Isaiah 58

True Fasting

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“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?
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 them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
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.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 58:1-14

Key Verse: “if you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath, and from doing as you please on my Holy Day” verse 13

 In this chapter, Isaiah tells the people that the way they are fasting is not true fasting. Their fasting is only one day and only a ritual. They go about their day as normal without using the fast to change their heart for good. Instead they fight, speak idle words, and quarrel. They had created a fast that was stripped of its true meaning and made it only one day so that they could have their prayers heard and then go on with their life. 

The prophet Zechariah had the same complaint against God’s people. In Zechariah chapter 7 verse 5 he says, “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?” A religious fast had no place in the Kingdom of God. God meant the fast to be used to grow closer to him and be a time to do some deep soul searching. But it had become a ritual to be seen by others. There was no intent to reflect on one’s soul. 

Isaiah tells them that the fast they had created has no effect. God will not hear them because the fast does not cause humbleness and they do not loose the binds of the oppressed. It is interesting that fasting and justice are so closely linked here. There is a sense of political and social action that marks a true fast. If a person is using the fast as it should be, it will grow you closer to the heart of God. And, the heart of God is that the oppressed be set free and that his people fight for justice. Isaiah is using the evidence that they do not care about the poor and needy to prove that their fasting is inadequate.

Fasting is mostly referred to as abstaining from food. But, it could be abstaining from anything that causes you to remember why you are fasting. If it is food for example, every time you think about your hunger, you think about food. You then remember you are fasting which causes you to meditate and pray. It is this constant prayer and devotion that is the reason for fasting.

Verse 5 says, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen?” Only a day for a man to humble himself?” Reflection takes more than one day. It was like the Israelites did the minimum they felt they had to do to meet their religious requirements. They convinced themselves that what they were doing was the right thing. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 9 verse 15, “Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.” These words spoken by Jesus are evidence that the fast is meant to draw our flesh closer to God. There was no need for fasting when God was in their midst!

The Sabbath is more than just a day like the Jews had made it. It is a willingness to worship God through sacrifice and discipline. Each day should have some part of it set aside for God. Even then, we should spend a day just for him. I find myself going to church and then forgetting about God until the next service or next time I have my scheduled devotion. The truth is, I should be contemplating God and his goodness all throughout the day.  I forget to discipline myself. I let “things” take my time away. I let discouragement or strife have my emotions rather than giving them to God. I realize that God wants me to express my emotions to him even if it’s just a feeling rather than a specific problem. God says to delight in the Sabbath and call it honorable. “and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words.” – verse 13

Philippians 2:3 says “in humility consider others better then yourself.” Jesus lowered himself to serve us. We then, can lower ourselves to serve those around us of lower status than us. I say “lower status”, but hthis is only how we perceive it. We are, of course, all equal. But, if we are truly honest with ourselves, even as Christians, we have a mental scale that we put each person on. Do you really see that person at church that is poor spiritually and physically on the exact same level as you? Even though you should, it is difficult to get past our fleshly mind and see everyone as Jesus sees them. Although it is impossible to be completely unbiased as Jesus, we worked towards this perfection. And, one of the ways we can do this is through the true fast as described in this chapter.

So what does true fasting look like? King David in Psalms 35 verse 13 says, “Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting.” Here David was being a true friend to those that later turned on him. He diligently cared for his brother and did what he could physically and spiritually. How deeply do you care for others that have needs? I feel like a lot of times, just like the Israelites, I do the minimum. I offer a fleeting recognition and say if they need anything to let me know. But, I could take it further and just act. Be there for them, pray for them, and sacrifice my time for them.

Fasting encompasses weeping, mourning, interceding, repenting, and seeking the Lord. I typically don’t think of these types of things when I think of fasting. I only think of the fact of going without food. But here, there is a deep mental and emotional cost which goes beyond simple hunger pains. There is an element of repentance that is combined with fasting. In 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 6 it says, “When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’ Now Samuel was serving as leadera]of Israel at Mizpah.” Fasting is not reserved for the righteous. It can be the one who finds themselves lost in sin and wants to find their way back.

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