Inclusion of The Gentiles
September 22, 2022
Commentary
God commanded His people to rest and honor Him on the Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11). For the Israelites this special day was the Sabbath (Saturday) (vv. 1-2). He wants us to serve Him every day, but he wants us to make one day special when we rest and focus our thoughts on Him. Many Christians today accept Sunday (the day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead) as the Lord’s day, a day of rest and honoring God.Isaiah clearly proclaims that believing foreigners will be blessed (vv. 3-8). Redeemed Gentiles, though not in the covenant family of Israel, can still receive God’s blessing. Even foreigners and eunuchs who join themselves to the Lord are welcome. They show their devotion and honor to the Lord by their service, worship, and obedience. God promised Abraham, through him all peoples of the world will be blessed (Gen. 12:3).
The watchman were the nation’s leaders. The leaders of Israel were blind to every danger (vv. 9-11). Apathetic about their peoples needs, they were more concerned about satisfying their own needs. Leader’s special privileges can cause leaders either to sacrifice for the good of their people or to sacrifice their people for their own greed. Concerned only with their own pleasure, they failed to consider that judgment will come (v. 12).
Application
Whatever your race, social position, work, or financial situation , God’s blessings are as much for you as for anyone else. I must never exclude in any way those God chooses to include.
Isaiah 56:1– 12 (NET)
1 This is what the Lord says, “Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly.
2 The people who do this will be blessed, the people who commit themselves to obedience, who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.
3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of the Lord should say, ‘The Lord will certainly exclude me from his people.’ The eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”
4 For this is what the Lord says: “For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are faithful to my covenant,
5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.
6 As for foreigners who become followers of the Lord and serve him, who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants— all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, and who are faithful to my covenant—
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.”
8 The Sovereign Lord says this, the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel: “I will still gather them up.”
9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour, all you wild animals in the forest!
10 All their watchmen are blind, they are unaware. All of them are like mute dogs, unable to bark. They pant, lie down, and love to snooze.
11 The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.
12 Each one says, ‘Come on, I’ll get some wine! Let’s guzzle some beer! Tomorrow will be just like today! We’ll have everything we want!’
Illustration: Two Sons Were Born to a Family Named Taylor
In Yorkshire, England, during the early 1800s, two sons were born to a family named Taylor. The older one set out to make a name for himself by entering Parliament and gaining public prestige. But the younger son chose to give his life to Christ. He later recalled, “Well do I remember, as in unreserved consecration I put myself, my life, my friends, my all, upon the altar. I felt I was in the presence of God, entering into covenant with the Almighty.” With that commitment, Hudson Taylor turned his face toward China and obscurity. As a result, he is known and honored on every continent as a faithful missionary and the founder of the China Inland Mission). For the other son, however, there is no lasting monument. When you look in the encyclopedia to see what the other son has done, you find these words, “the brother of Hudson Taylor.” “. . . he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). (Source Unknown, Lou Nicholes – Missionary/Author).