Week 39 Study Page - Obadiah, Haggai, & Mark

Week # 39 Study Page

Obadiah (1)
Haggai (2)
Mark (1-16)

About the Book(s)

Obadiah

Date of Authorship: Obadiah is written following the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BC. That date serves to bracket the earliest possible date of authorship for the book. It is harder to assign a no-later-than date to Obadiah for lack of historical indicators, but, given the passion and anger expressed by Obadiah towards Edom, it seems likely that it was written in the same generation of the offenses listed which occurred during the Babylonian invasion of 588-586.

Author: Obadiah was a very popular name in Israel, and there are many Obadiahs in the Bible. there is an Obadiah in the time of Elijah, in the time of Josiah, and in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. None of these, however, are the prophet who made this pronouncement over Judah. We know nothing about this Obadiah other than his name, and that he was very likely alive and in Judah for the occasion of Edom’s mistreatment of God’s people in 588-586 BC.

Purpose: Obadiah is a fairly unique prophet in the Old Testament because to object of his prophetic message is not Israel or Judah (this is also true of Nahum). Obadiah’s 21-verse message is about the nation of Edom - but it is still written to an Israelite audience. Edom is Israel’s neighbor to the south-east on the other side of the dead sea. They are a people descended from Esau, the son of Isaac and the older twin-brother of Jacob (Israel). During the invasion, destruction, and exile of Judah, Edom had taken advantage of Judah’s misfortune by playing the scavenger among the ruins left behind by the Babylonians, and by mistreating the Judahite refugees who were fleeing their destruction. There are four other oracles against Edom recorded in the Old Testament (Amos 1, Isaiah 21, Jeremiah 49, and Ezekiel 25), But all of them are a part of a wider message by a prophet. Obadiah’s prophecy against Edom is all that remains of his message.

Haggai

Date of Authorship: Are you tired of me telling you that we don’t know precisely when certain books of the Bible were written? Well, fear not, we know precisely when Haggai was written. Haggai is kind enough to write which year, month, and day that the word of the Lord came to him (relative to the reign of the Persian king Darius) and we have every reason to believe the text of Haggai was recorded at the same time. Because historians can confidently date Darius’ reign, we know that the events in Haggai occur in the fall/winter of 520 BC.

Author: Haggai is a prophet who, besides appearing here, is also mentioned in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14. His ministry is contemporary to Ezra and Zechariah. Because he is not listed as one of those returning from exile in Ezra 2, most believe that he grew up in Judah, during the period of the exile. Jewish tradition maintains that Haggai was old enough to have remembered Solomon’s temple which was destroyed in 586.

Historical Background: The nation of Judah had been destroyed and many of them were exiled to Babylon in 586 AD. The Persian king, Cyrus, issued a decree that the exiles could return in 538. The first of the returnees arrived in 537 and reconstructed the altar of burnt offering that same year. In 586, the returnees laid the foundation for the new temple (a.k.a ‘the second temple,’ or ‘Zerubabel’s temple’). However, they encountered opposition to this project (Ezra 4:1-5), work stopped, and the reconstruction of the temple was neglected. Haggai’s ministry begins 16 years after work on the temple had been stopped. 4-5 years after Haggai’s ministry, the second temple was completed.

Purpose: Haggai is sent by God to compel the people of Judah to resume the construction of the Temple. His initial message is well received, yet he still has work to do. God continues to speak through Haggai to encourage the Israelites even though their building was not as large or magnificent as Solomon’s temple, and he also warns them to not stain or make unclean their building with unfaithful hearts and hands. Haggai’s final prophecy is a reassurance that God’s eternal promise regarding the Davidic covenant will be fulfilled, and a recognition that this fulfillment has already been realized in part in the leadership of Zerubbabel (himself a descendant of David).

Mark

Date of Authorship: Mark was likely written in 60-66 AD, During the period of Peter’s ministry in Rome. Most New Testament scholars believe that Mark was the first of the 4 gospels to be circulated among the Churches, and Mark’s Gospel was likely used by both Matthew and Luke as a reference when they were writing their own accounts of Jesus’ life. Mark’s emphasis on the suffering required in discipleship seems to support the idea that it is best to date his gospel during the persecution of the Christians under Nero which began sometime after Rome’s great fire of 64 AD.

Author: Mark, also called “John Mark” was a companion of Paul and Barnabas on part of their first missionary journey. Mark’s decision to leave them, caused a division among Paul and Barnabas, but it becomes clear that Paul had forgiven and reconciled with Mark before his death (Philemon 1:24 & 2nd Timothy 4:11). in the mean time, Mark had become an interpreter for the apostle Peter (from Peter’s native tongue of Hebrew and Aramaic, into Greek). the 4th-century Christian historian Eusebius wrote this about Mark and his Gospel:

Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord. For he (Mark) had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were an arrangement of the Lord’s oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in writing down single points as he remembered them. For to one thing he (Mark) gave attention, to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements in them.

This is why Mark’s gospel is often called, and appropriately nicknamed, “Peter’s Gospel.”

Timeline: There are two distinct categories of timelines in the Gospels: Johanine and synoptic. The Synoptic Gospels follow a timeline which begins with Jesus ministering in Galilee (the northern region of the promised land around the Sea of Galilee) then going to Jerusalem for only the last week of his life. These synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and Mark is generally believed to have been written first and influenced the other two accounts. The lone remaining Gospel is John, and the timeline in John is much different than the other three. In John, Jesus and his disciples travel back and forth from Jerusalem to Galilee a number of times. Jesus did* in fact travel back and forth to Jerusalem a number of times, as recorded in the Gospel of John. the authors of the synoptic gospels, on the other hand, have arranged their account of Jesus’ ministry thematically, (possibly following Mark’s lead) in such a way as to emphasize Jesus’ final ascent towards Jerusalem for the triumphal entry, the passion week, and His crucifixion.

Purpose: Mark is a very interesting piece of literature. first, it seems like it is missing the beginning and the ending (more on that below). Second, Mark has recorded very few of Jesus’ sermons or longer speeches, focusing instead on the actions - especially the miracles - of Jesus. I believe that the purpose of Mark’s writing was to preserve the account of Jesus’ life as it was told to him by Peter (Likely because Mark had left Peter’s company to minister to Churches in Asia Minor, or after Peter had been arrested by Nero and faced execution). Mark emphasizes certain themes in his Gospel that we will trace below.

As You Read Notes

Haggai to Mark & the second temple

Through Haggai, God encouraged his people to start rebuilding the Temple and to remain faithful to their task even though their temple would be far less impressive than Solomon’s. We get the impression that the second temple was diminutive and noticeably less grand than its predecessor when it it was completed, around 515 BC. Fast forward to our Mark reading, in the year 30 AD, to the passion week where we read this verse:

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” (Mark 13:1)

That doesn’t sound like Haggai and Zerubbabel’s puny little temple! Technically it was, but the temple had undergone, and was undergoing at the time this comment was made, a massive renovation. King Herod I began renovating the temple in 19 BC. Although this renovation was equal to an entire rebuilding, Herod insisted on it being called only a renovation. This building project was massive, and continued through the birth of Jesus with the main part of the temple complex being completed in 4 AD. However, work continued on the temple until 63 AD. Sadly, Herod’s magnificent temple did not stand long. In 70 AD, the roman army arrived in Palestine to quash a Jewish rebellion known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt. They devastated the city of Jerusalem and brought the temple to ruin, just as Jesus had told his disciples in Mark 13.

Themes in Mark

Jesus’ Identity is a huge source of drama in Mark’s Gospel. While Mark reveals Jesus Identity right away to the reader (1:1), he portrays Jesus as concealing his identity from the crowds and even the disciples initially. Simply pay attention to all of the times that Jesus instructs people to not tell others who he is or what he has done in Mark, and also pay attention to the many times that Jesus sneaks away from the crowds, and even his disciples. Two scenes stick out in this drama, Jesus’ baptism in chapter 1, and His transfiguration in chapter 9 where God speaks from heaven to confirm that Jesus is His Son. Peter’s confession of Christ in Mark 8:29 serves as a major turning point in the gospel as it essentially marks the spot where ‘the cat is out of the bag.’ The drama of Jesus identity continues to crescendo through his approach toward Jerusalem (10:1-) and his arrival - the triumphal entry in chapter 11. The climax of this drama arrives in Jesus trial before the Jewish leaders, the night before he is crucified:
1. (Mark 14:61b-62) Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” - Jesus was done playing coy, He is ready to tell everyone who He is, and He knows that He will be killed for doing so.
Belief - Mark’s gospel is full of healing miracles, and Jesus is constantly remarking that the recipient’s belief is what allowed them to be healed. Mark even records an occasion where Jesus could* not do many miracles because of the people’s lack of faith, and occasions of anger when Jesus criticizes the unbelief of those present (8:12, 9:19). I believe that Mark highlights his theme for its heuristic value, as it would encourage the reader to believe the biggest miracle of all, Jesus’ resurrection, and generally instruct the believer to have faith.
Discipleship - Mark’s gospel consistently shows us Jesus’ intimate grooming of the twelve disciples. He is frequently traveling away with them, teaching them privately, equipping them to share the good news, and even sending them out to practice the profession they will soon take up. Whereas Jesus speaks to the crowd in parables, he speaks directly to his disciples, and Mark records many of those private interactions (remember this is Peter’s insider account). Jesus’ disciples are the first non-demonic possessed people to recognize who Jesus is, and after they make that recognition, Jesus begins moving south towards Jerusalem where he will give his life. On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus warns his disciples three times about what would happen to him there. Each time they fail to understand him and Mark follows each of these warnings with a teaching of Jesus on the cost of discipleship. Jesus was preparing His disciples for what they would see in Jerusalem, and what they would be asked to do as apostles of the Gospel afterwards.

Mark 13: The Olivet Discourse

The longest sermon recorded in Mark is what we know as the “Olivet Discourse;” so named because Jesus delivers it from the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem from the other side of the Kidron valley. This sermon is recorded in both of the other synoptic Gospel accounts, appearing also in Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21. This moment is famously the most thorough of Jesus’ teachings regarding the end times. It is also a famously difficult passage to understand, because Jesus seems to be discussing two distinct future events. Jesus is initially explaining to his disciples the destruction of the temple, which would occur at the hand of the Romans in 70 AD - just 40 years after Jesus speaks these words. However, it becomes clear that Jesus goes beyond this near-term future event to describe the reality afterwards, and Mark’s version of the Olivet Discourse makes this very clear with phrases like, “these things are the beginning of birth pains,” (13:8) and “following that distress” (13:24). The hardest part of the Olivet discourse is attempting to divide which words refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and temple in 70 AD, and which belong to the reality beyond that to include the age of the Church, and the return of Christ at Judgment Day. I’ll share with you my attempt to do so below:

Mark 13
- 5-8. 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem
- 9-13. the age of the Church (now)
- 14-23. 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem
- 24-27. Judgment Day and the return of Christ
- 28-31. a teaching that applies to both circumstances about being vigilant and aware of these coming events

Finally the reader must decide what to do with verse 30:

“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”

Jesus is not* saying that the victorious return of Christ, and entire age of the Church will occur before the generation of the Apostles dies. Instead, Jesus has said a number of things about the destruction of the temple in 70 AD in the course of his sermon, and the phrase “all these things” is being used to lump all of that set of teaching together. This phrase (verse 30) is the answer to the disciples’ first question in verse 4, “tell us when these things will happen,” a question that they specifically asked about the destruction of Herod’s temple. Truly, the temple was demolished before that generation passed away.

Mark 16:9-20 An Uncertain Ending

Verses 9-20 of chapter 16 are probably not original to Mark’s gospel. While these words are* present and a majority of the ancient manuscripts of Mark, they are not* present in the oldest and best manuscripts of the book (This and much of the rest of the information in this paragraph are taken from Carson and Moo’s An Introduction to the New Testament, pages 188-190). Furthermore, the vocabulary and literary style of these verses is not a good match with the rest of Mark’s Gospel. Archaeological-literary evidence indicates that this postfix was being attached to Mark’s gospel as early as the middle of the second century AD. This means that while verses 9-20 should not be regarded as scripture, they are extremely valuable and important representations of the earliest Christian faith, just 1 or 2 generations after the apostles. These words were likely added and included by the Christian community who did not wish to preserve the uncertainty of the end of Mark’s Gospel.

If verses 9-20 are not original to Mark’s, that makes verses 1-8 of that chapter a very curious ending to the Gospel. Theories have been advanced claiming that this is not where Mark intended to end his Gospel, that include the idea that Mark died before he could finish writing, and the idea that Mark was written in the form of a Codex (loose-leafed book style document) and that the last, or possibly even the last and the first (remember there is no birth narrative in Mark) pages fell off of this original codex before it could be copied and preserved. However, I agree with the makers of the Bible Project videos above, and with Carson and Moo in their commentary mentioned above, that Mark meant to end his Gospel this way. Mark’s gospel is meant to assist in the telling of the Gospel. You can imagine a traveling Mark having this account of Peter’s read aloud and rising at the the end of this account to proclaim the truth of Jesus’ resurrection appearances. All through this Gospel Jesus is challenging the disciples and all of his followers to believe and have faith. Mark’s Gospel ends with that same challenge to the reader: the tomb is empty - will you believe?

Joel NielsenSeptember 22, 2018Madison Church of Christ