The poor, idolatry, and the threat of judgment continued
Mark’s Exodus reference is located in what “constitutes a final warning [just] prior to the sealing of the covenant (24:1-18).” They are to remember “Yahweh’s presence at the founding moment,” which includes (necessitates) ensuring that the poor are protected and full participants in the benefits of the land. Exodus 23:20 leads the subsequent context that encourages and warns that the land-stipulations are to be obeyed. Idolatry is the antithesis to obeying the “voice” of the angel (for God’s name is in him, v 21).
Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way [ἐν τὴν ὁδόν] and to bring you into the place [τὴν γην] which I have prepared [v 20]. Be on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression [cf. Mk 3:29; 4:12], since My name is in him. But if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. 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 [reference to idols] in pieces. But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 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 (vv 21-33).
The mixed Exodus 23:20/Malachi 3:1 element recalls God’s social ordinances, indicating a threat to those not obeying them. The Malachi referent (3:1) and its immediate context refers back to the Exodus land-laws and, as well, looks forward to the new exodus.
“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts (Mal 3:1).
The similarities to Isa 40:3 are obvious. The verbal similarities between Malachi 3:1 and Exodus 23:20 are also apparent, marking a typos or fulfillment of judgment for breaking the requisite land-laws related to the vulnerable trio:
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:5).
A composite of idolatry and the disregard for the marginalized form the basis of the judgment. Mark prepares the reader/listener, first, for John the Baptist (1:4ff), and then, the eventual “sudden” appearing of Jesus in judgment at the temple in Jerusalem.
The programmatic summary
R.T. France concludes that “Mark has declared his hand” in the opening verses of his Gospel, setting the framework in which we are to understand his whole story. We accept that Mark has drawn into his Gospel the motifs of God’s dominion, exodus, exile, the Spirit, and idolatry. What is undervalued, overlooked, or even ignored is the same context that contains these obvious correspondences, likewise, includes direct references regarding socio-economic relationships and community responsibilities toward the poor and vulnerable.
The Wasted Evangelism thread 1, I1, II1, II2, II3, III1…
Posted by Chip Anderson at 05:37 AM. Filed under: In the Margins • Gemara (expository notes) • Wasted Evangelism • "Wasted Evangelism" (Mark 4) paper •
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