Chapter 58
This starts with an exhortation to lift up your voice and declare the transgression of God's people. It is addressed to no one exactly. Could be God's word to Isaiah to preach truth, or it could be the message that all God's people are to preach. Those seeking God insincerely ask why their fasts are not noticed. God says it is because they do it for themselves and not for Him. God says they don't humble themselves when they fast, and so they are not doing it as He requires. Therefore, He does not honor it.
2024 - I am not sure that word "Yet" should be in here, even though the translations I find more reliable all put it there. The NIV does not, nor do CSB and NET. And here is now NET reads:
2 They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God. [Isa 58:2 NET]. "Yet" would introduce a contrast, in this case I think it is between what these people are pretending to do and what they are really doing. They behave as if they are a Godly nation, and as if they truly seek God. But we see later in the chapter how that isn't the case. Given vs 1, which seems to be a command to Isaiah to "preach it loud", leaving out the yet seems to make it more of a sermon. NET reads right, I think, and here is one more reason for that: According to BLB, this Hebrew word, while it has meaning, is not translated into English. Yet in this verse, it is. BLB says the word is used 22 times in the KJV and is not translated even once. So...what word are they translating here as "yet"??? In fact, they translate it into two words here. So...it also begs the question of "not translated". Perhaps it has something to do with it coming at the very beginning of the Hebrew sentence. Here is another place it is used: 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [Gen 1:1 ESV]. Now it would be very interesting if it was the first word in this sentence - I don't think we'd start it out with "Yet, in the beginning...". In this verse, it does not appear until about halfway through the sentence, immediately after the word "Elohim".
Again today I am letting myself get bogged down on Hebrew grammar that I cannot even pretend to understand. Even so, I think this passage is a LOT more decipherable if we leave out that word "Yet". It doesn't seem to me to belong there. And vs 6 starts the contrasting, and much more acceptable, description.
The next section explains the kind of fast God does honor:
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? [Isa 58:6-7 ESV]
Rest of the section, through vs 12, tells the result of proper fasting. I could copy/paste the whole section. Some that stand out to me: 1) You shall call and the Lord will answer, 2)the Lord will guide you continually, 3) satisfy your desire, 4) make your bones strong, 5) your ancient ruins will be rebuilt.
Far far better to fast the right way. This whole section is a lesson in why we should fast and what can be accomplished by fasting. I never fast. This surely seems to say that I should - that we all should...No...Not really. I think this is saying that insincere fasting does us no good. What God requires - the "fast" that matters to Him - is when we do the things that we should. When we look out for the poor, when we help the helpless and house the homeless. In fact, it goes all the way back to vs 6 where we are to stop oppressing others with wicked practices - and so free them from the results of wickedness. This is all about "love your neighbor"! This is making the same point about insincere fasting as we have repeatedly seen about sacrifices. It is not the performance of ritual for the sake of ritual that pleases God. It is the actions, the thoughts, of a sincere heart that seeks to honor and obey God that he looks on with favor. It is a pure heart that draws His eyes to us.
Still another FB post in this chapter.
2024 - The way we ought to fast, the way indeed that we ought to worship, starts in 6 and goes all the way through the end of the chapter. The right way to fast isn't about going without food, really, it is going without "self". Just look at these phrases:
"loosen the bonds"
Undo the bands
let the oppressed go free
break every yoke
divide your bread
bring in the homeless
cover the naked
don't hide from yourself
remove the pointing finger
remove speaking wickedness
give yourself to the hungry
satisfy the afflicted
Do all these things, and what happens? More phrases:
your light will shine like dawn
speedy recovery
righteousness goes before you
God will your rear guard
The Lord will answer when you call
He will say "Here I am"
your gloom will become midday
The Lord will guide you and
Satisfy your desire and
Give strength to your bones.
And it goes on and on like this. These last are the effect, and the "cause" is doing for others first, instead of yourself. The fast God blesses is when we fast from looking after ourselves and instead do God's work towards those who hurt! I discovered long ago that this is the cure for self-pity. Go help someone else and you stop pitying yourself. And here it is, spelled out in great detail. Want to "joy in the Lord"? Here is a list to get you started!!!
I am just amazed by all the things in this chapter as I read it in 2020. I thought I got a lot from it in 2019, but this is oh so much more.
The last two verses, rather long verses, speak of the rewards of honoring God's Sabbath, as He intended. The point here is the same as about fasting. If you observe the Sabbath sincerely, as an honor to God and not for yourself, God will see, and God will reward.