Isaiah 56 Devotional

Room for the Outsider

“I will bring them to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.””Isaiah 56:7 (BSB)

Two kinds of people in this chapter expect to be shut out. The foreigner assumes the LORD will separate him from his people, and the eunuch, who will have no children, sees himself as a tree with no life left (56:3). God answers both. To eunuchs who hold fast to his covenant, he promises a place in his house and a lasting name worth more than children (56:4-5). Foreigners who love his name will be brought to his holy mountain and made joyful in his house of prayer, because that house is meant for all nations (56:6-7). He intends to gather still more (56:8).

In the temple courts, Jesus cited this promise to rebuke those who had turned a house of prayer for the nations into a hideout for thieves (Mark 11:17). The chapter ends with Israel's own leaders, blind watchmen and greedy shepherds who serve only themselves (56:10-11). God's welcome reaches the people others overlook. If you have felt like an outsider, his house was always meant to hold people like you.

To think about: Who might feel shut out of God's people around you, and how could you reflect his welcome to them?