As He does in chapter 40, the Lord calls Isaiah to “Cry aloud” (1; 40:6). In order to get Israel’s attention, the Lord directs Isaiah to “cry aloud” (literally “cry from the throat”), to “lift up” his voice, and not “hold back” (1). The message he is to proclaim focuses on Israel’s “transgression” and “sins” (1). This time, instead of confronting God’s people for their idolatry (57:1-13), Isaiah is to call them out for their hypocrisy (58:1-14). In chapter 57, the Lord rebukes Israel’s infidelity to him; in chapter 58 (and 50), He exposes their inhumanity with one another. There is a massive disconnect between His people’s religious performance and their practice of justice and righteousness.
On the surface, the Israelites appear to be seeking God, humbling themselves, and drawing near to Him: “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” (2). All this seems rather commendable. Here are people who “daily” seek the Lord and “delight” to learn more of His ways. They faithfully pray, asking Him for “righteous judgments” for their society. They find “delight” in drawing near to Him. What’s more, they regularly practice fasting (3), humbling themselves by wearing “sackcloth” and sitting in “ashes” (5).
In light of their delight and devotion, they are perplexed that God seems distant and aloof. Why doesn’t He notice their pious actions, answer their prayers (4), and bless their devotion to Him (“Why have we fasted, and you see it not?”—3). Since God promises to dwell with those who have a “contrite and lowly spirit” (57:15), why is He remaining withdrawn?
God’s answer, giving through Isaiah, points to the problem: their outward religious practices do not match their inward condition or their business practices. On the very day they are fasting and overtly humbling themselves, they are behaving badly, mistreating and oppressing the vulnerable. While they fast, they “quarrel” and “fight,” striking others with “a wicked fist” (4). In short, their business dealings and relational patterns reveal a heart that is not in line with God’s will or ways. They are self-seeking even as they appear to seek God.
They have missed the true meaning of fasting by focusing on the outward trappings (going without food, wearing sackcloth, sitting in ashes). The Lord is looking for a different kind of fasting, one that gets to the heart. The kind of fasting that He chooses as “acceptable to the Lord” involves not just changing the way they dress (sackcloth, ashes), but changing the way they act: “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” (6).
Instead of simply going without food, the Lord wants them to share it: “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (7). Instead of oppressing the poor, they are to welcome them (“bring the homeless poor into your house”—7) and clothe them (“when you see the naked, to cover him”—7). Instead of running away from those in need (“hide yourself from your own flesh”—7), they are to run towards them in order to provide help.
If God’s people show true devotion and delight by living in just and righteous ways (rather than simply engaging in religious practices of prayer, learning, and fasting), then they would experience God’s blessing and renewal (8-9). Verses 8 and 9 both begin with the word “then”, indicating the outcome of true devotion. Here we have the first of three sections in the chapter built around an “if/then” pattern (5-9; 10-12; 13-14). Each time the Lord’s message emphasizes a conditional promise: if His people respond with genuine, heart-felt obedience, then the Lord will restore and rebuild their broken nation.
If they fast in the way He desires by forsaking oppression rather than simply forgoing food, then the Lord will hear their prayers (they should still keep praying!) and heal their land: “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. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am’” (8-9). Not only will the Lord answer their cries for restoration, He will answer “speedily” (8).
The second if/then sequence begins in the middle of verse 9. The Lord calls His people to remove oppression (“take away the yoke from your midst”), forsake their underhanded, dirty tricks (“pointing of the finger; see Prov. 6:13), and stop their wicked words (“speaking wickedness”). Instead of these sinful practices, they are told to “pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desires of the afflicted” (10). If they will do this, then the Lord promises to pour out blessings that will satisfy their souls: “then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched place and make your bones strong” (10-11). Instead of remaining scorched and ruined, the nation of Israel will be refreshed “like a watered garden” and “like a spring of water” (11). Their “ancient ruins shall be rebuilt” and they will be strengthened to “raise up the foundations of many generations.” This generation will be remembered as the “repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in” (12).
In the final if/then sequence (13-14) spotlights the Sabbath. The Lord calls His people to “honor” the Sabbath by refraining from pursuing their own “pleasure” on His “holy day” (13). He wants them to change their actions (“going your own ways”) and their words (“talking idly”). It may be the Israelites were treating the Sabbath like another business day; the ESV marginal reading has “pursuing your own business” instead of “seeking your own pleasure.” The NET Bible translates “speaking idly” (literally “speaking a word”) as “making business deals.” However, the Lord’s rebuke can be understood more generally to be any self-centered pursuits and sinful words (compare 59:3, 13 which refer to “spoken lies” and “speaking oppression and revolt”). Either way, the Lord is confronting the sinful tendency to put ourselves and our own interests in the place belonging to Him. That this selfish pursuit was done on the Sabbath made it all the more egregious and reprehensible.
If the Israelites would repent of their selfishly sinful treatment of the His holy day, then they would show a sincere “delight in the Lord” (14). Then He promises to lift them up from their broken condition (“make you ride on the heights of the earth”—14). Then He pledges to satisfy their hungry hearts: “I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father” (14).
Behold Your God
The Lord knows whether we are truly righteous or just religious. The Israelites addressed in chapter 58 excelled in being religious: they drew near to God to pray, learn, and fast. They “humbled” themselves by putting on sackcloth and sitting in ashes. Still, God was not impressed. He was looking for righteousness (8) not just religiousness. He wanted His people to fast from oppressing their workers, ignoring the needy, and dodging responsibility to help others (6). He wanted them to genuinely delight in centering their lives on Him rather than on themselves (13-14). In the New Testament, James picks up this contrast between “worthless” and genuine religion: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:26-27).
The Lord promises to refresh, repair, and restore His people if they respond to His rebuke. Three times in chapter 58, we find the Lord giving if/then statements; if His people respond to His rebuke with life-changing repentance, then He will refresh, repair, and restore them. In fact, He promises to heal their brokenness “speedily” and to guard them with His glory (8). If like Isaiah, they truly repent of their unclean lips and lives (6:5), He will trade their darkness for light (10), their scorched places for a well-watered garden (11), and their ruins for a rebuilt nation (12). If, like Isaiah, they say, “Here I am” (6:8), He will answer, “Here I am” (9).
Here Am I
My hypocrisy can be hidden from myself but not from God. Isaiah 58 reveals we can be unaware of our own hypocrisy. Many of the Israelites were relentlessly and rigorously religious; they fasted (overtly!) and prayed. They delighted to draw near to God (2). When God didn’t answer their prayers, they were perplexed: “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?” (3). It appears they saw themselves as humble while God saw them as hypocrites. The sobering implication is that we can fool ourselves about our spiritual condition. But we can’t fool God.
I can delight in the Lord in a way that does not delight His heart. The Lord acknowledges that His people “delight to draw near to God” (2). That would seem a strong commendation. But the Lord’s condemnation of their “transgression” and “sins” (1) indicates otherwise. He did not take delight in the way they were delighting in Him. He required more than religious ritual and self-righteous displays of piety. He desired their devotion to be more than words. He called them to practice justice and show compassion (6-7). He wanted them to truly centre their lives on Him on the Sabbath (13). Only then could it be said that they “take delight in the Lord” (14).
Here is an important reminder for all of us who long to see God bring renewal to our lives, churches, communities, and country: prayer and fasting for renewal must be combined with a renewed commitment to living just, honest, and compassionate lives. As Micah 6:8 declares: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
My approach to the Sabbath reveals my affection for the Lord of the Sabbath. The Israelites evidently approached the Sabbath in a legalistic way. Outwardly the seemed to comply with the Sabbath regulations given in the Mosaic Law (Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-18; Deut.5:12-15). However, God knew their hearts weren’t in it. Or more precisely, their hearts were focused on themselves not Him. Rather than receiving the Sabbath as a day to rest and reorient their lives around Him, they went their “own ways” and sought their “own pleasure” (13). Their words revealed the state of their souls (“talking idly”—13). While New Testament Christians are no longer under the Mosaic code for Sabbath keeping (Rom. 14:5-6; Col. 2:16-17), the Sabbath rhythm (a day of rest and reorientation) is built into creation (Gen 2:1-3). How we approach our “Sabbath” (one day in seven for rest and reorientation around God) says much about the tilt of our hearts and the state of our souls.
Rick and Linda Reed 