Isaiah 56 & 57 Peace to the Far and to the Near

Introduction Chapter 56 begins the final section of the book of Isaiah. Chapters 1-39 addressed the nation during the Assyrian threat calling on Judah to trust her God even in face of that threat. Chapters 40-55 then address the exiles in Babylon, assuring them that even from there, their God is able to redeem and save them. So what more is left to be covered in chapters 56-66? These chapters merge the themes of the first two sections, returning to a call to righteous living but in response to the salvation of God and with His power as we are unable to do so on our own. In addition, these chapters show how God’s work to redeem His people is not His final work, but that He has other outcasts to bring to Himself as well. Note that in this section of the book, the text does not give any clear indication as to the historical setting and original target audience for its message. There are messages that could be applied to the inhabitants of Judah during the early chapters of the book. Or these could be themes that have been adapted from first Isaiah to now apply to the exiles who have returned from Babylon or perhaps to the small population that remained in Judah even during the exile. That said, the theological setting of this section is purposefully set to be after the revelation of the LORD as redeemer and the work of the Servant in chs. 40-55.The final chapters can be arranged in this thematic fashion:  56:1-8 – All can be included as God’s people o 56:9-59:15a – Confronting unrighteous behavior . 59:15b-21 – Yahweh’s wrath as Divine Warrior  60-62 – Eschatological hope, the new Jerusalem . 63:1-6 – Yahweh’s wrath as Divine Warrior o 63:7-66:17 – Confronting unrighteous behavior  66:18-24 – All can be included as God’s people

New People of the Covenant – Vs. 56:1-8 The new section begins with a call to now keep the justice and righteousness called for in chs 1- 39 in light of God’s salvation revealed in chs 40-55. Note that Israel is not to keep justice and righteousness in order for His salvation to come but because of it. The danger being addressed is that as Israel now knows she is still loved by God and has been redeemed despite all her sin, may think she can return to her previous practices assuming that God will always redeem her. But instead is the renewed call for righteousness. Vs. 2 then expounds on what justice and righteousness looks like practically: to keep from profaning the Sabbath (repeated 3 times in this section) and keep from doing evil. Why did Isaiah choose these two? Oswalt suggests that this covers both maintaining purity in the ritual of worship as well as in daily life.1 Alternatively, it calls to mind key components of the 10 Commandments, the core of the covenant between God and His people, and what should define and mark them as God’s people. Vs. 3-8 drive the point home that this keeping of justice and righteousness is what it truly means to be part of the covenantal people of God and not simply birth. It is illustrated in two examples of peoples explicitly excluded from the assembly of God’s people (see Deut. 23:1-8) that are now welcomed by God as part of the covenant because of their dedication to Him and His ways. Vs. 3 introduces them as the foreigner (and particularly the Moabites and Ammonites in Deut. 23) and the

1 Oswalt, John N. – The Book of Isaiah. Grand Rapids, MI: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986 – p. 456 – 1 – Isaiah 56 & 57 Peace to the Far and to the Near eunuch. They are not to deprecate themselves any longer! For in verses 4-8, God Himself now assures them of acceptance for God’s grace and healing can overcome what they could not. First, He addresses the eunuchs who keep the Sabbath and seek to please God and hold fast His covenant. For them, their condition not only prevented them from entering the temple, but they also lost the posterity of their name which was seen at that time as being kept through one’s children. But in vs. 5 God promises them a permanent dwelling in His house and an everlasting name, a better legacy than that of sons and daughters. In vs. 6-7, God addresses the foreigner who has “joined himself” to God, meaning he has left his foreign gods and allied himself with God (a la Ruth the Moabitess). Even more shocking to the Israelites, this foreigner is allowed to “minister” to the LORD as a priest might. He loves the name of the LORD and serves Him, and keeps the Sabbath, a Jewish rite that distinguishes the Jewish people. And so God invites Him into the temple and is allowed to offer sacrifices to atone for sin and now has access to God in prayer in fulfilment of Solomon’s prayer in the dedication of the temple in 1 Kgs 8:41-43. Vs. 8 concludes this section with yet another Isaianic description of the LORD, in this case it is “the Lord GOD who gathers.” He will gather not only the outcasts of Israel, but will continue on from there to gather others in to join them.

Neglect, Gluttony, and Idolatry – Vs. 56:9-57:13 The text now moves to a section in vs. 56:9 to 57:13 in which as Goldingay notes, the dominant tone is much more confrontational2 as it highlights Israel’s inability to live up to the calling just given in vs. 1-8. The contrast with vs 1-8 is striking and as Oswalt mentions, makes the point that a eunuch who keeps the covenant is more truly one of the “elect” than a well-connected Israelite who is an idolator.3

A Neglectful Leadership – Vs. 56:9-57:2 The first part of this section is full of imagery and metaphor as the prophet first addresses a failed leadership. It begins with a call to the beasts to “come” to devour the city for reasons to be explained in the following verses. For one thing, the city is unguarded for the watchmen who are supposed to be guarding it are blind (not a good trait for a watchman), and they don’t even know it. The phrase “they do not know” is used three times in vs. 10 and 11 although this is not apparent in the English translations. In verse 10 it is used without an object: the watchmen are completely unaware of the issue at hand. The image seamlessly shifts to watchdogs that are silent and sleeping so that they cannot sound the alarm. Note the added tidbit that they love to sleep indicating laziness. Not only that, but these dogs have huge appetites (large, open mouths) that cannot be satisfied. This is the second use of “they do not know”, as it is literally, “they do not know satiation.” Once again the image shifts, this time to shepherds, bad shepherds who “do not know discernment”. They are not paying any attention to the needs of their sheep but only to their own concerns. Oswalt suggests that the threefold imagery of watchmen (alluding to prophets), dogs, and shepherds is alluding to the triad of Jewish leadership: prophets, priests, and royalty4. In vs. 12, using the same verb “come” as in verse 9, they call each other to go “drink heavily” (literally), and assume the following day will be the same as the next as they simply give into their unbridled appetites. And we also should take warning from this. As in Eph. 6 or 1st Pet. 5, we need to be on guard for the evil that threatens our faith and not become complacent in the grace of God losing our sensitivity to the sin that so easily entangles!

2 Goldingay, John. – Isaiah. Grand Rapids, MI: BakerBooks a division of Baker Publishing Group. 2001. p. 319 3 Oswalt, p. 467 4 Ibid. p. 469 – 2 – Isaiah 56 & 57 Peace to the Far and to the Near

In vs. 1-2, something else is going on without their knowledge. “The righteous” and “faithful men” are disappearing and no one is paying attention or cares. The wording of these verses is interesting, for while it may appear that this is an evil that is being perpetrated against the righteous, the word for “taken away” is actually “gathered” as in gathered to one’s ancestors and the result is peace and rest as if in God’s mercy, He is removing them to a better place and out of a decaying society before the calamity called for in vs. 9 arrives. And those left do not notice or take warning.

Idolatrous Worship Practices – Vs. 57:3-13 Vs. 3 now calls to account the “sons of the sorceress and offspring of the adulterer and the loose woman.” This will be an indictment against those who claim to be God’s people because of their descent from Abraham, but this description shows their true characteristic nature that they are a people given to divination (sorcery), adultery, sin and deceit. In vs. 4, like the leaders in the previous section, the mocking shows a lack of worry and a self-assurance of power or position over those mocked, either the righteous in vs. 1-2 or the prophet or those associated with the prophet. After all, as described in 5-9, they are very religious. Goldingay suggests5, these are “Yahwistic” practices that have mixed the worst of the pagan religion (cultic prostitution, idols, worship of creation, sacrifice of children) with aspects of the ritual practices commanded by God (reference to grain and drink offerings) and so believe themselves secure in their “devotion” to Yahweh. Vs. 6 is a rhetorical question (Should I comfort myself with these things?) belying that security; God is not pleased. Vs. 7-10 bring the accusation of that in addition to idolatry, they have also turned to other gods (imagery of setting or making a bed, deserting God, making a covenant with them). And as the appetites of the leaders could not be abated, that seems to be the case here as Israel has run after foreign alliances and foreign gods as if cannot get enough! Vs. 11-13 conclude this section with God challenging the people to disclose what drove them to betray Him, forget His covenant and not even care (as with the righteous in vs. 1), as if there could be something more fearful than God Himself. And so vs. 11 ends with another rhetorical question, should I have lost my patience sooner that you might fear me more? Vs. 12-13 now clear up any delusion that their rituals and incantations might be of any value at all. Clearly they are of no profit to them as far as God is concerned, and any other gods they ran after are nothing and cannot help. All that effort and cost was a waste. But the amazing note at the end of vs. 13 that it is still not too late to turn back to God for true refuge! The tragedy is that we often have to have nowhere else to turn before we turn to the only one who can help us.

Return and He Will Heal – Vs. 57:14-21 This section now builds off of the sentiment of vs. 13b as an unidentified voice calls out to “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every stumbling block from my people’s way” (harking back to “Comfort, Comfort” of 40:1 and “Prepare the way” of 40:3). Nothing must stand in the way of His people returning (in contrast to God as a “rock of stumbling” in 8:14). In Vs. 15, the LORD speaks and His transcendence is highlighted: high and lifted up – stands above creation, inhabits eternity – outside time, and name is holy – his character is completely separate from ours. And yet, as the author of creation, He is in creation as well. But what He says is amazing, for while He acknowledges that He dwells on high, He is also with the crushed and lowly spirit, and is able to enliven/give life to that faint soul. And how is it that God can so descend to the level of the brokenhearted. It is, as Oswalt says, because His anger is not eternal; it has an end. “He becomes angry, but is love!” 6 The dilemma God faces is that He loves His creation that He would destroy with His anger. And so had to come up with a way that His love could meet His anger.

5 Goldingay, pp 320-321 6 Oswalt, p. 488 – 3 – Isaiah 56 & 57 Peace to the Far and to the Near

Our sinful greed, our desire to make ourselves the center of our universe causes God to become justifiably angry. But we cannot change ourselves even in the face of God’s anger and abandonment! And so He must be the one to act. In vs. 18-19, God acknowledges this and promises to heal His people, lead them and restore them so that they might praise Him. The completeness of “shalom” (repeated for emphasis) – full wellness and wholeness are now offered to all, those near and far, which Paul understands to mean Israel and all who turn to the LORD (see Eph. 2:17). That said, the chapter ends on a warning note in vs. 20-21. Such healing and peace is only for the contrite, and those that desire it. In contrast, the image of a tossing and churning sea is given for the wicked, those who reject God’s help and love. For them, there is no such peace.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Eph. 2:14-22 (ESV)

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