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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
56:1-66:24 How to Prepare for the Coming Glory: "Hold Fast My Covenant." Isaiah guides the people of God of all ages into the reviving power of the truths and promises of chs. 1-55, so that they may prepare for the salvation that will renew all things forever.
56:1-8 The True People of God Redefined. Outward disqualification for being included among God's people is offset by holding fast to his covenant love and lifestyle.
56:1 This verse serves as a summary of chs. 1-55. Keep justice, and do righteousness echoes the ideals of chs. 1-39; soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance (or "righteousness," as the Hebrew word tsedaqah is often translated). Be revealed sums up the promises of chs. 40-55 (cf. 1:21, 27; 5:7, 16; 9:7; 16:5; 28:17; 32:1, 16; 33:5; 45:8; 46:13; 51:5-8).
56:2 The Sabbath is a covenant sign that represents a lifestyle of devotion to the Lord, for it requires the practical reorganization of every week around him (cf. Ex. 31:12-17; Ezek. 20:18-20). True observance of the Sabbath entails not just refraining from work but also refraining from doing any evil. On the Sabbath command as it applies to Christian believers, see note on Rom. 14:5; also notes on Matt. 12:6-12; Mark 2:27-28; John 5:10; 5:17; 9:14; Gal. 4:10; Col. 2:17; Heb. 4:8-10.
56:3-8 The true people of God, who will inherit all his promises, are universally inclusive of all who hold fast to his covenant, despite their outward, apparent disqualification.
56:3-5 The foreigner, approaching God's people, need not fear God's rejection if he has joined himself to the Lord. The eunuch, once he is gripped by the gospel, receives an eternal place with God (v. 5) that is better than producing physical descendants (although that is also good). The restrictions of Ex. 12:43, 45 and Deut. 23:1 no longer apply.
56:6 Covenant union with God defines the true people of God and their true worship. Contrast the futilities condemned in 1:11-15. Sabbath. See note on 56:2.
56:7 My holy mountain is the place of God's presence and his people's worship--a house of prayer for all peoples. See 1 Kings 8:41-43; Isa. 2:2-3; 25:6-8; Mark 11:17 (combining it with Jer. 7:11).
