For Israel, the temple was more
than merely a place of worship—it represented a sense of permanence, of place,
of belonging. Thus God’s promise meant that the disabled had a place and that
place was not just at the temple, but within the walls, in the house itself.
This promise of place was paralleled by the promise of placement within the
family. The new name or designation is not provided, but the claim that it was
even better than son or daughter indicates that it would demonstrate the true
inclusion of the eunuch into the household of God. It may even allude to a
future in which the eunuch could “bear fruit”—that is, sons and daughters—just
as with the promises made to normative Israel. Thus, to the marginalized eunuch
who believed that the covenant blessings had no application to him, the Lord
promised an eternal identity and belonging equal to that of his chosen people.
In similar fashion, the promises
to the stranger respond directly to their fears by reconciling their inability
to attend the temple: “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” (Isaiah 56:7). One of the primary restrictions of the
stranger, as noted in the law, is participation at the temple, thus enhancing
the importance of the Lord’s promise that they would be able to have the same
temple experience as that of Israel. There they were to experience joy as their
offerings were accepted by God. Importantly, the text suggests that it would be
God himself who brings the stranger into the temple. The particular verbal form
of “to bring” is one often associated with the bringing of offerings into the
temple and is commonly used to describe what mankind brings to the temple. In
this case, the stranger is not only brought by God but may in fact be his
sacrifice, his offering, which is a status associated in the law with the
priest or the firstborn—thus reversing the stranger’s status from outsider to
priest. Finally, it is through the stranger that the true significance of the
temple is revealed as it is to be understood as a house of prayer for all. In
this then the stranger finds a necessary, vital identity in the plan of God. (Daniel
Belnap, “‘The Lord God Which
Gathereth the Outcasts’ (Isaiah 56:3-8),” Religious Educator 19, no.
3 [2018]: 128-29)
