Commentary - Isaiah 56:1-8

Bird's-eye view

This passage marks a significant turn in Isaiah's prophecy, looking forward to the nature of the covenant community after the exile. But as is typical with Isaiah, the historical return from Babylon is a type, a shadow, of the far greater reality to be inaugurated by the Messiah. The central theme here is the radical expansion of God's kingdom. The doors of the covenant community are thrown open to those who were previously excluded under the ceremonial law: the foreigner and the eunuch. This is not a lowering of standards, but a fulfillment of them. The basis for inclusion is not ethnic purity or physical wholeness, but a heart that holds fast to God's covenant. This is a gospel invitation, showing that the basis of our acceptance has always been grace through faith, which then manifests itself in glad obedience, particularly in the joyful observance of the Sabbath, which itself points to our ultimate rest in Christ.

Yahweh declares that His salvation is near, and this salvation is tied to His righteousness being revealed. This is a profound gospel statement. God's righteousness is not just a standard we must meet, but a gift He reveals and imputes to us. The practical outworking of receiving this gift is a life of justice and righteousness. The passage culminates in the famous declaration that God's house will be a house of prayer for all peoples, a promise Jesus Himself would later invoke when cleansing the temple. This is a clear prophecy of the Great Commission, the gathering of the outcasts not just of Israel, but of the entire world, into one body through the work of Jesus Christ.

Outline

Context In Isaiah

This section of Isaiah (chapters 56-66) is often called "Third Isaiah" by scholars who like to carve up the Bible, but we should see it as a seamless continuation of the prophet's message. Having just concluded the magnificent prophecy of the Suffering Servant in chapter 53 and the glorious free offer of the gospel in chapter 55, the prophet now turns to the practical implications. What does this new community, redeemed by the Servant, look like? How does it function? This passage answers that question by showing that the old ceremonial boundaries that separated Jew and Gentile are being superseded by a new, more profound reality. The focus shifts from the physical temple and the Levitical code to the spiritual reality of a heart that loves God and holds fast to His covenant. This sets the stage for the final chapters, which describe the new heavens and the new earth, a restored creation in which this international, redeemed community will dwell with God forever.

Key Issues

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

One of the central tensions in the Old Testament is the particularity of God's covenant with Israel and the universal scope of His ultimate redemptive plan. God chose one man, Abraham, and one nation, Israel, to be His special people. They were separated from the other nations by the covenant of circumcision and by the detailed requirements of the ceremonial law. This was necessary to preserve the line of the Messiah and to serve as a living object lesson of holiness. But it was never meant to be the final word. The plan all along was to bless all the families of the earth through Abraham's seed (Gen 12:3).

Here in Isaiah 56, we see the walls of separation beginning to crumble in a prophetic sense. The prophet looks ahead to a day when the defining characteristic of a member of God's people is not their bloodline or their physical conformity to a set of external rules, but rather their heart's allegiance to Yahweh and His covenant. The foreigner and the eunuch were two classes of people explicitly excluded from full participation in the assembly of Israel under the Mosaic law (Deut 23:1-3). Isaiah's prophecy that they will be welcomed, given a name better than sons and daughters, and brought to God's holy mountain is therefore a radical, gospel-drenched announcement. It is a foretaste of what the apostle Paul would later declare: that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, for all are one in Him (Gal 3:28).

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Thus says Yahweh, “Keep justice and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed.

The imperative to "keep justice and do righteousness" is grounded in a glorious announcement. This is not a command to earn salvation, but rather a command to live in a way that is consistent with the salvation that is about to break in. God's salvation and His righteousness are presented as two sides of the same coin. When God saves, He does so righteously. And the salvation He brings is the revelation of His own righteousness. This is what Paul argues in Romans: the gospel reveals a righteousness from God that is received by faith (Rom 1:17). Because God is about to act decisively in history to save His people, they are to prepare themselves by aligning their lives with His character. Justice and righteousness are not the cause of salvation, but they are its necessary fruit and anticipation.

2 How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it, Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

A beatitude is pronounced on the one who responds to the command. The "son of man" here is a general term for a human being. The blessing is for anyone who takes hold of this way of life. Two specific examples are given. First, keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a sign of the Mosaic covenant, a weekly reminder of God's work in creation and redemption. To keep it was to acknowledge Yahweh as Lord. In the new covenant, the principle of Sabbath rest is fulfilled and transformed in the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, which celebrates the new creation accomplished in Christ's resurrection. Second, keeping his hand from evil. This is a summary of the moral law. True religion involves both positive devotion (Sabbath-keeping) and negative restraint (avoiding evil). It is a whole-life commitment.

3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to Yahweh say, “Yahweh will surely separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

Here the prophet addresses the insecurities of the outsider. The "foreigner" is the Gentile who has come to faith in the God of Israel. Under the old rules, he was always on the periphery. He might fear that when God's salvation truly comes, he will be pushed aside in favor of ethnic Israel. The "eunuch" was barred from the assembly and, being unable to have children, could not continue his family line. He felt like a "dry tree," cut off from the future, with no legacy. Both represent those who felt excluded and barren. God tells them not to speak this way, not to believe these lies. Their fears are about to be obliterated by grace.

4-5 For thus says Yahweh, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 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.

The promise to the eunuch is breathtaking. Notice the conditions: they keep the Sabbath, choose God's pleasure, and hold fast to His covenant. This is the description of a true believer, regardless of physical condition. And the reward? God will give them a place and a name in His house. The very place from which they were excluded will become their home. He will give them a "memorial and a name" (yad vashem) that is better than having children. In a culture where one's name was carried on by posterity, this was a staggering promise. God Himself will be their legacy. Their name will be an everlasting one, because it is bound up with God's own name. This finds its ultimate fulfillment in the church, where our identity is in Christ, a name that can never be cut off.

6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, To minister to Him, and to love the name of Yahweh, To be His slaves, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And takes hold of My covenant,

The promise is now extended to the foreigner. Again, the description is that of a genuine convert. They join themselves to Yahweh for a purpose: to minister, to love His name, and to be His slaves (or servants). This is the language of wholehearted devotion. It is not a casual affiliation. And like the eunuch, their faithfulness is demonstrated by their glad obedience, summed up in keeping the Sabbath and holding fast to the covenant. This is the very heart of what it means to be one of God's people.

7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them glad in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

The climax of the promise is here. God Himself will personally escort these former outsiders to His holy mountain, to His very presence. He will not just tolerate them; He will make them glad. Their worship, previously considered unacceptable, will now be welcomed on His altar. The sacrifices here point forward to the spiritual sacrifices of praise and good works that all believers offer in Christ (1 Pet 2:5). And the reason for all this is a world-altering principle: God's house was never intended to be an exclusive ethnic club. Its ultimate purpose was to be a "house of prayer for all the peoples." Jesus quoted this very line when He drove the money-changers out of the temple (Mark 11:17), because their corrupt business was hindering the Court of the Gentiles, the very place where the nations were meant to come and pray.

8 Lord Yahweh, who gathers the banished of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

This final verse serves as God's signature on the promise. He identifies Himself as the one who gathers the outcasts of Israel. He is a restoring God. But His work of gathering will not stop there. To the remnant of Israel that He brings back, He will add "yet others." Who are these others? They are the foreigners, the eunuchs, the Gentiles from every tribe and tongue and nation. This is a magnificent, open-ended promise of the success of the gospel. The gathering work of God that began with Israel will swell into a global harvest, a great multitude that no one can number, all brought near by the blood of the covenant.

Application

This passage from Isaiah is a potent antidote to two opposite errors that plague the church: the error of legalistic exclusion and the error of sentimental inclusion. The error of exclusion sets up man-made barriers to fellowship. It says you have to look like us, talk like us, vote like us, and share our cultural preferences to be a true member of the body. It prizes conformity over conversion and pedigree over piety. This is the spirit of the Pharisee, and Isaiah condemns it. The gospel is for the foreigner and the eunuch, for the outcast and the marginalized, for anyone who will hold fast to the covenant of grace.

The opposite error is sentimental inclusion, which says that because God's house is for all peoples, there are no standards at all. It removes the demands of justice, righteousness, and covenant faithfulness. It wants to welcome everyone without calling anyone to repentance. But Isaiah is clear: the blessing is for the one "who takes hold of" God's ways, who keeps the Sabbath and refrains from evil, who loves the name of the Lord and seeks to minister to Him. The doors of the church are wide open, but they are the doors to a holy mountain. We come as we are, but by God's grace we do not stay as we are.

The application for us is to be a church that has the heart of God, a God who gathers outcasts. We should be actively seeking those who feel like "dry trees," who believe they have no future and no hope, and telling them that in Christ there is a name better than sons and daughters. We should be a house of prayer for all peoples, which means our prayers and our evangelism must be global in their scope. And we must remember that our own standing before God is not based on our bloodline or our resume, but solely on the fact that the Gatherer of Outcasts saw us in our banishment and, for His own name's sake, brought us home.