A few months ago I had finished up a rough draft of my Idolatry-Poverty paper and I posted it on Words’nTone to give readers a chance to read and respond. Now that the paper is all done and delivered (presented Nov 19th, last Thursday), I thought I’d post the cleaned up version of the exegetical section. Hopefully it won’t be too boring or passed over…nonetheless, here is that section of the paper.
Mark tends to use the Old Testament at critical points in his narrative and “prefers certain categories of texts for particular concerns.” This is very noticeable in how Mark crafts his narrative using Old Testament texts that juxtapose the issue of idolatry and texts that bring to mind Exodus land-management stipulations related to the economically vulnerable and words of judgment for abandoning them. Mark is quite consistent and intentional in this use—and at critical places (cf. Mk 1, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13)—thus, making them most likely programmatic for understanding the Gospel and, as well, the nature of discipleship and evangelism.
The Programmatic Summary (Mark 1:1-3)
Mark begins his narrative with a composite Old Testament quotation (Ex 23:20, Mal 3:1, Isa 40:3) which contains juxtaposed references to poverty and idolatry. Mark draws from the concluding summary (Ex 23:20-23) of the “Book of the Covenant” (Exodus 20:1-23:33), which immediately contains warnings against idolatry (You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces, 23:24; You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you, 23:32-33). Essentially the entire “Book of the Covenant” is structured around this theme. Heading the foundational Ten-Words (Ex 20:1-17) are commands to have no other gods before Yahweh (v. 3) and the prohibition of idolatry in any form (vv. 4-5). Interestingly, even the Ten-Words are bracketed with prohibitions against forms of idolatry, for the tenth commandment, You shall not covet (v 17), is associated throughout the Old Testament with idolatry (cf. Ex 20:23; Dt 7:25; Isa 1:29; 44:9; Ps 115:4). Then after Israel affirms hearing Yahweh (Ex 20:18-22), Moses begins to unpack the Ten-Words, idolatry leading the record (You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves…, Ex 20:23-24).
The first time the economically vulnerable trio (the widow, orphan, and stranger) are mentioned in Exodus, idolatry frames the pericope (Ex 22:18-20; 23:13). First, Moses presents a trio of commands prohibiting idolatrous behavior, each with a consequence of death:
- “ You shall not allow a sorceress to live” (Ex 22:18).
- “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death” (v 19).
- “He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the LORD alone, shall be utterly destroyed” (v 20).
This is immediately followed by land-management stipulations concerning the economically vulnerable trio (You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan, vv. 21-22).
As the consequence of idolatry is death, so also for not fulfilling the codes related to the economically vulnerable. They are mirror-retributive in nature: Oppressing the poor provokes their outcry to God, bringing about the sword, making the families of those who violate these land-management stipulations just like the poor, becoming widows and fatherless and, thus, economically vulnerable as well (vv 23-24). Then there is a series of codes that promote action or prohibitions of the non-poor to protect the vulnerable trio from prolonged and generational poverty (vv 25-27), strangers were not to be oppressed (23:9; i.e., defrauded), and the seventh year rest of the fields, the natural growth was to be left for the poor (23:12). The segment, then, closes with a repeated warning against idolatry (Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth, Ex 23:13). Exodus 23:20ff reminds and warns that the land-stipulations are to be obeyed, repeating the prohibitions against idolatry (Ex 23:32-33). Idolatry is the antithesis to obeying the “voice” of the angel (v 21), the referent for Mark’s programmatic Gospel summary.
Moving to the Mal 3 referent, the easy correlation is the sending of God’s messenger—ιδου εγω εξαποστελλω τον αγγελον μου (Mal 3:1); και ιδου εγω αποστελλω τον αγγελον μου (Ex 23:20)—and John the Baptist as the messenger preparing the way (οδον) for the Lord (Mk 1:4-8). Overlooked are the contextual concerns regarding the poor that link the Exodus and Malachi referents. Following Mal 3:1, we encounter the vulnerable trio (Then I will draw near to you for judgment…against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, 3:5). Earlier the issue of idolatry was raised: Israel offered profane sacrifices and polluted offerings (1:7-12); Judah is rebuked for profaning the sanctuary of the Lord and has married the daughter of a foreign god (Mal 2:11). Then in Mal 3:5 memories are drawn back to the covenant where the vulnerable trio are introduced with prohibitions against sorcerers (Mal 3:5; Ex 22:18) and those who swear falsely (Mal 3:5; Ex 23:1ff), texts that recall stipulations regarding social relations, including one’s enemy and the needy (Ex 23:1, 7; cf. Ex 20:16; Dt 5:20; Lev 19:11; Jer 5:2, 4; 7:9).
The juxtaposition of idolatry and poverty in Exodus and the memory-judgment context in Malachi bears out the apologetic framework discussed above. Additionally, Mark’s constant use of Isaiah also reinforces this framework, which is particularly vivid in Isaiah 40, a component of Mark’s programmatic summary. Mark’s Isaiah referent itself—A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God” (Isa 40:3; cf. Mk 1:3)—carries imagery common to Isaiah’s world, reflecting the procession of ANE monarchs. Here, Yahweh comes as Victor-king, announcing the Good News (Here is your God! v 9). The indent of the procession is for the glory of the LORD to be revealed so all flesh will see His glory (v 5). Isaiah 40 then compares Yahweh to surrounding idolatrous nations (the nations are like a drop from a bucket and they are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales, v 15; All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless, v 17). Mark’s introduction links the Gospel to the concept of the imperial cult of Caesar with the apologetic of Isaiah, namely the incomparability of Yahweh, whose sovereign power over creation is boasted (v 12) and needs no-one’s counsel regarding justice (vv 13-14). Yahweh is distinct from the image-bearers made of gold and silver who need to be fashioned by human-hands (vv 19-20), for He sits above the circle of the earth and stretches out the heavens like a curtain (v 22). God reduces rulers to nothing and makes the judges of the earth meaningless (v 23). The Holy One takes on all-comers: To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal? (v 25). Isaiah references the starry hosts (v 26), each representing idolatrous pagan powers, yet it is Yahweh who created them and calls them by name, indicating His might and strength over the idols/gods of the nations.
Notes
Cf. Isa 2:7, 20; 13:17; 30:22; 31:7; 40:19; 46:6; Hos 2:8; 8:4; Hab 2:19; 1:18; Zech 6:11; cf. Isa 39:2; 60:9; Jer 10:4, 9; Ezek 7:19; 16:13, 17; 28:4; Zech 9:3; and note Acts 20:33.
You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother (Ex 23:19) is most likely a reference to pagan worship/magic.
Probably not one cessation of all crops, which would put animals and the poor at risk, but a principle of rotating of crops/fields.
The Isaianic references to idolatry are usually in the context of Yahweh’s incomparableness to the other powers; cf. 42:17; 44:9-10; 45:16, 20; 46:1; 48:5; 57:13; 66:3.
False gods totter, Isa 41:7; misplaced trust in idols, 42:17; compared to idols made by hands, 46:5-7; inability to do anything, 48:5; 44:17-20; wearisome, 44:12-13.
Posted by Chip Anderson at 05:37 AM. Filed under: In the Margins • Gemara (expository notes) • Wasted Evangelism • Idolatry and Poverty (paper) •
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