{"id":4503,"date":"2024-02-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/reading-plan\/february-19\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T21:15:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T02:15:31","slug":"february-19","status":"publish","type":"reading-plan","link":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/reading-plan\/february-19\/","title":{"rendered":"February 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Insight from Mark 7<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 here, but he is almost certainly thinking of much more than just this one verse in this particular chapter of Isaiah. By quoting the first verse of a new section in Isaiah, Jesus is telling the Pharisees then (and he is telling the readers of Mark now) to carefully consider the entire passage (Isaiah 29:13-24). Close reading of these verses in Isaiah reveals that Isaiah 29:13-24 is very much like Mark 7. Consider the following connections between these chapters:<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah 29:13-16 is written in regard to Israel\u2019s \u201cwise men\u201d and \u201cdiscerning men\u201d. These \u201cwise\u201d leaders in Israel do not love God, but pretend to worship him by following rules they have made up themselves. In Mark 7:1-13, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they are the ones Isaiah is writing about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though these \u201cwise men\u201d won\u2019t worship God, God promises to do \u201cwonderful things with this people\u201d (Isaiah 29:14). This is exactly what happens in Mark 7. In spite of opposition by the Jewish leaders, God is, through Jesus, doing wonderful things among the people. The \u201cwise\u201d Pharisees, however, cannot recognize his work! They miss the wonderful things God is doing because they are focused on their man-made rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

The wonderful things God promises to do are seen in Isaiah 29:17-18. These verses are echoed in Mark 7. The first of the \u201cwonderful things\u201d God promises to do involves the land of Lebanon. Isaiah 29:17 reads, \u201cIs it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest?\u201d Isaiah is describing a time when, even though the Jewish leaders are resisting God by following man-made rules, the Gentile region of Lebanon, a region outside of Israel, will begin bearing fruit for God. This is exactly what happens in Mark 7:24-30. Jesus goes to \u201cthe region of Tyre and Sidon\u201d (the same area as Lebanon\u2014see Isaiah 29:17!). The Syrophoenician woman comes to him in faith and begs him to heal her daughter. Her begging is proof that she has genuine faith. The daughter is healed. This pagan area is becoming fruitful! Since Israel\u2019s leaders (the Pharisees) will not receive the wonderful things God is doing through Christ, he goes to a place where they are received!<\/span><\/p>\n

But there is still another connection between Isaiah 29 and Mark 7. Isaiah 29:18 reads, \u201cIn that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book.\u201d In Mark 7:31-36, Jesus heals a deaf man.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Isaiah 29:19 reads, \u201cThe meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.\u201d Isaiah describes the \u201cmeek\u201d and the \u201cpoor\u201d rejoicing in \u201cthe Holy One of Israel\u201d. Mark 7:37 reads, \u201cAnd they were astonished beyond measure, saying, \u2018He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.\u2019\u201d It is important to note that, in this passage, the Pharisees and leaders aren\u2019t astonished and aren\u2019t rejoicing in Christ. They hate him and his work. The people rejoicing in the work of Christ are the ordinary people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isaiah 29 is not the only passage from Isaiah echoed in the book of Mark. Isaiah\u2019s words are echoed throughout this book. See, for instance, Isaiah 35.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4503","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}