WWUTT 2139 The Unworthy Made Worthy (Isaiah 56:1-12)

Throughout Isaiah, we have had the promise that God will gather His people to Himself again. We've even seen the promise that He'll gather foreigners to Himself, and even those who are unworthy and unclean will be gathered to Him when we understand the text.

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Isaiah 56 and the Promise of Gathering the Unworthy

Thank you, Becky. In our study of Isaiah, we are up to chapter 56 this week. We have read about the suffering servant, whom we know to be Jesus Christ, who was talked about in chapter 53, how He is going to bring His people to Himself in chapters 54 and 55.

But here in 56, we are going to learn that even those who are far off, even those who otherwise would not be fit for worship or service in the tabernacle or the temple, even they will be brought near by the servant whom God is going to send.

Let's read Isaiah 56, verses 1 through 12 out of the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says Yahweh, keep justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed.

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. 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.

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. Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh, to minister to Him and to love the name of Yahweh, to be His slaves, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and takes hold of my covenant, 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. Lord Yahweh, who gathers the banished of Israel, declares, Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.

All you beasts of the field, all you beasts in the forest, come to eat. His watchmen are blind, all of them know nothing, all of them are mute dogs unable to bark, dreamers lying down who love to slumber.

And the dogs have a strong appetite, they do not know satisfaction, and they are shepherds who do not know understanding. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his greedy gain to the last one.

Come, they say, let us take wine and let us drink heavily of strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, beyond exceedingly great. There was a line in here you probably recognized right away, where the Lord says, my house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

Where have you heard that before? Well, any account that you read of Jesus cleansing the temple, that's exactly what Christ says. My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it into a den of robbers, he says to those who were exchanging money and selling sacrifices in the tabernacle.

They were cutting off the Gentiles, but here we have the promise, here we have it foretold, prophesied, that God is going to rescue even the Gentiles. He will draw near to himself. He promises that those who are unworthy, verses 1 -5, even they will be welcome in my house, their sacrifices will be welcome on my altar.

And then the promise to the foreigners in verses 6 -8. But then that last portion certainly changed gears, verses 9 -12, and we read there of false prophets, who will even try to lead astray those Gentiles that God wants to bring near to himself.

We know that there are false shepherds among the Israelites. In fact, some of those false shepherds were trying to lead the people astray, even in Isaiah's day. And later on, when they're going to be exiled to the Babylonians, there will be false shepherds that will try to tell them, no, the Lord isn't going to drive us out.

He, in fact, means good for us, and within a year or two, we're going to be able to come back to this land, and all the Babylonians will be gone. There will be false teachers that will claim to have a word from the Lord, but they speak from their own flesh and not from God.

And so what's being pointed out here in Isaiah 56, is that even the Gentiles, there will be those false teachers that will try to pray upon them as well. So we come back up to verse 1. We read, thus says Yahweh, keep justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

Remember, the righteousness that we have comes not from ourselves, but from God. It is the righteousness that has been revealed in the giving of his son, Jesus Christ. How blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it, who takes hold of righteousness, who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

You probably noticed, especially in this first portion here in verses 1 through 5, this statement about keeping my Sabbaths. Verse 4, to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what pleases me. So we have that statement that comes up here twice in these first five verses.

So what is meant by that? Do we have to keep the Sabbath? Do we keep the Sabbath laws and do it on Saturday, which was the Sabbath for ancient Israel? Is that what we're supposed to be doing? In order to have the favor of God, we need to keep the Sabbath day.

Well, remember what Paul says in Colossians 2 .16,. Therefore, let no one judge you in terms of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath, things which are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Christ is our Sabbath rest. He is the one who had fulfilled everything regarding the Sabbath, and all the feast days, all of the festivals, all of that was pointing to Christ who fulfills these things.

So when we see these statements here about a Sabbath rest, if we're going to jump straight to application, we would understand this as being a reference to Christ, for he is our Sabbath rest with God.

We have fellowship with God and we are at peace with God, not at enmity with him, but we have peace with him. Our sins are forgiven because of what he has done for us through Christ. Christ gives us that rest.

Remember his statement in Matthew 11, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So those who keep from profaning the Sabbath and keep his hand from doing any evil are those who are in Christ.

That's very simply what's being said here in Isaiah 56. Verse 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.

So this would be Gentiles saying, See, God's favor is upon Israel. What's he going to do with me? He's going to cut me off. I don't have anybody to go to. But what is being promised here is that a day is going to come in which even the foreigners, even the eunuchs, remember the eunuchs were not even permitted to be in the tabernacle area.

They were not permitted to come near the tabernacle. Leviticus 21, 18, No one who has a defect shall come near. A blind man or a lame man or he who has a disfigured face or any deformed limb or a man who has broken foot or broken hand or a hunchback or a dwarf or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.

That would be the eunuch because the eunuch has been castrated. He has been set aside specifically for royal service most of the time. And so this man would not be fit to even come near to God in the temple.

So what is being promised here is that all those who previously did not have a place with me, now they will. A day is coming in which the eunuch won't be able to say, I'm a dry tree. I can't be fruitful.

I can't even come and bring the sacrifice near to Yahweh. Verse 4,. For thus says Yahweh to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant. All of this in reference to Christ, we are in covenant with God through faith in Christ.

To them, it says in verse 5, I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial. Eunuchs previously could not even come into the walls of the house of God. And here it is being said they will be invited in and they will have a house with me and a name better than that of sons and daughters.

I will give them an everlasting name, which will not be cut off. Not even Israel had that. Many Israelites, in fact, probably the vast majority of Jews and their descendants down through the ages have perished and have not known the paradise of God.

But those who know God through Jesus Christ will be brought near and they will have a name that is better than that of sons and daughters. They will wear the name of Christ. Verse 6,. Also the foreigners who join themselves to Yahweh to minister to him and to love the name of Yahweh, to be his slaves, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and takes hold of my covenant, even those I will bring to my holy mountain.

Now the holy mountain was where the temple stood. And at this particular time that Isaiah is writing this, the temple was still standing there on Mount Moriah. But basically a reference to the holy mountain is wherever God dwells, where he dwells, that is the holy high place.

I will 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. And again, that was something that Christ came proclaiming when he drove those out of the temple who were cutting off the Gentiles and not letting them come near.

Jesus went to fight on their behalf, that even the Gentiles are given the opportunity to come near to God and the Gentiles are brought near through faith in Christ. 1 Peter 2 .9, you are a chosen family, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Everyone before they come to Christ is no people at all, but now in Christ we have become the people of God.

That is the greatest identity that we could be given, to wear the name of Christ and call upon God as our Father, as children of our Heavenly Father. Titus 3 .3 says,. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, despicable, and hating one another.

But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

So once again you have the statement there, that once we were far off, once we were despised by others and we were hating one another, but when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.

As also said in Ephesians, we who were once far off have now been brought near by the precious blood of Jesus. So verse 8 here, back to Isaiah 56, Lord Yahweh, who gathers the banished of Israel, declares,.

Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered. As Jesus said in John 10, 16, I have other sheep, which are not from this fold, I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock with one shepherd.

That very well could be a reference to Isaiah 56, 8. Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered. So the Lord is bringing people to himself through Christ, people even from the nations, people that were otherwise despised, people that in the law, it was said, could not even come near.

Christ, as the fulfillment of the law, has made the way for them to come and be part of the family of God and draw near to him and receive a name that's even better than sons and daughters. Now in this last section, though, we have that warning, that prophetic statement about false teachers that will come.

There will be the false prophets who will try to woo away even the Gentiles. Just as false prophets tried to have their way with Israel, so it's going to be even with those who would desire to come near to God through Jesus Christ.

Peter says, in fact, so speaking to everybody, not just Jews, but even Gentiles, 2 Peter 2, he says, false prophets will arise among you, just as there were false prophets in the days of Israel. 2 Peter 2 .1, but false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

And so that's what we see here in this last portion of Isaiah 56. Verse 9, all you beasts of the field, all you beasts in the forest, come to eat. His watchmen are blind, all of them know nothing. All of them are mute dogs, unable to bark, dreamers lying down who love to slumber.

And the dogs have a strong appetite. They do not know satisfaction. Dogs is often a reference to Gentiles. We see that not only in the Old Testament, but even in the New. Like in Philippians 3, where Paul says, watch out for the dogs.

In Revelation, where it says that outside the celestial city are the dogs. Jesus said in Matthew 7 .6, do not give what is holy to dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine, both unclean animals, which would typify Gentiles or pagans.

And then also when there was the Canaanite woman who was begging that Jesus would heal her daughter. Jesus said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But she came and bowed before him and said, Lord, help me.

And he said, it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. So even there with this Canaanite woman begging Jesus for a miracle, he makes a reference to the Gentiles being dogs.

But she said, yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the crumbs, which fall from their master's table. And then Jesus answered and said to her, a woman, your faith is great. It shall be done for you as you wish.

And her daughter was healed at once. So all that to say, we have these constant references in Scripture to the dogs being the Gentiles. And here the dogs have a strong appetite. Even among the Gentiles, there will be false prophets.

They do not know satisfaction. They can never have enough. They're not satisfied with Christ. And so they go out into the world and try to find pleasure there. This goes right along with the warning that Peter gave in 2 Peter 2, where he said, many will follow their sensuality.

And because of them, the way of truth will be maligned. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep. So here that very statement being said of these false prophets in Isaiah 56, 11, they are shepherds who do not know understanding.

They have all turned their own way. Each one do his greedy gain to the last one. That's an interesting statement when thinking about that, paired with what is said about the sheep of the shepherd in Isaiah 53.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. So even though sheep that have gone astray, the Lord is going to redeem placing our iniquities upon Christ, and our sins will be forgiven.

But these shepherds here who do not know understanding, they have all turned to their own way, and they will not be redeemed. They will go to their own judgment and destruction. They will fill themselves up by their own appetites, and God will give them over to a depraved mind to be destroyed.

Verse 12, come they say, let us take wine and let us drink heavily of strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today beyond exceedingly great. But the day of judgment will come upon them on a day that they do not expect.

And so we are ready by holding fast to the good shepherd, and following him, and take comfort in the words that we have read today, and knowing you are not worthy. You were without understanding. You were far off.

You were among those who would say, Yahweh will surely separate me from his people, and behold, I am a dry tree. But we have the promise here that God is going to bring them near. To them I will give in my house and within my walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters.

You have that. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you have an everlasting name, which will not be cut off. Take comfort in that, but also continue in the righteousness of Christ that you have been given.

Prayer and Closing Exhortation

Heavenly Father, we thank you for these words that we have read. Words from the prophet Isaiah to Israel, a hundred years before they are going to be exiled. But even in this prophecy that was given to your people then, there is the promise of a people to come who would be gathered to you through the precious name of Jesus.

Help us to wear that name proudly and live in such a way that gives honor to that name. For as Christ is holy, may we also be holy in all our conduct. Convict our hearts and lead us in your ways. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

This has been When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt .com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com and let your friends know about our ministry.

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