Isaiah 56:1-12
Isa 56:1
Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
While salvation is by grace, yet the LORD expected his
people to act properly toward each other since Judah and Israel had practiced
serious inequities by oppressing the poorer people and taking their homes and
lands and selling them into slavery for payment.
God wants them to act justly with each other and to engage in proper
justice for all no matter what their social status is.
The reason for this is that in this verse we find a prophecy of the
coming of the Messiah who has already been declared and will happen in the
Lord’s timing. He will utter in
salvation by grace and his imputed righteousness to all true believers.
Isa 56:2
Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the
son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from
polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Then the LORD pronounces a blessing upon the man who will
show justice and proper judgment toward his fellow man and the son of man which
means every human being in posterity.
Normally those who practice those things are the truly saved.
At this time the sabbath day was still part of the ceremonial law and
they were to continue to keep the sabbath.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep
it holy. (Exodus 20:8) They
were also to keep themselves from doing anything evil, even the slightest thing
because a little evil will always mushroom into something bigger.
One of the biggest evils they committed was idolatry which got them into
serious trouble and caused the seventy year captivity.
Isa 56:3
Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined
himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his
people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
Then there will be those strangers who are the Gentiles
who have come to know the LORD but instead of being welcomed by those in Israel
they felt ostracized to the point that they thought the LORD was the one who
separated them from his people when it was in essence that the people themselves
would not accept the Gentiles because the Jews thought the gospel was only for
them and did not see ahead that the gospel would go throughout the entire world.
Then the eunuch might say that they are a dry tree.
Being a eunuch does not necessarily mean
that a man has been physically altered but also points to the fact that he may
not have any children. The eunuch
in the kingdom of God when spreading the gospel will have many children,
spiritual children in the LORD that is.
For there are some eunuchs, which
were so born from their
mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and
there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's
sake. He that is able to receive it,
let him receive it. (Matthew
19:12) The term “eunuch” has a
wide application in the scriptures.
Isa 56:4
For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my
sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my
covenant;
He that is wounded
in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the
congregation of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 23:1) Under the law eunuchs were not
allowed to enter into the temple or tabernacle.
Yet, the LORD has great promise for them under the covenant of grace
because some of them, even though disallowed from entering the temple, they
chose to honor the sabbath day according to the law and chose to live lives that
were pleasing to the LORD in their daily dealings with other people and the
LORD. The covenant in view here is
not the Sinai covenant but is the covenant of grace which is more fully covered
in the next verse.
Isa 56:5
Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my
walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them
an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
Under the old covenant the eunuch was not even allowed to
enter the temple but within the covenant of grace they shall have a position
equal to all the other believers in the world.
And hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father; to him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)
They shall be made kings and priests in the household of God.
Under the old covenant the eunuch would not even be allowed to enter into
the congregation of the LORD and was considered an outcast.
Under the covenant of grace, they will be gathered as all the others in
the temple of God which is not made of stones.
What? know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians
6:19) The temple being built
under grace is the third and final temple here on earth.
The LORD will give the eunuch an everlasting name which means they will
become saved as any other true believers in Christ and because of their
situation, it will not affect their salvation and they will never be cut off or
removed from the Israel of God.
Isa 56:6
Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to
the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants,
every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my
covenant;
Then the promise of everlasting life extends even to the
sons of the Gentiles who have come under the covenant of grace and serves and
loves the LORD because of what he has done for them by not excluding them from
the covenant of grace. They are his
servants who serve him in righteousness and justice and under the old covenant
they would keep the seventh day sabbath but under the new covenant we have the
eternal sabbath in Christ which causes us to cease from labors, that is, from
the rituals of the ceremonial law.
There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9) The words “a rest” in the Greek text is
the word “sabbatismos” which has a root in the word “sabbath.”
Under the new covenant, there will be no need to work any type of
ceremony or ritual because all of that would be fulfilled in Christ.
Christians can pollute the sabbath rest in Christ by attempting to do
some type of work which they think might enhance their salvation.
No works of any kind can ever add to our salvation, that is the whole
meaning of the sabbath rest. We do
works because of our salvation not to add to it.
Isa 56:7
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them
joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house
of prayer for all people.
And it shall come
to pass in the last days, that
the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto
it. (Isaiah 2:2) Then the LORD
will bring these saved people into his holy mountain which is the mountain of
the LORD’s house as we read in verse 5.
Who shall ascend into the hill of
the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? (Psalm 24:3)
Then the question is posed who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Then the answer is given in the next two verses:
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of
his salvation. (Psalm 24:4-5)
Psalm 24:4-5 is the language of salvation of those who
have been redeemed by the Lord.
Then the LORD will make them joyful in the house of prayer and they will have
joy because it is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
They will not look upon prayer as a chore but a joy.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted as those that were
given by the Jews in the temple.
This is because Christ has fulfilled the demands of the ceremonial law and the
offerings and sacrifices of the redeemed will be acceptable upon his altar who
is Christ himself.
We have an altar, whereof they have no
right to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Hebrews 13:10)
Here is a verse
which teaches the exclusivity of Christianity. The altar we have is the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself and those who choose to still practice the Mosaic law, have
no right to partake. The choice is clear if you serve the tabernacle and the
Mosaic law, you will remain unsaved. If you serve Christ in Grace, you are saved
for all eternity. These systems cannot be amalgamated because they have two
different results. One leads to salvation, one does not. You cannot combine
belief and unbelief and come out with belief. Either your life is directed by
the Grace of God, that is your heart, or your life is directed by works. You
cannot have it both ways. Works and grace are antithetical when it comes to
salvation but after salvation, works are built upon grace making it a synthesis.
The temple was supposed to be a house of prayer but by the time Christ
came on the scene they made it a den of thieves.
And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den
of thieves. (Matthew 21:13) The
house of prayer in view for true believer is the whole house of God wherever it
is located. Prayer is no longer
located within a physical house but prayer is to be wherever the true believer
lives.
Isa 56:8
The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel
saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered
unto him.
Then here we have another revelation of the gospel going
worldwide. Not only does God gather
those he has redeemed from the surrounding nations around Israel, he now
proclaims that he is going to gather others and add to those who are already
gathered unto him.
And then shall he send his angels, and
shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of
the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. (Mark 13:27)
We see this fully when on the last day all the Elect will be gathered
together and taken to Heaven. Even
those whom God has saved which may be considered the outcasts of their nations
like in Israel if you were not part of the pure lineage.
Isa 56:9
All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea,
all ye beasts in the forest.
Now from the words of encouragement, the prophet now
turns to words of serious exhortation concerning the nation of Israel.
The beasts of the field would be akin to the Babylonians which will
eventually come upon the nation of Israel.
Here God is summoning them to do his will concerning fulfilling the
declaration that they must go into captivity for seventy years.
We could also include here the Romans who came in 70 A.D. and completely
devoured Israel off the face of the map.
Josephus stated that after the Romans were done with Israel, it looked
like no one ever lived there.
Isa 56:10
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant,
they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to
slumber.
The watchmen are the teachers, priests, and the prophets
who were supposed to be watching over the spiritual affairs of the people
instead they are blind as they lead the people into false religions and
idolatry. They are all ignorant
having no understanding as to what they had done to the nation of Judah by
causing them to depart from the LORD and driving them into idolatry and the
false religions which has only lead them into judgment at the hand of the LORD.
They are dumb dogs which cannot bark.
A dog is supposed to bark as soon as they sense or see an intruder and
the watchmen are supposed to raise their voices as soon as they encounter a
false teaching or religion but in this case they did not as they made friends
with the false religions. These
watchmen were also sleeping on the job as dogs do when they lay down and sleep
or else they could not be bothered.
Their personal comfort was all they cared about as many of them became wealthy
under these false religions. Before
we condemn the false priests in Judah, we need to look at the state of the
church today as there are many pastors who have allowed false teachings into the
churches while they were drawing a nice fat salary so they don’t want to upset
the status quo as the money keeps filling their pockets.
Isa 56:11
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never
have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they
all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
These leaders were greed filled and like an animal that
does not know the meaning of enough, they do the same thing as they never have
enough of the wealth and the other amenities which come with the false
religions. They are false shepherds
that cannot understand because they have departed from the LORD and went to the
false religions and so they have become so steeped in idolatry that their
understanding has been darkened and they do not know what they have done.
Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart: (Ephesians 4:18)
Instead of them looking upon the spiritual well-being of the people, they
had only one goal in mind and that was to see how much gain they could have.
They would care about money, possessions, land and anything else
associated with greed. The quarter
is the place where they had their assigned places of ministry.
They would seek to gain much wealth from right where they were supposed
to be serving the people but instead they were serving themselves.
Isa 56:12
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will
fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and
much more abundant.