A Commentary on Mark by Lion of Patmos, Part 3: Proclaiming the Message (Mark 1:12-20)

William Finck

Video File

LoP_Mark-03.mp4

Courtesy of Lion of Patmos

In our previous presentation on the gospel of Mark, we explored how the primary purpose of John the Baptist was to prepare the people for the coming of the Christ, and this was accomplished in manifold ways.

Perhaps the most evident was through John proclaiming an immersion of repentance, urging the people to follow the law of Yahweh, rather than the pretentious traditions of the elders upheld by the Pharisees. Those who were willing to listen came from across Judaea and even Jerusalem, leaving the hypocritical assembly halls to acknowledge their errors by the rivers. It was through their repentance that the rugged, stubborn mountain of Zion was transformed into a smooth, obedient plain, as prophesied in the writings such as those of Isaiah and Zechariah....

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 17: The Burden of Damascus

William Finck
Isaiah 17:1-14
CHR20241227-Isaiah17.mp3

A Commentary on Isaiah, Part 17: The Burden of Damascus

As we hope to have demonstrated discussing the Burden of Moab and Isaiah chapters 15 and 16, the prophecy actually concerns the children of Israel who had dwelt in the land of Moab, the northern portion of the original land of Moab which the Moabites had first lost to the Amorites, and which the children of Israel had later taken for themselves in the days of Moses. This is because all of the cities mentioned in the prophesy were in the lands which were occupied by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, with the possible exceptions of Ar and Kir. However the children of Israel had long held the Moabites themselves as a subject state, and it is plausible that Israelites had also dwelt in those places, after an occupation of nearly 300 years from the time of David. But it is also possible that since Ar and Kir are generic terms, they very likely also applied to Israelite cities in other ways. For example, the Ar mentioned in the opening verses of Isaiah chapter 15 is very likely a reference to the city Aroer found on the banks of the river Arnon, a town of Reuben which is mentioned in Joshua chapter 13. While the name Ar simply means city, Aroer means ruins, so it could also be a pejorative for any city. It is used as a pejorative here in a different context in Isaiah chapter 17.

As a digression, this interpretation of the use of the term Moab, which is fully substantiated in Isaiah chapters 15 and 16, also supports our interpretation of the Book of Ruth, and our assertion which is based on several points of evidence within that book, that Ruth was an Israelite in Moab, who was only called a Moabite because of the circumstances of her geographic origin. So if the tribes of Reuben and Gad were called Moab here by the prophet, for reason that they were Israelites dwelling in Moab, then Ruth was also an Israelite dwelling in Moab, as the internal evidence suggests. Certainly Boaz, a pious man, and the elders of Israel with him, portrayed as having been pious men, were also all described as having upheld the law of Moses, so it is not just to imagine that they would transgress that same law of Moses by bringing a racial Moabitess into the congregation, which is contrary to the law. One law cannot force a man to transgress another.