Isaiah 56: Unity of the New Man in Christ: Chapter 9: The House of Prayer

Isaiah 56:6, 7 says,

⁶ Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast My covenant, ⁷ even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar….

Previously, in verse 3, the comfort given to the foreigner was a brief but important command to stop thinking that God had separated him from His people. But now God enlarges upon this to show us in greater detail what it means to be joined to His people. Foreigners are “to minister to Him” and “to be His servants.”

That, of course, is about becoming Christ’s servants, a temporary position until they reach a deeper relationship status as “friends.” Jesus told His own disciples in John 15:13-15,

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

A servant is one who serves. A friend is one who serves willingly and gladly, motivated by such love that he would even die for his master/friend. When one achieves such a relationship, he becomes what the law calls a voluntary slave. A voluntary slave is one who was set free but who then returns to the master he loves, forsaking his own inheritance, desiring to be a permanent part of his master’s household (Exodus 21:5, 6).

Such a slave is not really a slave at all, but a friend; and a friend, in turn, is the equivalent of a son. Jesus spoke of this in John 8:35,

³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.

So in Isaiah 56:6, we find the foreigner joining the household of God as a servant. Presumably, he has become a voluntary slave who desires to join the household of God forever, because he loves the name of the Lord. He is not infatuated with the name Yahweh but loves His nature and character. He loves Yahweh’s commands, because they are not burdensome but a delight.

John himself had come to that state of spiritual maturity, for he wrote in 1 John 5:3,

³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.

Foreigners too are invited to come and learn His laws so that they may come to know Him as John did. Only the traditions of men are burdensome (Matt. 23:4). Those who think that the law of God is burdensome do not yet truly know Him or agree with Him. Such people are still mere servants.

A Better Sacrifice

Foreigners who come to learn of God are not to be mistreated nor despised as inferior, nor are they to be treated as perpetual servants to those more “chosen.” As with any Israelite who serves God, they are in a New Covenant relationship with Christ, drawn to Him by the promise of God. They are the fruit of Abraham’s labor and calling to be a blessing to all nations.

Such foreigners “keep from profaning the Sabbath,” which, as we have seen, is not merely about keeping a particular day, nor even about keeping a land rest every seventh year. It is about putting into practice the great Sabbath of rest—the Jubilee—wherein all debts are cancelled, and everyone returns to the inheritance of the glorified body that he lost when Adam sinned.

The Sabbath is truly kept only by the Amen people, those who are in full agreement with Christ, those who speak only the life-giving words of Christ and who do only what Christ does. In other words, they are led by the Spirit and do not fulfill the works of the flesh that are hostile to Christ.

The prophet also says that “their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar.” While this is couched in Old Covenant terms, we know that we have a better Sacrifice that does not need to be repeated (Heb. 7:26, 27).

Though animal sacrifices were required under the Old Covenant, David knew that God was not at all impressed with such things. He wrote in Psalm 40:6, “burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.” His desire was for His children to say, “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).

This was a reference to the New Covenant, in which the law was to be written in our hearts (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10), secured by the better Sacrifice that God desired both then and today.

One Temple for All

The latter part of Isaiah 56:7 reads,

⁷ … For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.

The purpose of Solomon’s temple, as well as the greater New Covenant temple in Eph. 2:20-22, is to provide a place where all may worship and pray to God on an equal footing, united by faith and love for Christ. Solomon himself recognized this, for when he dedicated his temple, he prayed in 1 Kings 8:41-43,

⁴¹ Also concerning the foreigner, who is not of Your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Your name’s sake ⁴² (for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as do Your people Israel, and that they may know that the house which I have built is called by Your name.

Some have claimed that these “foreigners” were Israelites who had immigrated to other lands. But Solomon made it clear that he was speaking of those who were “not of Your people Israel.” Furthermore, the intent was so that “all the peoples of the earth may know Your name.” This is so clear, in fact, that some have told me that Solomon was wrong, that he should not have prayed in such a manner, and that he misled Isaiah into believing a false doctrine. But I have faith in the word of God and do not intend to edit it to make it conform to my carnal mind—nor to anyone else’s carnal mind. My spiritual mind believes the word of God and rejoices in it.

Isaiah 56:8 then declares,

⁸ The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

This embodies the spirit of the New Covenant, which says in Rom. 10:11-13,

¹¹ For the Scripture says [in Isaiah 28:16], “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Joel 2:32].

It is clear, then, that our impartial God, whose impartial nature is set forth in His law, is drawing all people to Himself. There is no place for a dividing wall in the temple of God. Modern Zionist teaching is a distortion of the Scriptures and has no place in a New Covenant gospel. The prophets and apostles did not share the view that the “others” being gathered to God must become Jews to fulfill the word. It is the opposite. Jews—like all others—must leave the earthly Jerusalem and become citizens of the New Jerusalem. So we read in Hebrews 13:12-14,

¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ So let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

The book of Hebrews was designed to point the way to leave the old system of Judaism, follow Christ outside the camp, and immigrate to the New Jerusalem. Those who remain attached to the old city or who try too hard to remain in good standing among their family and friends are unwilling to bear His reproach.

No one can say that it is easy to bear the reproach of one’s ethnic or religious heritage. But that is the call of the book of Hebrews, and it comes down to which city one loves more.

Isaiah 56:8 lays the foundation for New Covenant teaching. Jesus gave His disciples the example of how to treat Samaritans (John 4:39) and Roman soldiers (Matt. 8:13). Paul later solidified this in his epistles by advocating equal rights to all men regardless of ethnicity. Those who gathered to God are not (necessarily) immigrating to the old land but are joining the household of faith wherever they may live.

Blind Watchmen

The Spirit of God knew that many would be unable to hear the revelation of the impartial God. So Isaiah 56:9-11 next says,

⁹ All you beasts of the field, all you beasts in the forest, come to eat. ¹⁰ His watchmen are blind, all of them know nothing, all of them are mute dogs unable to bark, dreamers lying down, who love to slumber; ¹¹ and the dogs are greedy, they are not satisfied. And they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each one to his unjust gain, to the last one.

A blind watchman is as useless as a mute dog that cannot alert his master when someone is approaching. The prophet thus admonishes them to “come to eat.” Eat what? The answer is found in the previous chapter, where Isaiah 55:1 calls the people to “buy wine and milk, without money and without cost.” The food is not physical but spiritual. As I said earlier, they are called to eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood (John 6:53), which means believing and absorbing His teachings.

The shepherds “have no understanding.” Like the sheep which they are supposed to tend, “they have all turned to their own way.” This was stated earlier in Isaiah 53:6, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.”

Such ignorance of the word was common and widespread in Isaiah’s day, and little has changed even today. Seminarians are taught to engage in the great controversies of the Church, and many come out as secret atheists who consider the ministry to be a mere profession. Few seem to graduate with a good understanding of the word.

Isaiah 56:12 concludes,

¹² “Come,” they say, “let us get wine, and let us drink heavily of strong drink; and tomorrow will be like today, only more so.”

Whereas they ought to have drunk the new wine of the Spirit, the watchmen were more interested in literal wine. Wine speaks of joy in the positive sense, but it also speaks of false joy.

In this case, the shepherds were more interested in partying and entertainment than in learning the ways of God. I have observed that some people try to fill an inner void with endless parties and entertainment. This shows that they have yet to find satisfaction and peace with God.