Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 2 Study # 3
September 18, 2018
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(012)
1901 ASV
2 Even as it is written
in Isaiah the prophet,
Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way;
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight;
4 John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and all they of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and [
had] a leathern girdle about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8 I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
- I. Mark's Intention in 1:2-4.
- A. It is beyond obvious that Mark wanted to present "The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ" as "Truth" that had its roots in the indisputable apologetic of Isaiah: the true God is known by His ability to reveal specifically accurate details of the future long before they occur in history.
- 1. Isaiah 41:23. Declare the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods...
- 2. Isaiah 44:7. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for Me...and the things that are coming, and that shall come to pass, let them declare.
- 3. Isaiah 45:21. "... who hath showed this from ancient time? who hath declared it of old? have not I, Yahweh? and there is no God else besides me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none besides me.
- B. The "Just as it stands written...John came..." is irrefutable.
- 1. This is not to say that it is "compelling", "unarguable", or "irresistible". Men have always brought their sophistry to the table, but God has made it plain that, in the day, they will be forced to acknowledge their sin.
- a. Romans 1:20..."without excuse...".
- b. Luke 19:22..."Out of your own mouth will I judge you...".
- c. Philippians 2:10..."that...every knee should bow...in heaven...on earth...under the earth...".
- d. Luke 16:31..."If they hear not...the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead".
- 2. But it is to say that the day will come when its status as irrefutable will shine forth as the sun.
- II. Mark's Message in 1:2-4.
- A. Isaiah initiated the "forerunner" prophecy in Isaiah 40:3 by announcing the coming of one who would "prepare the way of the Lord", with "preparation" an obvious "before the event" declaration.
- B. Malachi picked up on this "already extant" prophecy and filled in some further details.
- 1. In 3:1 the text is quoted as containing an "I" Who would send "My" messenger before "Your" face. This is Malachi's God speaking to another Who was to enter the stage of history. He goes on to say that this "forerunner" would "prepare your way".
- a. Neither the Hebrew text, nor the Septuagint, read this way; they both say "before My face".
- b. Mark's aberration from the text of Malachi is deliberate because he knew that Malachi was working off of Isaiah's initial prophecy where the issue was the preparation of the "road of the Lord" so that the coming One was "The Lord", and he also knew that the "Gospel" was a message of One coming in the name of the Lord (a phrase that strongly indicates that the "Sending Lord" was "other than" the "Coming Lord") [Note Mark 11:9 in connection with the prophecy of Daniel regarding the "cutting off" of Messiah after the end of the 69th week].
- 1) This is not Mark's only aberration from Malachi's text: he also makes a change in the verb translated "send"; and, he replaces the verb translated "prepare" (which has the actual meaning of "to regard", as illustrated by the use of the same Hebrew word in Malachi 2:13).
- 2) These "aberrations" are explainable in that Mark was making some specific issues more clear, but they are a possible stumblingblock to those who think themselves to be more intelligent than Mark by accusing him of the error of misquoting. Is it even rational that Mark would "misquote" when he knew that at least some of his readers would note the differences?
- 2. In 4:5 he adds the particular identity of Elijah as a "forerunner" before "the great and terrible day of Yahweh" was to arrive.
- a. This does not argue that the two "comings" are the same.
- b. But it does argue for a pattern of the "comings" that includes a "forerunner" (just like the "pattern" that is set up of "clouds of heaven" involved in the "comings").
- C. Mark's Point: there was an established prophecy of a forerunner who would precede the Lord and John was an historical fulfillment. As we noted above, this is not an "unarguable" point, but it is a "trap" for those who wish to argue it, given Jesus' warning in Luke 19:22.