seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 56:1This is what the Lord says:
“Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does this—
the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”
3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
“I am only a dry tree.”
4 For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will endure forever.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Sovereign Lord declares—
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered.”
9 Come, all you beasts of the field,
come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel’s watchmen are blind,
they all lack knowledge;
they are all mute dogs,
they cannot bark;
they lie around and dream,
they love to sleep.
11 They are dogs with mighty appetites;
they never have enough.
They are shepherds who lack understanding;
they all turn to their own way,
they seek their own gain.
12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine!
Let us drink our fill of beer!
And tomorrow will be like today,
or even far better.
This is from bible-studys.org.In contrast to His message of salvation to all who will repent, this chapter introduces God’s message of condemnation to those who refuse to repent. Thus, the “blessed” man is the one who turns away from “doing any evil.” The “sons of the stranger” refer to Gentiles who are willing to “love” and “serve” the Lord and thereby partake of His “covenant”.
“Take hold of my covenant … everlasting name”: Eunuchs with hearts inclined to comply with the Mosaic Covenant may anticipate an endless posterity.
It is never works that save (Romans 3:20; Eph. 2:8-9); rather, obeying God’s law, doing what pleases Him or desiring to keep the promises of obedience are the evidences that one has been saved. And will thus enjoy all salvation blessings.
“Taketh hold of my covenant … accepted upon mine altar”: The sacrifices of a foreigner who loves God, whose heart is inclined to serve Him and obey the Mosaic Law, will find his sacrifices welcome, in the coming kingdom as well.
The temple is called a “house of prayer for all people.” This phrase was quoted by Jesus (Matt. 21:13), in His dispute with the money-changers. The chapter ends with an indictment of the “watchmen” (or prophets), who are “blind … ignorant … dumb dogs.
Verses 9-12 contain a commentary on Israel’s false prophets and irresponsible leaders who led them astray.
“Beasts … watchmen … shepherds”: These titles identify the wicked; other prophets refer to Israel’s enemies as beasts (Jer. 12:9; Ezek. 34:5, 8).
Prophets, who should have been watchmen and warned Israel to repent, ignored their responsibility (Ezek. 3:17). Priests also failed to lead Israel in paths of righteousness (Ezek. 34:1-6; Zech. 11:15-17).
It appears that many of the people who were supposed to be the leaders were actually heavy drinkers. What a terrible state for the leaders to be in. Leaders, then or now must set a high standard for God's people to follow.
Check this out.... it's from the easy English site.This promise for eunuchs was very special. Under the laws of Moses, a eunuch could not join God’s people during public worship (Deuteronomy 23:1). And a eunuch could not enter the Temple area. But now, God promises a new relationship with people. Because of that new relationship, foreigners may join the Lord’s people. And, because of that relationship, a eunuch too can know a complete relationship with God.
Now I don't want to jump to conclusions. Not everyone knows what a eunuch really is [was]. So I found "got questions" had an answer.The eunuchs of the Bible were usually castrated males or those incapable of reproduction due to a birth defect. A eunuch could also be someone who performed work typical of eunuchs, although he remained perfectly capable of having sex—i.e., “eunuch” in some cases was simply a title. The purpose of intentional castration was to induce impotence and remove sexuality. It was a common practice in ancient times for rulers to castrate some of their servants and/or advisers in order to subdue and pacify them. It was especially common to castrate men who tended the royal harem. Queen Esther’s eunuchs are mentioned in Esther 4:4.
In Matthew 19:12, Jesus mentions eunuchs in the context of whether it is good to marry. He says, “There are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” Jesus identifies three types of “eunuchs” here: natural eunuchs (“born that way”), forced eunuchs (“made eunuchs by others”), and voluntary eunuchs (“those who choose”).
Natural eunuchs include those who are born with a physical defect, but they also comprise those who are born with no real desire for marriage or sex. Forced eunuchs are those who have been castrated for whatever reason. Voluntary eunuchs are those who, in order to better serve the Lord in some capacity, choose to forego marriage. God calls some people to remain single (and therefore celibate). Paul speaks of those who serve the Lord in their unmarried state in 1 Corinthians 7:7-9.
Some gay groups argue that Jesus was referring to homosexuals when He mentioned eunuchs who were “born that way.” However, the Bible never uses the words homosexual and eunuch interchangeably. Furthermore, eunuchs are never referred to in Scripture as being in sin, while homosexuality is universally condemned in both the Old and New Testaments.
Now I was good until I got to that last paragraph from "got questions". My first thought was to ignore it and leave it out.... I do that with a lot of boring commentary.... but this is far from boring.... it is controversial. God gave Adam and Eve a directive..... "be fruitful and increase in number" Genesis 1:28 Homosexuality.... preferring ones own..... is contrary to that purpose. God had an Earth to populate. If God had decided to make Eve in the shape of man.... and somehow made it possible for two men to procreate.... I wouldn't be bothered with this topic.... no wait... humans would have probably figured out a way to stop that from working too.
I keep thinking of a dog humping a human leg....... or a male dog humping another male dog.... it's not procreation.... it's physical. God was into procreation. In Genesis 3:16..... God told Eve that she would have painful childbirth and yet she was going to desire her husband. If God hadn't armed humans with such a strong sexual desire..... women wouldn't have babies..... it's horribly painful! The desire to procreate.... to give husbands reputation..... is built in.
Now going back to Noah and his sons again...... there's Ham's curse..... God wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah.... Noah's cousin, Lot, fled Sodom with his daughters..... and Lot's daughters got Lot drunk and had children with him..... then.... God brought a worldwide flood..... and Noah and his three sons were to repopulate the world.... supposedly with Godly offspring..... but then Ham.... one of Noah's three sons.... did something that still bugs readers.....
Genesis 9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[a] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”
You'd think.... if God really wanted to get rid of homosexual feelings.... He would just "un-create" them..... He is, after all, God. At any rate.... Noah had three sons.... one was Shem.... the great great great whatever grandfather of Jesus the Christ..... the other two.... well there was Japheth and Ham.... those two were the beginnings of all the other nations.... nations with all kinds of different opinions, wants and desires..... and God, through Isaiah says... Everyone who believes is welcome.
IMHO.....700 years before it happened.... Isaiah predicted in great detail that Jesus would come..... and Jesus did come to earth. Then Isaiah predicted in great detail that Jesus would return with the antidote to death [everlasting life]. I'm pretty sure Jesus would have give the antidote to anyone and everyone.... but I'm pretty sure it was God who said.... only those who believe...... ANYONE.... who believes.....
