Isaiah 56:9-57:13 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Isaiah 56:9-57:13. Let’s go!
Isaiah 56:9-12 (NIV)
9 Come, all you beasts of the field, come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.
11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, each seeks his own gain.
12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”
On 56:9-12: Isaiah has just finished explaining how those who were once thought to be excluded from God’s people – eunuchs and Gentiles – can actually have a place in God’s house and God’s family if they keep His covenant (Isaiah 56:1-8). Now Isaiah turns his attention to those whose place in God’s kingdom no one would usually question, but Isaiah is going to question it. Starting in verse 10, Isaiah speaks about the leaders of Israel, “Israel’s watchmen”.
In particular, Isaiah is probably referring to the spiritual leaders of Israel, the prophets who should be Israel’s watchdogs but who instead act more like “mute dogs” who “cannot bark” (v10), that is, who do not speak up when they should. He calls them blind, lazy, lacking knowledge, loving sleep (v10), and being slaves to greed (v11) and revelry (v12).
Isaiah is suggesting that these fake spiritual leaders of Judah ought to be devoured (v9) and that they will have no place in God’s house for eternity. The overall message of Isaiah 56:1-11 is that while Judah’s spiritual leaders are excluded from God’s house, eunuchs and foreigners with the right heart can enter God’s house. Jesus would preach a similar message, warning the Pharisees and teachers of the law that tax collectors were getting into God’s kingdom ahead of them.
What can we learn from this? God is not concerned so much with your station in life or your position in your spiritual community as much as He is concerned with your moral condition, the attitude of your heart.
Isaiah 57:1-2 (NIV)
1 The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
On 57:1-2: It seems that some people may have been mocking the fact that certain godly men had died unexpectedly, whereas people much less godly continued to live and go on sinning. Here Isaiah offers a different perspective. He says that when godly people die unexpectedly, it’s not because God is punishing them but because God has decided to spare them (v1). For the godly, death is not punishment but gain, for they get a head start on the peace, rest and real life God makes available to them (v2).
Isaiah 57:3-13 (NIV)
3 “But you–come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
4 Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue? Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars?
5 You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree; you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags.
6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; they, they are your lot. Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In the light of these things, should I relent?
7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
8 Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness.
9 You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassadors far away; you descended to the grave itself!
10 You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint.
11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
13 When you cry out for help, let your collection [of idols] save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.”
On 57:3-13: In contrast to godly people who die unexpectedly (57:1-2), Isaiah describes at length how ungodly people live on and continue to sin, sinking to lower and lower levels of depravity, wickedness and rebellion. Ironically, while those dead godly people are now experiencing true life in eternity, the ungodly who survive are more like the living dead, engaging in activities that will only guarantee their permanent destruction later.
Isaiah describes the wicked and idolatrous practices of his people, including their worship of the god Molech (v9) and their engaging in orgies with shrine prostitutes as part of worshiping certain idols (v5-8). These likely led to unwanted pregnancies and ultimately the abhorrent sacrifice of their children to other gods (v5b). Isaiah describes a people whose hearts persist in doing evil and engaging in idolatry (v10). He says that whatever good works or righteousness they think they have will amount to nothing (v12). They and their idols will perish, whereas the one who makes the Lord their refuge will live on God’s holy mountain (v13).
Father, thank You for showing me that living just to please my flesh and to serve other gods is no life at all. True life is living with You and for You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
