Isaiah 56: 1 – 12
Come One Come All
1 Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, “The LORD has utterly separated me from His people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” 4 For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, 5 Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants—Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant—7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.” 9 All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest. 10 His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory. 12 “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.”
When I was a little kid one event that has been imprinted greatly upon my brain was that time my parents took me to the circus. The sights and colors still shine as bright in my thoughts. The unique smells still are triggered today as I visit different locations. The sounds of certain vendors resonate in my mind. One such was the speech of a side show vendor who was nonstop selling his next performance. I still hear his voice, ‘Come one, come all, see the mysteries; experience the thrills; observe the death defying acts.’ Wow! For a kid this was something else.
Can you see also in these verses our Precious Holy Spirit’s similar call? We will see that He also announces, “Come one, come all”. See the Awesome Salvation that the Messiah has done for you. All can receive.’ Amazing!
This being said this section of Isaiah is built around the theme of faithfulness to the everlasting covenant mentioned in chapter 55 verse 3, and of response (or lack of response) to God’s saving purposes. One important aspect of this is with regard to the keeping of the Sabbath which comes with a threefold emphasis beginning in this chapter and in chapters 58 along with chapter 66, where the thought is of keeping one day set apart for the worship of our Great Adoni Yahweh. The Sabbath is a day for worship and for doing our Great God Yahweh’s pleasure. It is a day for submission to our Holy God. It is a day for delighting in His will.
Note how this ‘new’ approach to the Sabbath is in line with. It is not calling simply for a laborious observance of its requirement, but for a new positive attitude towards God. It is to be living and not dead. And most noteworthy it is open for all to enjoy and participate.
If you have a chance I would like you to take a look at the sermon ‘God’s 9 Commandments’ that I had the privilege of putting together. In this teaching I take a look at how we as Christians have been duped into thinking that we do not have to obey God’s Commandments. I get answers such as they were only for the Jews. My question to this position is ‘then it is okay for us to steal, commit adultery, and murder?’ The quick response is – ‘of course not’. Then how come we only have to obey 9 of God’s Commandments? Why is the Sabbath ignored especially as we see that He has put so much concern for it?
Back in the book of Exodus we see it presented by our Holy El Shaddai, Almighty God. Let’s take a look at exactly at what it says, “8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
Reading this can you now take a guess why our Wonderful Holy Master addresses the Sabbath? No one brave enough to take a guess? Let me take a stab at it. I believe it all has to do with the fact that our God Is The Creator and Sustainer of all life. Look at the worldly wisdom which is from Satan. What is being taught in our schools? It is evolution. Satan thinks that somehow our Holy Trinity just evolved. They just got here earlier than Him. So, why shouldn’t he be allowed to be god? Not so, Our Holy God alone Is the Creator and Ruler over the heavens and the earth. He rightly so will not share His Glory with another. To Him Alone deserves all Honor, Glory, Praise, Love, and Worship.
So, is the Sabbath just a day for us Christians to ignore?
Here is another question, is it okay to make our Sabbath any day such as Sunday?
I believe the answer is a sounding ‘No!’ Who are we to change the day?
So, when is the Sabbath? It starts at sundown Friday evening until sunset Saturday.
Then how come we all that is Protestants and Catholics observe Sunday as our day? Well, I invite you to look up this answer in the Catholic dictionary. Sadly, the proud boasting came from irreverent men who think that they are God’s representatives on earth. They proclaimed that they have the authority to change God’s rules and laws. So, to show forth their unlawful speaking for our Holy Maker they changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. We as Protestants do not know that we are playing right into this false Catholic doctrine by having our joining in with their change of one of God’s Commandments?
What day does our Holy Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have to say about the Sabbath? His responses are in three of the Gospels. Let me just give you one from the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, “And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” Take another look at His answer. He Is Lord of The Sabbath [Saturday]. Nowhere does it say, ‘pick any day you want as your Sabbath.’ Do you understand?
Are you aware that they also changed another of God’s Commandments? You see our back in Exodus 20, “1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Since the Catholic religion adopted the pagan practices of idol worship they took out the Commandment not to make any idols. In order to come up with Ten Commandments they spit the 10th Commandment by listing, “17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” into two parts. [9th not covet your neighbor’s wife and 10th not covet you neighbor’s wife.]
How do you think our Great Creator thinks about these changes?
It is significant that this observance of the Sabbath is especially linked to ‘outsiders’ coming to Yahweh. It becomes the sign that eunuchs (verse 4), ‘strangers’ (verse 6) and ‘all flesh’ ( chapter 66 verse 23) are welcomed within the new covenant. For Yahweh’s house is to be a house of prayer for all peoples ( verse 7). Significantly there is no mention of circumcision. True worship of Yahweh on one day out of seven in full-hearted and total commitment: ceasing to do evil; and learning to do well, become the signs of true believers. It is good news for all.
This chapter is a chapter of contrasts. On the one hand God’s heart is open to all, including the physically impaired and the racially impaired, and all who seek righteousness are welcome. His house is open to all. It is an indication that Yahweh’s welcome still reaches out widely. But the problem is revealed as our Precious Holy Spirit has brought out in previous chapters that the spiritual leaders of are by their blindness, laziness and greed welcoming ‘wild beasts’ who tear the hearts out of His people. Their perspective is that they are simply offering them ‘a good time’.
1 Thus says the LORD: “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come, and My righteousness to be revealed.
Our Holy God’s Salvation is seen to be coming and His righteousness is to be revealed in the righteous deliverance of His own, and His true people are therefore to prepare themselves and be ready for that day by ‘keeping judgment (justice) and doing righteousness’. Please note how continually the emphasis is on justice and righteousness and on doing the will of God (which in the end is what righteousness is). God’s aim is to establish a righteous people.
‘Judgment’ here may be seen as referring to having a right judgment on things, as taking up a right attitude, of listening to those who like Isaiah speak the truth, of revealing right behavior and response, behaving justly, and fulfilling all the covenant requirements, including those that enable a free approach to God.
‘Righteousness’ may be seen as involving being like the Righteous One, as involving pleasing God and doing what is right in His eyes The righteous man obeys the covenant, which represents what is right in His eyes.
We see these ideas as responding to the negative and positive aspects of the Law, The Ten Commandments. Part of the basic Law is negative, as echoed in the words ‘You shall not --’. Thus, you shall not have other gods, worship graven images, take Yahweh’s name in vain, steal, kill, commit adultery, covet and bear false witness. And this accords with justice. The other part is positive echoing relationship to God, remembering the Sabbath day and honoring father and mother, and this accords with righteousness, the acknowledgement of heavenly and earthly authority. The distinction, however, must not be overstressed. In the end truly behaving justly is being righteous, if it comes from the heart.
We may see all this as summed up positively by our Lord and Savior Jesus expressed in the Godpel of Matthew 22 in ‘you shall love Yahweh your God with heart, soul, and strength’ (Deuteronomy 6.4-5) and ‘your neighbor as yourself’ (Leviticus 19.18).
The keeping of these requirements (retaining them in the heart and meditating on them so as to fulfill them) is to be in the light of the coming anticipated final deliverance of Yahweh, the salvation that is near to come, and on the fact that God will thereby reveal His own righteousness in delivering the righteous. Note the assumption. It is the righteous who will be delivered, the spiritual remnant among God’s outward people, those who are truly responding to His covenant and seeking to please God because they trust in Him.
The Old Testament idea of the righteous is that they come to God constantly through the sacrificial system seeking atonement, seeking to be right with God through His mercy, and then themselves respond to His goodness from the heart by living in accordance with His covenant requirements. They walk with God. They cease to do evil and learn to do well.
2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
The one who keeps judgment and does righteousness will be truly blessed and is now defined as the one who rightly keeps the Sabbath as a day set apart for God (you shall love the Lord your God) and who keeps his hand from doing evil (you shall love your neighbor), the latter being defined in verse 4 in terms of choosing the things that please Yahweh and holding fast to His covenant. To displease Yahweh and to fail to fulfill the requirements of the covenant is to do evil. As ever in Isaiah such people are blessed because their behavior indicates a true response to Yahweh’s offer of mercy and deliverance. Theses verbs are imperfects indicating continuous action.
Thus the keeping of the Sabbath as thought of by Isaiah was an indication of a full-hearted love for Yahweh, and of a desire to please Him and do His will. Each Sabbath was to open with the thought, ‘how can I please Him today?
I am sure this is what all of us do in our daily prayers, right?
3 Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD speak, saying, “The LORD has utterly separated me from His people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.”
This remarkable statement reveals how the religious atmosphere is changing in the prophetic ministry of Isaiah. There is a new openness to all and an emphasis on the spiritual rather than the flesh. Both ‘strangers’ who are not members of the covenant, and yet have come among God’s people, and ‘eunuchs’, men who have been ‘treated’ so that they are no longer fruit bearing, are to be welcomed into the new everlasting covenant because of what the Servant has done, and are to be given their heart’s desire, in the one case the right to full access to Yahweh, and in the other remembrance in Israel and entry into Yahweh’s house.
‘Strangers’ were those who came into the land, but who were not within the covenant. They had not united with the people of God through undergoing circumcision and being officially and religiously accepted into the congregation of Israel. (If they had they would no longer be ‘strangers’). Thus they saw themselves as ‘separate’ from the covenant and from God. But had they been circumcised there would be no reason why they should see themselves as separate from God, for once they had been circumcised and had joined the covenant, they would be one with His people. So the implication is that these ‘strangers’ would continue to be uncircumcised. This would tie in with their being paralleled with eunuchs. Both were ‘deficient’ in the privy parts.
According to the Law neither uncircumcised stranger nor eunuch could enter the assembly of Yahweh. In the case of strangers it was because they were not within the covenant. They were still ‘outsiders’. In the case of eunuchs it was because they were looked on as physically ‘blemished’ and non-fruit bearing (a further blemish because caused by physical disability).
Nothing that was blemished could be allowed to enter the sacred precincts of the temple because of God’s holiness, God’s perfection. This restriction was a way of getting this lesson over and of making men aware that God required perfection (they could, however, still make their offerings through substitutes). But through the work of the Servant both would be wholly welcomed as God’s people as long as they responded to the specific requirements of the new covenant. Circumcision has been replaced by what He has done in sacrificing Himself; fruit bearing is now to be a spiritual exercise. What will matter is the bearing of fruit by good works and by witness, rather than by physical birth.
4 For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, 5 Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
The eunuch, whether through accident, or through a deliberate mutilation, something which was common in those days outside Israel, was unable to contribute children to the seed of Abraham. His name would therefore be cut off because when he died his descendants would cease. The sense of shame and loss they felt as a result of this comes out in Isaiah’s promise concerning them. They longed that their name might be permanently remembered in Israel.
There is also an indication here of how important the bearing of children was seen to be, for without them how their names could be remembered? But those eunuchs who fully responded to Yahweh, and revealed it by observing His Sabbaths, choosing to do what pleased Him and fully responding to the requirements of the covenant, would receive a memorial better than that of sons and daughters. They would through the spiritual nature of their lives bring men to God who would be seen as their ‘children’. This would give them an everlasting reputation, a permanent remembrance of a non-physical kind. And for there to be everlastingness it in essence required an everlasting kingdom in order for it to be so.
Thus a fruit-bearing life which was pleasing to God, a life that sought to choose what pleased Him, a life committed to obedience to His covenant, was now to be seen as more important than the ability to beget children, and could restore a eunuch to being a fruit-bearing tree.
Notice the LORD;s promise to those who were outcasts, ‘Will I give in My house and within My walls.’ Entry for the eunuch into the close presence of God is promised. He will have full rights of access to God on parallel with others, depicted here in terms of full access to the temple, (the only way of true worship then known). And it is stressed that it is ‘within My walls’. There is no basis for seeing this as indicating full access within the sacred precinct. But there is to be no sense of exclusion from what is available to all true worshippers.
6 “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants—Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant—7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Also to be welcomed are ‘strangers’. These ‘strangers’ (non-Israelites) are said to join themselves to Yahweh in order to ‘minister’ to Him, and the word ‘minister’ suggests temple service similar to that of the Levites. Some therefore see in these a reference to the Nethinim who were probably foreign temple-slaves who assisted the Levites in menial duties. But they were forced labor, and would surely have been circumcised into the covenant (whether voluntarily or by force) and thus would no longer be ‘strangers’, whereas these strangers seem to have joined themselves to Yahweh deliberately and are distinguished as those who ‘love the name of Yahweh’.
This therefore seems to suggest those who of their own free choice have come to Yahweh, although not being circumcised into the covenant (otherwise they would no longer be ‘strangers’). Thus their temple service must be seen as voluntary, as resulting from their love for Yahweh. But it would only be on the periphery of the temple because they were not within the covenant, and their deep grief was thus that they could not enter more deeply into that worship (in some ways they were similar to the later God-fearers in contrast with the proselytes, worshipping Yahweh but unwilling to enter the covenant through circumcision).
Here Isaiah assures them that because of what the Servant has done, if they enter fully into the new covenant introduced by Him and keep Yahweh’s Sabbath without profaning it (worship truly and seek that which delights Yahweh), then they will have a full introduction into true worship depicted in terms of entering the holy mountain, being joyful in the house of prayer and offering acceptable offerings at the altar to Yahweh. They will no longer be excluded. This is because that house of prayer is to be a house of prayer for all peoples. They will no longer be seen as strangers but as one with God’s people, even though uncircumcised. Their hearts will sing for joy in the presence of God, and they will find forgiveness of sins and atonement before Him, as Isaiah had so long before. The temple is here, then, seen as a temple for all people and the stranger no longer prays ‘towards the house’ but enters fully into it to worship Yahweh and enjoy His presence.
Note the threefold aspects of their worship, entering the holy mountain, being joyful in the house of prayer and offering acceptable offerings at the altar of Yahweh, indicating deliberate approach, rejoicing in heart, and atonement and worship through sacrifice.
8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.”
Note the reversion here to ‘the Lord Yahweh’, stressing His sovereignty over all and the stress on the prophetic word (‘neum adonai Yahweh’ - ‘the word of the Lord Yahweh’). He will not only gather those who have been pushed/driven away, the outcasts of Israel, but also others, the strangers and eunuchs who seek His face. The ‘outcasts of Israel’ may refer to those who have been thrust from Him because of their sinfulness, or may have in mind the scattered exiles around the world. Either way the idea is of their being brought back to Him. And at the same time He will gather others. We are reminded of Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John 10:16 , ‘other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring’. God is calling the world back to Himself.
In total contrast with our Great God, Adoni Yahweh, Who welcomes the righteous whatever their physical status, (but only the righteous), are the leadership of Israel. They allow in those who are like brute beasts, and this is because they themselves are blind and without discernment. They are like watchdogs who have lost their bark (and thus cannot warn of intruders) and are asleep. Worse, they are simply greedy for gain. They are too taken up with other things to carry out their responsibilities.
9 All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all you beasts in the forest. 10 His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
The beasts of the field (the cattle) and of the forest (wild beasts), depicting the worst kind of people (or even foreign invaders), are being called in to partake with the supposed people of God. They can savage them and devour them, and they can make their way in undisturbed because the watchdogs are asleep.
The vivid picture sees the beasts as making their way into the city past the watchmen, in order to ravage it because the watchdogs are not doing their job. They are out of their control. And the result is that soon the city of men is full of ‘beasts’.
This can only happen because the watchmen appointed to watch over Israel are blind; they are lacking in true spiritual knowledge, and are like watchdogs that have lost their bark, no longer warning against intruders. They are like watchdogs that dream, and lie around and sleep all day.
11 Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory. 12 “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, and much more abundant.”
The basic problem lays in the fact that the leaders, including the religious leaders, the priests and the prophets, are themselves only out for gain. The watchdogs are not only lazy but greedy. They are out to feather their own nests, even if it is at the cost of truth. That is why the shepherds of the people are ‘unable to understand’, that is, they have minds closed towards God and to His demands and to His covenant. It is because they have all turned to their own way. They have been seized by the deceitfulness of riches. They have become totally selfish and seek to obtain wealth from every quarter in all they do. It is always a sad day when the watchdogs and the shepherds fail in their responsibility, and especially when they become greedy. Then the cattle and the wild beasts can run wild and do what they want and the people of God suffer.
And what is more these people, the shepherds, live in their own dream world, a world of drunken stupor. They partake of wine and strong drink and thus see the future as ever rosier where this results in revelry and injustice. They cannot see what is happening around them. Judah is being possessed by ‘wild beasts’ and they do not care, because they are engaged in a round of pleasure and drunkenness. And the result is that truth is the victim.
Does this sound like something that only happened in the past or are these same things going on today. Check out your mega churches. Take a look at some of their salaries. These Pastors preach about heaven but are building rich estates here on earth. Many have salaries that are $300 thousand a year. They own buildings, stocks, and high portfolios’ The answer we should take from this is to ‘do what they say, not what they do.’
