Year 3, Day 40: Isaiah 56

Some Difficult Teachings

Isaiah 56 starts off with a really neat set of passages.  First of all, you have the passage about honoring the Sabbath and not doing evil.  These are verses that sound so simple, don’t they?  I mean, if you really think about it, how hard is it to say, “Honor the Sabbath” and “Don’t do evil?”  After all, the Sabbath only comes by once a week, right?

Ha!  Honoring the Sabbath is difficult enough.  But then refraining from evil?  No, there is a challenge indeed.

But then we get to verses 3 and 4.  God tells His people to make sure that the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord doesn’t feel separated.  Or perhaps more accurately they are to never feel as though they are separate from God’s people.

There’s a reason that this is such a neat verse.  The theology behind the verse is really pre-Gospel.  God is saying to the foreigner, “Once you become mine, you are mine.”  Or, think of it this way, “When you become mine, your genetics are irrelevant.”  From a New Testament perspective we would say it another way.  It is the faith of Abraham that is important, not his DNA.  And that is a really cool thought when you consider the scope of what Jesus did and what he called His apostles (and Paul) to do.

Then we come to the line about the eunuch.  This is cool for all the same reasons but on a different line of thinking.  Remember that under the Law eunuchs were forbidden from entering into the presence of God.  They were “deformed males.”  They had no ability to produce offspring, so under the Law they had little reason to exist.

Yet, here in these verses we can see that God is telling the eunuch that there is something in life more important than one’s offspring.  {I know, that’s a pretty blunt statement right there.  Sorry.} The eunuch who is obedient to God and who proclaims such obedience through his actions in life will bring a testimony to the glory of God that is even greater than children.  The eunuch who lives according to God’s ways can know eternal life with God, which is something that under the Law seems difficult at best for them to achieve.  In this passage, we see that grace surpasses the Law.  We also see that one’s walk with the Lord surpasses one’s walk with one’s children.  {Although please don’t hear me saying that parenting is irrelevant.  Good parenting is absolutely important!  It is just penultimate to one’s relationship with God.}

A Switch In Subjects

In Isaiah 56:9 we completely change the tenor of this chapter.  No longer are we talking about future restoration.  No longer are we talking about the righteous remnant returning.  No longer are we singing the praises of the faithful.  We are back to Isaiah’s reality.  We are back to the calling of the Gentiles (the dogs) to destroy and devour the Hebrew lands.

If we think about the prophet Isaiah, he lived in a time prior to the Babylonian occupation.  He did live to see the Assyrians flee to their own home, but he died prior to the Babylonian assault upon Jerusalem.  So if we read these verses through the lens of Isaiah, these verses could well be again returning to the coming threat of the Babylonians.  Of course, as I have documented alot in the past few chapters, even after the return from the land under the Persians there will be the coming of the Greeks and the Romans and eventually the Muslim forces.  There are many waves of Gentiles who will assert themselves over the Hebrew people.

For me, the key here is why.  Why are the Gentiles (the dogs) being called to come and devour the land?  Unfortunately, the answer is all too simple.  The Hebrew people have no leadership.  Their shepherds no longer shepherd.  Their shepherds are interested in strong drink and wine – not actually leading people in God’s ways.  They are interested in the fun parts of life rather in the challenge of leading people towards God.   Each one has turned to their own ways and their own understanding.

This is really a painful set of verses for me to read.  As a pastor, I know the temptation to stop caring about God’s ways and just try to get people to like me.  I know how easy it is to get sucked into the popularity race and step out of the journey with God.  I know how fast that transition can happen.  I know how blind any leader is to that temptation.  I’ve fallen upon that sword more than once.  It happens in a scarily fast manner.

Spiritual leadership that is strong and faithful is vital to Christian life with God.  But leadership will eventually fail.  What is important is to remember just how fast leadership can fail so that none of us are blind when it happens.  When we hold our leaders accountable, we will help them stay strong.  When they are strong, they can hold us accountable.  It is always a give and take.  But strong spiritual leadership is a necessity for any and all of us.

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