114. The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

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Hymns: RHC 409 Take Time to Be Holy 413 Rise Up, O Men of God! 414 Is Your All on the Altar

Isaiah 56

1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him. 9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. 10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they areshepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

OUTLINE

  • Be Ready (v1-6)
  • Be Ushered In (v7-8)
  • Coming Invasion Prophesized (v9-12) 

INTRODUCTION

The prophet prepares the people for Messiah’s first coming. The LORD states what was necessary to prepare themselves for it, and what was the character which He demanded of those who were disposed to embrace its offers, and who would be admitted to its privileges.

Keep ye judgment – Break off your sins, and be holy. A somewhat similar declaration was made by John the Baptizer when he announced the coming of the Messiah: ‘Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 3:2). 

The general idea is, that it was not only appropriate that the prospect of His coming and His near approach should lead them to a holy life, but it was necessary in order that they might escape His indignation.

Titus 2:11-14 (KJV) For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

My salvation is near to come – It is to be borne in mind that this was regarded as addressed to the Jews in exile in Babylon, and there is probably a primary reference in the words to the deliverance which they were about to experience from their long and painful captivity. 

But at the same time the language is appropriate to the coming of the kingdom of God under the Messiah, and the whole scope of the passage requires us to understand it of that event. Language similar to this occurs frequently in the New Testament, where the sacred writers seem to have had this passage in their eye. 

Matthew 3:1-2 (KJV) In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Luke 21:31 (KJV) So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

Romans 13:11 (KJV) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

It is to be regarded, therefore, as having a reference to the future coming of the Messiah – perhaps as designed to describe the series of deliverances which were to close the painful bondage in Babylon, and to bring the people of God to perfect freedom, and to the full fruition of His favour. 

Though the actual coming of the Messiah at the time of the exile was at a period comparatively remote, yet the commencement of the great work of their deliverance was near at hand. They were soon to be rescued, and this rescue was to be but the first in the train of deliverances that would result in the entire redemption of the people of God, and was to be the public pledge that all that He had promised of the redemption of the world should be certainly effected.

To be revealed – To be made known; to be publicly manifested.

This chapter, to Isaiah 56:9, is evidently a continuation of the same general subject which is discussed in the previous chapters, and is closely connected with the great truths communicated in Isaiah 52:13-15, and Isaiah 53, respecting the work of the Messiah. 

The general design of the prophet seems to be to state the happy results which would follow His coming. 

In Isaiah 54, he states that that work would render the establishment and perpetuity of the church certain. 

In Isaiah 55, he states that it would lay the foundation for the offer of the gospel to all people, and that it should certainly be successful on the earth and finally triumph, and produce great and important changes. 

In this chapter, Isaiah 56:1-9 the same idea is presented in another form, that no one would be excluded from the offer of salvation, and that strangers and foreigners would become connected, with equal privileges, with the people of God. 

At Isaiah 56:9, a new subject is introduced – the invasion of the land of Judea by foreign armies and the consequent punishment of the wicked and idolatrous part of the nation. [Barnes]

This subject is continued in the following chapter. The following analysis will present a view of the design and scope of this.

  • Be Ready (v1-6)

1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

The kingdom of God was near. The great work of man’s redemption, to which the prophet referred, would not be long delayed, and those who were expecting the coming of the Messiah should be holy Isaiah 56:1.

The blessedness of those who should be admitted to the privileges connected with the kingdom of God, and the coming of the Messiah.

Who they would be – the man who kept the Sabbath (v2-4), the stranger and foreigner (v3-6), the eunuch (v3-4).

Blessed is the man – Psalm 1:1 (KJV) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

The sense is, ‘happy is the man.’ The word here rendered ‘man’ (אנוש ‘enosh ) usually denotes a man in humble life or in a subordinate rank, in contradistinction from איש ‘ysh, a man in elevated rank. 

As the object of the prophet here is particularly to say, that the ‘stranger’ and the ‘eunuch’ would be admitted to these privileges, it is possible that he designedly used a word denoting one in humble life. The particular blessing to which he refers is specified in (v7-8).

That keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it – Who sacredly observes the day of holy rest which God has appointed. The Sabbath was one of the special rites of the Jewish religion, and one of the most important of their institutions. Its observance entered essentially into the idea of their worship, and was designed to be the standing memorial or sign between God and the Jewish nation (Exodus 31:13-17).

Exodus 31:13-17 (KJV) Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. 14Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.  

At home, in their own nation, it kept up the constant sense of religion; abroad, when they travelled among strangers, it would serve to remind all of the special nature of their institutions, and be the public evidence that they were the worshippers of the LORD. 

Hence, as this served to distinguish them from other people, it comes to be used here to signify the observance of the rites which pertained to the public worship of God; and evidently includes whatever was to be perpetual and unchanging in the public worship of the Creator. 

It is remarkable that the prophet does not pronounce a blessing on him who came to bloody altars with sacrifices, or him who burned incense, or him who conformed to the unique rites of the Jewish religion. 

These rites were to pass away, and the obligation to observe them was to cease; and in this indirect manner the sacred writer has given an intimation that there would be blessings on those who did not observe those rites, and that the period would arrive when the divine favour and mercy would descend on people in a different channel. 

And keepeth his hand … – That is, is an upright, holy, honest man. He not only worships God and keeps the Sabbath, but he is upright in the discharge of all the duties which he owes to his fellow-men. These two specifications are evidently designed to include all the influences of religion – the proper service and worship of God, and an upright and holy life. Never in fact are they separated, and the religion of the Bible was designed to secure the one as much as the other. [Barnes]

  • Be Ushered In (v7-8)

7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

The privileges of thus being admitted to the favour and friendship of God – they should be brought to His holy mountain, they should be made joyful in the house of prayer, their offerings should be accepted, these favours should be extended to all people (v7-8).

Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, that is, they should be admitted to the fellowship and privileges of His people.

And make them joyful – In the participation of the privileges of the true religion, and in the service of God, they shall be made happy.

In my house of prayer – In the temple – here called the house of prayer. The language here is all derived from the worship of the Jews, though the meaning evidently is, that under the new dispensation, all nations would be admitted to the privileges of His people, and that the appropriate services of religion which they would offer would be acceptable to God.

Their burnt-offerings, that is, their worship shall be as acceptable as that of the ancient people of God. This evidently contemplates the future times of the Messiah, and the sense is, that in those times, the Gentiles would be admitted to the same privileges of the people of God, as the Jewish nation had been. 

It is true that proselytes were admitted to the privileges of religion among the Jews, and were permitted to offer burnt-offerings and sacrifices, nor can there be a doubt that they were then acceptable to God. 

But it is also true that there was a conviction that they were admitted as proselytes, and that there would be a superiority felt by the native-born Jews over the foreigners who were admitted to their society. 

Under the Jewish religion this distinction was inevitable, and it would involve, in spite of every effort to the contrary, much of the feeling of caste – a sense of superiority on the one hand, and of inferiority on the other; a conviction on the one part that they were the descendants of Abraham, and the inheritors of the ancient and venerable promises, and on the other that they had come in as foreigners, and had been admitted by special favour to these privileges. But all this was to be abolished under the Messiah. 

No one was to claim superiority on account of any supposed advantage from birth, or nation, or country; no one, however humble he might feel in respect to God and to his own deserts, was to admit into his bosom any sense of inferiority in regard to his origin, his country, his complexion, his former character. All were to have the same near access to God, and the offering of one was to be as acceptable as that of another.

For mine house – This passage is quoted by the Saviour (Matthew 21:13), to show the impropriety of employing the temple as a place of traffic and exchange. 

Matthew 21:13 (KJV) And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

In that passage he simply quotes the declaration that it should be ‘a house of prayer.’ There are two ideas in the passage as used by Isaiah; first, that the temple should be regarded as a house of prayer; and, secondly, that the privileges of that house should be extended to all people. The main design of the temple was that God might be there invoked, and the inestimable privilege of calling on Him was to be extended to all the nations of the earth. [Barnes]

  • Coming Invasion Prophesized (v10-12)

10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

A prophecy respecting the invasion of the land on account of the crimes of the nation, the invasion is represented under the image of wild beasts coming to devour (v9).

The cause of this, the indolence and unfaithfulness of the watchmen, their selfishness, avarice, and covetousness, their revelry and intemperance (v10-12).

His watchmen – The prophet proceeds to specify the sins which had thus induced God to send the desolating armies of foreign nations. The first is specified in this verse, the apathy, indifference, and unfaithfulness, which prevailed among those who were appointed to guard their interests and defend the cause of truth. 

The word rendered ‘his watchmen’ means “to look about; to view from a distance; to see afar.” 

It is applied appropriately to those who were stationed on the walls of a city, or on a tower, in order that they might see the approach of an enemy. 

It is then applied to prophets, who are as it were placed on an elevated post of observation, and who are able to cast the eye far into future scenes, and to predict future events. 

Here it refers undoubtedly to the public teachers of the Jews who had failed to perceive the crimes and dangers of the people; or who, if they had seen them, had neglected to warn them of the prevalence of sin, and of the dangers to which they were exposed.

Are blind – They have become willfully blind to the existence of idolatry and vice, or they are so corrupt in sentiment and practice, that they fail to notice the existence of the prevailing sins.

They are all dumb dogs – Dogs are appointed to guard a house or flock, and to give notice of the approach of a robber by night. They are thus an emblem of a prophet – appointed to announce danger. 

Generally in the Scriptures the dog is mentioned as the symbol of uncleanness, of vileness, of apostasy, of that which deserved the utmost contempt. But here the dog is an emblem of vigilance. The phrase ‘dumb dogs,’ is applicable to prophets who from any cause failed to warn the nation of their guilt and danger.

They cannot bark – They cannot give warning of the danger which threatens. The reason why they could not do this the prophet immediately states. They loved to slumber – they delighted in indolence and repose.

Sleeping – The idea is that probably of dreaming, or drowsing; a state of indolence and unfaithfulness to their high trust. Perhaps also there is included the idea of their being deluded by vain imaginations, and by false opinions, instead of being under the influence of truth. 

For it is commonly the case that false and unfaithful teachers of religion are not merely inactive; they act under the influence of deluding and delusive views – like people who are dreaming and who see nothing real. Such was probably the case with the false prophets in the time of Isaiah.

Lying down – As dogs do who are indolent. They are inactive, unfaithful, and delighting in ease.

Loving to slumber – Perhaps there was never a more graphic and striking description of an indolent and unfaithful ministry than this. Alas, that it should be too true of multitudes who bear the sacred office, and who are appointed to warn their fellow-men of danger! How many come still under the description of dumb dogs who cannot bark, and who love to slumber!’ 

Some are afraid of giving offence; some have no deep sense of the importance of religious truth, and the actual danger of the ungodly; some embrace false opinions – led on by day-dreams and fictions of the imagination, as unreal, as vain, and as inconsistent, as are the incoherent expressions which are uttered in sleep; some engage in worldly projects, and fill up their time with the cares and plans of this life; and some are invincibly indolent. 

Nothing will rouse them; nothing induce them to forego the pleasures of sleep, and ease, and of an inactive life. The friends of God are unrebuked when they err; and an inactive and unfaithful ministry suffers the great enemy to come and bear away the soul to death, as an unfaithful mastiff would suffer the thief to approach the dwelling without warning the inmates. But the mastiff is usually more faithful than an indolent ministry. To the deep shame of man be it spoken, there are more ministers of religion who are indolent, inactive, and unfaithful, than there are of the canine race. Instinct prompts them to act the part which God intends; but alas, there are men – men in the ministry – whom neither instinct, nor conscience, nor reason, nor hope, nor fear, nor love, nor the command of God, nor the apprehension of eternal judgment, will rouse to put forth unwearied efforts to save souls from an eternal hell! [Barnes]