The way in which Egypt are described as being destroyed is taken up to speak of the way in which Babylon would be destroyed.

Thus we see that the end of two of Israel's enemies and persecutors is presented in similar language - God is consistent in the way in which he deals with His enemies.

A lesson for us. Never forget to thank and praise God. Private and public prayers, poems, songs and public statements - all have their place in our giving Him thanks.

The water of Marah was bitter (v.23). The Lord instructed Moses to cast the branch of a tree into the water to make it sweet. The branch is symbolic of the Lord Jesus (Isa 11:1) who overcame the bitterness of sin which the water symbolized (Job 15:16).

Another similar example is the account of Elisha's retrieval of the errant axe head (2Kin 6:5-6). Here the stick (branch) made the iron axe head to float. One of the symbols of iron is oppression, which aptly portrays Egypt (1Kin 8:51). Thus, the branch (Christ) lifted the oppression of sin.

V.26 The children of Israel have just witnessed the destruction of the Egyptian army, even to the degree of seeing the dead on the sea shore (Exo 14:30). Now they are told: Hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God; Do that which is right in his sight. Give ear unto His commandments and keep all his statuets. None of these diseases that they witnessed in the Egyptians will come upon you. We still have the same assurance today, if we do likewise, we can conquer or overcome death.

15        The song is in two parts. :1-20 Moses and Israel sing. :21 Miriam responds. However the complaints soon start - :23

 15  The repeated use of ‘horses’ in this chapter indicates how much confidence Egypt placed upon their horses. Maybe this indicates why the king of Israel was not to multiply horses - Deut 17:16 - lest Israel thought that horses were their deliverance also.

15:5      The ‘stone’ which was representative of Egypt passes into Biblical use as a symbol of a power overthrown by God – see Babylon in Jer 51:63

15:2 ‘The Lord is my strength and he is become my salvation’ is quoted by David – Psa 118:14

15:2 The way in which Moses speaks of God as the God of his salvation is echoed by a later prophet in a song in which he reflects upon God’s earlier acts – Hab 3:18

v.9 - Until Jesus this was impossible to understand. The disciples were reminded in John 2:13-21, when Jesus cleared out the money changers etc. from the temple. v. 22 tells us the believed the scripture - it must have been this scripture - i.e. Psalm 69. In this Psalm we see many aspects of Jesus' life:

Psalm 69  This is one of the most often quoted Psalms in the New Testament. It describes many events associated with Christ and His death.

Psa 69:5  This verse certainly does not have any association with Christ, but what we do have is David once again acknowledging his failures as he has already done in Psa 32 and 51.

69:20    When david was ‘full of heaviness’ he typified Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane – Matt 26:37.

V.15 - Jonah in the belly of the fish foreshadows Christ in the pit Jon 1:17 and the mouth of the pit was perhaps the stone at the door of the sepulchre Matt 27:64-66

V.21 - Jesus prophetically was given gall and vinegar Matt 27:34 which he refused. Had he accepted it  Jer 23:15 he might have been accused of being a false prophet.

69:2 The floods which overflow David are not really water. He is speaking of the impact of the problems. They drown him. Just like the waters of Jordan overflowing the banks – Josh 3:17 – would have bared Israel from the land had it not been for God’s intervention. In like manner the floods overwhelming David were only able to be survived through God’s cares. How often do we feel we are drowning in despair? How often do we turn to God in such situations?

Psa 69:1,2,14  this psalm reminds me of what Jeremiah was to go through at the hands of his brethren, & particularly of the time when he was cast into the cistern & sank into the mire Jer 38:4-13

69:6 This Psalm was penned around the time of the uprising of Absalom which, in the historical record, is placed immediately after David’s sin with Bathsheba even though those events must have been separated by at least 15 years. This is so we can see that actions in our lives have consequences, even if our sins are forgiven. In saying her in the Psalm ‘let not those that seek thee be confounded’ is a comment reflecting Nathan’s comment – 2Sam 12:14 - that David had caused people to blaspheme God.

Psa 69:4 hate me without a cause reminds us of the messianic prophesy of Christ being hated without reason Psa 35:19;John 15:24-25.

Psa 69:19 reminds us of the shame and dishonor Christ endured when surrounded by his adversaries Matt 27:29,35,39-44;Isa 53:3;Psa 22:16.

Psa 69:22-23;Rom 11:9-10. Psa 69:9;Rom 15:3.

69:12 There is awful pathos in David saying ‘they that sat in the gate speak against me’ as that is where Absalom set himself – 2Sam 15:2 - to turn the hearts of the nation against his father David. So we see that not only did he speak with those that came to the king for judgement but also to the others who sat in the gate – probably men appointed to the job by David.

Mark 3:7  There were to be several such moves during the period of the public ministry.Mark 7:24; Luke 4:29-30  It seems likely that Jesus removed His dwelling from places where His arrest would be easy during darkness. During the daylight hours the multitudes would provide protection for Him.
John Wilson [Toronto West (Can)]     Comment added in 2004      reply to John

Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) means village of comfort.  Jesus brought comfort to those he healed through faith (Matt 9:22).  He also encountered much opposition while in Capernaum.  The Pharisees and their erstwhile enemies, the Herodians, planned to kill Him.  The scribes tried to discredit the Lord's miracles by ascribing them to the power of Beelzebub (v.22).  Beelzebub (Baal Zvuv) literally means Master or Lord of the flies (i.e. dung god).  As we have seen from Exodus, the fly (probably scarab) was worshipped as a god.  Thus, the scribes blasphemed God (their God) by, in effect, attributing His power to the idolatry of Egypt. (I wonder what they thought about during Passover). The rejection of the Lord's works brought a stern warning of judgement from the Lord (Matt 11:23).

3:4        That the scribes 'held their peace' actually advertised what they thought. We should not allow our silence to demonstrate that we do not agree with something but are unwilling to voice that disagreement.

3:1   The man with the ‘withered hand’ doubtless had been put in the synagogue in the location where he was to try to trap Jesus in his behaviour. I do not think he was there ‘by accident’.

3:3 Clearly this man had been put into the synagogue by the religious leaders as a trap for Jesus. Jesus could have ignored the man, or found him out later and healed him. But no. Jesus said to the man ‘stand forth’ (the Greek carries the meaning arise into the middle). Jesus sees the blindness of the religious leaders as so important that he uses the trap that they have set to teach a fundamental principle.

Jesus' family called his sanity into question (v.21).  Obviously they did not understand his mission.  From outside the crush of the crowd they tried to corral him (v.31).  When this came to the Lord's attention (v.32), He explained that his real family was one of the spirit and not of the flesh (vs.33-35).  Important to note that his mother Mary is also included in those who questioned Jesus' sanity and tried to restrain Him.  Odd for one who is claimed, by some, to be the Queen of Heaven?

Joining the crush

There is a theme developing in these early chapters of Mark: Drawing near. It has come up several times in the last two chapters, and reaches a peak here in v9 with the danger of Jesus being crushed! In v31-35 he rebukes his own family for not doing the will of his Father (v35). This is because the will of God was for us to "hear him" (Luke 9:35) and they weren't even in the building! Pointedly, v32 says "your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you".

But drawing near to Jesus isn't just a physical action. Even though the Pharisees had come all the way from Jerusalem to see him (v22) they couldn't draw near because of the barrier of the law, or at least their interpretation of it. They were also too envious of him. If someone we know has something worthy to say about the word of God, let's draw near to hear. That starts with the simple action of being in the same building: going to a talk at the meeting hall or inviting them round to our house, or visiting them for a coffee. Secondly, let's not allow envy to be a barrier to stop us learning from one another.

3:7-8 Give some thought to the distances involved in the places mentioned here. Jerusalem as probably a three days journey away. Idumean is Edom which is even further away. Tyre is probably a good day’s journey.