Isaiah 56:1-12
Q.1. What instruction did the Lord give Israel? How far did this promise extend? What hope did He give to the eunuchs and childless people? – (Isa.56:1-5 c.f. Acts 8:27-35)
The blessing that God had foreshadowed for Israel required a moral response: – 1 Thus says the Lord, “Preserve justice and do righteousness, for My salvation is about to come and My righteousness to be revealed. 2 “How blessed is the man who does this … Who keeps from profaning the sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”(Isa.56:1-2). However, God’s promise of salvation and righteousness will extend to all nations – Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”(Isa.56:3). There was a magnificent promise made to those who never bear children: – 4 For thus says the Lord, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, 5 to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off (Isa.56:4-5). The New Testament recorded the story of an Ethiopian eunuch who was puzzled by Isaiah 53 until – Philip opened his mouth and beginning from this scripture he preached Jesus to him (Acts 8:35). After his conversion and baptism, the eunuch – went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:39). God had amply provided for his follow-up, as he read on to Isaiah chapters 54-56 – For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of a married woman … come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost … I will give him a name better than that of sons and daughters (Isa.54:1; 55:1; 56:5). God is always a step ahead. He has a higher purpose than what our finite minds could ever conceive (Isa.55:8-9).
Q.2. To whom did God promise His blessing? How did Jesus apply this truth? What was the message to Israel? Did they understand the heart of God for a lost world? – (Isa.56-12 c.f. Mk.11:15-18)
God had made generous promises to restore His people. However, His promises included the Gentiles – Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the sabbath and holds fast My covenant (Isa.56:6). In fact, God planned – … For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples (Isa.56:7 c.f. Mk.11:17). After the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, He went into the temple and threw out the Jewish traders and quoted from this passage (Mk.11:15-18). God’s message to Israel was clear enough – The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.” (Isa.56:8). However, God claimed that the watchman was asleep on the job, as well as blind – … they are shepherds who have no understanding; They have all turned to their own way, each one to his unjust gain … (Isa.56:11). They did not understand that – God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son … (Jn.3:16). That was how Jesus found His people in the temple. After that incident, their leaders –began seeking how to destroy Him (Mk.11:18).