The Exodus and Yahweh’s Enthronement

Yahweh is shown to be king through acting to redeem his people. After Yahweh brought his people out of Egypt Moses and the people of Israel sang a song in praise of Yahweh:

With your unfailing love you lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your might, you guide them
to your sacred home.
The peoples hear and tremble;
anguish grips those who live in Philistia.
The leaders of Edom are terrified;
the nobles of Moab tremble.
All who live in Canaan melt away;
terror and dread fall upon them.
The power of your arm
makes them lifeless as stone
until your people pass by, O LORD,
until the people you purchased pass by.
You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain—
the place, O LORD, reserved for your own dwelling,
the sanctuary, O Lord, that your hands have established.
The LORD will reign forever and ever!

As I noted in “Yahweh is king!” this clearly links the theme of exodus to the theme of kingship and so we should not be surprised to find the kingship of Yahweh celebrated at a feast which reminded Israel of their gracious deliverance from Egypt. Indeed Zechariah 14 offers conclusive proof that at the feast of Tabernacles the kingship of Yahweh was celebrated for there we have described the enthronement of Yahweh over the nations and it is described thus:

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:9, 16)

Now we need to jump forward to Mark 1:14, 15 where we find the following, “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” The time that Jesus is referring to is found in earlier verses, in verse three we find Mark quoting Deutero-Isaiah specifically the announcement of a second exodus in Isaiah 40. This is important because we find Isaiah 40-55 has three key themes; the first is that of a second exodus, the second is the destruction of the enemies of Israel and thirdly is the enthronement of Yahweh, see Isaiah 52:

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

So when Jesus says “The time is fulfilled” he was saying that this prophesy of Isaiah was coming to pass. But notice also that Mark 1:9-11 recount the baptism of Jesus. Why is this important? Look at what God the Father says, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”, this is a quote from Isaiah 42:1!

Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.

But more than that we are reminded of Psalm 2:7

“I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.”

This baptism of Jesus was his annointing as king! Of course Psalm 2 is fulfilled proper in the resurrection of Jesus as St. Paul explains in Acts 13:33 but more of that anon.