Isaiah 14:12,13 - How you have fallen, morning star

14:12

“How you are fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!” (NIV), ESV has “O Day Star, son of Dawn”, and NKJV has “O Lucifer, son of the morning”. This passage is often taken as talking about the fall of Satan, of his being cast out of heaven. In its immediate context it is about the fall of Babylon, but there is a Biblical pattern of immediate historical events and people being used as types of Christ (David, Cyrus etc), so it is possible that Babylon is being used as a type, reflecting some of the things that apply to Satan. Lucifer means “light bearer”. In Rev 22:16 Jesus is referred to as the Morning Star, so ESV or NKJV seem eminently preferable to the NIV translation.

14:13

The king of Babylon had enormously lofty ideas for himself, something that has been repeated many times in history. He thought he was all powerful, but we all know that pride comes before a fall. When someone starts boasting we can expect their fall to come quite soon. However, there will be a time when they seem to succeed. In Daniel 4 we read of Nebuchadnezzar exalting himself and then being humbled.Zaphon was the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites.

Mark 8:37,38 - If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you!

8:37

“Or what can one give in exchange for their soul?” As our society is increasingly anti-Christian we need to bear this in mind. Pressure will increasingly be put on us to conform to the ways of the world, to go along with the zeitgeist. Refusing to go in this direction may be costly in various ways. We need to look at things from an eternal perspective. We need to remind ourselves who is really in charge, who will have the last word.

8:38

The cost of making the wrong decision is horrendous. If we deny Jesus, He will deny us. Note that He says “adulterous and sinful generation”. It will be no use us trying to excuse ourselves by saying that it was really difficult because society was so anti-God. And see that Jesus speaks of Himself coming in His Father’s glory. Jesus knew exactly who He was. We often talk about obeying God out of love for Jesus. That is good as far as it goes, but we should note that, as here, Jesus is not afraid to use fear as a motivator! He faces us up with the stark realities of life as it really is.

We should dwell on the things that Jesus speaks about and let these thoughts renew our minds, so that we ar transformed rather than conformed.

Isaiah 14:7-11 - All the lands are at peace

14:7,8

Babylon exerted something of a reign of terror over the lands that she had conquered. Once she was defeated there would be peace for all these lands, at long last they would be at rest. Many people don’t like the idea of a God of judgement, but in reality it is absolutely essential. And those who don’t like it are usually those who are comfortable. The truth is that evil regimes have evil effects on people. They need to be brought to justice, and only God can do this.

14:9-11

We must remember that Isaiah is using poetic language here, and we would probably be mistaken to base too much theology of the world of the dead on these verse! He is using picture language. Babylon had killed many, many people, including leaders, gloating over those whom she conquered. The picture here is of those defeated foes mockingly welcoming Babylon and her leaders to join them in the world of the dead. But do not base a theology of the afterlife on these verses!

Mark 8:36 - What does it profit a man?

8:36

In view of what has just been said one might think that following Jesus isn’t such a good idea after all, but Jesus then points out the reality of the situation. By trying to save our own life, by going our own way, we may even manage to have some success in this world (though that is by no means certain), but what is the good of that if we forfeit our soul? Implicit in all this is that there is a day of judgement, and that we are all ultimately accountable to God, and that God has charge over our souls. In the world today there are essentially two primary worldviews (there are many variations within each of these). One is theistic which sees us as created beings, ultimately answerable to the creator. The other is that we just appeared by chance, with no given purpose. Under this latter view, which is the predominant one in power in the West, nothing really matters, and we see the fruits of this view in the state of our society today.

Isaiah 14:3-6 - How the oppressor has come to an end

14:3,4

This again seems to be clearly looking forward, or rather looking beyond, the time when much of Israel was in exile in Babylon. During that time Israel was oppressed and forced to do hard labour.  But there would come a time when the Lord set them free from their oppression and suffering. When that happened the Israelites would sing a song rejoicing over their release and the downfall of Babylon.

14:5,6

These two verses sum up the way things work in the world. Evil nations and rulers do arise, and for a time they have power and seem to be able to do what they want. But we are promised that there will come a time when their power will be broken. If we look at history we see that this is indeed the case. Every kingdom falls. During their time of power these evil regimes treated people cruelly and relentlessly.

Mark 8:34,35 - You must take up your cross

8:34

So Jesus has just been speaking to His disciples alone, telling them about the cross and resurrection, though they understood little if anything of it. Jesus then called the crowd to Him along with the disciples and said “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”. This was Jesus speaking to the crowds, how different it is from the approach we often adopt in evangelism and outreach. Jesus never hid the cost of following Him, indeed it was right up front and central. And we need to understand “take up his cross” in the context of the times. “His cross” could imply it was a cross that belonged to you, or one that you had chosen. This is not the case at all, it is one thrust upon you. The Romans condemned people to death and made them carry their own cross on the death march to the place of crucifixion. Jesus was making very sure that no one followed Him under false expectations.

8:35

The invitation that Jesus gave in the previous verse does not look very appealing! However, it is actually the wisest thing that we can do. Our natural instincts are to try and save our own life, self-preservation is an extremely strong impulse within all of us. But if we follow that line then ultimately far from saving our life, we will actually lose it. Conversely, if we do lose our life for the sake of Christ and the gospel we will save it. We are to live for Christ and the gospel. At times this will involve personal cost, maybe even the cost of our lives. There will be many emotions within us urging us not to do it, but we need to always choose Christ. That way we will truly live. This has both a temporal and an eternal aspect to it. If we reject Christ, He will reject us, and that is a terrible thing to happen. If we choose Christ we will find that our life here is of much greater value and effect, and we will find that we are living it in fellowship with Christ.

Isaiah 14:1,2 - The Lord will have compassion

14:1

We have here a somewhat unhelpful chapter division as this is all part of the same message. The judgement on Babylon is intrinsically linked with God’s compassion on Judah. We find the same pattern in Revelation. There is an awful lot of judgement upon evil in Revelation, but it is also about the salvation of God’s people. God’s judgement upon evil is an essential part of the gospel message. The salvation here is for Judah and Israel, so there is an implicit reuniting of the divided kingdom. But there is more than that, for “foreigners will join them”. All nations will be blessed, and there will be unity between all who belong to the Lord.

14:2

Now this verse may jar with some of us, for it speaks of Israel taking possession of the nations, making servants of people, and captives of their oppressors. One of the things that we must say is that Jesus showed us a very different way of exercising authority to what we find in the world. So verses like this should be read in light of the Jesus model of servant rulership, not the world’s model of lording it over people. Also, the world may well persecute us, but it is a Biblical truth that in the end it is God’s people who will rule. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Mark 8:32,33 - Get behind me Satan!

8:32

Again we can see Peter’s influence in Mark’s gospel as it makes clear here that Jesus spoke quite clearly about His suffering. Peter is about to get things absolutely wrong, and Mark’s account makes it clear that this was Peter’s fault, there was no case for Peter misunderstanding what Jesus said, or any ambiguity in Jesus’ words. Peter heard exactly what Jesus said, understood what Jesus had said, and Peter rebuked Jesus. Remember also that Peter has just declared that Jesus is the Messiah, so Peter is rebuking the Messiah.

8:33

Jesus, as would be expected of a rabbi, was walking ahead of the disciples and turned round to rebuke Peter. “Get behind me Satan!” Peter had made the statement, but Jesus knew that it was Satan who was behind it all. This does not mean that Peter was not responsible for what he thought and said, he was entirely responsible, but Satan was also working through it. If we say or, even worse, teach things that are contrary to Scripture we should be aware that Satan is working through us, so we should be very careful about what we teach. “You have in mind the things of man, not of God”. The gospel is a God driven enterprise, not a man driven enterprise. Yet so often the church will adopt man’s “wisdom” and reject God’s ways. How foolish we can be!

Isaiah 13:17-22 - Jackals will fill her houses

13:17,18

This is quite remarkable, and very important in determining the authorship of Isaiah 40 onwards. Isaiah clearly states that the Medes will conquer Babylon. This is long before Babylon was the dominant power, and even longer before the Medes actually did conquer Babylon, but it was indeed the Medes who did overthrow the Babylonians. So if Isaiah rightly foresaw this happening, there is no reason to doubt his authorship of Isaiah 40 onwards. If one does deny prophetic God-given ability to see the future then one has to start chopping up Isaiah even further. We need to remember who God is, He is the Lord of history who knows the end from the beginning. So as far as Isaiah goes, the most consistent and simplest solution is “one book, one author”.

13:19-22

The description of the destruction continues, and is compared to the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. Babylon is seen as a representative of all that is evil by the world’s kingdom, Satan’s kingdom. This is especially so on the book of Revelation. At that time Rome was playing the Babylon role, but it applies more generally to the worldly kingdom at all times. She had much beauty and sophistication and wealth, but all would be taken away. She would become a desolate wasteland. Becoming the haunt of jackals and hyenas is a common Old Testament metaphor describing the downfall of a kingdom.

Mark 8:29-31 - Who do you say that I am?

8:29,30

Having asked them who the people say He is, Jesus then asks the disciples who they think He is. Peter answered that Jesus is the Messiah. Matt 16:17 goes on to say that it was God the Father who revealed this to Peter. Mark probably omits this at Peter’s behest, as Peter is keen not to bring any undue attention to himself. Jesus warns them not to tell anyone about this. Knowing the truth and understanding the truth are different things. At this time if the people heard that Jesus was the Messiah they would think He had come to overthrow the Romans. Once He had been crucified and raised again it would be clear that He was not that sort of Messiah.

8:31

Jesus also knew that the disciples themselves would not understand what it meant for Him to be the Messiah. So Jesus “began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things”. So this was not one simple teaching, but an ongoing series of teachings, step by step helping the disciples to realise what Jesus was all about. Imagine what a shock this would be for the disciples. All their Jewish heritage taught them otherwise, seeing the miracles that Jesus did, a suffering servant did not fit in with their idea of the Messiah. We need to interpret God’s truth by the Bible, seeking to interpret the Bible by human wisdom is a potentially dangerous road to go down.

Attacks on Genesis

The first three chapters of Genesis are perhaps the most important chapters in the Bible in having a proper worldview. Conversely, denying the content of these chapters is seriously detrimental to human flourishing. It is therefore no surprise that these chapters have been under more or less constant attack, both now and in the past. So let’s look at what the chapters say, and what the attacks are.

A purposeful creation

It is sometimes said that Genesis is merely a variation on other creation myths that were floating around in ancient times. Nothing could be further from the truth. The myths of ancient times generally saw mankind and the world as a byproduct of wars between gods, and as being created for the benefit of the gods. The modern myth is that the whole universe, and mankind in particular, is a result of blind pitiless random chance, with no purpose nor reason. Genesis, on the other hand, paints a picture of an orderly, purposeful creation, with mankind as the pinnacle of God’s creation. Moreover, we created with a purpose, to look after the earth, and God blessed us.

In short, the Bible says we were created on purpose, for a purpose, out of love.

Male and Female

Genesis says that we were created in the image of God, and created as male and female. Today this is most obviously under attack by the ludicrous and destructive trans-ideology. Under God’s creation there is a harmony between our physical bodies and our gender, and things are simple. Just consider how complex things get with trans-ideology. However, the attack on the binary male-female approach has been going on for much longer. For we were created equal (not identical), but in many societies and many epochs in history men have exploited women. This is just as much an attack on God’s creation design as anything that comes out of transgenderism.

Sex for Marriage

Genesis 2 is very clear that sex was created for marriage between one man and one woman, a view that was strongly endorsed by Jesus (Mark 10:1-12). The loudest area of debate on this in current times has been over “gay marriage”, but the attack on marriage goes far wider than this. The breakdown in family life has had devastating effects on the lives of people, especially children, as well as the enormous economic cost. Any deviation from God’s plan has serious and deleterious effects, both on individuals and society as a whole.

A Fallen Race

Genesis chapter 3, along with the rest of the Bible, presents humanity as a fallen race, a race that is fatally flawed and under judgement from God. The common human view is that we are basically good, and given the right conditions we will be alright. This leads to serious errors in policy. Communism is perhaps the most obvious example of this, but most politics fails to face up to the reality that Genesis 3 presents.

Then there is the root of the fall, Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What this means in practical terms is that man thinks he can determine his own moral standards and does not need God, and this does indeed lead to death, with numerous examples around us to demonstrate the truth of this.

The early chapters of Genesis describe God’s intention for the world. The rest of the Bible describes God’s plan of redemption to rescue us from the mess that we got ourselves into. But even without that, a society that is more or less based on the truths in Genesis, that uses the Ten Commandments as its basis will be a far more stable and prosperous society than one that openly rejects God’s ways.

Isaiah 13:12-16 - I will make people scarcer than gold

13:12,13

The command in Genesis 1 was to be fruitful and multiply. When men disobey God, abandon Him, then the purposes of Genesis are reversed. So people will become as scarce as gold. Solomon imported much gold from Orphir (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11), though the precise location of Orphir is  not known. There will be geological symptoms of the wrath of God.

13:14-16

Many conquered peoples, Israel included, were transported to Babylon, but the reverse process would take place once Babylon herself had been conquered. The Babylonians themselves would suffer a cruel fate, with much bloodshed, death of children, and raping of women. This makes us draw up short. How can God allow this? It is the consequence of man’s sin. In wars these sorts of things happen. The Russian army infamously raped many,many women as they defeated Hitler’s Germany, so much so that some women committed suicide rather than suffer at the hands of the invading army. And the Germans themselves had committed numerous atrocities against Russia a few years earlier. But what about the children? We would be better asking how a supposedly  civilised society can sanction the killing of numerous babies in the womb, and even considers it a human right to allow this to happen? The events we read of here are the consequence of man’s sin.

Mark 8:27,28 - Who do the people say that I am?

8:27

We now come to the famous section where Jesus asks the disciples “Who do the people say I am?” Why does He ask this? We know that later He will ask Peter “Who do you say that I am?”. Perhaps it is to get the disciples to realise the difference between the way the people in general perceive who Jesus is, and who He actually is. Also the array of different perceptions of Jesus, and that the people really do not have a clue. We need to understand that the world does not see Jesus in the same way that we do. They are not right in their perceptions (at least for the most part), but we do need to appreciate the situation.

8:28

The variety of views included John the Baptist, Elijah, and one of the prophets. All these are related to pointing to the Messiah, not actually being the Messiah. We saw earlier that Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist, this being borne out of guilt. Malachi speaks of Elijah coming to prepare the way for the Messiah. The people did recognise that there was something special about Jesus, but did not know precisely what it was.

Isaiah 13:9-11 - The day of the Lord is coming

13:9

There are many aspects to the Day of the Lord, and one of them is God’s anger and wrath. We find this difficult to come to terms with and many try to wash it away. This is a mistake and a deeply unbiblical approach to take. Part of the reason we do this is that we find it hard to square a “God of love” with a “God of wrath”. However, the real reason is that we don’t want to face up to the reality of sin, and our sinfulness in particular. If we are to properly appreciate the love of God we need to appreciate the wrath of God.

13:10,11

We find here that Isaiah is using apocalyptic language. Similar language is used in other apocalyptic passages in the Old and New Testament. We should note that here the reference is quite clearly to God’s judgement upon the world, so it is reasonable in other passages to take them as references to God’s judgement.

“I will punish the world for evil”. This anger and wrath is no capricious response, it is not an irrational response, nor an uncontrolled fit of rage. It is a righteous, just and reasoned response to man’s sin. That is what makes the wrath of God truly frightening, for it is what we deserve. On the day of judgement no one will say “that’s unfair”.

Mark 8:24-26 - I see people walking, but like trees

8:24-26

This is the one incident in the gospels where the healing is not immediately complete. The man can see people, but the image is not perfectly distinct. Jesus then lays His hands on the man’s eyes again, and this time the man’s vision was perfectly restored. Jesus sent the man away to his home, and Jesus did not want people to know about the healing. He was told not to go into the village, for then everyone would know what had happened. Why did Jesus do this? For even if the man did exactly as Jesus told him, he was not going to live as a hermit for the rest of his life, so very soon people would know that something dramatic had happened. Maybe Jesus did not want it to be a distraction from His immediate purpose of being in the region, so He could at least get some useful teaching in before everyone wanted healing.

Sometimes this incident is used as support for gradual healing. It would be better to say that it is misused as grounds for gradual healing. Now that is not to say that there is anything wrong with gradual healing. Our bodies gradually heal themselves most of the time, they are a remarkable creation of God. Often when we pray for people there will be gradual or partial healing, often with the help of doctors (eg praying that operations go well is perfectly legitimate). There is nothing wrong with this, it is part of God’s grace, but it is not miraculous in the same way that the gospel healings were.

So why was there partial healing before complete healing? One suggestion is to note that this comes immediately after the tale of the disciples lack of understanding (8:14-21), and is meant as an encouragement that the disciples would eventually have full understanding. This suggestion is perhaps supported by the fact that the next incident will be Peter’s confession of who Jesus is. So Jesus deliberately healed the man in two stages as a kind of living parable.

Isaiah 13:4-8 - Wail, for the day of the Lord is near

13:4,5

As is often the case with the prophets, very vivid language is used to describe the coming destruction. There is no mere cold statement of fact, but a dramatic representation of what is going to happen. God is communicating with the heart as well as the mind (though in the Bible “heart” usually includes our will and mind as well as emotions). Similarly, dramatic or pictorial language is used to describe salvation. There is a lesson here for us in preaching and teaching. Preaching is not just giving the facts, we need to communicate with the heart as well. Obviously, there are dangers in this as well, for we need to make sure that we communicate Biblical truth, and not vain ideas, but we need to do so with heart.

Elsewhere, similar language to here is used to describe nations coming against Israel. The “evil empire” of Babylon will be destroyed. Israel would be destroyed, but she would rise again. Babylon will be defeated forever.

13:6-8

“The day of the Lord” is generally not a temporal thing, but more an event. For a time it seems that evil is triumphing, that evil men are getting their way. This will only be so for a time. There will then come a time when the Lord restores justice, and that will include judgement upon evil. During the time when evil seems to triumph the enemy can seem so powerful, as though nothing could stop them. So it would have seemed with the Babylonian army in the day of their power. But when God’s judgement comes they will be as nothing at all. They will be utterly defeated.

Mark 8:22,23 - Here's spit in your eye

8:22

We now have the healing of a blind man. There are some similarities with the healing of the deaf man in Mark 7:31-37. Jesus takes the man aside, and spitting is involved in the healing! The blind man is brought to Jesus by his friends, for the man himself would not be able to find Jesus. They pleaded with Jesus to touch him. There was clearly a great faith that if Jesus touched someone then they would be healed. Today we often pray or sing about a “touch” from God. We want a personal connection from God, believing, even knowing, that if that happens it will have a significant effect on our lives.

8:23

Jesus led the man outside the village, so carrying out the healing with a degree of privacy, as with the deaf man in chapter 7. Jesus spat on the man’s eyes. Again, this seems rather disgusting to us. If someone with a “healing ministry” today followed that technique he would probably not be very popular! However, the reason is probably the same as for the deaf man. Jesus is showing the man that He is touching his eyes with the intent to heal.

Isaiah 13:1-3 - I have summoned my warriors

13:1

A major factor persuading many that Isaiah 40 onwards was not written by Isaiah is that it seems to relate primarily to the Babylonian exile. However, here we have a prophecy against Babylon. One of the dominant themes of Isaiah is the sovereignty of God, He is the one who is lord of history. So here Isaiah prophecies against Babylon, long before she was the dominant power that she was set to become. In fact, at the time of Isaiah Babylon was part of the Assyrian empire, but an important city within that empire with some power in its own right. It would, in time, rise up and defeat Assyria, and conquer Jerusalem. Yet the first mention of Babylon (apart from 11:11) is her defeat. We can maybe see a parallel here with Gen 3:15 telling of Satan’s defeat. Much of the story after that is of Satan’s “victory”, just as here there is an extended period of Babylon being triumphant.

13:2,3

God raises a banner to summon His “holy ones” to “carry out my wrath”. Isaiah knew that Judah would be carried off into exile, not by Assyria (though they would come close) but by Babylon. Yet we see here that Babylon is marked for judgement. When we see evil triumph in the world, as it does in many and various ways, we can be equally sure that the perpetrators are marked for judgement. “My holy ones” are “those set apart for God”, to carry out His purposes. God’s wrath will be carried out by those who rejoice in His triumph.

Mark 8:17-21 - Not everything is about bread

8:17

Jesus was aware of what the disciples were saying and thinking, and then pointed out the error in their thinking. Their hearts were hardened and they could not perceive or understand. Romans 12:1,2 tells us that we need to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We need to appreciate that our thinking needs to be changed, we see things wrong, we focus on the less important things. Part of the reason for this is that we take a man-centred approach. The disciples thought that daily provision was all up to them, so their failure to bring more than one loaf of bread was a serious error. We so often do the same. We all make mistakes, and it is not that mistakes do not matter, but because we think that ultimately it is down to us, that we are in control, we make far more of the mistake than it is due. But ultimately it is God who provides, and while we have responsibilities in practical things, and certainly are not meant to ignore them, living in obedience to God and trusting in Him is far more important. Seek first the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink.

8:18-21

Jesus then tries to knock some sense into them. What had they just witnessed directly? An apparent lack of bread was not an insurmountable problem. Twice they had taken part in thousands of people being fed from a few loaves and fishes, one of these incidents just before they set out in the boat. Faith is often painted as believing things that there is no evidence for, and this view is promoted by atheists and some “faith” teachers. And there are times when faith will involve seemingly ridiculous things, but at other times faith is seeing the blindingly obvious! The mind focused on the flesh can never see the truth, the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace (Rom 8:6).

Isaiah 12:3-6 - Sing to the Lord

12:3

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”. We should remember all the judgement that there has already been talk of, and that which is still to come. If we focus just on judgement we get it wrong, if we focus just on mercy we get it wrong. There is full recognition of sin, even so the end result is salvation. When we go to the Lord in faith and repentance we find that He is a well of salvation.

12:4

Having experienced the salvation of God, we are to proclaim His salvation to the world. “Make known among the nations”. God’s salvation is for all peoples, everywhere in the world. In order to proclaim His salvation we need to know it for ourselves, to have experienced it directly. We are also to proclaim that His name is exalted. There is one God, one Lord, and His Name is great. There is no hint of all religions being the same!

12:5,6

“Sing to the Lord ..” This was the exact opposite of what the people were doing. They were not rejoicing or delighting in the Lord, they did not think that He had done marvellous things. They did not want the world to know about the Lord. Once a people experience the salvation of the Lord all of this changes.

Mark 8:16 - We have no bread!

8:16

We see here the slowness of the disciples. They thought Jesus was concerned about the fact that they had brought only one loaf of bread with them. By the way, this indicates that Mark had access to inside information, ie someone who was actually there, and this person is believed to have been Peter. We may think the disciples are so stupid, but if we are honest we are no better. We so often think that our daily needs are the most important thing in life, we will get obsessed about little things, or practical matters, when God is actually concerned about something very different. So how can we apply this practically? We all go through times when we are facing threats of some sort, whether it be health, finance, work, relational etc. There may even come a time when we face persecution of some sort. During those times our natural tendency is to focus on the threat. One of the most important things we can do in such situations is to focus on the things that we know God considers to be important. We should worship God, we should pray for others, we should help others, we should do good in all sorts of ways (witnessing, giving, etc). Our natural self will be screaming at us that we need to focus all our energy on the threat matter, but that is not true. That is not to say that we completely ignore the practicalities of life, but it is to say that we are to have a godly perspective. Indeed, the Lord’s prayer gives us a very good patter, seek first the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 12:1,2 - Surely God is my salvation

12:1

This short chapter rounds off the section after chapter 6 and is a wonderful song of praise, one which should bring joy to our hearts. It expresses the response we will have on the day of salvation. “Although you were angry with me ...” We don’t like the idea of God being angry, and many try to dismiss the idea, saying it merely demonstrated the mistaken or inadequate thinking of ancient people. This is a very impoverished approach to things. We do need to appreciate the truth that we are sinners and sin has extremely serious consequence. God was indeed angry with us, and rightly so. The glory of God’s love is that He has forgiven us, He has fully dealt with our sin, rather than merely overlooked it. Moreover, God has comforted us. Our sin doesn’t just hurt others, it brings pain into our lives, it brings guilt into our lives. But through Christ God comforts us. We experience all sorts of horrible feelings and thoughts because of sin, God comforts us in all this.

12:2

“Surely God is my salvation”. We become convinced of God’s salvation, indeed that He is our salvation. Since we were under the wrath of God one might have thought we needed to be saved from God, but the glory of the gospel is that we are saved by God. So we put our trust in Him and we are not afraid. We all face many problems, many dilemmas is life. In all of them we need to put our trust in the Lord, and so banish fear. He is our strength, our defence and our salvation. Before we believed in Christ we sought all sorts of defences and sources of strength, none of which worked that well! Now we know the one who truly saves and protects.

Mark 8:14,15 - Beware the leaven

8:14

From time to time I remind us that the chapter divisions were not part of the original text. Often they are helpful, but sometimes they produce a false division in the text, where it is actually important to see how the whole thing fits together. This is even more true of section headings which most translations put in. ESV has split 8:1-21 into three sections (1-10, 11-13 & 14-21), and NIV splits it into two sections (1-13 & 14-21). Again this can be helpful, but the whole of 1-21 is linked together. We have the miracle feeding, then the blindness of the Pharisees, then we have the blindness of the disciples, and Jesus urging them to think about the things they have just witnessed. The disciples were in the boat and had one loaf of bread with them.

8:15

Jesus then warns them to watch out for the “yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod”. First of all, why does Jesus talk about yeast? In bread a little yeast is added and it works its way throughout the whole loaf. In the same way a little wrong thinking may seem a minor issue at first, but it can eventually work its way through to affect and corrupt everything. We see this many times. A little compromise on sexual morality, a little doubting of the trustworthiness of the Bible, a little wrong attitudes. At first they may seem to be of minor importance, but in time they can have a devastating effect. The Pharisees and Herod represent two different errors. The Pharisees were dedicated to the Law, but their attitudes were corrupted, they were legalistic, and so wedded to their additional rules that they set aside the actual Law of God. And it blinded them completely to who Jesus was. If we have a particular theology, eg Calvinism, we can become so dedicated to that ism that we start considering the ism more important than the Word of God itself (though we will never admit to it). Herod compromised with the Roman authorities, and the Sadducees went along with this. So they served Rome rather than God.

Isaiah 11:12-16 - He will raise a banner for the nations

11:12,13

Once again we get the global nature of God’s plans. He will raise a banner for the nations, the banner is a rallying point for the exiles to come back to the Lord.  This prophecy looks to the time when the Jews would scattered all over the world. But it is more than just a gathering back of the people, it is about a change of heart in the people. Ephraim would no longer be jealous of Judah, nor would Judah be hostile towards Ephraim. And Judah’s enemies would be destroyed.

11:14-16

The nation mentioned in v14 are ones that Israel did not attack after the Exodus and the entry into the Promised Land (Judges 11:14-18). v15 carries an obvious allusion to the crossing of the Red Sea. There will be a pathway back from Assyria for the exiles, just as the Lord made a way for the Israelites to escape from Egypt.

Mark 8:11-13 - Seeking a sign

8:11-13

The people had come to listen to Jesus and some of them to be healed. The Pharisees came to judge Jesus, to test Him. So the “people” were far wiser than the “elite”. The Pharisees saw themselves as judges of the matter, and of Jesus. Just think how ridiculous this was, for Jesus is the Son of God, who are they, or anyone else, to judge Jesus? Yet we can do the same today, and many do. We can think that we are here to decide whether or not Jesus is the Son of God, to decide whether or not the gospel is in fact the only way of salvation. But think about this for a moment. If Jesus is the Son of God, and if the gospel is God’s chosen way of salvation then our job is not to judge Jesus or the gospel, but to believe Jesus and the gospel. But this also presents us with a problem, for there are other individuals, religions, philosophies that claim to be “right”. So in one sense at least we have to make a judgement, but that judgement is about deciding to whom or what we will bow down to. We have to submit to something, for we know that we ourselves are not gods. In the words of Bob Dylan, everybody has to serve somebody.

The Pharisees wanted a sign from heaven, ie an indication from heaven that Jesus was who He claimed to be. Given all the things that Jesus had been doing one might wonder how blind were the Pharisees? Yet if someone does not want to believe no amount of evidence will convince them. Jesus gave the Pharisees short shrift. There is a time to answer people’s questions, and there is a time to ignore them. Just because someone asks it does not necessarily mean we need to answer (Prov 26:4,5).

Isaiah 11:6-11 - The wolf will lie with the lamb

11:6-9

We now get one of the well known sections, though I suspect that most people don’t know where it comes from. We read in this section of a complete transformation of what we know as the natural order. Wolves and lambs do not live together! One is food for the other. And you would not dream of allowing a little child to look after them. Yet the situation will be that such things are possible. This section has to be looking forward to the coming of God’s kingdom. I think we also have to take it as figurative as well. Whether it applies to actual lions etc is a moot point. What it does mean is that previously sworn enemies will live together in peace. How on earth can this happen? The answer is given in v9 when it says “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord”. It is only in Christ that we can find peace. In Ephesians Paul speaks of the wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles being broken down in Christ. We will not find harmony by focusing on the issues that cause conflict, it is only by focusing on Christ, where all need to come to repentance.

11:10,11

We get another mention of the “Root of Jesse”. It is significant that the Messiah is referred to as the “Root of Jesse”, rather than David. The Messiah is “another David”. He will be a rallying point for all nations. The book of Isaiah is big on the global reach of God’s plan. While it is global, it also includes the Jews. For the remnant of Israel will be redeemed from wherever they have gone. Christ is the only source of human peace.

Mark 8:4-10 - Feeding the four thousand

8:4

The disciples had encountered this situation before, but they still thought purely in their old mindset, they still thought that feeding the crowds was impossible. We may not have encountered such dramatic happenings as the feeding of the five thousand, but there are times when we know God has acted in our lives, or has worked through us. Yet so often we learn nothing from these times. As well as the event itself we need to consider the God behind the event, and what the event reveals about Him, both His capabilities, His love for us, and His love for others.

8:5-10

So Jesus takes them through essentially the same routine as the last time. He asks them how many loaves they have, gets the crowds to sit down, thanks God for the food they have , and gets the disciples to distribute the food. As well as the loaves, they also had a few small fish. He also gave thanks for these and they were distributed. Everyone had more than enough and there was plenty leftover.

Having fed the people Jesus sent them away, and He and the disciples got in a boat to go to Dalmanutha.

It is worth noting that the procedure here was almost identical to the feeding of the five thousand. Moses got into big trouble when he struck the rock a second time with his staff (Num 20:1-13), doing what he had done earlier (Ex 17:1-7). As a result Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. On the second occasion Moses had been told to speak to the rock, so he had disobeyed God. What these two pairs of incidents teach us is that sometimes things will be done in more or less the same way, at other times they won’t. We need to listen to God, and there is no virtue in doing things differently for its own sake.

The Bible and Women

The Bible and Women

What the Bible has to say about women is a topic that causes a lot of debate, not all of it particularly edifying. Within the church there is the debate about the roles that women should or should not have within the church, especially with regard to leadership and preaching.  The two main “camps” are complementarians and egalitarians. Outwith the church, many view the Bible as being misogynistic and patriarchal. This short article is not intended to come down on one side or the other, but to draw our attention to a few features of the Bible that don’t seem to be appreciated enough.

First, consider the crucifixion and resurrection narratives. The men come out of it almost uniformly badly! Worst is Judas who betrayed Jesus. Then there is Peter who denied Him three times, and the rest of the disciples fare little better. The Jewish leadership was all male and they were the chief instigators of the death of Jesus. Pilate is portrayed as a rather weak man. The Roman soldiers are hardly admirable in their behaviour. About the only two exceptions are the Roman soldier who said “surely this was the Son of God”, and Joseph of Arimathea who lent his tomb to Jesus. Now consider how the women are portrayed. I don’t think there is a single bad word said about them. They are presented as being devoted to Jesus. After His death some of them go to the tomb to put spices on His body, ie they are showing respect as best they know how. Perhaps most significantly, women were the first witnesses of the resurrection, and were told to go and tell the apostles.

Now consider one or two examples from the Old Testament, that great bastion of patriarchy as some would have it. Right at the start we are told that God created humanity in His image, male and female (Gen 1:27), complete equality (not identity) from the outset.

In Genesis 21:12 God tells Abraham to do whatever Sarah tells you to do. In the matter of Ishmael and Isaac Sarah had more insight than Abraham at this point, and Abraham was being governed by his emotional connections, not exactly fitting the stereotypical picture of men and women! For balance, we should remember that it was Sarah’s idea that Abraham sleep with the servant girl in the first place, not the wisest of suggestions! (Gen 16:2). Interestingly, Paul quotes Gen 21:12 in Gal 4:30.

One last example, in the birth of Samson (Judges 13) the angel of the Lord appeared to Samson’s mother and gives instructions to her. Later the angel of the Lord appeared to both Manoah and his wife, after which Manoah is convinced they are going to die! It his wife who demonstrates much greater spiritual understanding  (Judges 13:23).

These observations are not intended to come down on one side or the other in the complementarian/egalitarian debate, but rather to encourage us not to have a blinkered view of  Scripture.