God's Eternal Invitation To All

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7

Today’s reading from the Prophet Isaiah may not be one of the best known passages in this book, but it is one that Jesus quoted when driving the moneychangers out the temple.

God’s chosen people were the children of Israel, who were selected by Him to be witnesses of His truth, to bring His Word to the world, and from whom the Savior of the world was to be born.   To whom were they to witness God’s truth and Word?  They were chosen to bring God’s message to the Gentile nations of the world.  As our passage begins, God is telling His people that His salvation for all people is soon to come (vs. 1).  He was going to send a Savior to the world, and that day was coming.  In relation to this, the Lord God was calling upon His people to “keep justice and do righteousness”.   He wanted them to do what was ethically right in His eyes, what was just and moral, and to treat others right, as He wanted.

In verses 6 and 7 the prophet Isaiah turns his attention to the Gentiles.  For centuries, both before and after Isaiah’s time, the children of Israel had believed that the Gentiles were cursed by God, beyond His love and mercy.  Rather than telling and showing them God’s love, truth and His Word, they meticulously avoided any unnecessary contact with them.  Even if a Gentile did happen to hear about Yahweh, showed an interest in Him, and turned to Him in faith and love, they were often still considered a lower class of people.

God says that is not to be so.  In His eyes, the “son of the foreigner” who had come in faith to Him, to serve and love Him, was welcomed in His sight.  The Lord God says that He will bring them, the Gentiles, to His holy mountain, which was Mount Zion or Jerusalem.  He says that they are welcome in His house of prayer, the Temple, and that He will accept their offerings and sacrifices.  These are things that the Jewish people did not want to accept.  They liked to think of themselves as the only ones that God loved and cared for, not the Gentiles, and they did not like the idea of them possibly being a part of God’s Kingdom.

The end of verse 7 is one that the Lord Jesus quoted to the moneychangers and people in the Temple when He confronted and drove them out of the Temple (Mark 11:15-17).  God is serious about prayer.  The moneychangers made a lot of money when they exchanged the everyday money that people used into the Temple currency.  They also charged an exorbitant amount for the animals used for Temple sacrifices.  Jesus quoted this verse as He drove them out of the Temple, along with their money-making schemes.

Also, all of this took place in the Court of Gentiles, which was the only part of the Temple area they were allowed to go to worship Yahweh.  Their doing this business in the Court of the Gentiles would frustrate any attempt of devout Gentiles from worshipping the Lord.  As Jesus observed this, it must have made Him very sad.

As we look at these verses, how can we apply their truths to us today?  Are there any groups of people that we, if we are honest to ourselves, do not really want coming to “our” church?  Do we welcome all racial and ethnic groups into our church to worship the Lord together?  How about the poor, those who do not dress as well as we do?  Are they welcomed as warmly as someone with a lot of money?  (James 2:1-9).   We should be as warm and welcoming to the homeless as we are to a millionaire.  Everyone, regardless of race, nationality, age, or financial ability, should be welcomed to come and worship the Savior.