56:1  Thus says the Lord: Observe justice and perform righteousness, for soon my salvation will come and my righteousness be revealed.

Toward the end of chapter fifty-five people are called to repentance. But one must go on from there, not just forsaking old, sinful ways and thoughts, but going on to do good. It says “eat what is good,” in verse two, chapter fifty-five. We must keep covenant all way, not just the beginning phase. Justice and Righteousness, are, of course, the foundation of all good and covenant blessings, and are the foundation of the covenant. Covenant keeping is defined as righteousness, or righteousness is defined as covenant keeping. And if you do that you will observe justice in your relationships with your fellow man or woman. “For soon my Salvation will come.” That is the Lord himself, his coming. In chapter sixty-two, verse eleven says, “See your Salvation comes, his reward with him, his work preceding him.” That’s a person, the Lord himself, who personifies salvation, as we’ve already seen in many instances. And he’s going to come, so if you want to be around when he comes, then do more than just repent. Live righteously. Keep covenant with the Lord, and you’ll be able to dwell in his presence.

“For soon my Salvation will come, and my Righteousness be revealed.” Righteousness is also a person, the one who prepares the way before Salvation. Righteousness must be established first, so that Salvation can come. Otherwise, the people will perish in his presence. They won’t be able to endure his presence; he’s on such a higher level of the spiritual ladder than they are, that they must be in proximity to him on that ladder in order to be able for him to dwell with them, and for them to dwell with him. The revealing of Righteousness parallels the Arm of the Lord being revealed, in the book of Isaiah. The Lord has bared his holy arm, or revealed his holy arm in the eyes of all nations, in chapter fifty-two, verse ten. And the baring of the arm, or the revealing of the arm, is the same as the awakening and clothing with power the arm of the Lord, in chapter fifty-one, verse 9 where Righteousness and Salvation are also mentioned in the preceding verse.
The revealing of the arm is the Lord’s intervention in the affairs of his people. And it is Righteousness that is revealed, because Righteousness, right now, is hidden. It has to be revealed all over again, to show what Righteousness really is. It’s like the paradigm has been lost; it needs to be taught once more. That’s the Lord’s way. And in any given instance in his people’s history he raises up servants and prophets of God who come and tell the people, in that day and age, how to live righteously with the particular circumstances and challenges in which they find themselves at that time. And the Servant does that. Righteousness is revealed so that Salvation may come. The one is contingent on the other. The two are linked, all the way through the book of Isaiah. Righteousness establishes his people, firmly, in chapter fifty-four, verse fourteen.

56:2  Blessed is the man who does so—the person who holds fast to them—who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it, who stays his hand from doing any evil.

Hold fast to whom? To Salvation and Righteousness, the last two words mentioned. So “blessed is the man who holds fast “to them,” to Righteousness and to Salvation, who are the two arms of God. “--Who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it, who stays his hand from doing evil.”
The seventh day gives you a pulse, or an indicator, of how you are doing with covenant-keeping, how your covenant-keeping is doing, what your covenant-keeping is like. The Sabbath is one of the laws of the covenant. It was given as a sign between the Lord and Israel, between the Lord’s people, anciently, under the law of Moses. And it was an indicator of what people’s devotions to God really consist of. If they’re devoted to God and keep covenant with him, you can tell from what their Sabbath observance tells you. “Who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it, who stays his hand from doing any evil.” This mentions the specific and the general. Sabbath keeping is specific: “He stays his hand from doing any evil.” He doesn’t do any evil at all. Such a person is blessed. You can tell by the way he uses that terminology-- “the man who does so,” “the person who holds fast--” Not everybody is doing that. There’s only a man here, a person, there. And we’ve seen that idea before, in earlier chapters where “a man will keep alive a young cow and a pair of sheep. As for me, the children the Lord has given me, they shall be as signs and portents.” These individuals here and there respond to the messengers that the Lord sends in his name. Isaiah likens them to a tithing of the people. They’re always the minority, always the few, rather than the many. What a pity that is, when so many could be partaking of the Lord’s blessings. “Blessed is the man who does so—the person who holds fast to them—who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it.” More on that subject about the Sabbath without profaning it, in chapter fifty-eight. “Who stays his hand from doing evil--” Evil is synonymous with covenant breaking; it implies one who keeps covenant.

56:3  Let not the foreigner who adheres to the Lord say, The Lord will surely exclude me from his people. And let not the eunuch say, I am but a barren tree.

The foreigners and eunuchs, anciently, were the bottom run of society, the people who were captured from foreign nations who were made slaves in the king’s palace or in the affairs of the kingdom. They were the ones that everybody used to do the menial jobs and things that nobody else wanted to do. They were generally despised by the people because they were not their own kind. This bottom category of society adheres to the Lord. In other words, even though these may be foreigners who have come in from other countries, they’re not native Israelites. They, nevertheless, adhere to the Lord. They come from among the Gentiles and yet, they have adopted the Lord God of Israel as their Lord also. Because they’re ostracized in society these people think they’re not really one of them, like “how can I be one of them? Surely the Lord will exclude me from his covenant people. They’re his people and I’m not, since they treat me that way.” They’re made to feel that way because they’re not one of them. And what does the Lord say? “Not so!” The Eunuch says he is but a barren tree. There’s the metaphor-- tree-- describing a person, as it’s used in other passages of Isaiah. And because these are made a eunuch, they are barren of children, and are they are that way for life.

56:4–5  For thus says the Lord: As for the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose to do what I will—holding fast to my covenant—to them I will give a handclasp and a name within the walls of my house that is better than sons and daughters; I will endow them with an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

Wow! Lots of things are going on here. First of all, the eunuchs keep the Sabbaths, or some of them do, anyway. And that’s what verse two is talking about. “Blessed is the man who does so, the person who holds fast to them [Salvation and Righteousness], who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it.” Who will do this? Well, a person here and a person there. Eunuchs, for example, foreigners. They want to be the covenant people of the Lord, and they actually keep the Sabbath day holy, which is an indicator of general covenant keeping. “Holding fast to my covenant,” here, is parallel with “choosing to do what I will,” This implies that we don’t do what “we” will,” we do what God wills. And that is keeping the terms of his covenant, holding fast to the covenant. The two ideas, there, are paralleled. So if you go in to covenant with the Lord, you do what the Lord wants, not what you want. Does that mean you are totally subservient to him? Yes. But you have freedom. Within the law of covenant keeping there is a tremendous enjoyment of covenant blessings that otherwise cannot come. So it’s a voluntary, eyes-open type of commitment that you enter into. And with it comes empowerment and many other covenant blessings. “To them I will give a handclasp and a name.” Now, we saw that earlier on, with regard to the Servant, in chapters forty-two, forty-four, and forty-five, for example. The Lord grasps his anointed, Cyrus, by the right hand, in chapter forty-five, verse one, and names him, in chapter forty-five, verse four. And that is temple imagery. And it happens when the emperor makes a covenant with his vassal king. And it’s an unconditional covenant we’re talking about, a covenant of grant, or an everlasting covenant that comes after the vassal proves himself loyal, or faithful, under all conditions. “To them I will give a handclasp and a name, within the walls of my house,” within the temple. It’s a temple ordinance in which God takes the place of the emperor, and with whomsoever he covenants takes the place of the vassal. “A name that is better than sons or daughters”--in other words, in having children on this earth. Because it has eternal consequences; it’s not limited to this earth. Remember, Abraham had posterity on this earth, as numerous as the sands of the seashore, but also he has a celestial posterity as numerous as the stars of the heavens, a multitude. “I will endow them with an everlasting name.” “Name” also means posterity, “that shall not be cut off.” It’s like a dynasty. Chapter sixty-six, verse twenty-two says: “As the new heavens and new earth which I shall make shall endure before me, so shall your offspring and name endure.” The name endures and goes on down the generations, so long as the heavens and earth are there, because it’s carried forward by your offspring; it’s linked to offspring. Here, these people who are eunuchs are promised a posterity. What is better than literal posterity on the earth? Maybe it’s Celestial posterity. That’s about the only thing it could be, or literal posterity beyond this earth--the highest blessings of the covenant, really, the unconditional covenant the Lord makes with those who prove loyal and faithful under all conditions. So in other words, the Lord takes these lowest of the low and puts them on the highest of the high, before him.

56:6–7  And the foreigners who adhere to the Lord to serve him, who love the name of the Lord, that they may be his servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, holding fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and gladden in my house of prayer.

Again, he’s reiterating the same kinds of things: foreigners who adhere to the Lord, to serve him. They covenant with the Lord to be his servants, to do his will, to keep the law of the covenant. These are aliens. These are Gentiles. “The foreigners who adhere to the Lord to serve him, who love the name of the Lord, that they may be his servants.” Now, here is the second occasion that we have servants appearing. The servants were first mentioned in chapter fifty-four, verse seventeen: “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and such is their vindication by me, says the Lord.” And here we see these foreigners, these Gentiles becoming his servants, attaining the highest level that people are capable of. And that’s an anomaly. The Lord exalts them among his people, while they were humbled, or came from the humblest of origins. Again, showing the principle that at first there is humiliation, before exaltation. They feel like they’re excluded, they’re not worthy, they’re barren, they’re not up to par. And what does the Lord do? He reverses their circumstances and makes them the very highest. “Who love the name of that Lord that they be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it, holding fast to my covenant.”
Again, here are the same ideas. This is the third time that Sabbath-keeping has been mentioned, and the second time that holding fast to the covenant has been mentioned. Covenant, of course, is also a metaphor describing the Lord’s Servant. He’s appointed as a covenant of the people, as shown in chapters forty-two and forty-nine. So holding fast to the Lord’s covenant is holding fast to the Lord’s Servant. Like the people upholding Moses as a prophet, they hold fast to everything that Moses says; it’s the same idea. That is paralleled with holding fast, as a word link, in verse two: “Blessed is the man who does so, the person who holds fast to them.” That is, to Salvation and to Righteousness. So holding fast to the covenant is the same thing as holding fast to Righteousness, who is the Servant, the Lord’s mouthpiece on the earth, his prophet, his representative or his messenger.

56:7  Their offerings and sacrifices shall be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be known as a house of prayer for all nations.

 The Lord’s house is not just for one, exclusive, monopolistic people. It’s for everyone, so long as they keep covenant with the Lord. That’s all that matters. He’s no respecter of persons. It’s a house of prayer for all nations. Prayer for what? For something, something we need—prayer of thanksgiving, of praise for the things the Lord has already done for us. All nations may know the Lord. All nations can pray to him, and become his covenant people. If they do what he says, what he wants, then he’s bound by covenant to bless them if they offer acceptable offerings and sacrifices on his altar. That is, at the temple, in his house of prayer. Then blessings will flow, upon them and those for whom they pray. That’s what king Hezekiah did; he offered a sacrifice that was acceptable to the Lord, as did Abraham, and many others, and the Lord delivered their people. So these people, really, to be the Lord’s servants, it means they are also proxies for the deliverance of others. And the way that they obtain those kind of blessings is through offering acceptable sacrifices, offering their own lives, their service, their sufferings—all that they have-- in the cause of the Lord.

56:8  Thus says my Lord the Lord, who gathers up the outcasts of Israel: I will gather others to those already gathered.

“Outcasts of Israel” implies those who have already gone through covenant curse, who’ve been thrown out, who’ve been humiliated, oppressed, scattered, and they’re gathered. We understand that when they have paid the price of their iniquity, as it says in chapter forty: “Her guilt has been expiated. She has received from the Lord’s hand, double, for all her sins.” When they have suffered the consequences of transgression and they have repented, then the Lord, who has paid the price of sin and iniquity, covers their sins, or answers on their behalf according to the law of justice-- then they can be gathered from exile. When he again renews the covenant with them, then he reverses the curses, and they will turn into blessings. But not only them, but others are gathered, too. And the word “others” literally means that. Just like the Amish consider themselves to be the covenant people, and those who are not Amish they call the “Others,” the underen. That’s what these are; these are aliens, foreigners, eunuchs, Gentiles. He will gather “others” to those already gathered. He will gather them all in one, Israel and Gentiles, together. It’s not important who they are. It’s important what they do. These are people who are keeping the Sabbath. These are people who are adhering to the Lord, who serve and want to be his servants. They’re holding fast to his covenant, holding fast to Righteousness and Salvation. What more do you want? Why would you want to exclude somebody, like that? The Lord does not. If people do, they have a problem.

56:9  All you wild beasts, you animals of the forest, come and devour!

That’s a covenant curse. To be devoured by wild beasts, in the ancient Near East, in the Old Testament, is a covenant curse. So somebody is incurring covenant curses while thee foreigners and eunuchs who are being loyal to the Lord are being blessed to the highest degree. On the other hand, others are being cursed. Who are they? They’re watchmen.

56:10  Their watchmen are altogether blind and unaware; all of them are but dumb watchdogs unable to bark, lolling seers fond of slumber.

Watchmen are prophets, the prophets of God’s people. “All” of the watchmen of the Lord’s people are blind and unaware? No. But some. In chapter fifty-two, verse eight it talks about the watchmen who see eye-to-eye and lift up their voice. They see the Lord’s return to Zion. Those are the good watchmen. But there are some watchmen who are the bad watchmen; they’re not doing their job. But the watchmen, the prophets, are the highest category of society. They’re on the highest rung of society, in contrast to the foreigners and eunuchs who are on the lowest rung of society. So those on the lowest rung of society, those who have gone through humiliation and suffering, are now exalted. And these who were on the highest rung, are now humiliated and suffer. Why? Because they’re blind and unaware. Who, in the book of Isaiah, is blind? What is “blind” a word link to? “They’re blind and unaware.” That imagery is used of idolaters, in chapter forty-four: “All who manufacture idols are deranged. The things they cherish profit nothing. Those who promote them are themselves sightless and mindless to their own dismay. They have become unaware and insensible. Their eyes are glazed so they cannot see. Their minds are incapable of discernment.” That’s how people get blind and unaware. Chapter one starts off that way. The Lord’s people, in their rebellious state and wicked condition, are a nation astray. “Israel does not know. My people are insensible. A nation astray, a people weighed down by sin, offspring of wrongdoers, perverse children.” Here, prophets are also put in that category: “All of them are but dumb watchdogs, unable to bark.” A watchdog is there to warn of trouble coming. Trouble IS coming and they don’t bark. Remember what a watchman is suppose to do, in chapter twenty-one? When he sees trouble coming he is suppose to make it known. Chapter twenty-one, verse six says: “Go and appoint a watchman who will report what he sees.” Verse ten of chapter twenty-one says, “I have reported what I have heard from the Lord of Hosts.” What he sees and hears he passes on. And these watchmen are unable to do so--”Lolling seers, fond of slumber.” There’s no question that it’s talking about prophets and seers who are asleep, who need to be woken up.

56:11  Gluttonous dogs, and insatiable, such indeed are insensible shepherds. They are all diverted to their own way, every one after his own advantage.

They’re not even covenant people. They’re likened to non-covenant people, because dogs are not a kosher animal. “Such indeed are insensible shepherds. They are all diverted to their own way, every one after his own advantage.” This is like Ezekiel thirty-four, where the shepherds of the people are smiting and scattering the flock, feeing themselves off the fattest, instead of ministering to their flocks and nurturing and gathering up sheep and the lambs. These shepherds don’t care. They’re insatiable for food—perhaps not just physical food—but for other things. And they have grown insensible to the needs of their people, to warn of trouble coming. What does the shepherd do? He protects the sheep and leads them to pasture. He wards off wolves, dogs, and animals of prey. He protects the sheep. These shepherds do not. They’re all diverted, there, to their own way, everyone after his own advantage, referred to in verse eleven. They’re selfish, where they should be unselfish. Where they should be proxies, in behalf of others they’re not even proxies for themselves.

56:12  Come, they say, let us get wine and have our fill of liquor. For tomorrow will be like today, only far better!

Wine and liquor is associated with Ephraim, in chapter twenty-eight. The “drunkards of Ephraim” are mentioned there, who come under condemnation. And drunkards are also identified with Egypt being like a drunkard staggering into his own vomit, in chapter nineteen. These are rhetorical links, or liking ideas. For tomorrow will be like today, they say, only far better.” Well, they think things are going to go on the way they are. But they’re not. Everything’s going to change overnight, all of a sudden. The Lord is going to turn the tables on these guys. The Lord is going to cause a reversal of circumstances for his righteous people. The wicked, those who exalt themselves now, will be humbled. Those who are humbled now will be exalted. Those who suffer now will be saved. Those who are saved now will suffer, and so forth.
The prophets, watchmen, are in an inebriated state. They are not fulfilling their callings as prophets of the Lord. By choosing the highest rung of the ladder of society, and the lowest rung of society, and showing what happens to them — Isaiah, of course, also means everybody else in between. Isaiah does that, similar to what we saw earlier when people picked on the widows and orphans, as an example of the needy in society. That’s an extreme example of the needy. And these are also extreme examples. But that doesn’t mean that Isaiah limits himself only to these extreme examples. He also means everybody in between who does these kinds of things, in these kinds of ways. The Lord will [rest of recording cut off.]