Day 3: Isaiah 56:1-8
Read Isaiah 56:1-8
Helpful Background Information:
The book of Isaiah is the largest and most often quoted (by New Testament authors) book of prophecy in the Old Testament. In it, the prophet Isaiah gives warnings to the Nation of Israel who has dealt with corruption in their leadership and kingdom to a spectacular degree. However, Isaiah also gives the people of God hope that there would be a future King (chapters 1-37) who would rule with righteousness and justice. This King would do this by becoming a great suffering Servant (chapters 38-55). Through this future King’s servant leadership, he would establish a future Kingdom where sin, death, corruption and evil are being conquered and would one day be finally eradicated (chapters 56-66)! It’s been said that Isaiah is the “Apostle Paul” of the OT who records for us a magnificent accounting of the Gospel and God’s hope for the world. If you’ve never read Isaiah from cover to cover, you should!
We pick up Isaiah 56 with Isaiah’s thought switching to the future. What kind of kingdom and world would this suffering servant King build? The first place he describes is God’s new temple which would be a house of prayer for all nations. It’s no wonder Jesus quoted Isaiah 56:7 while cleansing the temple (See Matt 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46 for reference). Jesus turns over the tables after he enters Jerusalem one week before his death. The place he’s ‘cleansing’ was called the court of the Gentiles. It was the only place non-Jews were allowed to go in the temple. While Jesus is flipping over tables, he quotes Isaiah 56. Let’s discover why.
Reflection Questions:
How do you see God’s heart for the nations (non-Jews) reflected in this passage? Does that surprise you?
God clearly has a heart for the ‘outsider?’ How does it encourage you today to understand that Jesus fights/defends those who were marginalized and neglected by the money-changers and Jewish Leaders?
As believers in Christ, God’s goal for our lives is to transform us to be like Jesus. Does your heart look like Jesus’ heart for the world? Prayerfully ask God to transform your heart to look like His.
Verse 8 says that God plans to gather ‘others’ into his kingdom that haven’t come yet. How can you be a part of this process? Who in your life is ‘outside’ the kingdom of God? Ask God to lead you to an opportunity to invite them in!
Perhaps it’s someone you have deemed “too far from God” to be saved
Perhaps it’s a neighbor whom you’ve never invited to church
Perhaps a distant relative who you’ve lost hope of ever coming to Christ
Perhaps it’s your own children who need more intentional discipleship