Isaiah 56:1-8.  We now come to the last section of the book.  It is interesting to me so far how God has used the prophet Isaiah to try to reach out to the people of Judah and encourage them in their relationship with him (God).  It kind of reminds me of the book of Revelation.  Revelation (the last book of the Bible) was written as a letter to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).  Those churches were about 30 years old and had gotten a little lazy in their relationship with God.  So God had John write to them with some specific things each church needed to work on and some encouragement for the things they were doing right.  The rest of the letter was a detailed picture of event surrounding the end of normal human history, the establishment of the promised kingdom of the Jews (by the servant, Jesus), the final judgment of evil, and the establishment of a new universe without sin.  This book of Isaiah does a lot of the same things for the people of Judah around 700 BC.  God is just so caring and works hard at reaching us and helping us have a better relationship with him.

I started this post this morning and had the opportunity to spend most of the day studying.  In a couple of past posts I struggled with the idea of “getting behind” and mentioned how I though that was an odd thing to say about a relationship.  It kind of challenged me about how I looked at these times I spend reading the Bible.  They are supposed to be about hearing God’s voice and learning to honor Him with my life.  It’s about relationship not about religious tasks.  But it was cool to study for a long time and see some of the awesome things in the sections of Isaiah that we haven’t read and I haven’t posted yet (Well maybe someone out there has already read them and is waiting for the posts).  It was like getting to spend a whole day with God.  Awesome!

In this section the LORD, Yahweh, talks to the readers and tells them to maintain justice and do what is right.  Both things are very similar but if you remember the beginning of the book you might recall that some of the leaders were abusing poor people in court or not even letting them get to court(Isaiah 1:17, 21-23).  Here in the end of the book we see God telling them that they need to bring back justice. The second idea gets more personal and tells them to not just do the right thing in public but also in their private lives.  It’s interesting how in our society some people want to be able to do just about anything as long as it doesn’t “hurt” some one else.  The problem is when God laid out the rules for living they just weren’t about what we wanted but about what we needed to learn about Him and eternity.  What we do in private matters because it reflects what we believe about God and ultimately who God is.

The reason God tells them to do what is right both as a society and as individuals is because salvation is coming.  Obviously God looks on the bright side of things but the other side of salvation is judgment.  We will see that in the next few days.  But here he is saying, “I’m coming to pick you all up so get ready.”  In Matthew 25:1-13 there is a parable (a story that compare something we understand with something we don’t.  In this case guests for a wedding feast who are supposed to be ready when the groom appears but weren’t.  They are compared to people wanting to be a part of God’s forever kingdom.) teaching us that we need to be ready when God starts to move on his plan to save people from their disobedience.

The good news is not just for the people of Judah but God uses foreigners and eunuchs, as examples of outcasts or outsiders, to teach us that his forever kingdom is available to everyone.  But remember it is for those who preserve justice and live rightly.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Heaven is for people who live a good enough life though.  In the last section we learned that everyone was invited to come into God’s kingdom without cost to them, Heaven is free (Isaiah 55:1).  When verse 2 tells us that a person will have the right kind of life (be blessed or happy) if he doesn’t do any evil and does not dishonor the Sabbath it is telling us that they are serious about doing what make God happy.  Notice the parallel in verse 4 where “keeping the Sabbath” is compared to “what pleases God”.  In Acts 15 the leaders of the first church, in Jerusalem (and most if not all of them Jewish people), told the many new Gentile believers (non-Jews) that they needed to be respectful of the Jewish believers in Jesus by not hooking up with people they were not married to and by not eating blood nor animals that had been strangled to death.  Notice there is no mention of the Sabbath.  The leaders in Jerusalem wanted the new Gentile believers to be sensitive to the Jewish Christians.  In Mark 2:23-28 Jesus told the religious leaders that you could work to do good on the Sabbath, the Sabbath is for us so we can keep God in an important place of our lives.  It’s not about us serving some religious rules.

In verses five and  six we learn that no matter who we are if we really love God he will recognize us and give us an everlasting name and a forever place in his kingdom.  Foreigners and eunuchs may have been outcast in the society but they are not necessarily outcasts by God.  In Luke 10:38-42 there is a story of two sisters who have Jesus into their home.  One sister sits at the feet of Jesus and soaks in all that he is teaching.  The other sister, Martha, is working hard as the hostess of the party.  When Martha complains that Mary is not helping out Jesus tells her that Mary has made the better choice, to spend time with him.  I think that is what god is trying to point out when he talks about the Sabbath in today’s reading.  The Sabbath represents spending time with God it’s not about sitting around doing nothing saying, “Look how good I am.”

In the last two verses God tells us that the people who really love him will absolutely be brought into his forever kingdom.  He will accept their lives because his kingdom is about relationship not about how perfect our works are.  In verse 7 when he calls his kingdom a “house of prayer” he is telling us it’s not about putting on a great party for him but about spending time talking to him.  The last verse reminds the people of Judah that his kingdom will include them and all who love him.

It’s awesome to me how important it is to God to help us have a good relationship with him.  The salvation that is coming cst a great deal.  The Servant from chapter 53, Jesus, paid for our disobedience with his very life and paid brutally.  Here in chapter 56 as he begins the conclusion of the book the first thing God does is tell us, “Get ready.  I’m coming to save you.”  It’s not, “You better look out I’m coming to punish you.”  Yes, punishment is the other side of the coin.  People who don’t want a relationship with God won’t be forced to have one they will be sent away.  But it is cool how God tries to move us with the good news of a fixed relationship rather than scare us.  Peter tells us that God is not willing that any should perish but would prefer that everyone would turn back to him.  Unfortunately many will not.  God thank you for loving me, loving us, so much.  Thank you for wanting the best.  It really seems that punishment and judgment is the last thing you want.  But of course you are pure and perfect and sin cannot be ignored.  Thank you for taking the punishment so there is a way to be friends again.  Help me show my love for you by dong what is just to others and right with my own life.