by Victor Chandra
"Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, ‘The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.’ And let not any eunuch complain, ‘I am only a dry tree"
(Isaiah 56:7)
Isaiah 56:1-8 serves as an opening oracle of Isa. 56:1-59:21, which sets the tone with its concerns for Yahweh’s soon-coming salvation, Israel’s keeping covenant, Sabbath keeping in a context of justice, and the gathering of the nations on the holy mountain. Yet at the same time Isa. 56:1-8 meant to be a shocking explanation of the prophet of the spiritual acceptability of ritually unacceptable people, for it is in this very passage that Yahweh reveals his heart not just for the Israelites and the nations, but new, more specific groups, the foreigner and the eunuch. (Note that 56:1-8 is not Isaiah’s opinion but divine revelation marked with, "This is what the LORD says.") In this passage Isaiah addresses the status of two groups of outcasts, the foreigner and the eunuch, both of whom would have been excluded from participation in some rites of worship at the temple (cf. Deut 23:1-8). Nevertheless, this oracle announces that these particular groups will be able "to join themselves to the LORD" in a number of ways (vv. 1-4). Consequently, the temple will be "called a house of prayer for all peoples" (v. 7).
It is interesting to note that a later time Jesus would claim that these prophetic books were speaking of him, his mission and his message (Mark 1:2; Luke 4:17-21). Further, he would portray the scene as a great banquet to which Israel is invited, which many in Israel despised, and which is then opened to all who want to come (Matt 22:1-14; Luke 14:15-24). I thus describe this gracious act of God as "the grace that has been expanded" or simply "the expanded grace"! This however does not imply that there will be universal salvation (i.e., all will be saved) but rather universalism and evangelism.
As I look upon myself and see what God has been doing in and through me, I realise that his grace has indeed been expanded to me. What’s more, to the "Gentiles" (i.e., people like you and me) the message is one of the supremacy of Israel’s God, who is the Creator God of all the world, and the inclusion of us into the program of world redemption through faith in Jesus Christ. We, though foreigners, are accepted as members of God’s household on equal footing with the Jews. Our hope and future are now centered in Israel’s God, and that we have become part of the historical people of God, now centered on the person of Jesus.
Therefore, if such amazing grace has been expanded to us, we then have the responsibility to share with others that the same grace has also been expanded to them, not to mention that the Church must remain an open "house of prayer for all peoples" (v. 8) if it is to welcome the presence of the living, loving God with integrity.
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