Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 56:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 56:2. That keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it — Kimchi has an excellent note here. "The Sabbath is sanctified when it is distinguished in dignity; and separated from other days.

1. As to the body, in meat, drink, and clean clothing.

2. As to the soul, that it be empty of worldly occupations, and be busily employed in the words of the law and wisdom, and in meditation on the works of the Lord."

The rabbins say, "Jerusalem had never been destroyed, had not the Sabbaths been profaned in it."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

56:1-66:24 PRESENT SHAME AND FUTURE GLORY

Having looked beyond the Babylonian captivity to the Jews’ imminent return to their homeland, the prophet now sees the people resettled in and around Jerusalem. What he sees causes him to realize that this is not the golden age after all. Social and religious sins once again become a characteristic of the national life of Israel. The prophet contrasts this corrupt state of affairs with conditions in the ideal Jerusalem of the future.
In this section, as in the previous sections (Chapters 40-48 and 49-55), we must remember that we are reading poetry, where the pictures are vivid and the language exaggerated. We do not need to interpret the prophecies literally (e.g. mountains do not literally have voices and trees do not literally have hands; cf. 55:12). The important consideration for the reader is not merely what the prophecies say, but what they mean.
Of particular importance is the spiritual significance of the prophecies, and this is the aspect that the New Testament emphasizes. The prophecies of Isaiah take on new meaning once Jesus Christ has come.

Thus, the glorious kingdom that God promised Israel is, above all, a spiritual kingdom centred in Jesus the Messiah (32:1-8; cf. Luke 17:21). The faithful remnant of Israel is in fact the true Israel (10:20-23; cf. Romans 9:6-7,Romans 9:27-33). The spiritual, not the natural, descendants of Abraham are the real people of God (41:8; cf. Galatians 3:29). The salvation of God is proclaimed worldwide and people of all nations join in one body to be his people (54:1-3; cf. Galatians 4:26-28). The new Jerusalem for which believers hope is not material and earthly like the old, but is spiritual and from heaven (60:1-22; cf. Revelation 21:1-4; Revelation 21:22-27).

True worshippers (56:1-8)

God reminds his people that life in the rebuilt nation must be based on his law. This applies to laws that concern social justice as well as those that concern religious practices (56:1-2).

When the Jews returned to Jerusalem, some Gentile converts returned with them. Among these were several eunuchs, possibly people who were previously connected with the palaces in Babylon and Persia. The law of Moses made it plain that eunuchs were to be excluded from the tabernacle worship, probably to discourage the Israelites from making their own people eunuchs (Deuteronomy 23:1). But in the new Jerusalem all foreigners, eunuchs or otherwise, who honour God and keep his law should be allowed to worship in the temple along with godly Israelites (3-5).

Love and obedience towards God, not physical or national characteristics, are the important things in God’s sight. The temple is for the use of all people, not just Jews, because God’s mercy is for all people (6-8).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"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.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Blessed is the man - Hebrew, ‘The blessings of the man’ (see Psalms 1:1). The sense is, ‘happy is the man.’ The word here rendered ‘man’ (אנושׁ 'ĕnôsh) usually denotes a man in humble life or in a subordinate rank, in contradistinction from אישׁ 'ı̂ysh, a man in elevated rank. As the object of the prophet here is particularly to say, that the ‘stranger’ and the ‘eunuch’ would be admitted to these privileges, it is possible that he designedly used a word denoting one in bumble life. The particular blessing to which he refers is specified in Isaiah 56:7-8.

That doeth this - That is, this which the prophet soon specifies - keeping the Sabbath, and abstaining from evil.

And the son of man - Another form of expression denoting man.

That layeth hold on it - Hebrew, ‘Binds himself fast to it;’ or seizes upon it with strength. That is, he adheres firmly to the purpose, as a man seizes upon a thing with an intention not to let it go.

That keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it - Who sacredly observes the day of holy rest which God has appointed. The Sabbath was one of the special rites of the Jewish religion, and one of the most important of their institutions. Its observance entered essentially into the idea of their worship, and was designed to be the standing memorial or sign between God and the Jewish nation Exodus 31:13-17. At home, in their own nation, it kept up the constant sense of religion; abroad, when they traveled among strangers, it would serve to remind all of the special nature of their institutions, and be the public evidence that they were the worshippers of Yahweh. Hence, as this served to distinguish them from other people, it comes to be used here to signify the observance of the rites which pertained to the public worship of God; and evidently includes whatever was to be perpetual and unchanging in the public worship of the Creator. It is remarkable that the prophet does not pronounce a blessing on him who came to bloody altars with sacrifices, or him who burned incense, or him who conformed to the unique rites of the Jewish religion. These rites were to pass away, and the obligation to observe them was to cease; and in this indirect manner the sacred writer has given an intimation that there would be blessings on those who did not observe those rites, and that the period would arrive when the divine favor and mercy would descend on people in a different channel. In regard to the importance of the Sabbath, see the note at the close of Isaiah 58:1-14.

And keepeth his hand ... - That is, is an upright, holy, honest man. He not only worships God and keeps the Sabbath, but he is upright in the discharge of all the duties which he owes to his fellow-men. These two specifications are evidently designed to include all the influences of religion - the proper service and worship of God, and an upright and holy life. Never in fact are they separated, and the religion of the Bible was designed to secure the one as much as the other.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2.Happy is the man that shall do this. When he calls those persons “happy” who, having embraced this doctrine, devote themselves to walk uprightly, he indirectly leads us to conclude that many will be deaf or disobedient; but, lest their wickedness or indifference should retard the elect, he recommends the exhortation which he has given from the advantage which it yields. Thus, in order that believers may abandon all delay, he exclaims that they are “happy” to whom it hath been given ⁽⁹⁵⁾ to possess such wisdom.

Keeping the Sabbath. We have said that the words “justice” and “judgment,” in the preceding verse, include all the duties of the second table; but here he mentions the Sabbath, which belongs to the first table. I reply, as I have already mentioned briefly, that they who live inoffensively and justly with their neighbors, testify that they serve God; and therefore we need not wonder that the Prophet, after having glanced at the second table, mentions also the first; for both ought to be joined together In a word, Isaiah declares that he who shall obey God by keeping his law perfectly shall be “happy;” for the salvation and the righteousness of God shall belong to him. Since, therefore, men wander at random amidst their contrivances, and adopt various methods of worshipping God, he shows that there is only one way, that is, when men endeavor to frame and regulate their life by the injunction of the Law; for otherwise they will weary themselves in vain by taking other roads. In short, this is a remarkable passage, showing that nothing pleases God but keeping the Law.

If the question be put, “Can men obtain righteousness and salvation by their own works?” the reply will be easy; for the Lord does not offer salvation to us, as if he had been anticipated by our merits, (for, on the contrary, we are anticipated by him,) but offers himself freely to us, and only demands that we, on our part, draw near to him. Since therefore he willingly invites us, since he offers righteousness through free grace, we must make every effort not to be deprived of so great a benefit.

Again, because the Sabbath, as Moses declares, (Exodus 31:13) and as Ezekiel 20:12 repeats, was the most important symbol of the worship of God, so by that figure of speech in which a part is taken for the whole, and which is called a synecdoche, the Sabbath includes all the exercises of religion. But we must view the Sabbath in connection with everything that attends it; for God does not rest satisfied with outward ceremony, or delight in our indolence, but demands from us earnest self­denial, that we may be entirely devoted to his service.

So that he may not profane it. This clause is commonly rendered, “That he may not profane it;“ and literally it runs thus, “From profaning it;“ and therefore we have thought it proper to prefix the word “so” to the clause, “So that he may not profane it,” in order to remove all ambiguity.

And keeping his hand, that he may abstain from all that is evil. He now adds another synecdoche, to describe the duties which men owe to each other. The amount of it is, that there is no other way of serving God aright but by sincere piety and a blameless life, as he has also included in these two parts the rule of leading a holy life. In a word, it is an exposition of true righteousness which is contained in the Law of the Lord, that we may acquiesce in it; for in vain do men seek any other road to perfection. Here also are thrown down all false worship and superstitions, and, finally, everything that is contrived by men in opposition to the word of God.

(95) “Ausquels la grace a este faite.” “To whom grace hath been given.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn now in our Bibles to Isaiah 56:1-12 .

In Isaiah 55:1-13 the Lord speaks of this glorious everlasting salvation and the glories of His greatness, His power. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than yours, My thoughts than your thoughts" ( Isaiah 55:9 ). The blessing and the power of the Word of God. "As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, returns not thither, waters the earth that makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so is my word," the Lord declares, "that goes out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but shall accomplish that which I please. It shall prosper in the thing in which I sent it" ( Isaiah 55:10-11 ).

Now as we get into chapter 56, the Lord is giving to us, more or less, some of the conditions of our being a part of that everlasting kingdom and salvation.

Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed ( Isaiah 56:1 ).

Now even at the time of Isaiah, there were those encouragements to doing the right thing in light of the fact that the Lord's salvation was near. All through succeeding generations, God has wanted, I believe, each generation to live with that consciousness of the nearness of the coming of the Lord's kingdom. Now Peter tells us that there would come a day when men would begin to scoff at the nearness of the coming kingdom of God, declaring that "all things have just continued as they were from the beginning" ( 2 Peter 3:4 ). But Peter says, "Of this they are willfully ignorant." That God did upset the world at one time in judgment by sending the flood, they are willfully ignorant of God's intervention by catastrophe. And then Peter goes on to explain that "God is not slack concerning His promises" ( 2 Peter 3:9 ). That is the promise of the coming kingdom and the establishment of the kingdom of righteousness. He's not going to fail in that promise, but that He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. So the reason for the delay, God's waiting for man's turning to Him.

Now when we were living in Prescott in the first church that we had, we had a very fascinating lady who, as far as I can recall, never did attend our church, but professed to have a great love and interest in my wife and I. And she was a very interesting character. She had spent many years in China as a missionary and was a nurse at the Whipple Veterans Hospital. And I would start to talk to her about the nearness of the coming of the Lord and she'd say, "Well, yes, I believe the Lord is coming very soon for me." She said, "I'm getting up into the years and I won't be around much longer, so the coming of the Lord is very soon for me." And she had that kind of a concept of the nearness of the coming of the Lord. Well, in a sense that is very true. God's coming for each of us is soon. None of us is going to be around here too long. And if He does not come collectively for His body, the church, even so our time on earth is so short. "What is life? It is as a vapor that appears for a season or a moment and then vanishes" ( James 4:14 ). It's like the grass out there in the field which today grows up and flourishes and tomorrow is dead. And so is the short span of our life, especially when you compare the time that we are here with eternity. So the span of man upon this earth is so short. And yet in this short span of time my eternity is being established. My destiny is being determined in this short time that I am here. That's rather awesome to consider. So it behooves me to spend whatever time I have walking with the Lord, serving the Lord, and in a total commitment of myself, my energies, my life to Him because time is short.

So for Isaiah to be saying, "Hey, the time of the Lord is close," it is for each one of us. The time of the Lord is always very close. And thus, we should live with that consciousness knowing that I have only one life and it will soon be past and only what I do for Jesus Christ is going to last. Everything else is wood, hay and stubble. Everything else is going to burn. Everything else is not going to have any value at all in the eternal realm. That which I've done for myself, that which I've done for the community, that which I've done for the Muscular Dystrophy or whatever, not going to last. The only lasting things are that which I have done for Jesus Christ for His glory and in His name. So time is short. This is a perpetual message to each generation. Your time is short.

Now how does God want us to live? He wants us to keep judgment and do justice. God wants us to live a fair and honest life. God doesn't want us cheating. God doesn't want us conniving and taking advantage of someone else. God wants us to do the right thing. Do justice. Keep judgment. Do the right thing. That's what God is asking and requiring of us. And surely that is not too much to require and that is a reasonable requirement from man. What a glorious world this would be if everyone treated each other fairly, honestly, justly. "But that is not the condition of the world," you say, and you are so right. We find that there are always men who are willing to take an advantage of their position and gouge someone else because they find that they have them at an advantage. It is always a fearsome thing to be at a disadvantage to another person because you can be sure that they're going to take every advantage that they can over you.

Look what they're doing now with the oil. Knowing that we need the oil so desperately, they're taking advantage and they're just hiking the prices. And becoming inordinately wealthy. So much money they really don't know how to spend it or what to do with it. And yet there is a world that is suffering and in need and the third world is actually being destroyed and starving because of these people who have taken advantage of the fact that they possess the oil in their nation. And that the world is short on oil and so taking advantage of that fact they are gouging the world, totally disregarding those unfortunate people who cannot afford the inflation that has resulted from the increased oil prices. But that's only one example, and not to just point at one group. That is so common with human nature.

If you get in a disadvantaged position, there are men who are willing to take advantage of you. Jesus said, "Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites!" Because they were taking advantage of people. They were taking advantage of the little widows. "Woe unto you, lawyers!" They were taking advantage of people's ills, of people's problems, and becoming rich over other people's problems. Man is not fair. God wants us to be fair. And so God cries out for justice and for judgment because He said, "My salvation is near to come."

Blessed is the man that does this ( Isaiah 56:2 ),

Now God just sort of pronounces a man who will be fair, a man who will be just, a man who will be honest, he will be blessed of God.

and the son of man that lays hold on it ( Isaiah 56:2 );

The person that grabs this concept and says, "Yes, I will do unto others as I would have them to do unto me. I will be fair. I will not take advantage of a position that I may have of superiority whatever. But I will be fair." God is always for the underdog. God is always standing up for the oppressed and for the poor. And if we are guilty of oppressing people or impoverishing people, then we will find ourselves opposed to God.

Blessed is the man,

that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil ( Isaiah 56:2 ).

Now the blessing upon the man that keeps the sabbath, keepeth the sabbath. The sabbath is an ordinance that God established with the nation of Israel as a covenant with that race of people. When God gave the law of the sabbath back in the book of Exodus, God declared in the giving of the law that it was a covenant between Him and Israel forever. Verse Exodus 31:16 of Exodus 31:1-18 , "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." Now God established circumcision also as a perpetual covenant for these people.

But the sabbath covenant was not placed upon the Gentile world nor upon the Gentile church or Christians. And yet, a man needs a day of rest. And we would probably live to be much healthier people if we would take a day of the week off and just stay in bed. Really rest on the sabbath day. And that's what the requirement was, just really to rest. Give the body a chance to sort of recuperate. But these people, as we will find in a little bit, weren't always keeping the sabbath as they should. They began to make it a day of pleasure and recreation, which it seems that we are very guilty of doing also. Except that the sabbath is really Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown, if you want to be technical. We worship the Lord on the first day of the week.

Now in the early church when they sought to determine what relationship the Gentile believers had to the law, they determined that they should not put upon the Gentiles the yoke of bondage, the law which they were not themselves able to keep. And so in writing to the Gentiles to tell them their relationship to the law, that is the church, the Gentile church, they said, "Just keep yourselves from idols and from things that have been strangled. And if you do this, you do well."

Now later on Paul even modified that a bit when he wrote to the Corinthians and he said, "When you go to the butcher shop to buy your meat, don't ask the butcher, 'Was this meat offered as a sacrifice to an idol?'" He said, "because if he says yes then you'll have a hard time eating it. So just don't ask any questions. Just go and buy the meat and don't ask any questions for your conscience's sake. And then you're not worried about it. Because," he said, "everything is sanctified through prayer and it really doesn't matter except if in your conscience it begins to trouble you, then it becomes a real problem for you. So for conscience's sake, just when you go out to dinner and someone lays a steak in front of you, don't say, 'Did you offer this steak as a sacrifice to an idol?' Just eat what is set before you, asking no questions," he said. "Just enjoy it." And so it isn't that which goes into the mouth that defiles a man. It's that which comes out, because the heart is revealed by the things that come out of a man's mouth.

There was nothing said to the Gentile church concerning the sabbath days. So Paul writing to the church in Rome speaks about those who were weak in the faith who were vegetarians because they could not eat meat; they were fearful it might have been offered as a sacrifice to an idol somewhere. And so they became vegetarians. But he that is strong in the faith he eats meat. Now let the one who doesn't eat meat, don't let him judge the one who does. And the one who does eat meat should not be condemning the man who doesn't.

It is so easy for us to fall in the trap of thinking that everybody should live as I live, do as I think. How I would love to run the world and tell people that which they can do and that which they can't do according to my own conscience. But Paul said I am not to judge a person who has greater liberty than I have. Because before his own master he either stands or falls and God is able to make him stand, much to my amazement.

So in writing to the Colossians, Paul said, "Don't let any man judge you in respect to meat, or unto sabbath days or holy days or new moons and so forth, which were all a shadow of the things to come. For the substance or the body is of Christ" ( Colossians 2:17 ). These things were all a shadow. Keeping the sabbath days, keeping the festivals and so forth-they were all a shadow of the things to come. The real substance is of Christ, so that the sabbath day was just a shadow of what Jesus is to us, for He is our rest. And the sabbath day was a day of rest where you just rested. So Christ has become our sabbath. We are resting in the work of Jesus Christ as regards to our salvation. I'm not trying to get out there and hassle and work to be saved. I am resting. Christ is my sabbath. He is my rest and the whole sabbath day celebration was looking forward to Jesus Christ, the substance who is the rest for the believer of God. And we all are resting our salvation in Him. And that's what the whole thing was about.

So as we read of the sabbath day, we realize that Isaiah's addressing himself to Israel. It has nothing to do really with the Gentile, the Gentile church, for in the Gentile church, as Paul said, "One man esteems one day above another and another man esteems every day alike" ( Romans 14:5 ). And we esteem every day alike. Every day is the Lord's day. I get up in the morning and I say, "Well, Lord, this is Your day. What would You have me to do today?" And every day is alike to me. I don't look at the calendar to see what day of the week it is. It's the Lord's day. My life is His. And no matter what the calendar may say as far as the day of the week, it's all the Lord's day as far as I'm concerned.

But, "Blessed is the man that will keep justice, do judgment, lays hold on these. Keeps the sabbath from polluting it and keeps his hand from doing any evil."

Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people ( Isaiah 56:3 ):

We shouldn't think that we have been separated from the people of God. But God is really... And Christ, Paul said, has broken down that middle wall of partition that used to exist between the Jew and us. And He has made us to all partake of the one body in Christ. So I'm not to say, "Well, I've been separated from God's people," and think of myself as separate from them, but really we have been grafted into the root that we might partake of the fatness and the fullness of God's blessing and promise to the nation of Israel.

neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off ( Isaiah 56:3-5 ).

Now Jesus speaks of there are some men that are born eunuchs. There are some who become eunuchs for the kingdom of God's sake. That is, men who refrain from marriage in order that they might better serve the Lord. Paul the apostle would probably fit in this category. Now we think of a eunuch in a very strict sense of the word. I do not think that the Bible really looks at it or is looking at it in a strict sense of the word. I think it is a man who just determines to live a celibate life for the sake of the kingdom of God. And Paul the apostle writing to the Corinthian church encouraged the men, if they were able to handle it, to live as he did for the sake of the kingdom. For he that is married seeks how to please his wife. But he that is unmarried can just seek how he can please the Lord. And thus because it is, in many times, easier to endure hardship just yourself and many times in the proclaiming of the gospel there requires a real hardship and sacrifice, it's easier for you to make those sacrifices upon yourself than to impose them also upon a wife. And so for the sake of expediency and all, you'd be better off to stay as I am. "Yet if you can't handle it," Paul says, "go ahead and get married. No sin to it, but I would just spare you a lot of problems." And so there are those who for the kingdom of God's sake have chosen a celibate type of a life. And that is fine. The Lord said, "I will give them children, sons and daughters in a spiritual sense." And so Paul speaks of his beloved son Timothy and all, and those relationships that he had with these younger men that he more or less tutored in their spiritual walks.

Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keeps the sabbath from polluting it, and takes hold of 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 mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people ( Isaiah 56:6-7 ).

Now the Jews in establishing the temple did not really follow this. They had the court of the Gentiles and if you were a Gentile you had to stay in that court, and leading into the next court were the signs warning the Gentiles at the cost of their life to stay out. Warning any Gentile from trespassing within that next area of the temple. Now Paul the apostle really got into big trouble with the Jews because they thought that he had brought an uncircumcised man into the area of the temple, the Jewish quarter within the temple. And that's what created the whole hubbub there in Jerusalem that almost resulted in Paul's being killed. However, Paul was not guilty. They thought he was guilty. But Paul was not guilty of that charge. But yet the Lord had declared, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people." So He's talking about the stranger that is the person who is not a Jew who is there, who follows the Lord. God wanted him to feel an access unto God through the temple.

Now you remember that when Jesus came into the temple, He saw those moneychangers that were there and those that were selling doves. And He made a whip and He began to overturn the tables of the moneychangers and began to drive them out of the temple saying unto them that they have profaned the temple, that My Father has said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves" ( Matthew 21:13 ). And the anger that He had for the profaning. In other words, they wouldn't let the Gentiles in, but they had all kinds of crooked kind of practices going on.

The moneychangers were men who would have their little booths there in the temple and you could only pay your offerings to God in the shekels. They would not receive Roman coinage, because they considered that unclean. You couldn't give your common Roman coinage to the Lord. So if you wanted to give an offering to God, you had to exchange your Roman coin for the temple shekel. You say, "What's so wrong with that?" Well, what was wrong with that is these guys were charging a horrible rate of exchange. In other words, they were making a markup, a percentage, and thus in essence they were skimming off money that really should have gone to the Lord. They were thieving from God in the exchanging of the shekel and in drawing a percentage for themselves they were really skimming off from God. And the same was true with the doves. You could buy a dove outside for a couple of pennies. But these guys were charging an exorbitant price, but they were in collusion with the priests. If you just brought a dove in, the priest would examine it carefully and he'd find some little flaw, and of course, you cannot offer any flawed offering unto God. So he'd say, "No, I can't offer this for you." But here this fellow had doves for sale and they had the stamp on them. They were koshers. And so, but they were charging a bigger price.

So again the idea of robbery, of thievery that was going on, and it upset Jesus. And so He quotes actually from this verse in Isaiah where God's intention that His house would be called a house of prayer for all people. That it will be open to anyone, anybody who wanted to pray unto God would be free to come in and pray unto God within the house.

So he declares,

The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him ( Isaiah 56:8 ).

The gospel that will go out into the Gentiles.

All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind ( Isaiah 56:9-10 ):

That's a tragic situation that you have a watchman that's blind.

they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter ( Isaiah 56:10-11 ).

And so God speaking, and of course, it is interesting that God would speak of those, they were all looking for their own gain. All looking for their own welfare and their own gain. And it is interesting that the Lord would mention that in the very passage that Jesus quoted when He said, "You've made my Father's house a den of thieves, for My Father's house was to be called a house of prayer for all people." And here they are, they're greedy. Dogs that never have enough. They're all looking for their own gain.

Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as today, and much more abundant ( Isaiah 56:12 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The basis of acceptance and blessing 56:1-8

This transitional pericope introduces the problem that the previous sections of the book posed, which I have tried to explain just above. It also begins the explanation of the solution by placing in stark contrast two opposing views of what pleases God: simply being a child of Abraham, versus living in loving obedience to God.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Ethical conduct will result in divine blessing. Profaning the Sabbath and doing evil are the opposite of preserving justice and doing righteousness. They represent specific acts of obedience (observing the Sabbath) and an attitude toward life (doing good). By refraining from work on the Sabbath, the Israelites expressed trust that God would provide for their needs as He promised. Next to circumcision, keeping the Sabbath was the central sign of the Mosaic Covenant (cf. Exodus 31:13-17; Ezekiel 20:12-17). God’s standard is perfection: His people were to keep their hands from doing "any evil" (cf. Matthew 5:48).

"Those who have received mighty blessings from the Lord have an obligation faithfully to do His will, and in the Old Testament dispensation this would be accomplished by keeping the law and observing the sabbath" [Note: Young, 3:388.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Blessed is the man that doth this,.... That does justice, and keeps judgment; he hereby exercises a good conscience both towards God and men; he enjoys communion with God in his ways, worship, and ordinances, he attends unto, and has an evidence of his right to eternal happiness:

and the son of man that layeth hold on it; on the salvation of Christ, and his righteousness; which supposes a sense of the insufficiency of a man's own righteousness, a view of the excellency and suitableness of Christ's righteousness; and is expressive of a strong act of faith upon it, embracing and retaining it as a man's own:

that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it; by doing any servile work on it, and attending to all religious duties, private or public. This is put for the whole of instituted worship under the Gospel dispensation, and for any day or time in which the church of Christ meet together for religious worship:

and keepeth his hand from doing any evil; committing any sin against God, or doing injury to the persons or properties of men, including the whole of moral duty.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.   2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

      The scope of these verses is to show that when God is coming towards us in a way of mercy we must go forth to meet him in a way of duty.

      I. God here tells us what are his intentions of mercy to us (Isaiah 56:1; Isaiah 56:1): My salvation is near to come--the great salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ (for that was the salvation of which the prophets enquired and searched diligently,1 Peter 1:10), typified by the salvation of the Jews from Sennacherib or out of Babylon. Observe, 1. The gospel salvation is the salvation of the Lord. It was contrived and brought about by him; he glories in it as his. 2. In that salvation God's righteousness is revealed, which is so much the beauty of the gospel that St. Paul makes this the ground of his glorying in it. (Romans 1:17), because therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The law revealed that righteousness of God by which all sinners stand condemned, but the gospel reveals that by which all believers stand acquitted. 3. The Old-Testament saints saw this salvation coming, and drawing near to them, long before it came; and they had notice by the prophets of its approach. As Daniel understood by Jeremiah's books the approach of the redemption out of Babylon, at the end of seventy years, so others understood by Daniel's books the approach of our redemption by Christ at the end of seventy weeks of years.

      II. He tells us what are his expectations of duty from us, in consideration thereof. Say not, "We see the salvation near, and therefore we may live as we list, for there is no danger now of missing it or coming short of it;" that is turning the grace of God into wantonness. But, on the contrary, when the salvation is near double your guard against sin. Note, The fuller assurances God gives us of the performance of his promises the stronger obligations he lays us under to obedience. The salvation here spoken of has now come; yet, there being still a further salvation in view, the apostle presses duty upon us Christians with the same argument. Romans 3:11, Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. That which is here required to qualify and prepare us for the approaching salvation is,

      1. That we be honest and just in all our dealings: Keep you judgment and do justice. Walk by rule, and make conscience of what you say and do, that you do no wrong to any. Render to all their dues exactly, and, in exacting what is due to you, keep up a court of equity in your own bosom, to moderate the rigours of the law. Be ruled by that golden rule, "Do as you would be done by." Magistrates must administer justice wisely and faithfully. This is required to evidence the sincerity of our faith and repentance, and to open the way of mercy. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. God is true to us; let us be so to one another.

      2. That we religiously observe the sabbath day, Isaiah 56:2; Isaiah 56:2. We are not just if we rob God of his time. Sabbath-sanctification is here put for all the duties of the first table, the fruits of our love to God, as justice and judgment are put for all those of the second table, the fruits of our love to our neighbour. Observe, (1.) The duty required, which is to keep the sabbath, to keep it as a talent we are to trade with, as a treasure we are entrusted with. "Keep it holy; keep it safe; keep it with care and caution; keep it from polluting it. Allow neither yourselves nor others either to violate the holy rest or omit the holy work of that day." If this be intended primarily for the Jews in Babylon, it was fit that they should be particularly put in mind of this, because when, by reason of their distance from the temple, they could not observe the other institutions of their law, yet they might distinguish themselves from the heathen by putting a difference between God's day and other days. But it being required more generally of man, and the son of man, it intimates that sabbath-sanctification should be a duty in gospel times, when the bounds of the church should be enlarged and other rites and ceremonies abolished. Observe, Those that would keep the sabbath from polluting it must put on resolution, must not only do this, but lay hold on it, for sabbath time is precious, but is very apt to slip away if we take not great care; and therefore we must lay hold on it and keep our hold, must do it and persevere in it. (2.) The encouragement we have to do this duty: Blessed is he that doeth it. The way to have the blessing of God upon our employments all the week is to make conscience, and make a business, of sabbath-sanctification; and in doing so we shall be the better qualified to do judgment and justice. The more godliness the more honesty, 1 Timothy 2:2.

      3. That we have nothing to do with sin: Blessed is the man that keeps his hand from doing evil, any wrong to his neighbour, in body, goods, or good name--or, more generally, any thing that is displeasing to God and hurtful to his own soul. Note, The best evidence of our having kept the sabbath well will be a care to keep a good conscience all the week. By this it will appear that we have been in the mount with God if our faces shine in a holy conversation before men.