Thursday, February 28, 2008

The Sabbath was made for Man (Isaiah 56)

Yahweh promises blessing to the man who keeps justice and does righteousness. Here, as in Mark 8:1-6, keeping justice and doing righteousness takes a surprising Sabbath-keeping shape. It shouldn't have been all that surprising. Deut 5:12-15 prescribes the Sabbath as being also for the foreigners among Israel. The shalom of the land was to be a catholic experience. Remembering the Sabbath meant rehearsing Israel's own outcast identity, and God's redemptive exodus activity: "you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm." So, the primary public holiness sign for God's elect priesthood for the nations leaves the transgression of partiality without excuse.

When the Pharisees read Isaiah's, "blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil," they saw this as a divine right to cross their hands against anyone not sitting on their hands, especially when it came to touching someone with an unclean hand. The holiness laws maintaining ceremonial cleanness were read to promote partiality on a liberal basis, a virtue of zealousness for Yahweh.

Both Isaiah and Jesus overturn the table-manners of that brand of Sabbath keeping, especially on the dawn of the new creation. Keeping one's hand from doing just acts of covenant mercy effectively breaks the Spirit of "keeping his hand from doing any evil"...this partiality and mercy-forgetting has ironic murderous (not to mention Sabbath-breaking) consequences for Israel. Thus not only would the hard-heartedness of authorities lead to the oversighted death of just, covenantally-merciful men (Is 57:1), in the fullness of time, it would lead to the Pharisees' purposeful plot to kill God's son, Jesus, Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 3:6, cf. James 2:1-12). (The Apostle Paul, in Romans 2, makes much the same argument with respect to what it means to be truly circumcised in the new creation: law-keeping was intended from the beginning to take a catholic-circumcision shape, signalling God's future inclusion of Gentiles via the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise in Christ. To zealously apply 'circumcision' in ignorance of the universal communal implications of the promise of Christ to address the universal problem of sin was to effectively render oneself uncircumsized. Rom 2.23-29)

In contrast to their elitist table manners, Yahweh promises a special place in his house and sets his Sabbath-feast table for the outcasts (vss 3-7). He demands a liberal application of full acceptance to all Sabbath-keepers, those tempted to feel the inevitability of a loss of covenant communion, especially in the face of an overwhelming deluge of wrath to come. Isaiah exhorts Israel to speak Yahweh's justice for outcasts in Israel, comforting such ones that Yahweh will provide room in His house for covenant-keeping foreigners and eunuchs. To those who were considered (even to themselves) to be less than human, fated to be cut off from among his people, to them Yahweh promises "blessed is the man." (cf. Matthew 5:3ff).

In stubborn ignorance to such a suprising vision of welcome and impending wrath, Israel's leaders had prepared their own table to celebrate a counterfeit Sabbath feast (vss 56.10-12). They counterfeit Sabbath rest with their "love of slumber." Their love of wine likewise counterfeits the Sabbath sign of the enjoyment of the completion of havest labors from a blessed land. Their laborless loss of distinction between today and tomorrow profanes the holiness of the Sabbath, separated from the other six days, which signified that the eternal Sabbath rest was yet to come for God's people.

In effort to preserve their own names and territories, the leaders of Israel, appointed as shepherds, rendered themselves to be less than human. Isaiah likens them to barkless dogs, blind to the coming judgment upon the land because of their Sabbath-breaking injustices and foolishness. Israel, who had been called to be the "blessed man," God's image, ruling over and on behalf of the nations is going to be given over to the ravaging of power-hungry nations, whom they now resemble; their countfeit Sabbath feast only renders them fit food for the beasts (vs. 9).

one corinthians thirteen

though i must suffer, i believe
though it will hurt, i hope
Love, though it kills you

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

2007 Annual Report

Dear friends,

Thank you for all your prayers and support in 2007! My Annual Report for 2007 is now ready for your review. Please take a moment to read how God has used your help last year and how He is calling me to further serve churches this coming year and depend upon His help.


http://www.opcnorman.org/Wycliffe/EricPyle/newsletters/heart_lang_exp_feb08.pdf
(also downloadable from my webpage)

http://www.opcnorman.org/Wycliffe/EricPyle/#Communications
  • Fieldworks 5.0 has been released!
  • Appreciation from our President
  • Pledges met for 2007
  • Important partnership needs for 2008
  • Plans and prayer requests

Yours in His Kingdom,
Eric D. Pyle

ps. If you're interested in more frequent casual interaction, I'd love to have you as a friend on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/people/Eric_Pyle/730925814

Webpage : http://www.opcNorman.org/Wycliffe/EricPyle/
Personal Address
: 1520 Bradford St, Irving, TX 75061 (469-222-2865)
Wycliffe Bible Translators
: P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, Florida 32862-8200

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

purple hearts

Cupid points, arrows spent
men pour lemminglike o'er the cliff as a waterfall
whilst Ivory Towers peer over gates shut
like a babe refusing bottled milk.
Adam slept. Jesus wept. We must step
headlong dashed upon the Rock.
Rib breaks. Spirit spake. Last Adam wakes.
Thus, we all shall new flesh take.