A Place at the Father's Table
The foreigner afraid of being separated out and the eunuch who calls himself a dry tree are both given a place inside our Father's house, and a name better than children. Then the tone drops: Israel's watchmen are blind, silent dogs, drunk shepherds expecting more.
56 1This is what our Father says: Keep justice and do what is right, for my salvation is coming soon, and my righteousness is about to be revealed. 2Blessed is the one who does this, the person who holds firmly to it: who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it, and keeps from doing any evil.
3Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to our Father say, "Our Father will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "I am only a dry tree." a a v3 A 'dry tree' pictures someone with no children—and therefore no one to carry on their name after death.
4For this is what our Father says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant, 5to them I will give within my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. b b v5 To those who could not have biological children, our Father promises something better than sons and daughters: a place in his house and a name that will never be cut off. Family identity is given by our Father, not earned by lineage. 6And the foreigners who join themselves to our Father, to minister to him, to love the name of our Father, and to be his servants—everyone who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and holds fast to my covenant, 7these I will lead up to my holy mountain, and give them joy in my house of prayer; their sacrifices and burnt offerings will be welcome on my altar, since my house will be named a house of prayer for all peoples. c c v7 Our Father's house was always meant to welcome every people, not one nation only — and Jesus claimed this very promise when he cleared the temple courts (Matthew 21:13). 8This is the declaration of the Sovereign Father, who gathers the outcasts of Israel: I will gather still others to them, besides those already gathered."
Watchmen Who Will Not See
9All you beasts of the field, come to devour—all you beasts in the forest. 10Israel's watchmen are blind, all of them; they know nothing. They are all silent dogs that cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to sleep. 11The dogs have a fierce appetite; they never have enough. They are shepherds with no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, every one of them. 12"Come," they say, "let me fetch wine; let us drink our fill of strong drink. And tomorrow will be like today, great beyond all measure."
