Isaiah 56
Notes
Transcript
Foreigners Salvation
Foreigners Salvation
Good evening my friends.
I am very thankful you those hear with me, and for you all who are checking into our “live” on FB.
Last week we talked about the compassion of the Lord, How the Lord is calling all those who are thirsty to come and drink from the waters… no money, no payment necessary for this water is free to all who ask..
This water leads to life, not just physical… but spiritual the Lord seeks to give it to all.
I drank from that fount, many of you did and you were blessed.
And I think if there is ever a message we need to pay attention too today it is the true that we should seek the Lord while he cam be found… time is running out.
Seek the Lord before its to late, the Lord loves you and wants the rest for you...
Now this evening we come to chapter 56 Salvation is available to the foreigners. In the OT God points this out so the world willl know.. remember this is 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
So lets begin… Verses 1 -2 Isa 56 1-2
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
The message here begins with Isaiah declaring a divine message, this is God’s message and you want to pay attention to it and follow where the messenger is leading them..
So the call is for man and mankind to keep/maintain justice and do righteousness… this isn’t the first time God has shared this with His people. All the way back in chapter 1..
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
Keep doing that which is a characteristic of God and His Son the Messiah. learn to do right and seek justice in all things.
This is how God wants and calls for man to live, not just now but always.
In times past, when they failed to live this way, they returned to ungodly ways and God brought judgment upon them.
But for those who lived and acted according to the commands of God, they could and would enjoy the salvation he was calling them too in chapter 55. So even for us, live in a way that is pleasing to God in that others might witness his love through us.
The second part of verse one the Lord says that soon his Salvation would appear, the hope that he promised would soon come to pass.
Now in verse 2 functions as the blessing on the person who responds to the exhortation.
For the person who listens to the commands of God ( namely what we talked about in verse 1, keep justice and do righteousness. )
And the person who does this can also keep the Sabbath, the Lord’s day for us, really is the idea of keeping the covenant, keeping the ways of the Lord while keeping your hands from evil.
We really do not have to describe what evil is, evil is anything that violates God’s standard, it’s sin. We are to abstain form sin.
The Scriptures tell us to shun the very appearance of evil.
What evil does man kind face today… the same in that day?
We face groups that want to pull us from honoring God, who want you to lie, to devalue humanity, fornication and the list can go on and on...
Now verse 3.... Isa 56:3
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
What is being said here… No one can say that God will abandon you… God will not love you....No. all those, all those who hold fast to the Lord, to his covenant willl be accepted.
Two groups are mentioned here.. foreigners and the eunuch I spell that out so that the algoryhym doesn’t kick me off facebook...
Just like the Egyptians who believed God and came out of Egypt with the Israelites in the exodus, so these who perhaps were once thought be be alienated from God and his people are assured they will not be cut off.
If they love the Lord and have followed him, they will be in on that number.
Think about all those from the past...
Rahab was a harlot who lived in the Canaanite city of Jericho, Josh 2..
Ruth was a Moabite woman who married Boaz Ruth 2:10.
Uriah was the Hittite and there are a host of others
Numbers 13-15 tells us that the alien who offered sacrifices to the Lord and trusted him would be treated the same as among his own people.
Why would God care for everyone… we are all made in His image, we are all the descendants of Adam and Eve and thus we are His, and simple He loves us.
Even the second group mentioned there would not be a dry tree, even though they have no children, they were not worthless before the Lord.
Now verses 4-5 Isa 56:4-5
4 For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
And look here, even those people who feared they were worthless the Lord speaks to them, to keep his sabbath, his ways like the idea of what we have talked about to keep justice and to do righteousness.
Look what God promises them, they will have a house inside my walls, God has given them a place and a name…And to have this, a place and a name is better than having had a family. They loved the Lord and He has honored them.
What is their name, saved child of God a son of God.
Verse 6 Isa 56:6-7
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
Their message is similar to the people we just mentioned in verse 5.
God’s desire is that the foreigners would commit themselves to bringing honor to God. These are the ones that we looked at back in verses 3-4. These are the ones who have willing loved and served God. They will honor and keep the Sabbath and to hold fast to His covenant.
Being joined to God, following Him means that they have forsaken all those former ones they may have worshipped in the past. They are worshipping the Lord and Lord alone.
Remember this isn’t some external action, this is the work of their heart. It is a true expression of their faith. They have a deep devotion toward the Lord.
These God says he will bring, cause them to be able to arrive at His holy mountain.
And when they come to worship, God will bring them joy as they spend time in my house of prayer. They will celebrate this time with the Lord.
The offerings the make, he will accept, the sacrifices the give will be received upon his altar.
In those future days, the Temple of God will be called a house for all the nations to come and pray.
verse 8 Isa 56:8
8 The Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
The final word of the Lord here reminds us that Lord reaches out to gather even more than he has already mentioned for His glory that they might come and worship Him always.
God will accomplish his plant to gather His people and many others and bring them home to him, enjoying the blessing of HIs Salvation. More then Israel are welcomed in front of God.
And in the NT we know that the Gentiles are welcomes now today..
Aren’t you thankful?
Yes!
Now a new section begins here that will run into chapter 57, so lets start this and look at verse 9
9 All you beasts of the field, come to devour—
all you beasts in the forest.
The picture here is animals coming to eat… and what does that mean, well Isaiah doesn’t explain it fully, but while animals do come to eat, it may be a picture of all the nations gathering to eat, to start with a meal.
But it does seem to speak to the enemy nations from every field and forest coming to the place that has been prepared for them. There is another reference in Jer 12, verses 7-9.
Now verse 10 Isa 56:10
10 His watchmen are blind;
they are all without knowledge;
they are all silent dogs;
they cannot bark,
dreaming, lying down,
loving to slumber.
God says here that all the prophetic watchmen are blind, spiritually blind, by saying all of them it emphasizes just how desperate the situation is, how desperate the times they are living are...
These watchmen, or prophets have been asleep on thejob if you will...
They were supposed to be awake and ready to speak for God… as in Ezekiel.
17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.
They instead are like watchdogs that give no warning, they are silent. They provide no warning of the dangers that are coming… The test doesn’t say why they are unwilling to bark but if they have no relationship with God then they will not know the message of God.
Isaiah says they are silent, day dreaming, lying down and like to slumber… so instead of warning the people ( the prophets) they enjoy constant leisure.
Worthless people.
Verse 11 Isa 56:11
11 The dogs have a mighty appetite;
they never have enough.
But they are shepherds who have no understanding;
they have all turned to their own way,
each to his own gain, one and all.
These dogs are always hungry, those watchmen have a great appetite like a pack of hungry dogs…which may speak to these people being greedy, never content with what they have but always seeking more..
They did not know what it meant to be satisfied… We might compare that to some of those TV preachers of the past years who had been intrusted with much but sought all the more.. money, fame, homes and planes.... the list could go on.
The possessions themselves were not bad, it was the attitude of the heart in accruing them.
And finally verse 12 Isa 56:12
12 “Come,” they say, “let me get wine;
let us fill ourselves with strong drink;
and tomorrow will be like this day,
great beyond measure.”
The actions of these guilty watchmen lead to righteousness perishing… literally dying..why because ultimately they lead others astray.
These evil leaders come and take from the people.
When they say let us get more wine for tomorrow will be like this day or better they are assuring others that their life of pleasure will not end soon
They waste the riches of God’s salvation… saying their is time when is you remember in chapter 55 the call was to seek the Lord now while he may be found.
Several times in God’s word the call is not to live or act as if you have time to wait before following after God. No do not wait for tomorrow might not come..
