Isaiah 56:3 - Meaning and Application

The prophet is speaking here in God’s name to people who sincerely wanted to belong to God but felt deeply discouraged. Some were troubled because they were not children of Abraham. They had joined themselves to the Lord and had bound their lives to him forever, which is the heart of true religion, turning from the world and the flesh and giving ourselves fully to God’s service and honor. Yet they wondered if God would accept them, because they were foreigners, people outside the family of Israel.

They feared God had cut them off from his people and would not count them among his own. But God had often said there should be one law for the native-born and the stranger (Exodus 12:49). Still, they fell into this sad conclusion. Unbelief often puts thoughts into good people’s minds that directly contradict what God has already said. Ministers need ready answers for the fears and suspicions of weak believers, even when those fears are unreasonable.

Others were discouraged because they were not fathers in Israel. The eunuch, a man unable to have children, said, “I am like a dry tree.” That is how he saw himself, and it was his sorrow. Others saw him that way too, and treated it as a shame. He was thought to be useless because he had no children, and no hope of having any.

This was especially painful then. Eunuchs were not allowed to serve as priests (Leviticus 21:20), and they could not enter the congregation in the same way as others (Deuteronomy 23:1). On top of that, God had promised Israel many descendants, which was one of their great blessings, especially since the Messiah would come through that people. Yet God did not want eunuchs to conclude that they were shut out of the gospel church, or from becoming spiritual priests, simply because they had been excluded from the old ceremonial system. When the barrier of the ceremonial law was removed, Gentiles were brought in, and so were those who had been kept out by ritual uncleanness.

Still, from the answer given here, it seems the main burden on the eunuch’s heart was his childlessness. So God gives fitting comfort to both groups.

To those who have no children of their own, but who are themselves children of the church and the covenant, God gives this promise: they may still have a far better place and name. A person naturally values the place and name that come through sons and daughters. It is comforting to think that we live on in our children after we die. But there is a better place and a better name for those who belong to God, and that more than makes up for lacking the other.

A place and a name mean rest and honor. They mean a safe and comfortable dwelling, and a good reputation among neighbors. Such people will be happy, and they can be at peace both at home and in public. Even if they have no children to fill their house with joy, or to stand with them when they face opposition, they will have something far better.

God himself will give them this place and name by promise. He will be both their home and their honor. He will give it to them in his house and within his walls, where they will have a lasting place and be planted like trees that take root (Psalm 92:13). They will dwell with God all their lives (Psalm 27:4), living at home in fellowship with him, like Anna, who stayed in the temple night and day.

There they will also have a name. A good standing with God and with his people is a better name than having sons and daughters. Our relation to God, our share in Christ, our right to the blessings of the covenant, and our hope of eternal life give us a blessed place and a blessed name in God’s house. That name will never die out or be cut off. It will be an everlasting name, like the place and name of the angels, who do not marry because they do not die.

Spiritual blessings are far better than sons and daughters. Children can bring care, sorrow, and even shame. But the blessings we receive in God’s house are steady joy and honor, comforts that cannot be spoiled.

Let them know that God’s Israel, when they return from Babylon, will not be burdened the way they were when they came out of Egypt with a mixed crowd that went along, but was never truly with them. No, the children of foreigners will have a place and a name in God’s house, if they meet these conditions.

First, they must turn away from all other gods, every rival and false claim, and join themselves to the Lord so fully that they become one spirit with him (1 Corinthians 6:17). Second, they must join themselves to him as loyal subjects to their king and soldiers to their commander, by a vow of faithfulness and obedience. They are to serve him constantly, not only when it suits them, but as people fully under his command and devoted to his cause.

Third, they must join themselves to him as friends who care about his honor and the good of his kingdom in the world. They are to love the name of the Lord, to be glad about all he has shown of himself, and to value every reminder of him. Serving him and loving him go together. Those who truly love him will serve him faithfully, and obedience that comes from love is both more pleasing to God and more joyful for us, because his commandments are not a burden (1 John 5:3).

Fourth, they must keep the Sabbath without dishonoring it. This is especially required of the foreigner living among God’s people. Fifth, they must take hold of the covenant, that is, come under its promises and obligations, and claim the blessings it offers.

They are also told what privileges they will receive when they come to God. First, there is help. “I will bring them to my holy mountain.” God does not only welcome them when they arrive, he also inclines their hearts to come, shows them the way, and leads them in it. David prayed for this same guidance when he asked God to bring him to his holy hill by his light and truth (Psalm 43:3). The church is God’s holy hill, where he has set his King, and to bring them there is to bring them under Zion’s King as well as into Zion’s temple.

Second, there is acceptance. “Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar.” These gifts will be just as acceptable because they belong to foreigners. The prayers and praises of devout Gentiles, their spiritual sacrifices, will be as pleasing to God as those of godly Jews. No difference will be made between them. Though they are Gentiles by birth, grace will count them as the believing children of faithful Abraham and the praying children of struggling Jacob. In Christ Jesus, there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision.

Third, there is comfort. They will not only be accepted, they will also rejoice in it: “I will make them joyful in my house of prayer.” God will give them grace not only to serve him, but to serve him gladly. That cheerful service will itself honor him, for when we sing in the Lord’s ways, our God is greatly glorified. They will go away and eat their bread with joy, because God accepts their works (Ecclesiastes 9:7). Even if they came to the house of prayer with sorrow, they will leave in joy, because there they will find relief by casting their cares on God and trusting themselves to him. Like Hannah, they will go away with a changed face, no longer sad. Many sorrowful hearts have found joy in the house of prayer.

It is also promised that many Gentiles will come into the church, not just a few who arrive one by one, but large numbers, with the door opened wide to them: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” At that time the temple was God’s house, and Christ later applied these words to it (Matthew 21:13), while also looking ahead to the gospel church as its true meaning points to that greater house (Hebrews 9:8, Hebrews 9:9). Christ calls it his house too (Hebrews 3:6).

This house is promised to be a house of prayer, not a house of sacrifice alone. The gatherings of God’s people are to be meetings for prayer, where they come together in united faith and shared love. It is also promised to be a house of prayer not only for the Jews, but for all peoples. This was fulfilled when Peter learned and declared that in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right is accepted by him (Acts 10:35). Earlier, strangers were excluded and even threatened with death if they came too near, but now Gentiles are no longer treated as outsiders and foreigners (Ephesians 2:19). Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple already showed that it was meant to be a house of prayer and that strangers should be welcome there (1 Kings 8:30, 1 Kings 8:41, 1 Kings 8:43).

This also points to the Gentiles being joined with the Jews into one body, so that, as Christ says, there may be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16). God will gather the outcasts of Israel. Many Jews who had shut themselves out by unbelief will be brought back in by faith, a remnant chosen by grace (Romans 11:5). Christ came to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24), to gather their outcasts (Psalm 147:2), to restore those preserved for him (Isaiah 49:6), and to be their glory (Luke 2:32). He will also gather others to himself besides those outcasts. Or, if some Gentiles have already come in from time to time, that is still only a small beginning. More and more are yet to be brought in. “I will gather others to him besides these.” These are only the first fruits compared with the great harvest Christ will gather from the nations when the full number of the Gentiles comes in. The church is a growing body. When some are gathered in, we may still hope for more, until the full body is complete. “Other sheep I have.”