“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily
and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
they delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58 ESV
Isaiah 58 False Fasting
14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” 1 Chronicles 29: 14-19
1-2. Cry aloud; do not hold back - Don't sugar coat, no diluting will ever be helpful here. Tell them the truth boldly. It is not about the messenger, it is the message that is important. Their response is not in your hands, many times God spoke through the prophets, but the people mocked or simply turned away.
Declare to my people their transgressions - He is going to point out those behaviors which God is not pleased with. We have learned by reading God's word that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God. We have also learned that faith itself is a gift from God, so Isaiah need only stick to what God is communicating, not worry about the response, and put off all selfish desire to be liked. He is not to be an ear tickler. We have also learned that God's word will accomplish everything He intends for it to; it will not return to Him void.
…8And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me;… John 16: 8-10
As if they were a nation that did righteousness - They sought Him daily and delighted in knowing His ways - as if. It doesn't sound like a bad thing. The Bible tells us to seek the Lord while He may be found, but the problem is it was all outward, "as if they were a nation that did righteousness."
…7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”… Matthew 15: 7-9
But God, I am on my 15th year of going through the Bible in one year. I go to church or my idea of church, I tithe. If you ask anyone in my small group they will tell you that I am a devoutly religious man. It is easy to get caught up in going through the motions, in outward appearance, and the self righteous, religious, are the hardest to confront. Hearing they didn't hear, reading they didn't see themselves and could never apply what they read. They were satisfied, delighted in knowing about His ways, but were never convicted unto repentance. They had feelings and emotional ties to buildings and social gatherings, but they never saw how dangerously offensive their unregenerate hearts were to God. They liked praise music, it was like a Sunday concert, but without the truth they did not realize they were not approaching God in Spirit either. It was all for them.
They ask of me righteous judgments - We all see wrong in the world, but how hypocritical when we want God to judge sin but not ours. We admit that something is wrong, is sin, but we won't accept the gravity of our own sin, and we cling to rituals that remain empty, devoid of sincerity.
3-5. Why have we fasted, and you see it not - You can find many books, in the "Christian" book store no less, that follow this as though it were a good pattern. Apostate authors that give systems of legalism, and make profoundly dumb statements like, "if God won't move then I will move God."
Why have we humbled ourselves, and You take no knowledge of it - They wanted God to do things for them, but we see His answer, "you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers." God was on a different page than them when it came to defining humility and fasting. In other words, what y'all are doing ain't what it actually looks like.
1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you? 2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.… James 4: 1-3
“How can any nation pretend to fast or worship God at all, or dare to profess that they believe in the existence of such a Being, while they carry on the slave trade, and traffic in the souls, blood, and bodies of men! O ye most flagitious of knaves, and worst of hypocrites, cast off at once the mask of your religion; and deepen not your endless perdition by professing the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, while ye continue in this traffic!” (Adam Clarke, writing in 1823)
Fasting like yours this day, will not make your voice to be heard - It is like the people who read books on how to win friends and influence people; they go through the motions, learn the things that others have said in the past, the problem, it isn't genuine. They don't love people, they want to be loved or admired by them, but they only care for their own advancement. These people humbled themselves by imitation, bowing down, spreading ashes, but not for the grief and lament of their own sin; they were not penitents, just ascetics, hoping to be seen by men.
16When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.… Matthew 6: 16-18
6-12. Is not this the fast that I choose - You would think all ears would be open, note pads and quills coming out, now we will get to hear what God's expectation is. Think about it, what good is your ideal of religion if it doesn't match up to what God is actually saying?
To loose the bonds of wickedness - Lament over sin, and a desire to be released from it. Also, a desire to release others from such gross arrangements as they have willfully or unwilfully been partner or captive to us in. Stop oppressing the poor, quit teaching others to do so, and stop fighting with one another over worldly things.
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry - How many times have I heard of a problem and thought if only I had the ability to help? I could have if I fasted from a comfort that I did not need, gave up smoking, didn't go on my so called "deserved vacation" this year. They are willing to fast for more stuff, but to give to someone that can't give me anything in return, that's just not good math. Yea, that would be like someone without sin taking on my sin, and then going to the cross on my behalf, except way easier and not even close. It's called love. James beautifully summarizes this section in two verses:
…26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not bridle his tongue, he deceives his heart and his religion is worthless. 27Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1: 26-27
And not to hide yourself from your own flesh - Aren't you supposed to be brothers and sisters, why do you turn a blind eye and avoid seeing the need.
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn - Now you're cooking with gas, everything else before was just empty ritual.
You shall cry, and He will say, "Here I am" - Then He tells them, and since they love lists this should make it easy:
- Take away the yoke from your midst - Stop making up your own religion and attaching my name to it. Quit making yokes for yourselves others that I did not command.
- The pointing of the finger - Quit looking to blame others for your mistakes, remove the log from your own eye.
- Stop speaking wickedness - Sins of the mouth come from the heart, slander, disrespect, or glorying over what God hates.
Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from thy ways, like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that be penitent, according to thy promises declared unto mankind, in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of thy holy name. - Book of Common Prayer 1559 edition
13-14. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath - They celebrated the Sabbath, the feasts and festivals, but only for show, for themselves. People today confuse worship with entertainment. I have had other people tell me how important it was for them to keep the Sabbath, but it was show, it was actually more important for them to have that day off for football, gatherings, fishing in my case, but not for the reason they were trying to sell. They felt spiritual if they thought someone else was seeing them that way.
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