Keep in mind that among the many petitions that Solomon presented to Jehovah at the dedication of the temple, he prayed for “the foreigner, who is no part of your people Israel and who actually comes from a distant land by reason of your name.” He prayed that “you [Jehovah] must do according to all that for which the foreigner calls to you; in order that all the peoples of the earth may get to know your name so as to fear you the same as your people Israel do.”​—1 Ki. 8:41-43.

12, 13. (a) How was Isaiah inspired to write about “foreigners”? (b) For whose benefit and in what way can these expressions be applied?

¹² Additional insight and encouragement for these “foreigners” is given at Isaiah 56:6-8:

“And the foreigners that have joined themselves to Jehovah to minister to him and to love the name of Jehovah, in order to become servants to him, all those keeping the sabbath in order not to profane it and laying hold of my covenant, I will also bring them to my holy mountain and make them rejoice inside my house of prayer. Their whole burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be for acceptance upon my altar. For my own house will be called even a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

¹³ What an inviting description! These “foreigners” are not regimented, but gladly join themselves to Jehovah out of love for his name and all for which it stands. Their whole life (not just one day in seven) becomes one of ‘sabbath keeping,’ one being dedicated to Jehovah; thereby they enter into His rest, as Paul explains at Hebrews 4:1-10.

I will also bring them to my holy mountain and make them rejoice inside my house of prayer. Their whole burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be for acceptance upon my altar. For my own house will be called even a house of prayer for all the peoples.”

The apostle Paul also shows how the ‘whole burnt offerings and sacrifices’ have a practical application for dedicated Christians, when he writes:

“Through him let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name. Moreover, do not forget the doing of good and the sharing of things with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”​—Heb. 13:15, 16.

14. What was the “house of prayer” in Isaiah’s day, and what did it symbolize?

¹⁴ In Isaiah’s day, Jehovah’s “house of prayer” was, of course, the temple that Solomon built.