Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 56

Verses 1-2

Isa 56:1-2

Isaiah 56:1-2

This chapter is designated by many scholars as another glimpse of the times of Messiah, but we cannot accept such an interpretation; and, although there are certain portions of the chapter which indeed are definitely applicable to "latter days" in the kingdom of heaven, there are other portions of it which are thoroughly Jewish with no application whatever to Christians or times of the Messiah. This strange mingling of separate subjects in a single passage is often found in Scripture, the great example being that spoken by Christ himself in his prophecy of the destruction of the literal Jerusalem, which is also, at the very same time, a prophecy of the end of the world (Matthew 24).

Therefore, in this chapter, all references to "the sabbath" and to "burnt-offerings and sacrifices" are directed to Jews alone; whereas, the prophecy of that "new name," better than "of sons and daughters," and the acceptability of eunuchs and "foreigners," that is, "Gentiles," into the service of God is clearly a prophecy of the Messianic kingdom.

Failure to take account of this fundamental principle of Biblical interpretation led even great scholars like Albert Barnes to make this chapter a prophecy that the Sabbath Day would be incorporated as a binding obligation in the Church of Jesus Christ. The only trouble with such an interpretation is that it forces Isaiah to prophecy a lie.

In all the New Testament, or the whole Bible for that matter, there is never an instance in which the sabbath day was ever made a requirement for anyone except Jews. The apostle Paul commanded, "Let no man, therefore judge you in respect of ... a sabbath day ... For he (Christ) hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to his cross" (Colossians 2:14-15).

J. R. Dummelow has given a very convincing analysis of why this whole passage pertains to the pre-exilic Israel, and is not primarily directed either to post-exilic or Christian times:

(a) The picture here of the infatuated and self-indulgent leaders of Israel fits the pre-exilic Israel much better than it does the times of the exile (Isaiah 56:10-12). (b) The idolatrous rites alluded to (Isaiah 57:5-9) are those practiced in the later days of the Jewish monarchy (Manasseh’s reign). (c) The persecution of true followers of Jehovah (Isaiah 57:1) suggests the reign of Manasseh. (d) The natural features mentioned (Isaiah 57:5-6) are Palestinian, not Baylonian. (e) The seeking of foreign alliances alluded to (Isaiah 57:6-10) fits the days of Israel’s monarchy, not the times of the exile, or later.

It should be noted that Dummelow treated this and the following chapters as a unit, which, of course, is correct. To the analysis given above, we wish to add the fact that the triple injunction regarding the "Sabbath" in Isaiah 56:2; Isaiah 56:4; Isaiah 56:6 of this chapter removes every possibility of the chapter’s application to the times of the captivity; because nobody can believe that God would have commanded a nation of slaves in Babylon to "observe the sabbath day." What slave-master would have allowed such a thing? No, the very fact of the commandment implies that Israel could have observed it. Most of the commentators who favor other interpretations have noted this difficulty and suppose that it was some kind of "a spiritual observance" that was commanded. Who ever heard of such a thing?

The great thrust of both Isaiah 56 and Isaiah 57, is God’s warnings to his apostate people, then approaching their captivity, to, "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even the statutes and ordinances" (Malachi 4:4). Thus the very last word of Jehovah to his wicked nation, as recorded here, was exactly the same as the last word of the Old Testament to the same apostate and hardened people in the last three verses of the Old Testament, (Malachi 4:4). quoted above, namely, "Get with it, and observe the law of Moses!".

Isaiah 56:1-2

"Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth it fast; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing anything evil."

In a word, these two verses are simply an admonition to the apostate Israelites to "Remember the law of Moses" and obey it. They were nearing the climax of their long pursuit of the utmost wickedness under Manasseh, which would result in God’s removing the whole nation into captivity. The command to "keep the sabbath" is a synecdoche, standing for all of the obligations of the law of Moses. This figure is used extensively throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament, as in the New Testament declaration that men are justified "by faith," which means the belief, acceptance, and obedience to all the obligations of the Christian religion. It will recur in Isaiah 56:4 and Isaiah 56:6.

Isaiah 56:1-2 COVENANT ESPOUSED: On the basis of the Suffering Servant’s atonement and the offer of a new covenant relationship through His accomplishment, the emphasis is now put on man’s espousal or choice of that covenant. Jehovah’s salvation is “near”! In His salvation, His righteousness will be revealed (cf. Romans 1:17; Romans 3:21-26). Logically, then, those who choose the benefits of His righteousness must accept the responsibility of such a choice which is to do righteously. Those who want the results of righteousness must practice righteousness! Practicing righteousness can be clearly defined! Doing what God’s revealed covenant terms say is right and refraining from what God’s covenant says is evil is practicing righteousness. The apostle John amplifies this principle in his writings (John 14:15; John 14:21; John 14:23; John 15:10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 2:24; 1 John 3:19-24; 1 John 4:6; 1 John 5:1-3, etc.). In our text here, Isaiah uses the “sabbath” as an example of man’s obligation to keep God’s covenant according to God’s terms. Next to circumcision, the sabbath was the central sign of the covenant (cf. Exodus 31:13 ff; Ezekiel 20:12 ff). This does not mean the sabbath day was to be a commandment of the New Covenant which the Messiah would establish. Sabbath is used in a number of messianic prophecies to exemplify the prediction that members of the future messianic kingdom would be covenant-keepers instead of covenant-breakers like the Jews of the days of the prophets (cf. Isaiah 66:22-23; Ezekiel 44:24; Ezekiel 45:17; Ezekiel 46:3). Sabbath-day keeping in the New Covenant dispensation is definitely abrogated as a law of God since the O.T. ordinances were “nailed” to the cross (cf. Colossians 2:13-15; Hebrews 9:10; Hebrews 10:1, etc.). Sabbath-keeping is, at best, merely a matter of opinion in the New Dispensation (cf. Romans 14:1-12; Colossians 2:16-23). The use of the sabbath by Isaiah in this messianic text is a clear example of “times-coloring” in prophetic literature. How is a prophet 700 years removed from the messianic age to communicate the idea of sincere covenant-keeping to his audience? He must do it in terminology and practices contemporary with his own dispensation and age. Therefore, he idealizes the concept of covenant-keeping with one’s sincerity in keeping the sabbath!

Verses 3-5

Isa 56:3-5

Isaiah 56:3-5

"Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold I am a dry tree. For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off."

Notice that the words "hold fast my covenant" in Isaiah 56:4 are the same as "keeping the sabbath days," thus a reference to their keeping the whole law of Moses.

Why this special reference to "foreigners" and to "eunuchs"? Isaiah had already prophesied, "That a certain number of the seed of Hezekiah would serve as eunuchs in the royal palace of the king of Babylon" (2 Kings 20:18); and Daniel and his three faithful companions were among those who thus served. There were doubtless many others of the captives who suffered the same cruel treatment. The words given here were for the encouragement of all such persons. The foreigners were included because of the likelihood that some of the Babylonians would, through human kindness, become attached to God’s people and join them; and these words were also extended to encourage them.

This meant that, "The law of Deuteronomy 23:1, regarding the exclusion of eunuchs and foreigners, would be abrogated,” during the times of the captivity for those who "kept the covenant."

REGARDING THAT NEW NAME

"A memorial name, a name better than of sons and of daughters ... an everlasting name that shall not be cut off ..." (Isaiah 56:5). The name here referred to is the name, Christian. Isaiah here prophesied that the name would be given, not by God’s enemies, but by himself within his house and within his walls, that is, within the church, the church being the only "house" God ever had, certainly, not the Jewish Temple, which, from the beginning was contrary to God’s will. Isaiah also prophesied that this memorial name would be "a new name" (Isaiah 62:2), and a name which the "mouth of the Lord" would give, and that it would be given after the "kings and the Gentiles had seen the righteousness of God," that is, after the Church of Messiah had been established and after Gentiles were accepted into it.

Isaiah 56:3-5 CONTEMPTIBLE EXALTED: Foreigners (nakerily, Heb.) and sojourners (ger, Heb.) might become citizens and members of the covenant people but they were prohibited from participating in full fellowship with the people of the land (cf. Exodus 12:43-49; Leviticus 16:29; Leviticus 17:12; Leviticus 18:26; Leviticus 22:10; Leviticus 25:35; Leviticus 25:40; Numbers 15:15; Numbers 16:29; Numbers 19:10; Numbers 35:15, etc.). Eunuchs were also barred from the temple of God (Deuteronomy 23:1). Naturally, when they heard Isaiah’s magnificent predictions of the glorious messianic age to come they would assume “second class citizenship” to be their lot in that age also. Taking the case of the eunuchs first the Lord says they shall have an inheritance in the messianic kingdom in spite of the fact that they could produce no progeny. In the Jewish mind messianic inheritance was tied directly to the land and tribal inheritances. If a man could produce no offspring he had ho hope in the messianic future. But there will be no such limitations or hindrances to full favor in the messianic age. If men will keep God’s covenant in the new dispensation and choose what pleases the Lord, they will be brought into God’s house in full fellowship. Outward observance is not sufficient (Matthew 5:17 to Matthew 6:18; John 4:21-24; Matthew 15:1-19), the new covenant will be written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31-34). In the messianic kingdom there will be no distinctions as to race, physical perfection, economic or educational status (cf. Galatians 3:23-29). All will be full-fledged sons of the covenant, descendants of Abraham according to faith, heirs of the promises of God (Ephesians 2:11-22, Romans 8:12-17, etc.). We have a specific example of the fulfillment of this in the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). Here is one eunuch indeed who has a name that is far more honored than it could have ever been by a long line of illustrious descendants. The primary reason for restrictions about sojourners and eunuchs in the O.T. was ceremonial uncleanness. But those who shall choose the covenant terms of the Messiah and keep them shall be cleansed of all defilement (ceremonial and moral) (cf. Zechariah 12:10 to Zechariah 14:21; Malachi 3:1-6; etc.).

Verses 6-8

Isa 56:6-8

Isaiah 56:6-8

"Also the foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, everyone that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides his own that are gathered."

There is a very curious mingling of expressions here with applications both to the old Israel in such terms as "burnt-offerings and sacrifices" and to the New Institution in words like, "my holy mountain" and "my house of prayer." Certainly the Jewish Temple was never "a house of prayer for all peoples"; Jesus called it a "den of thieves and robbers."

"The assurances and promises here to the foreigners and eunuchs who had been excluded from the Commonwealth of Israel, are that they should be received to the full enjoyment of of the richer privileges of the Christian Church; and a specific prediction is inserted respecting the ingathering of Gentiles generally.

Speaking of Isaiah 56:8, here, McGuiggan stated that, "It is clear that `outcasts’ here does not mean `all Jews,’ but `the righteous remnant.’"

The great promise held out for eunuchs in this chapter explains why the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8 happened to be reading in this part of Isaiah (Isaiah 53) when he encountered Philip on the road to Gaza and was baptized into Christ.

Isaiah 56:6 GODLY: Already there has been an abundance of predictions from Isaiah that Jehovah will join foreigners (Gentiles) to Zion in the coming messianic age. There are also a number of predictions that these New covenant citizens will become ministers in the New dispensation (cf. Isaiah 60:3; Isaiah 60:7; Isaiah 60:10; Isaiah 66:18-23; Zechariah 14:16-19, etc.). These ungodly foreigners will “love” the name of Jehovah and keep His covenant ordinances (the new covenant). The foreigners, excluded from the covenant of Israel because of ceremonial and moral uncleanness, will be accepted because they love the name of Jehovah and choose to become His, taking His name as theirs (cf. Isaiah 43:1-5). Every member of the new covenant is a priest (minister) (cf. 1 Peter 1:5; 1 Peter 1:9;Hebrews 13:15-16).

Isaiah 56:7-8 GATHERED: Jehovah will not necessarily bring foreigners to the literal hill of Moriah where the Jewish temple stood. He will bring them to Zion (Hebrews 12:22 ff), the N.T. church (cf. Isaiah 2:1-4). The following descriptive phrases, “. . . prayer . . . joyful . . . sacrifices accepted . . .,” point to full covenant membership for foreigners. Gentiles will be restored to loving fellowship with the Creator through the Messiah and His new covenant. The Messiah’s sacrifice (once for all, cf. Hebrews 10:1-18) will atone for all men’s sins. God’s new house, Zion, will be for men of all nations (Ephesians 2:11-22) a house of prayer (cf. Mark 11:17) because the Messiah will cleanse God’s house of those who profane it.

That Jehovah would someday give full covenant membership to Gentiles should not have been such an unlikely thing to the Jews. Verse seven is quoted by Jesus in Mark 11:17. Verse eight is quoted by Jesus in John 10:16. Yet, when Jesus stood and read Isaiah 61:1-2 and applied it to God’s mercy extended to Gentiles, even in O.T. times, they wanted to kill Jesus for it. The following excerpts illustrate the incorrigible obstinacy of the Jewish theologians to accept the predictions of their prophets that Jehovah would accept the Gentiles into full covenant relationship:

THE JEWISH VIEW OF GENTILES

(Everyman’s Talmud, p. 66 & 371)

‘Kill the best of the Gentiles! Crush the head of the best of snakes!’ (Mech. to xiv, 7; 27a).

‘Gentiles are addicted to licentiousness’ (Jeb. 98a). The Rabbis were revolted by the low standards of conduct they saw practised around them and were thankful for the finer ideals which their religion offered them. A prayer, composed to be said on leaving the House of Study, reads: ‘I give thanks before Thee, O Lord my God and God of my fathers, that Thou has set my lot among those who sit in the House of Study and the Synagogue, and hast not set my lot with those who frequent the theatres and circuses; for while I labour to inherit Paradise, they labour for the pit of destruction’ (p. Ber. 7d).

The Holy One, blessed be He, clears Himself with respect to the gentile nations by giving them their reward for the minor precepts which they observed in this world so as to judge and sentence them in the World to Come, that they may have no plea to make and no merit can be found on their behalf (Tanchurna Kedoshim I).

‘R. Eliezer declared, “No Gentiles will have a share in the World to Come; as it is said, ‘The wicked shall return to the nether-world, even all the nations that forget God’ (Pas. 9:17); ‘the wicked’ refers to the evil among Israel.” R. Joshua said to him, “If the verse had stated ‘The wicked shall return to the nether-world and all the nations,’ and had stopped there, I should have agreed with you. Since, however, the text adds, ‘that forget God,’ behold, there must be righteous men among the nations who will have a share in the World to Come”’ (Tosifta Sanh. xiii. 2). That the righteous of all peoples will inherit the bliss of the Hereafter is the accepted doctrine of Rabbinic Judaism.

“The daughter of an Israelite may not assist a gentile woman in childbirth, since she would be assisting to bring to birth a child for idolatry.” (Mishnah, A. Zar. 2.1)

Isaiah is not the only prophet to predict Gentile acceptance; see also Amos 9:11-12 (Acts 15:12-21); Micah 4:2; Micah 7:15-17; Zechariah 8:20-23; Zechariah 9:9-10; Zechariah 14:16-21. The point of Isaiah’s remarks here seems to be that anyone who loves the name of Jehovah and keeps His covenant terms will be acceptable (cf. Acts 10:34-35). Doers are disciples!

Verses 9-12

Isa 56:9-12

Isaiah 56:9-12

"All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his own gain, from every quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure."

As Homer Hailey declared, "The evidence of this paragraph is far stronger for the view that Isaiah has turned from prophesying of the captivity, and that he is speaking to the people of his own day, summarizing the causes that will lead to the captivity of Israel." The significance of this is that the critical allegation that, "This chapter was written at a time long after the captivity, after the Temple had been rebuilt and was the center of an elaborate ritual," is absolutely untenable. On the contrary, the Temple of Solomon, at the time envisioned here, was still standing; and the abuses mentioned were all prevalent in the days of Isaiah and afterward. These were precisely the very things that led to the captivity. There is no doubt whatever of Isaiah’s authorship of all these chapters. If he had not been, Christ would never have referred to these passages, accrediting them to the great eighth century prophet, Isaiah. All of the critics on earth do not represent any authority sufficiently dependable to offset this fact.

The terrible failure of the prophets and leaders of the Jews during this period of their apostasy was deplorable. They are here referred to as dumb, lazy dogs that will not bark. They not only neglected their duties as watchmen over the religious affairs of Israel, but they were greedy for gain, interested only in the profits they might reap from their offices; and they also were given over to laziness, drunkenness, and irresponsibility. Isaiah will continue his prophecy regarding such leaders in the following chapter.

When one contrasts Jehovah’s evaluation of those dumb, lazy dogs with their high social standing and the prestige which they enjoyed during their generation, it raises the question regarding so-called "Christian" writers today who contradict every line of the Holy Bible on the principles of a’ system which in arrogance and conceit is called "higher criticism." Are any of Jehovah’s words here applicable to them?

Isaiah 56:9 DESTRUCTION: This section (Isaiah 56:9-12) connects to the main topic under consideration—Covenant Relationship. This section focuses on the major reason Isaiah was having such a difficult time getting the majority of his countrymen to renew their messianic relationship with Jehovah. The spiritual leaders were corrupt. Because the nation of Israel had defaulted on its theocratic uniqueness, by dividing into two warring nations (Israel and Judah) and by assimilating idolatry, God was letting her suffer the due penalty of her error in her own body-politic. She tried to deceive pagan empires with treaties and alliances, pitting one against another. Israel exchanged her covenant relationship with the omnipotent Jehovah for vain and destructive covenants with God-opposing nations. Now those empires are poised to wreak destruction upon her (cf. Jeremiah 12:9; Ezekiel 34:5; Ezekiel 34:8). The figure of speech under which Isaiah here delineates the nations which were enemies of God’s people is “beasts” and is used elsewhere in Scripture for the same identification (see also Revelation 13:1 ff where Rome is symbolized as “beasts”).

Isaiah 56:10-12 DRUNKENNESS: The “watchmen” (spiritual leaders such as priests and judges) of Israel were blind. Isaiah refers to spiritual blindness which is a deliberate blindness; a blindness of the heart by choice. The spiritual leaders of Israel refused to acknowledge the dangers that were everywhere apparent to men of faith like Isaiah. Micah, (Micah 1:5) a prophet-contemporary of Isaiah, put his finger on the root cause of the sin of both Israel and Judah when he pointed to the capital cities of both nations as the place where corruption began and was at its worst. When the political and spiritual leadership of a nation is decadent, it does not take long for corruption to filter down into the entire fibre of the whole nation at grass-roots levels. Those who would aspire to positions of such leadership have a responsibility beyond their own personal lives—they have a responsibility to those who look to them for leadership in character as well as function.

Isaiah calls the leaders “dogs”! Dogs are mentioned about 40 times in the scriptures. They were not the friendly, domesticated dogs we know in the Western world today. They were half-wild, with some mixture of jackal or wolf, thin from want of food and ill-natured, which roamed the streets or sometimes traveled with the nomadic shepherds of Palestine, (cf. Job 30:1, etc.). The apostle Paul uses “dogs” to symbolize the vicious Judaizers who were always trying to attack him and the church (cf. Philippians 3:2 ff). Here, however, the “dogs” have lost their alertness and activeness because they have sated themselves on self-indulgence. They are mute! They just cannot get up the energy to bark. They really do not care to bark. No warning will come from these “critters” Every farm-boy has seen an illustration of this in the old hound who has filled himself with food and has gone off to lie down in the shade of a tree, hardly opening an eye when someone approaches—he just doesn’t care. The whole picture is one of devotion to self-enjoyment and satisfaction and neglect of duty.

These “dogs” (leaders of the nation) are greedy gluttons. They are never satisfied. They must always have more. They are interested only in their own gain. Nothing will bring the downfall of a nation more rapidly than selfish hedonism in its leadership. When public servants serve only themselves, they set the same moral tone for the whole populace. The leaders of Israel prayed upon the flock (cf. Ezekiel 34:1-10). They exploited and abused their constituents until the whole nation was sapped of its economic and moral fibre. Then the nation collapsed without the will to reform its morals, resist its enemies or return to the Lord. These leaders encouraged one another and the whole nation to drunkenness, (cf. Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 24:9 to Isaiah 28:7; Isaiah 29:9; Isaiah 24:20; Isaiah 51:21; Micah 2:11; etc.) Rather than face the reality of the consequences of their careless indulgence, they advocate an alcoholic stupefication that will anesthetize their reasoning ability. Thus they will create for themselves a fool’s paradise, saying, “. . . tomorrow shall be as this day, great beyond measure . . .”