30. Mark 8:1-10: Manna for 4000
Well, seems like déjà vu ! Another miraculous feeding story on top of the one just a couple of chapters ago. That first feeding story of the 5000 took place in Jewish territory and presented Jesus as the messiah of the Jews bringing the promised abundance of God’s New Exodus to his people. The 12 baskets of food gathered as leftovers from the 5 loaves and two fish symbolized this. The present story is set in Gentile territory and has a different quantity of leftovers, 7 baskets, and uses a different word than the one used in the first story which had Jewish connections being used to carry kosher food. Further, Mark describes the people as “come from a great distance” of “afar,” a description associated with Gentiles (e.g., Dt. 28:49; 29:22; 1 Kgs. 8:41; Isa. 39:3; 60:4; cf. Eph. 2:13, 17; Acts 2: 39). What about the 7? 7 and its multiples represent the seven Gentile nations of Canaan (Dt.7:1; Acts 13:19). It was often believed that the world consisted of 70 nations (Gen 10). ...