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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas
The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.
The wilderness
The dry, empty country beyond the Jordan where John preached, Jesus was tested and a crowd was fed. It was hard ground, and it was where Israel's story with God began.
We went back out to the desert where it all started. The wilderness in the Gospels is rough, empty country with little water and wild animals. It was also the place Israel passed through after God brought them out of Egypt. When a prophet set up out there, people remembered that old story and wondered if it was starting again.
The wilderness was a place of hardship, yet it was also the safest place to draw a crowd. Next to Isaiah 40:3, quoted in Mark 1:3, it evokes the promised new exodus (Keener). The green strip along the Jordan quickly gave way to wilderness beyond it. Jesus' forty days of testing in 1:13 echo Israel's forty years of testing in the desert. Every Passover, Jews retold how God brought them through the sea and across the wilderness. Wright says John was turning that story into a drama with his hearers as the cast. There is an older layer too. Heiser argues that the desert lay outside holy ground and was tied to chaos and forces hostile to God. Leviticus 17:7 speaks of goat demons that Israelites sacrificed to. The name Azazel on the Day of Atonement points to a realm somewhere out in the desert. The feeding in 6:35 recalls the manna: as God fed Israel in the desert, Jesus feeds the crowd in a deserted place. Many people expected a deliverer to lead a new exodus from the wilderness. Prophets like Elijah lived outside society in times of apostasy. Much Jewish tradition pictured demons living in the desert. Jewish teachers debated whether the generation that died in the wilderness would share in the world to come. Psalm 95, which warns against repeating its rebellion, was known to most Jews who recited the Psalms. Elijah, David's band and the Maccabees all took refuge in the wilderness and its caves.
An analogy: a nation's leaders holding a rally on the beach where the founders first landed. Nobody has to explain the location. The place makes the speech.
The wilderness signals that a new exodus may be starting, so a prophet who preaches there, as in Mark 1:4, makes a claim by his choice of place. Forty days of testing in the desert, as in Matthew 4:1-2, retell Israel's forty years. A crowd fed in a deserted place recalls the manna.
Not a proud monument to a founding victory. A landing beach is remembered with pride. The wilderness was also where Israel grumbled, rebelled and died out over forty years, and some pictured it as ground haunted by demons. Going back there meant testing as well as hope. People now go to the desert for rest and quiet, which was not its sense then.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-3-1-12\/","n":"Matthew 3:1-12, John at the Jordan","s":"John preaches repentance in the Judean wilderness because the kingdom of heaven has come near. He calls Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers and warns of the winnowing fork.","r":"Matthew 3:1-12"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-3-13-4-11\/","n":"Matthew 3:13-4:11, Baptism and the test in the desert","s":"Jesus is baptized and hears the voice from heaven, then is led into the wilderness for forty days, where the devil tests him three times.","r":"Matthew 3:13-4:11"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-14-13-36\/","n":"Matthew 14:13-36, Bread in a deserted place, a walk on the sea","s":"Jesus feeds five thousand men, besides women and children, in a deserted place, then comes to the disciples walking on the lake, and Peter tries to walk to him.","r":"Matthew 14:13-36"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-1-1-13\/","n":"Mark 1:1-13, John in the wilderness","s":"John preaches and baptizes at the Jordan, dressed like Elijah. Jesus is baptized, hears the voice from heaven and is driven into the wilderness for forty days.","r":"Mark 1:1-13"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-6-30-52\/","n":"Mark 6:30-52, Bread in a deserted place, a walk on the sea","s":"Jesus feeds five thousand men from five loaves and two fish, then comes to his disciples walking on the lake at night.","r":"Mark 6:30-52"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-11-1-11\/","n":"Mark 11:1-11, The ride into Jerusalem","s":"Jesus sends for a colt no one has ridden and rides into Jerusalem over cloaks and branches while the crowd shouts Hosanna.","r":"Mark 11:1-11"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-3-1-20\/","n":"Luke 3:1-20, John's answers for toll men and soldiers","s":"In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, John preaches repentance around the Jordan. He tells the crowds to share, tax collectors to take no more than is set, and soldiers not to extort, and Herod Antipas shuts him in prison.","r":"Luke 3:1-20"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-4-1-13\/","n":"Luke 4:1-13, The devil offers the kingdoms","s":"Full of the Spirit, Jesus is led through the wilderness for forty days, where the devil tests him with bread, with all the kingdoms of the world, and with a leap from the temple.","r":"Luke 4:1-13"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-1-19-34\/","n":"John 1:19-34, Not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the Prophet","s":"Priests and Levites from Jerusalem ask John who he is. He denies being the Messiah, Elijah or the Prophet, calls himself the voice in the wilderness, and points to Jesus as the Lamb of God.","r":"John 1:19-34"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-3-1-21\/","n":"John 3:1-21, Born from above","s":"Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler, comes to Jesus at night. Jesus tells him that no one sees God's kingdom without being born from above, of water and Spirit, and speaks of the Son of Man lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness.","r":"John 3:1-21"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-6-1-21\/","n":"John 6:1-21, Bread in the wilderness and a walk on the sea","s":"Near Passover Jesus feeds five thousand men from five barley loaves and two fish. The crowd hails him as the Prophet and wants to make him king, and that night he comes to his disciples walking on the sea.","r":"John 6:1-21"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-6-22-71\/","n":"John 6:22-71, The bread from heaven","s":"In the synagogue at Capernaum the crowd asks for a sign like the manna. Jesus answers that he is the bread of life come down from heaven, and his hard words about eating his flesh drive many disciples away.","r":"John 6:22-71"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-8-12-17\/","n":"Romans 8:12-17, Not slaves but adopted heirs","s":"Those led by God's Spirit are God's children. They have received the Spirit of adoption, not of slavery, and cry Abba, Father, as heirs of God with Christ.","r":"Romans 8:12-17"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-8-18-30\/","n":"Romans 8:18-30, Groaning and firstfruits","s":"Creation groans as in labor, waiting to be freed from decay, and believers who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan too as they wait for their adoption and the redemption of their bodies.","r":"Romans 8:18-30"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-10-1-22\/","n":"1 Corinthians 10:1-22, Israel in the desert and the table of demons","s":"Paul warns that Israel too had its baptism and its spiritual food in the wilderness, yet fell into idolatry and immorality and was struck down, and tells the Corinthians that they cannot share both the Lord's table and the table of demons.","r":"1 Corinthians 10:1-22"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2corinthians-8-1-15\/","n":"2 Corinthians 8:1-15, The Macedonians' giving and the manna","s":"Paul holds up the generosity of the poor Macedonian churches, appeals to Christ who became poor, and asks the Corinthians to finish their gift so that there may be equality, as there was with the manna in the wilderness.","r":"2 Corinthians 8:1-15"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/philippians-2-12-18\/","n":"Philippians 2:12-18, Lights in a crooked generation, poured out like a drink offering","s":"Paul urges the Philippians to work out their salvation without grumbling, shining like stars in a crooked generation, and pictures himself poured out like a drink offering on their sacrifice.","r":"Philippians 2:12-18"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-3-1-4-13\/","n":"Hebrews 3:1-4:13, Moses the servant, and the rest still open","s":"Moses was faithful in God's house as a servant; Jesus is faithful over it as the Son. Psalm 95's warning not to harden hearts as in the wilderness still speaks today, because the rest God promised was never reached under Joshua and remains open for God's people.","r":"Hebrews 3:1-4:13"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-11-32-40\/","n":"Hebrews 11:32-40, Sawn in two, dressed in skins","s":"Time fails to tell of the judges, David, Samuel and the prophets, who conquered kingdoms and escaped the sword. Others were tortured and refused release to gain a better resurrection; they were mocked, flogged, chained, stoned, sawn in two, and wandered in skins and caves, people the world was not worthy of.","r":"Hebrews 11:32-40"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/jude-5-7\/","n":"Jude 5-7, Israel in the desert, the angels who left their place, and Sodom","s":"Jude reminds his readers that the Lord who saved a people out of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe; that the angels who did not keep their position are held in darkness, bound in everlasting chains, for the judgment of the great day; and that Sodom and Gomorrah serve as an example of the punishment of eternal fire.","r":"Jude 5-7"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-12-1-6\/","n":"Revelation 12:1-6, the woman, the child and the dragon","s":"A radiant woman, crowned with twelve stars and standing on the moon, labors to give birth while a great red dragon waits to devour her child. The child, destined to rule the nations, is caught up to God's throne, and the woman escapes to the wilderness, where she is kept safe for 1,260 days.","r":"Revelation 12:1-6"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/azazel\/","n":"Azazel","s":"The name on the second lot at the Day of Atonement, where the other lot says God.","r":"Leviticus 16:8"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/seirim\/","n":"Se'irim","s":"Goat demons, banned as objects of sacrifice and pictured haunting ruins.","r":"Leviticus 17:7"}
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, ed. John H. Walton and Craig S. Keener (Zondervan, 2016), notes on Mark 1:4 and 1:13
- N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, comments on Mark 1:1-8, Mark 1:9-13 and Mark 11:1-11
- Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm, ch. 22, Realm Distinction
- ESV Study Bible, study notes on Mark 1:12-13 and 6:41-42
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Matthew 3:1 and 12:43-45
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Hebrews 3:8-11, 11:37 and 11:38
