for the nations

“...these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.”

The Lord GOD,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,

“I will gather yet others to him

besides those already gathered.”

Isaiah 56:7-8

Even with Israel, God’s chosen nation, the Lord was inclusive. He told them that their job was to draw the world to worship Him. In this passage God focuses on two groups of excluded people: eunuchs and gentiles that were living among the Israelites. God promises that both groups deserved His acceptance and would be blessed when they obeyed the Law and worshiped Him.

Eunuchs would have more than likely been serving as government diplomats for other countries. It was a pagan practice to emasculate young boys in order to protect a foreign king’s harem and then give them governing responsibilities. God did not keep them from His worship, but instead promised them blessings forever and a legacy greater than any sons or daughter would leave (Isaiah 56:4-5).

The foreigners were those who either were immigrants working is Israel, or were gentiles who had married into Israelite families. Ruth was one such God-fearing gentile welcomed by God into worship. There were evidently many more at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy. And God’s point was to stop any prejudice from darkening His worship at the temple. The worship of the Lord is for the nations.

This is still true today in Christ. The gospel is for the world, not just the Church. I agree with John Piper when he states that missions happens because worship does not. Isaiah’s vision of nations welcomed by God and united in prayer and worship extends to its fullest in Jesus. At His name every knee shall bow and tongue confess He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The worship of the Lord is for the nations!