For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 56:1-3

1 This is what the Lord says:

‘Maintain justice
    and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
    and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does this –
    the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
    and keeps their hands from doing any evil.’

3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
    ‘The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.’
And let no eunuch complain,
    ‘I am only a dry tree.’

A. Find Out:

1. What does the Lord tell them to do? v.1a
2. Why? v.1b
3. Who is blessed? v.2a
4. What else does he do? v.2b
5. What two people are next addressed? v.3a,c
6. What are they next to say? v.3b,d

B. Think:

1. What is the motivating force behind good behaviour here?
2. What is the good behaviour to include?
3. How is the Lord’s blessing extended?

C. Comment:

In the previous chapters the coming blessing of the Lord has been spoken about and that is simply continued here. At the start the Lord says He is coming soon and His salvation and His righteousness will soon be revealed. So, He says, in the light of this, make sure you are living as I’ve told you to live in the past. Maintain justice (fairness and goodness, caring for all peoples) in your society and make sure you do what is right. Dare we say that our society in the West in a just society and that we do right as a people? Hmmm! If you live my ways, says the Lord you will be blessed. My way includes acknowledging me and honouring me and living in the way I’ve said (the Sabbath v.2), and ensuring evil has no place among you.

But it is more than appears at first sight. We might just assume that this applies to every Jew, but, no, says the Lord, it includes every person who has joined themselves to my people and become one of my faithful ones. So this isn’t just for Jews, it’s also for Gentiles who knit their hearts to God’s heart, so no such person should feel excluded. And indeed, it goes on in the following verses, if there is any person who, for whatever reason (we might say today) is disabled and feels incomplete, in the blessing that God brings, you are not a lesser person, you are not someone who will be excluded from God’s love.

D. Application:

1. God comes for all people and He comes to bring blessing or judgement. Judgement for rebellion, blessing for obedience.
2. If our hearts are right, no one will be excluded.

Passage: Isaiah 56:4-8

4 For this is what the Lord says:

‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose what pleases me
    and hold fast to my covenant –
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will endure for ever.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant –
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.’
8 The Sovereign Lord declares –
    he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
‘I will gather still others to them
    besides those already gathered.’

A. Find Out:

1. To whom does the Lord now speak? v.4
2. What will He give them? v.5
3. To whom next does He speak? v.6
4. What will He do for them? v.7a,b
5. What will the Temple be known as? v.7c
6. How does the Lord summarise all this? v.8

B. Think:

1. Read Deut 23:1 How is God changing things?
2. What is the criteria for this to happen?
3. What is the point about “foreigners”?

C. Comment:

The Lord has just said that His salvation is coming and is there for anyone who is righteous. He has briefly mentioned the foreigner or the eunuch and now he enlarges on what He has said. The point of the Law’s exclusion was probably to highlight the Lord’s emphasis on holiness meaning wholeness and thus for the sake of the purity of the Law, such men were excluded from the Temple. The point that the Lord is now making is that ANYONE who seeks and finds Him will be accepted and NONE will be excluded. It is a heart condition that includes anyone.

Even more than that, whereas the Sinai covenant had been specifically for the Jews, God’s heart is to the whole world and so any one who might fit the term Gentile or foreigner can be included in God’s blessings as long as they hold fast to the Lord and to His ways.

Thus it is that the Temple is meant to become a house of prayer for all nations . When we read of Jesus quoting this (Mt 21:13) the emphasis is on the temple being a place of prayer, not a market place, but here the emphasis is on it being a place for ALL NATIONS to come to, to meet with God. There is an inclusivity in these verses that the Jews found difficult.

What was the criteria for such people to be accepted? That they would “bind themselves to the Lord to serve Him” (v.6). This meant that there was to be a heart joining with the Lord, and wherever that is, the Lord will accept that person, whoever they are, from whatever place they come.

D. Application:

1. God has no prejudices. He accepts all peoples.
2. The only criteria for acceptance is heart desire and righteousness.

Passage: Isaiah 56:9-12   

9 Come, all you beasts of the field,
    come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel’s watchmen are blind,
    they all lack knowledge;
they are all mute dogs,
    they cannot bark;
they lie around and dream,
    they love to sleep.
11 They are dogs with mighty appetites;
    they never have enough.
They are shepherds who lack understanding;
    they all turn to their own way,
    they seek their own gain.
12 ‘Come,’ each one cries, ‘let me get wine!
    Let us drink our fill of beer!
And tomorrow will be like today,
    or even far better.’

A. Find Out:

1. To whom does the Lord call? v.9
2. What does the Lord say about the watchmen? v.10
3. What does He call them and why? v.11a
4. What else does He call them and why? v.11b
5. What are they obviously doing? v.12a
6. What are they trusting in? v.12b

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise verse 9?
2. Who do you think the watchmen are?
3. What is God’s complaint against them?

C. Comment:

In Isaiah there sometimes seem stark contrasts. This is one of them. From the Lord promising blessing for any and all who would seek Him and unite themselves to Him, He now turns to those who are unfaithful and who deserve His anger.

He commences with a call to the wild creatures of the land (possibly pagan nations) to come and devour unfaithful Israel. This is a hard word of judgement, but they are clearly good for nothing else. He then focuses on the “watchmen”, those who responsibility for rousing Israel, for alerting them to their state and calling them back to God. If the watchmen don’t do this, then sinful mankind will fall into godless apathy and will then fall into worse things, such as idolatry and false religion.

His condemnation of these watchmen is strong and detailed. First they are half asleep and cannot see properly. Second they cannot call out to the people, they are mute. They love to sleep and don’t want to be disturbed. The very qualities of a watchman are all missing: alertness, clarity of sight and vision, and a strong voice to call to the people – all absent!

He goes on to describe them as dogs with large appetites – self pleasing! They are like clueless shepherds who are supposed to understand the need of the sheep and the dangers that face them, but who are instead, simply self concerned, focusing on pleasure, saying, “It’s all right, tomorrow will be the same as today, it’s all right!” Very wrong!

D. Application:

1. God’s children are called to be alert watchmen, called to warn others.
2. A concern for others will create a watchfulness.