Comfort for the Foreign and the Eunuch

Jehovah now addresses two groups who want to serve him but who under the Mosaic Law are disqualified from coming into the Jewish congregation.  We read:  "Let not the foreigner that has joined himself to Jehovah say, 'Without doubt Jehovah will divide me off from his people.' Neither let the eunuch say, 'Look!  I am a dry tree.' " (Isaiah 56:3)  The foreigner's fear is that he will be cut off from Israel.  The eunuch's concern is that he will never have children to preserve his name.  Both groups should take courage.  Before we see why, let us consider what standing they  have under the Law in relation to the nation of Israel.

Uncircumcised foreigners are excluded from sharing in worship with Israel.  For example, they are not allowed to partake of the Passover.  (Exodus 12:43)  Foreigners who do not flagrantly break the laws of the land enjoy justice and hospitality, but they have no permanent ties with the nation.   Of course, some fully embrace the Law, and as a sign of this, the men get circumcised .  Then they are proselytes, privileged to worship in the courtyard  of Jehovah's house and considered a part of the congregation of Israel.  (Leviticus  17:10-14; 20:2; 24:22) However, even with Israel, and they have no land inheritance in the Promised Land.  Other foreigners may turn to the temple in prayer, and evidently they may offer sacrifices through the priesthood as long as the sacrifices conform to the Law.  (Leviticus 22:25; 1 Kings 8:41-43)  But Israelites  are not to associate closely with them.

Next time: Eunuchs Receive  a Name to Time Indefinite

From the Book Isaiah's Prophecy Light for all Mankind, Volume II, 2001