Isaiah 58:6-10
SS Lesson for 01/22/2023
Devotional Scriptures: Eph 5:11-20
The essence of fasting is self-denial. The intent behind this practice is typically understood as being reminded of complete dependence on the Lord, as Jesus expressed during His temptation (Matthew 4:1-4; compare Luke 12:22-31). Fasting on a regular and devout basis could earn the respect of the community. For example, a heroine of the Jews who lived in the intertestamental times, Judith, was renowned for her extensive fasting practices, said to have occurred all the days of her widowhood (see the non-biblical Judith 8:6). Community fasting was a solemn event for the people of Israel (1 Samuel 7:6; Esther 4:1-3, 15-17; 9:31-32; Joel 1:14-15; contrast 1 Kings 21:9-12). Fasting could be an appropriate personal condition for a dedicated time of prayer (2 Samuel 12:16, 21-23; Nehemiah 1:4; Daniel 9:3). It was for the humbling of the soul (Psalm 35:13). Unfortunately, fasting could easily become an empty ritual, more about recognition for Judah’s own piety than as a spiritual discipline (see Zechariah 7:5-6; Matthew 6:16-18; Luke 18:9-14). In that vein, Isaiah begins chapter 58 by loudly declaring the rebellion and hypocrisy of Israel (Isaiah 58:1-2). The people invited that critique by pointing to their fasts (58:3a) as evidence of their humility, only for God to point out what should have been the obvious error in their way: fasting gave the appearance of humility, but it actually resulted in exploitation (58:3b) and violence (58:4)! “Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?” (58:5). What kind of fast does God really desire?
If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
9 A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry;
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
15 He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil-- 16 this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. 2 The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. 3 The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
What God wants ch. 58
Again Isaiah presented the folly of simply going through a system of worship without changing one’s attitudes and conduct, especially in relationships (Isaiah 1:10-20; cf. Zechariah 1; Matthew 5-7). In chapter 1, God threatened His people with destruction if they did not change. Here He promised them blessing if they did change. The difference is due to His provision of the Servant. God appealed to redeemed people to change.
". . . the religion which is exposed here rests on Canaanite rather than Yahwistic principles. The essence of Canaanite religion was to put the gods under pressure to perform their functions (hence, for example, what we would call orgiastic rites designed to stimulate Baal to acts of fertility). . . . The essence of Israelite religion, however, is response. Not doing things to influence the Lord but doing them to obey him; not works looking for reward but faith acting in obedience." [Note: Motyer, p. 478.]
The transgressions and sins that the Lord called Isaiah to proclaim to His people were so serious that the prophet needed to grab their attention with loud announcements. The name "the house of Jacob" calls attention to the Jacob-like quality of the nation that God would expose, namely: the people’s attempts to manipulate God.
Many of the Israelites were relying on their practice of the Mosaic rites to satisfy God. The true meaning of the rites had not affected their lives. God intended the system of worship He prescribed to illustrate the importance of a heart relationship with Himself that should affect interpersonal relationships. This pericope exposes the superficial attitude of many of God’s people with strong irony.
Even though the Israelites sinned, they sought the Lord constantly and inquired concerning His ways. They claimed to be a righteous people who had observed the Mosaic Law carefully. They asked God for justice, and they delighted in the thought that He was near them.
They could not understand why God had not blessed them-because they had fasted and humbled themselves (cf. Malachi 3:13-15). The only fast that the Mosaic Law commanded was on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:26-32). But the Israelites also fasted voluntarily, even in Isaiah’s day. [Note: On the practice of fasting, see Kent D. Berghuis, "A Biblical Perspective on Fasting," Bibliotheca Sacra 158:629 (January-March 2001):86-103.] The reason God had not blessed them was that when they fasted, they did not demonstrate the attitudes and activities that fasting represented. They did not really sacrifice their own desires, and they continued to treat other people inconsiderately. They pursued their personal interests and worked when they fasted, and they insisted that their employees keep on working. They were practicing religious ritual to try to manipulate God into blessing them.
"But repentance is not for the purpose of getting God to do anything; it is an expression of the conviction that my ways are wrong and God’s ways are right, whether he does anything for me or not." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 497.]
The spiritually insensitive Israelites did not consciously fast so they could be contentious and strive and beat each other up, but these were the results of their fasts. Fasting made them grouchy and belligerent, and they took these sinful feelings out on their neighbors. It would have been better for their neighbors if they had not fasted at all. These religious hypocrites were really fasting for reasons other than mourning over their sinfulness.
This was not the type of fasting God approved (cf. Isaiah 1:11; Psalms 51:16-17; Luke 18:9-14). It consisted only in His people bowing their heads, not their hearts. Bowing the head like a reed expresses formal worship, like a reed automatically bending in response to wind. The people sat in sackcloth and ashes, but they did not really mourn over their disobedience to the Lord. They thought their outward fasting, bowing, dressing, and adorning were more important than their attitudes and behavior, though they probably did not realize it and certainly did not admit it (cf. James 1:27; James 4:8).
"When we worship because it is the popular thing to do, not because it is the right thing to do, then our worship becomes hypocritical." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 66.]
The type of fasting that pleases God is: giving up wickedness, oppression, enslavement, and binding of other people-not just food. Isaiah did not mean, of course, that God had no concern about His people going without food (cf. Leviticus 16:31). The prophet was going to the opposite extreme to make a point (cf. Isaiah 1:10-20; Amos 5:25-27; Micah 6:6-8; Luke 14:26).
"If they want to deprive themselves, let them do it for the sake of the oppressed, the needy, and the helpless, not for the sake of their own religiosity. God’s nature is to give himself away to those who can never repay him. There is no clearer evidence of the presence of God in a person’s life than a replication of that same behavior." [Note: Oswalt, The Book . . . 40-66, p. 503.]
God wants people to be free. That is why He sent the Servant, and that is why He liberated the Israelites from Egypt and Babylon. He wants His people to set others free, too.
"To loose the chains of injustice/’fetters of wickedness’ points to the need to labour for the abolition of every way in which wrong social structures, or wrongdoers in society, destroy or diminish the due liberty of others. To untie the cords of the yoke refers to the need to eliminate every way in which people are treated like animals." [Note: Motyer, p. 481.]
Isaiah contrasted God’s conception of fasting with that of His people (cf. Matthew 6:16-18).
Likewise, helping the poor is more important than helping oneself. Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and clothing the naked are more important to God than living well oneself. What is the point of fasting if we do not give what we would eat to others? Self-denial should be for others, not for oneself (cf. Matthew 25:35; Luke 3:11; Luke 10:31-32; Hebrews 13:2).
"No religious observance has value for Jehovah that is not supported by a godly, law-abiding life, and compassion towards those in need." [Note: Archer, p. 650.]
This type of reality would produce many good consequences. Light would dispel the Israelites’ darkness. They would recover their spiritual wholeness quickly. Their righteousness (God Himself) and their right conduct (cf. Isaiah 56:1) would precede them, and God’s glory would protect them. The piling up of blessings for repentance is clear in the "then . . . and" lists in Isaiah 58:8; Isaiah 58:10-12; Isaiah 58:14.
The Lord would hear their prayers, and they would enjoy His presence (cf. Isaiah 58:1-3). Making self the focus of life, in contrast, results in darkness (cf. Isaiah 5:20; Isaiah 8:20; Isaiah 47:5; Isaiah 60:2), disease (cf. Isaiah 1:5), defeat (cf. Isaiah 1:7), and separation (cf. Isaiah 1:4). For these blessings to come, God’s people needed to stop oppressing others, and to stop mocking and showing contempt for others with wicked speech (cf. Isaiah 57:4; Isaiah 66:5). Notice the "if . . . then" constructions in Isaiah 58:9-10; Isaiah 58:13-14. It is possible that "the pointing of the finger" may refer to being critical of others who are not as socially sensitive as oneself. [Note: Motyer, p. 482.]
Positively, God’s people needed to alleviate hunger in others (more than creating it in themselves by fasting), and to pour out their lives for others. Then they would have light, even in gloom, because God would be with them, and God is light (cf. 1 John 1:5).
God would also guide and sustain His people in their desert experiences. Strong bones contrast with bones that tremble or waste away because of fear, sorrow, or guilt. Physical health is often a byproduct of spiritual health (cf. James 5:15-16). Truly repentant people will also be a pleasant source of delight, encouragement, and nourishment to others (cf. Isaiah 1:30). They will refresh others, as well as themselves, because God, the source of life within them (cf. John 4:14; John 7:37-39), will manifest Himself through them.
True worshippers would also rebuild what their sin had previously torn down. This refers not only to the return and rebuilding of Jerusalem and Judah following the exile. [Note: Watts, Isaiah 34-66, p. 276.] It also refers to the Promised Land in the Millennium and to the restoration of other types of "ruins" caused by sin.
The remaining two verses continue the explanation of true worship begun in Isaiah 58:6, but they also conclude this chapter by returning to consider proper response to a specific aspect of the Mosaic legislation, namely: Sabbath observance.
(Adapted from URL:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dcc/isaiah-58.html)
Isaiah pushed Israel to understand that what God deems important is not a temporary willingness to fast from food, but a spiritual health that leads to righteous behavior. So we might ask ourselves two questions: Do I go through ritualistic motions on a regular basis instead of allowing my heart to really be turned toward God during those practices? What “fast” might I need to undertake to align myself with the type of fasting God desires? A just and caring community will consider the “hungry” in all aspects Isaiah has already defined: food, clothing, and housing (Isaiah 58:7). How can we feel comfortable in our abundance if we know there is suffering in our neighborhoods (1 John 3:17)? It may be impossible for any one individual to meet every community need, but this does not excuse us from keeping our eyes open to the plight of others or striving to meet the needs we see. Experience has taught some that they are most successful with fasting if they practice it in community, with at least one partner. Then the limits of the fast are mutually agreed on and there is an accountability that helps keep them focused and faithful to the practice. Maybe we should seek a “fasting partner” who will share the experience and grow with us. That way we can grow in grace and truth together (see John 1:14, 17).