Ep 847 – Isaiah 56:1-8

Walk the talk. I'm sure you've heard that phrase before. It's meant as a challenge and, in some cases, as an indictment against those who are quick to declare their strong beliefs about a given topic, but whose lives don't seem to align with their words. In other words, they're hypocritical. They say one thing and do another. And God hates hypocrisy, especially in His people. So, in Isaiah 56:1-8, God is going to challenge the people of Judah to walk the talk. He is going to call them to live out what they say they believe in real life – in the form of obedience to His commands. And, in particular, when it comes to their treatment of non-Jews. The people of God saw themselves as special, and they were. They were His chosen possession. But that did not give them the right to look down their noses at those around them. God did not choose them because they were special or somehow deserved His attention. He chose them in spite of them. And now, He wanted them to extend the same kind of mercy to all those around them. He wanted their external behavior to live up with their expressed beliefs, and with the character of compassion found in their God.