Kata Markon

[HStaiti AT aol.com]

For the author or authors of Mark 13 (the Little Apocalypse) their apocalyptic teaching served a pastoral function. The author reasoned the persecution of the righteous and their time of distress in the first century would serve the larger purpose of salvation being preached to all nations, and then the return of the Son of Man would happen.

 

It didn't happen, and the absence of this type of Apocalyptic literature from the early apostolic fathers is telling.

 

But New Testament authors, like the author of Mark 13, didn't write or believe the world would continue long after their lifetime. They believed they were living in the final days before the return of the Son of Man. When it didn't happen, these types of teachings surfaced to explain the delay and alleviate fears of the Son of Man not returning as promised.

 

It didn't happen, and they died with failed Messianic expectations.

 

Regarding the question of v.14, “The abomination that causes desolation,”  this references an object or a person that profanes the temple sanctuary. One of the keys to understanding this verse is in the phrase “Let the reader understand…” v.14. This is an allusion to Dan 12.9-10 – the prophecy sealed up until the end time. 

 

I see two possibilities to this reference:

1.    Since Daniel, when referring to the desecration of the temple by Antiochus !V (9.27; 11.31; 12.11), uses this phrase to describe an alter for pagan sacrifice, the reference may be directed at the statue of himself that Emperor Caligula ordered set up in the temple

 

2.    However, he died before this order was carried out.

 

3.    Therefore, this may refer to the revolutionary activities that took place during the revolt which immediately preceded the destruction of the temple (Josephus The Jewish War 4.3.10),

 

Whatever the reference, the urgency to flee means there will not be time for the simplest of preparations. This time of unprecedented horror is shared from Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 12.1).

 

It was something they feared and wrote would happen in their lifetime.

It never happened, and it will not in ours.

 

 

 

Harry

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Theology

 

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."