their broader culture, context and experience. This included the broader
philosophies and worldviews of Babylon and other cultures that had and
continued to infl uence the Isaian community.
Like the apostles and elders of Acts 15, the approach of the prophet
of this Isaian community was to draw from the well of earlier traditions.
This is refl ective of the approach of the prophet in Second Isaiah (Isaiah
40–55) that deliberately appealed to and prioritized the earlier traditions
of Abraham, the exodus/conquest, and David. 25 Similarly, the prophet’s
future vision for the post-exilic community was informed and shaped
by these earlier traditions. 26 The appeal to earlier traditions reinforced
the current work of the Spirit. To do this, the prophet of Isaiah 56:1–8
appealed to and prioritized the earlier narrative traditions of Scripture
that emphasized the inclusive aspects of the Sinai covenant, particularly
the purpose of election, rather than the exclusivity of the Deuteronomist.
The foreigner who loves the name of Yahweh (i.e., keeps the fi rst com-
mandment) and keeps Sabbath, both features of the Sinai tradition, will
be included in the community of faith (Isaiah 56:6). The foreigner will
now come to the “holy mountain” (a reference to Sinai) where their burnt
offerings will be acceptable (56:7). The covenant description provided in
Exodus 19 emphasized the vocation of the community to be “a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation” (19:6). While the application of being a holy
nation (and thereby “set apart”) may reinforce an exclusivist approach to
outsiders, their role of being a kingdom of priests may suggest an inclu-
sion of others for whom they mediate. Similarly, the eunuchs who keep
covenant in the Sinai tradition will not be like a “dry tree” (Is 56:3). As
a keeper and lover of the law, they will instead be like the tree of Psalm 1
that is fruitful. It is these positive and inclusive traditions that are priori-
ties in the imagery of Isaiah 56:1–8. Like the situation deliberated at the
Council of Jerusalem, there are confl icting Scriptures that could have been
adopted by the prophet, even from within the Torah tradition. So on what
basis does the prophet respond to the issue of the inclusion of the gentiles
and eunuchs? Like the example of the Council of Jerusalem, the prophet
prioritizes the new work of the Spirit, as well as prioritizing the texts, or
traditions, that refl ect and reinforce this experience.
By this invitation of Isaiah 56:1–8 for the gentiles and eunuchs to be
included in the community of Yahweh, the Spirit essentially “trumps”
both tradition and text (i.e., the previous interpretations of the Torah
tradition). This comparable dynamic reading approach, whereby tradition
and text are “trumped” by the new work of the Spirit, may be similarly
152 J. GREY