed but I haven’t written about it much because I’m just enjoying it too much right now. But one thing that I have been enjoying alot is Numbers; you know, that boring book that no one likes. It’s full of so many cool things! Here is one of them:

Numbers 16:47-48 “So Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the middle of the assembly, where the plague was just beginning among the people. So he placed incense on the coals and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.”

I love that!

OT in Mark

With an ultimate view toward building a comprehensive understanding of Mark’s dependance on and use of the Hebrew Bible, I’m writing now to just quickly record the various locations Mark quotes from.  Be forewarned that the following quotes come only from the most superficial survey of the book.  So, while I am sure that Mark’s dependance extends far beyond the present listing, I figure this is at least a start.

Hebrew Bible Passages Quoted in Mark:

Genesis 1:27, 2:24; 5:2

Exodus 3:6; 20:12-16; 21:17; 23:20

Leviticus 19:18; 20:9

Dueteronomy 4:35; 5:16-20; 6:4-5; 24:1, 14

Joshua 22:5

Psalm 22:1; 110:1; 118:22-23

Isaiah 29:13; 40:1; 56:7

Jeremiah 7:11

Daniel 7:13

Zechariah 13:7

Malachi 3:1

Hebrew Bible Quotations as They Appear Throughout Mark

Mark 1:2-3 (Ex. 23:20; Mal 3:1; Is. 40:1)

Mark 4:12 (Is 6:9-10)

Mark 7:6-7 (Is. 29:13)

Mark 7:10 (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16) and (Ex 21:17; Lev 20:9)

Mark 10:4 (Dt. 24:1)

Mark 10:6 (Gen 1:27; 5:2)

Mark 10:8 (Gen 2:24)

Mark 10:19 (Ex 20:12-16; Dt 5:16-20; 24:14)

Mark 11:9 (Ps 118:25-26)

Mark 11:17 (Is 56:7; Jer 7:11)

Mark 12:10 (Ps 118:22-23)

Mark 12:19 (Dt 25:5)

Mark 12:27 (Ex 3:6)

Mark 12:29-30 (Dt 6:4-5; Josh 22:5)

Mark 12:31 (Lev 19:18)

Mark 12:32 (Dt 4:35)

Mark 12:33 (Dt 6:5; Leve 19:18)

Mark 12:36 (Ps 110:1)

Mark 14:27 (Zech 13:7)

Mark 14:62 (Ps 110:1; Dan 7:13)

Mark 15:34 (Ps 22:1)

Any good understanding of the Gospel of Mark that we come up with will inherently make room for Mark’s perspective of the OT, including questions like: “Why does Mark draw so much from the Torah?”  ”Why start with the Isaiah/Exodus/Malachi quote he starts with in Mark 1:2-3?”  etc.  Hopefully this post helps us all become better readers over time.

Studies in Mark Part II - “Passover Lamb” Mk 14:12-52

Having brought freedom, healing and truth to the houses of Israel, Jesus’ ministry culminates in his final teaching and cleansing of “the house of Prayer for the nations” (11:17).  After a period of teaching in the Temple (note the absence of miracles, showing the lack of faith, cf. Mark 6:5-6), Jesus directs his Disciples to prepare the Passover (note that the lamb is never mentioned) in one of the city residents’ homes (Mark 14:13–as a poor person would have, cf. Ex 12:3f).  Once “they prepared the Passover” (14:16), “he [Jesus] came…with the twelve.”  Now that the Passover had arrived (i.e. Jesus), they consume the offering–his body (14:22) and blood (14:24)–in anticipation of Jesus immanent death (14:21).  Once betrayed (14:18) the Passover Lamb would “go as it is written about him” (Is. 53:7-8–”Like a lamb to the slaughtering block.”).  This divinely pleasing one (1:11) would be presented by the priests (Mark 8:31; 10:33; 14:43, 53, 55; 15:1, 3, 10, 11, 31-32) in Jerusalem (10:33) as Malachi 3:1 explained would happen.  From There Jesus and his disciples go out (Ex 12:22) where only Jesus will stand fast (14:27-31, 43-52) to keep vigil (14:32-42; cf. Ex 12:42).

Update:

Thinking yet more over Marks’ portrayal of Jesus as the Passover lamb, I got to thinking of the happenings in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Here again, having gone out of the house (as Ex 12:22 prohibits), Jesus stands in the place of the Passover Lamb as he absorbs all of the mob’s attention.  When judgement comes (again in the middle of the night–cf. Ex. 11:4)–i.e. the mob (instead of “the destroyer” in Ex. 12:23)–Jesus alone is arrested, (even though one of the bystanders clearly should be arrested for cutting off the High Priest’s servant’s ear; Mk 14:47!) while the others are “passed over.”  Even further than the other Gospel writers, Mark points out not only that “all the disciples left him and fled” (Mk 14:50) but that “A young man was following him, wearing only a linen cloth. They tried to arrest him, but he ran off naked, leaving his linen cloth behind.” (Mk. 14:51-52), further highlighting just how alone Jesus is in his role as Passover lamb.

Studies In Mark Part I - “House”

As the head of the Davidic house (Mark 12:35-37), Jesus redefines leadership through the willing denial of his rights as King (9:30-32 vs. 9:33-37; 10:32-35 vs. 10:36-45).  Instead of consolidating power, Jesus invites people into the family of God (3:31-34).  Those who follow will find healing and freedom (1:29; 2:1, 5:38; 7:24) and instruction (2:1; 3:25; 7:17; 9:28, 33; 12:1-13:36) in Jesus house.  They will also find that division is not tolerated in the house, but cleansed (2:1; 3:25; 6:4, 10; 11:17) and that Jesus does not reside in a divided house (11:11, 19; 13:3, 14:3 all show Jesus exiting Jerusalem to stay in Bethany–cf. Mark 6:10; also, note how careful Mark is to point out that Jesus does not enter the High Priest’s house in Mark 14:53 as he does in Mt 26:57 and Luke 22:57).

It is no coincidence that accepting Jesus invitation to become part of his family requires the loss of all (8:34-9:1).  Rather, it is only as we submit ourselves to the willing loss of all our wealth that we will be eligible to share in the great Passover sacrifice made available in and through Christ, because those whose means were great enough were expected to provide their own lamb.

Exodus: 12:3-4

Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each must take a lamb for themselves [Heb: according to the house of their fathers"]–a lamb for each [Heb: "house"].  If an household is too small fo a  lamb, the man and his next-door neighbor ar to take a lamb according to the number of people…

This Old Man, he wrote one

Revelation 3:14-22 14Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God’s creation, says:

15-17“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

18“Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.

19“The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they’ll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!

20-21“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

22“Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.

So here is the first of the MisQuoted Passages of Scripture that I would like to deal with. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this verse is taken so often, so out of context. It makes me shiver to recall how many times I have heard it used in an evangelistic setting. Not that God cannot use our mistakes and misquotes, because He so often does. That, however, does not give us the freedom to misuse Scripture. We have to be careful how we use the Word that God has given us.

So to begin, let give you an idea of how this passage has been misused. In my years as a pastor, I have heard many people use this as the ending of an evangelistic appeal. At first, it did not bother me because I was ignorant of what the passage was really saying. It is not an evangelistic passage. Remember what I said about Scripture last time: it is one book from start to finish, written by God and it is written to His people. Even a cursory view of Revelation 3 shows us that this is part of a letter written to a church, the church at Laodecia. It was written to a specific church for a specific reason. This church was not doing well. It had stagnated. Jesus was coming down hard on it. This church thought it was doing well, but as Jesus points out, that instead of being rich, she was actually poor.

Jesus in his compassion and love for his church, his people promises them that if they will repent, he will meet with them. Not only will he come in through the door, not only will he stand in the entryway, not only will he come and sit in the living room, but he will sit down and eat with us. Does that seem a little lame? If you know anything of the culture in which this was written, you will know that eating with someone was a trust thing. Eating with someone was a sharing of life. Eating with someone was a coming together of friends and family. Instead of standing outside the door and gagging, Jesus wants to come inside and eat.

Notice one other thing about this verse, it is addressed to individuals. If anyone hears my voice… I will eat with him (or her). Most of the time, the commands of the Bible are in the plural, addressed to God’s people as a whole. This offer is very clearly addressed to individuals. Repentance and restoration is an individual business - you cannot repent for me and I cannot repent for you. We have to deal with our failings and our relationship with God on our own. The church may fail corporately, but we have to turn to Jesus one by one in repentance and trust.

And my final point on this is: The Bible is written to God’s people to show them the great love he has for us. The book of Revelation was written to the churches (Revelation 1:4) to give them comfort in a time of deep distress and persecution. Revelation 3:14-22 was written to a specific church, for a specific reason, to bring people back into the proper relationship with the Alpha and Omega. Why would God insert a verse in the middle of it all, as a call to unbelievers to open their hearts to him? Well, he didn’t, this is a call to you and I. A call that comes when the church falls away, we fall away. It is Jesus, our Lord and Master, coming as a servant again, calling us to repent, to open our lives to him and be cleansed. To be in warm and intimate relationship with the One who died that we might live.