“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 56:5
God is speaking to eunuchs in this passage of Isaiah. A eunuch was a male who was castrated early in life so that he might perform a specific social function such as chamberlain in a palace, a courtier, domestic servant, treble singer (because their high child’s voice was preserved), religious specialist or a guardian of a harem of women.
Because they were usually castrated before puberty, they had little say about their destiny or their maleness. Few married, and obviously, they had no children to look forward to. Therefore, they had only their positions in life to focus on, and often, they went at them with a vengeance since the hope of romance, intimacy and a family had been completely cut off.
God, in His inordinate tenderness toward eunuchs, knew how much the eunuchs lost. In many ancient societies, sons and daughters were a clear indication of prosperity and favor with God. So through the prophet Isaiah, He spoke these words:
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.”
To me, this is one of the tenderest passages in all of scripture. God is saying, “I know what has happened to you and my heart grieves for you. Your life is your work because it is all you have, but if you will do what pleases me, and keep my sabbath, I will give you something better that no one can ever take away from you.”
God knows everything that has happened to us, the pain and hurt and suffering inflicted on us by others, beyond our control. He knows that some of us have been sexually abused, molested or raped. Some have been beaten up physically or emotionally. Not a single sin against us has gone unnoticed.
And so what did He ask of eunuchs? This is just as tender. He asks them to observe His sabbath. In essence, He was telling them to rest in Him once a week. He wasn’t telling them to observe the Law and the Commandments or to do anything stringent, but rather, to stop doing, stop working, once a week, and rest in His arms. And if they did this, He would give them a new name which no one could take away from them, and in addition, a memorial in His house.
When we get to heaven, there will be a place something like our military memorials, where we will find a gleaming wall with names of eunuchs through the centuries who have taken God at His word. But it will be their new names, deeply inscribed in the stone. Old names are associated with an old, sometimes painful, life.
While this scripture applies specifically to eunuchs, I wouldn’t be surprised if other names could be found there as well: those who have lost something due to someone taking it from them, whether it is their virginity, their innocence or even their self-esteem. God also looks tenderly upon those who have lost breasts to cancer, limbs to accidents, and even lives to wars and persecution, and their names quite possibly could be inscribed on that sacred wall.
And not only are they remembered, but they will be restored. God is a God of restoration. When they arrive in heaven, their bodies and spirits will be completely restored. They will each be given new names which, like their restored bodies and spirits, can never be cut off.
In the meantime, if someone has taken something from you, God is asking you to rest in Him, once a week on His sabbath, so He can restore you. He’s asking you to run into His arms so He can hold you for a little while. So go, and let Him give back to you what others have taken.
