56:1 Isaiah moves continually between the glorious future awaiting God’s people and the often mundane realities of life facing them in the present. The new creation of 55:12–13 is exchanged for what could only too easily be taken as a moralizing tone. However, Isaiah is not offering works-righteousness here but rather calling for a particular response to grace; and, as will be seen, there is a very close connection here to chapter 55. “Justice” is the ordering of the world according to God’s principles of integrity and fairness; “righteousness” is the result of the forgiveness achieved for believers by the suffering servant. Exodus and return from exile are the great historical examples of “salvation” and deliverance, but the work of the servant will achieve a far greater rescue from sin and death.

56:2 The kind of person who is just and righteous is further defined in language reminiscent of Psalm 1. The word used here for “man” (Hb. ʿenosh) usually denotes mankind in its frailty and weakness, which confirms that the type of behavior commended is a gift of grace. “Son of man” suggests descent from Adam and thus need of forgiveness. This is one who seeks the Lord and forsakes unrighteous thoughts and behavior (55:6–7). “Does” and “holds it fast” are in the imperfect tense, suggesting habitual attitudes and behavior.

The Sabbath is the rest associated with the completed creation (Gen. 2:1–3). There is no eighth day in God’s week of creation because ultimately the unending seventh day points to the new creation. Thus in context Sabbath keeping is associated with the joyful transformation of the created order (Isa. 55:12–13), itself guaranteed by the work of the servant. This is no burdensome ritual but a time of rejoicing in God’s favor, worshiping him with changed hearts and anticipating the day in which all creation will rejoice. A similar emphasis is seen in Jeremiah 17:21–24, where Sabbath keeping is a command not to carry out a dead ritual but to look to the heart’s true home in Zion. Avoidance of evil is the heart’s response to the grace that provides Sabbath rest.

56:3 Such blessing is not confined to Israel but reaches to the whole world; no one is excluded because of ethnic origin or physical defect. Deuteronomy 23:1–8 explicitly excludes eunuchs as well as Ammonites and Moabites, but that passage relates to specific historical circumstances. The specific reason for excluding eunuchs in Deuteronomy is not made clear but probably relates to the fact that a eunuch would be unable to produce a family and thus contribute to the continuity of the community. This would make the promise of an everlasting name even more precious (Isa. 56:5). The reason for Deuteronomy’s exclusion of Ammonites and Moabites is because of their failure to help Israel on the journey through the desert. The book of Ruth, however, recounts grace’s inclusion of the title Moabitess, who even appears in the genealogy of the Savior (Matt. 1:5).

Some have argued that this passage reflects the views of disciples of “Second Isaiah” who are rejecting the rigid views of the disciples of Ezekiel.107 This view misses the qualifications applied to both groups. In Isaiah the foreigners are specifically those who have “joined [themselves] to the Lord” (56:3; i.e., people like Ruth), whereas Ezekiel’s concern is with foreigners who have no commitment to Israel’s God (“uncircumcised in heart and flesh”; Ezek. 44:8–11) but are in the temple for professional reasons. This latter group would include the royal guards in the first temple (Cherethites and Pelethites; cf. 1 Kings 1:38), whom Ezekiel anticipates being replaced by Levites, to whom such sacred guard duties properly belong. The emphasis here in Isaiah is that no circumstances of birth or physical condition bars anyone from membership in God’s family.

56:4 All of this is underlined by the Lord himself, who explains why such groups need no longer feel excluded. Eunuchs cannot have children, but this does not deprive them of covenant promises. The vital thing is that they come into a close relationship with the Lord. Once again these verbs are in the imperfect tense, speaking of repeated actions and attitudes. The eunuchs are to celebrate the Creator who gave them Sabbath rest, to live lives that please God, and to take seriously the covenant promises, so as to enjoy the blessings of belonging to God’s family.

56:5 This is no mere effort on the part of the eunuchs but is prompted and underwritten by God himself, as is shown by the threefold repetition of “I.” The eunuch will not remain in the outer court but will be welcomed into God’s immediate presence. The “monument” and “name” show God’s eternal and unconditional commitment. A NT eunuch can go on his way rejoicing in Acts 8:39, for surely that episode is a striking fulfillment of this passage, as a man who is both a eunuch and a foreigner is welcomed into God’s family. He has an “everlasting name” in the pages of Scripture itself.

56:6–7 Isaiah now outlines similar blessings for foreigners. First, they “join themselves to the Lord” (Isa. 56:3), suggesting a close relationship. They also “minister,” a word typically used of cultic service (60:7, 10; 61:6), suggesting the honored privilege of being a priest in the Lord’s temple. Peter rejoices in this priesthood’s extension to all believers (1 Pet. 2:5). Ultimately this is fulfilled in the new Jerusalem, where God’s servants will serve him and see his face (Rev. 22:4–5). The fact that this is no perfunctory joining is emphasized by the words “To love the name of the Lord,” which remove any idea of mere cultic obedience. As already seen, to keep the Sabbath is to participate happily in the rhythms of rest and work built into the created order; such heartfelt observance will honor the Lord and exemplify the covenant relationship.

The idea of the new creation, and the harmony and feasting associated with it, is further suggested by the reference to the “holy mountain” (Isa. 2:3; 11:9; 25:6), where the nations will gather. This is not a grudging acceptance but a natural realization of the promise to Abraham; more specifically, it is an outworking of Solomon’s prayer for God to hear foreigners when they pray to the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:41–43). Haggai speaks in a similar vein (Hag. 2:6–9), as does Malachi (Mal. 1:11). In such an atmosphere, sacrifices—so debased by Israel in Isaiah 1:11–14—show their true worth as God’s appointed way of people approaching his holy presence. This was the experience of Isaiah himself (Isa. 6:7–8) and is available to all who come.

56:8 The solemn declaration that this is an oracle of Yahweh sums up this brief passage; these are the words of the sovereign Lord and therefore cannot be broken or ineffective (55:11). His great purpose is to gather his scattered people; this is not just return from exile but a gathering from across the world and throughout the ages of God’s people. The “yet others” reinforces this idea of a worldwide gathering that continues as the gospel advances. This is echoed in John 10:16, where Jesus speaks of other sheep to be gathered by the one Shepherd into the one flock—an idea further developed in Ephesians 2:11–18. The same thought occurs in Isaiah 55:5. There is one people of God throughout both testaments.