7. A name better than sons and daughters

You might not expect to find a message for people who experience same-sex attraction in the Book of Isaiah. It is actually a word of assurance for eunuchs, which Jesus also referred to in his teaching about marriage (Matthew 19: 11–12). Eunuchs—those who do not experience "normal" sexuality for whatever reason—are told by God that they may expect a special blessing in return for their perseverance.

Isaiah 56

Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let no eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

—Isaiah 56: 3–5

The fact that God voices tenderness toward eunuchs in this passage is startling. Eunuchs were men excluded from "normal" reproductive life for any reason, including congenital deformity of the sexual organs or violent castration. The Mosaic Law bans them from participation in God's assembly:

No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord.

—Deuteronomy 23: 1

In view of this exclusion, it is striking that God offers eunuchs a very specific ray of encouragement through Isaiah. His message is that even if eunuchs are ceremonially "unclean," if they love God and embrace His sovereignty, then they can become clean and have a place in God's Kingdom. And not just a spot in a dark corner. Let's look again:

[T]o them [=the eunuchs who love me] I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

—Isaiah 56: 5

An everlasting name

A new name is a very special honor indeed. In the Old Testament, one's name was one's reputation, and it could be a source of shame and disrepute or a source of honor and blessing:

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. —Proverbs 22: 1

So an "everlasting name" is an even greater honor and blessing than anyone might be able to achieve during a single lifetime of purity and obedience! This blessing is "better than sons and daughters," another sign of God's great favor:

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. —Psalm 127: 3-5

That God would offer such favor and blessing to a small group of ceremonial and social outcasts is extraordinary, but true to God's promise never to overlook the sacrifices we make in our lives for His sake:

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life." —Matthew 19: 29

While these eunuchs await the blessing, they are sure to be acutely aware of what is promised but has not yet come. It is the same for anyone who has been promised anything. The longing for the "name better than sons and daughters" is like the "groaning" from the believer's innermost being:

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. —2 Corinthians 5: 1–3

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

—Romans 8: 22–23

When the time comes, those who pursue holiness through chastity before God will receive an everlasting name better than sons or daughters. It will be an honor unlike anything anyone else has ever received, and it will have been worth the wait.

For discussion:

1. Why do you think the eunuchs addressed in Isaiah 56 are specifically those who have chosen to do what pleases God, and not the ones who are eunuchs by birth defect or who have been made so at the hands of men? Can Isaiah's teaching potentially include all three groups?

2. How might we make the case that the teaching in Isaiah applies not just to men but also to women who give up sexual relations for God's sake?

3. In what ways is a "name better than sons and daughters" the ultimate blessing to bestow upon a person who does not or cannot have children, for whatever reason?