Isaiah 56:1-8--Salvation for Foreigners

Isaiah 56:1-8
English Standard Version

Salvation for Foreigners
56 Thus says the LORD:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
    and my righteousness be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
    and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
    “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the LORD:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give in my house and within my walls
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
    and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant--
7 these 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 peoples.”
8 The Lord God,
    who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”

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So far, we've been reading a lot about the salvation that would be available to the LORD's people, Israel, but there have been some hints of other people from the Gentiles that would be saved.  Now, the LORD gives a message--an invitation--to all the nations of the world to accept the salvation that He is offering while there is still time.  Yet, the identifying mark of such a person is interesting--the first characteristic of a Gentile that has come to the LORD for salvation is that they will keep the Sabbath, and then the LORD says that they will love justice and righteousness and be what is right in regard to all other parts of the Law.  That's an interesting one to me as being Sabbath observers was one of the most identifying characteristics for a person of God.

Typically, the Gentiles were kept away from the Jewish people when it came to worship in the Temple and especially those who were eunuchs by birth or were made eunuchs later in life (usually those that were in service to a king would be made eunuchs to limit the threat of someone from within the king's court starting a revolution and creating a new dynasty, since these eunuchs would be unable to have their own children).  The LORD promises them access to Him and great honor where they have currently been dishonored and that they would have rewards greater than the blessings of children in this lifetime if they give their lives to the LORD.  That seems hard to believe when so much of the blessings that we think about are tied up in generational blessings of land and descendants, but the LORD will come through a prepare a place for those who have been isolated and without the hope of descendants.  He promises that in the coming Kingdom there will be no distinction given between Jew and Gentile or eunuch and non-eunuchs.

All of God's covenant people from all the nations of the world will be brought together to His holy mountain (Jerusalem, specifically to the new Temple) to worship the LORD with prayers, songs of praise, and sacrifices that they will make unto Him on His Holy Altar.  There will be no outcasts among His people--all will be welcomed into His presence if they come by way of His covenant.  The invitation is open to Jews and Gentiles alike--that is something that many of us miss when we read the Old Testament and think there is something new about this since Pentecost, but it has been God's desire from the very beginning to have a remnant from every tribe, tongue, people and nation.