Isaiah 56 continues the theme of Isaiah 55, “the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord … these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer … my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples”. There is a response required to this offer to attend God’s house, “Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this”.
This glorious future is contrasted with the actions of the Jewish leaders, described as “beasts of the field, come to devour … they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way”. Bad leadership was often Israel’s downfall, and it’s a lesson to us to make sure we’re leaders who follow God’s way, nourishing and protecting.
Isaiah 57 concludes with hope, “he who takes refuge in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain … thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity… I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Let’s be revived by our association with our God, developing a contrite and lowly spirit, which is the sacrifice that God desires.