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Bible Dictionaries
Outcasts
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or We several times in Scripture meet with this expression. It is spoken not only concerning the several nations of the earth, but of Israel also. Thus by the prophet Isaiah, (Isaiah 56:8) "The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather others to him besides those which are gathered to him." So that it should seem, that there is a peculiar meaning in the term outcasts, as if the outcasts of other nations had a reference to that part of the Gentile church which is to be brought into one fold, under one shepherd, Jesus Christ the Lord. And concerning the outcasts of Israel, in several parts of Scripture we find the Lord is expressing more than ordinary attention to them. They called thee an outcast, saith the Lord, by Jeremiah, (Jeremiah 30:17) saying, This is Zion whom no man seeketh after. The Lord will gather them; (for he saith, Psalms 147:2) "The Lord doth build up Jerusalem, he gathered together the outcasts of Israel." And during their state of being outcasts, the Lord watcheth over them for good, yea, he makes provision for them even in the midst of their enemies. There is a beautiful passage to this effect, (Isaiah 16:4) "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler." Rather than God's children shall go without food, they shall be fed from their enemies table. Even Moab, the sworn foe of Israel, shall take them in when they are turned out, If the Lord hath corrected them, they are still his children; if the Lord for a time hath cast them out, he hath not cast them off. Outcasts they are, but still they are the Lord's outcasts; the Lord still owns them as such. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; and do thou defend them, shelter them, feed them, and take them in as inmates for a time. In due season the Lord will take them home; for the Lord will set up an ensign for the nations, and assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (Isaiah 11:12)
What a blessed consideration ariseth out of this view of the outcasts both of the Jewish and the Gentile church. Jesus speaks of both when he saith, (John 10:16) "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." And agreeably to this, the prophet Isaiah was commissioned to tell the church that in that day, meaning the gospel-day, "five cities in Egypt should speak the language of Canaan. And in that day there shall be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt; and the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day." And after many blessings of grace that the Lord promiseth shall be shown to Egypt in smiting and healing, it is added, "whom the Lord of hosts will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of mine hands, and Israel mine inheritance." (See Isaiah 19:18-25)
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Outcasts'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/o/outcasts.html. London. 1828.
