The foreigner and the eunuch are accepted: Is 56:3-5

“Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from His people.’ Nor let the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, to them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.’” (Isaiah 56:3-5)

Under the covenant God made through Moses, only the nation of Israel was invited to come near to God. God chose Israel that He might dwell in their midst, no other nation was chosen. Even among the sons of Aaron, only those who were without physical defects were permitted to come near to serve God. “For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb, or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.” (Leviticus 21:18-20)

The foreigners and the eunuchs represent the outsiders and the unworthy. The foreigners are those who are not part of the “in crowd.” Their pedigree and upbringing are not consistent with that of the religious elite. They do not know the lingo, they are not familiar with their traditions, and the do not share the same religious history. The eunuchs, according to the law, were damaged goods. Along with the blind, lame, and deformed, they were defects, not fit for inclusion among the “perfect”. They are the broken, hurting, and wounded and they don’t fit in with our nice clean religion. However, under God’s new covenant, these are exactly the people whom God has chosen. “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29) It was the wise and the religious that rejected Jesus. Jesus “came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:1) Therefore, salvation was sent to the gentiles and to all those who were previously rejected under the old covenant. “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’” (Luke 14:23-24)

Have you ever felt like an outsider or an outcast? Have you ever felt unworthy of a relationship with your heavenly Father? Have you ever felt that you were beyond hope and beyond the love and acceptance of God? If so, then God is calling you! God’s desire is for you. He wants to be your Father and He wants you to be His son or daughter. Rejoice! you are exactly what God wants!

David Robison