Isaiah 58 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Isaiah 58

True and False Fasting

58:1   “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,¹
    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 oppressed² 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 pleasure³ 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,⁴ or talking idly;⁵
14   then you shall take delight in the LORD,
    and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;⁶
  I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Footnotes

[1] 58:3 Or pursue your own business
[2] 58:6 Or bruised
[3] 58:13 Or business
[4] 58:13 Or pursuing your own business
[5] 58:13 Hebrew or speaking a word
[6] 58:14 Or of the land

Commentary

The final section, to chapter 66, Grace and Glory.

v1: Declaration of Israel; sins; they are exposed so that they may be dealt with. This is the work of the prophet (Ezek 3.17-21).

v2: Their hypocrisy, religion without reality. There is apparent religious zeal, "they seek me out, they seem eager to know my ways," yet the Lord exposed wrong motives, and an unsanctified lifestyle.

In previous chapters, the people were guilty of idolatry; here it is hypocrisy, which was a major issue amongst the Jewish religious people at the time of Christ. Isaiah is looking forward to this time.

v3: Wrong motives; they sought to manipulate God. They expected God to bless them, simply because they followed a form of ritual.

v4: Their lifestyle did not match their profession. They maintained injustice towards others; and this was why their voice was not heard in Heaven.

v5: God's standards and man's standards were so different. Repentance is a deliberate preferring of God's ways above our own ways.

v6-7: True fasting, fasting chosen by God. This brings personal blessing, loosing the bonds of wickedness, promoting justice, and releasing practical care.

v8-9: Personal spiritual benefit, enjoying light, healing, righteousness. The glory of the Lord upon His people; a protection and a testimony. There is the promise of answered prayers, as God hears the voice of His people.

v9-10: "If..." for here are conditional blessings. Israel could obey in certain areas, and be assured of God's blessings. Here too are specific commands to remember the poor. The wording here means to give ourselves on behalf of the needy. The Yombe people (in Congo) say we should give the bread already in our mouths.

v11-12: Real reward received; "The Lord will...your people will..." Proper motives and practical obedience are richly rewarded. Although the circumstances may be hard, in a sun-scorched land, the promised blessings are abundant, like a well-watered garden.

v13-14: Same principles applied to the Sabbath; that they delight in the Lord first. Personal preferences to be laid aside;

not doing your own ways;
not finding your own pleasure;
not speaking your own words.

We are to follow God's ways, delighting in Him; the obedient man can never be the loser.

Here too are vital principles for enriching our own relationship with God; these things must characterise our daily lives.