“One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”²⁵And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? ²⁶He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” ²⁷Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; ²⁸so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” ⁴Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” Mark 2:23-28 Mark 3:1-6

“Jesus’ operating principle is that the Sabbath (and, with that, I am reading all of the law and the rituals of holiness) was created for humanity, and not the other way around.

– The idea that ‘humanity was made for the Sabbath’ continues to be a wildly popular theology that God created the law and humanity needs to live up to it or else we are lost. In that theology, God is chiefly known as holy, and humans have to achieve a certain level of holiness – through following laws or practicing purity rituals – to be acceptable to God.

– The alternative theology, which Jesus poses here, is that ‘the Sabbath was made for humanity.’ In that sense, God is chiefly known as love and the laws and purity rituals are for humanity’s own good. Or, even better, they offer ways that humanity can respond to God’s grace with gratitude.” (May 26, 2015, Putting Sabbath in Its Place, leftbehindandlovingit website.)

There must have been a good reason that Jesus rested on the seventh day – there must have been a good reason to sit back, relax, and take stock of what had happened the six previous days. It must have felt so good G-d deemed it worthy of all people to pattern their lives after this model – work for six days, and on the seventh – rest. It is a divine imperative – he commands us to rest. Our society used to model this schedule – our society used to respect the need for time off. But not any more – and perhaps this is why our society is becoming more and more unhinged. Without time to reflect upon the blessings we have, we work ourselves to death thinking only of the things we are without.

Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for humanity.” We have been given a divine Sabbath so that we can “…respond to God’s grace with gratitude”. When we decide to work instead of rest, we neglect our own health, and our relationship with G-d. Perhaps it is time for humanity to remember the gift of the Sabbath – and to live into that gift.

Pastor Dave

The Lost Scriptures – Apocalypses

The Ascension of Isaiah

CHAPTER 4

AND now Hezekiah and Josab my son, these are the days of the completion of the world. 2. After it is consummated, Beliar the great ruler, the king of this world, will descend, who hath ruled it since it came into being; yea, he will descent from his firmament in the likeness of a man, a lawless king, the slayer of his mother: who himself (even) this king. 3. Will persecute the plant which the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted. Of the Twelve one will be delivered into his hands. 4. This ruler in the form of that king will come and there will come and there will come with him all the powers of this world, and they will hearken unto him in all that he desires. 5. And at his word the sun will rise at night and he will make the moon to appear at the sixth hour. 6. And all that he hath desired he will do in the world: he will do and speak like the Beloved and he will say: “I am God and before me there has been none.” 7. And all the people in the world will believe in him. 8. And they will sacrifice to him and they will serve him saying: “This is God and beside him there is no other.” 9. And they greater number of those who shall have been associated together in order to receive the Beloved, he will turn aside after him.

10. And there will be the power of his miracles in every city and region. 11. And he will set up his image before him in every city. 12. And he shall bear sway three years and seven months and twenty-seven days. 13. And many believers and saints having seen Him for whom they were hoping, who was crucified, Jesus the Lord Christ, [after that I, Isaiah, had seen Him who was crucified and ascended] and those also who were believers in Him – of these few in those days will be left as His servants, while they flee from desert to desert, awaiting the coming of the Beloved. 14. And after (one thousand) three hundred and thirty-two days the Lord will come with His angels and with the armies of the holy ones from the seventh heaven with the glory of the seventh heaven, and He will drag Beliar into Gehenna and also his armies. 15. And He will give rest of the godly whom He shall find in the body in this world, [and the sun wil be ashamed]: 16. And to all who because of (their) faith in Him have execrated Beliar and his kings. But the saints will come with the Lord with their garments which are (now) stored up on high in the seventh heaven: with the Lord they will come, whose spirits are clothed, they will descend and be present in the world, and He will strengthen those, who have been found in the body, together with the saints, in the garments of the saints, and the Lord will minister to those who have kept watch in this world. 17. And afterwards they will turn themselves upward in their garments, and their body will be left in the world. 18. Then the voice of the Beloved will in wrath rebuke the things of heaven and the things of earth and the things of earth and the mountains and the hills and the cities and the desert and the forests and the angel of the sun and that of the moon, and all things wherein Beliar manifested himself and acted openly in this world, and there will be [a resurrection and] a judgment in their midst in those days, and the Beloved will cause fire to go forth from Him, and it will consume all the godless, and they will be as though they had not been created. 19. And the rest of the words of the vision is written in the vision of Babylon.

First and foremost, the Ascension of Isaiah needs an introduction, beginning with what is meant by “ascension”. In the case of Jesus, he ascended into heaven: was taken up to be with the Father. For Isaiah, to say he ascended means that he “climbed up” to heaven. This is a significant difference. Having made that distinction, there are some other interesting things to point out. The “Ascension” has a very interesting teaching about demonology. The text presents several names of demonic entities, though at times it is not clear whether it is talking about multiple beings or uses different names for the same creature.

Beliar Also known as Belial. This is the main demon in the “Ascension” (it’s the demon that Manasseh starts worshiping). He is portrayed as the demon of lawlessness and as lord of the terrestrial world (which is odd, since traditional christian mythology places Satan in this role; perhaps the text confuses the two… or maybe he subcontracts). He is also referred to as “Matanbuchus” and seems to live in the atmosphere as a spirit of air (a common view of demons).

Satan He makes fewer appearances in the “Ascension” and appears to have an influence over Manasseh (Isaiah says that his corruption by Satan is inevitable). It is not clear if he is meant to be the same being as Beliar, though it does not seem to be the case. In the text he is also referred to as “Sammael” and “Malchira” (a word unique to the “Ascension” of unknown etymology). The word “satan” also appears in the plural as a synonym of “demon”.

Sometimes we read texts because they are significant to the teachings of Jesus and his ministry. Sometimes we read texts because they offer a view into early Christian thought and worldview. This is the case for the Ascension of Isaiah. There is so much more for us to read – let alone reading the Bible: so we better get to it.

Pastor Dave