Jan 22, 2022
GENESIS 37:
The
focus of Genesis 36 was on the descendants of Esau, and the ethnic
groups they spawned.
JOB 22:
Yesterday in Job chapter 21, Job— refuting what
Zophar said, gave a very convincing argument that God does not
always punish wicked people. Today Eliphaz begins the third set of
exchanges between Job and his ‘friends’. The promises Elifaz gives
at the end of his speech sound rather hollow to me.
MARK 14a:
Yesterday we read the prophecy chapter of Mark,
chapter 13. The theme of that chapter is “Be ready” and Jesus says,
“Keep watching for Me.”
In Mrk. 13:14 Jesus says, “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ standing in the place where he should not be.” Then there is a note that is often in parentheses, “Let the reader understand.” Following good exegetical experts, I translate that this way, “Hey, public reader, explain this!”
At the time Mark wrote his gospel, only a small percentage of a congregation would be able to read. In Greek ‘the one reading’ (ho anaginoskon) probably means ‘the one reading out loud (to others)’. The word often translated ‘understand’ (noeito) would then take on the meaning ‘explain’ to the listeners. This would make three Greekwords (Ho anaginoskon noeito) to be Mark’s parenthetical comment, saying, “Hey public reader, explain this!” This makes sense because Jesus was speaking, and would more likely say, “If you have ears, listen.” Mark was the one writing, so it makes sense for him to address the reader.
Following Marks advice, like the well-read reader of old, it behooves me to explain to you: In saying ‘the Awful Horror’ Jesus is referring to the Antichrist, which was first clearly prophesied in Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. Here we see a prime example of the way God repeats the fulfillment of important prophecies. In the immediate context in Mark 13 of fleeing to the hills, we can clearly see that Jesus was talking about the destruction of Jerusalem that happened in AD 70— just 40 years after he gave this prophecy. But Paul in 2Thessalonians 2 teaches that ‘the man of lawlessness’ or alternately translated ‘Wicked One’ “will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God’s temple and claim to be God.” While there have been many intermediate fulfillments of the Antichrist, the ultimate Antichrist still has not been revealed. We all must still keep watch.