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Isaiah 56

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Verses 1-12, “Thus says the Lord: 'Keep justice, and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come, And My righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who lays hold on it; Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil.' Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the Lord Speak, saying, “The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”; Nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name That shall not be cut off. “Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants— Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant— Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, “Yet I will gather to him Others besides those who are gathered to him.” All you beasts of the field, come to devour, All you beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind, They are all ignorant; They are all dumb dogs, They cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory. “Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.”

The Lord encourages His people to do righteously before His salvation comes, not waiting for it to come before they will make a move to do what is right. This is called walking by faith. God does not need to prove Himself to you. If He has given you a promise, He will be faithful in fulfilling it. Therefore, you are to walk in expectation of that promise. We have a promise of eternal salvation if we are truly His, as evidenced by our obedience to His word. If we claim to know God but do not keep His commandments, we are liars. In fact, if you are born again, you will keep yourself from evil.  I John 5:18, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”  Those who continue to sin should have no expectation of protection from the "wicked one."  Those who do walk righteously, however, will be blessed.

Jesus came and fulfilled the law of sacrifices and the Sabbath, but during this time the Jews were defiling the commandments of God. For some reason, they thought that they had God's protection no matter if they were obedient or not. Their watchmen were of no help either, being blind to the sins of the people and personally engaging in wicked behavior. For new testament believers, we have a command to separate ourselves from the unclean people and the ways of the world. If we do, He promises to be our Father, with all the benefits of being His children.  II Corinthians 6:14‭-‬18, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty.”

Our duty is to walk in expectation of this promise.  II Corinthians 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”  If we refuse to cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of the world, we are defiling the temple and disobeying His command, and will one day be held accountable.  I Corinthians 3:16‭-‬17, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

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