September 10, 2024: Tuesday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 13:7-8, 24-27
Good morning and the LORD'S blessings be with you throughout this day which the LORD has made.
Please offer prayers of thanksgiving that Vanessa's fiancé, Alain, has received his immigration visa so he will soon be able to be with Vanessa and their son, Elan. I am certain that they can hardly wait to be back together. Remember that we have a meal coming up on the first Sunday of October, yes, it’s that time already, and its theme on our Gospel Music Sunday will be Italian. Please let us know that you will be joining us so that the table and chair set up in the parish hall will be appropriately large. And, coming up on the last Sunday of this month is Rally Day at 9AM. It will be a time of fun and games and wetting our appetite for the Book of Ruth. Sign up please to bring a brunch type item to share. We will gather in the parish hall.
Today we are back in chapter 13 with the imagery of the world as Christ prepares to return. It is important in this list of dark things happening, that we don't miss the really important point that Jesus unmistakably speaks of His coming again! But there is so much more here that we must try to understand from our Western culture perspective. We see many of the things which Jesus describes happening all around us in the world, and yet, we must realize that each of these Day of the Lord three pictures of which Jesus speaks are a part and parcel of the prophetic speaking and writing of the Jewish people from long before Christ, and even in contemporary Jewish writings.
The Day of the Lord was to be preceded by a time of wars. We find in 4 Ezra 9:3 the following images:
Quaking of places
Tumult of peoples
Scheming of nations
Confusion of leaders
the Disquietude of princes.
In 4 Ezra 13:31 the writings say, "And there shall come astonishment of mind upon the dwellers of the earth. And they shall plan to war one against another, city against city, place against place, people against people, and kingdom against kingdom. Of course, in the coming of the Messiah, the Jewish people expected that there would be many wars as Jerusalem and Israel became the pinnacle of God's choice in the world. 4 Ezra was popular literature in Jesus’ day.
The Day of the Lord was to be preceded by the darkening of the sun and moon. This is frequent imagery in the Old Testament. Amos 8:9, Joel 2:10, and 3:15, Ezekiel 32:7-8 Isaiah 13:10 and 34:4. Jesus is using the mind image which so many of the Jews had about the coming of the Messiah.
It was a regular part of the imagery that the Jews were to be gathered back to Palestine from the four corners of the earth. Both Isaiah 27:13 and 35:8-10 as well as Micah 7:12 and Zechariah 10:6-11 carry this tradition in their prophecy.
But now we come to how we view these Day of the Lord materials in Scripture. For His message, which is sourced from the prophets and in contemporary writings of the Jews of Jesus' own time, we must realize that Jesus is neither giving a map of eternity nor a timetable to the future. Jesus' own words tell of that even he does not know the time of these events. Only the Father knows. And looking at all of this information takes us right back to the beginning of this text. What is important is that Jesus is coming again!
I pray that you are able to hold Christ in your hearts throughout this day.
In Christ's love, Pastor Kim
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