"Is This The Kind of Fast?"
Is. 58:1-14
"Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 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. 3 ‘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. 4 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. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 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 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. 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 on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Intro:
Isaiah 58 is a prophecy delivered to Old Testament Israel. It is a prophetic condemnation of heartless, methodical, routine, fasting whose goal is self-preservation and self-promotion. They were fasting to get what they could get. So God tells Isaiah to ‘scream at the top of his lungs’ (GB) and to condemn the way those people were fasting.
Some see this opening verse as negative and guilt-producing. But this chapter is a picture of God’s willingness to hear prayer, and His eagerness to respond to our needs. He could have said,
"Eh, eh, eh ... You’re doing it all wrong. Now, guess how to do it right."
But with vividness, and in detail, He sets forth for us the manner by which our prayers will receive His undivided attention and produce the desired results. So, once again, this is a testimony of God’s grace and His love for us. He wants us to get it right. He wants our prayers to be effective. He wants us to be healed. He wants the devil to take his darkness and head for the hills when God’s people go to prayer. He wants us to find direction for our lives when we seek His counsel in prayer. He wants to answer our cries of distress.
Like prayer and praise, fasting is one of the awesome gifts God has given His people. It is part of our spiritual arsenal. Our prayers are reinforced and strengthened when they are accompanied by fasting. We are taught that the Lord does things in our spirits, and in spiritual realms, in response to prayer and fasting that He otherwise will not do. That tells me that fasting is a key component to spiritual growth and success that can not be obtained by any other means. You may grow, and witness wonderful things without fasting. But imagine what you could be part of if you included this mighty gift among your spiritual resources.
It’s About the Heart, Not the Motions
As this prophecy begins with a complaint from the Lord. He disapproves of Israel’s dualistic behavior. They fast on the appropriate days, and pray daily, which suggests that they are spiritual people devoted to pleasing God. Yet at the same time they do wrong and forsake the commands of their God. (v:2)
Then the passage moves to the complaint of the people. They have questions that begin with "Why?"
‘Why have we fasted,... and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’
So the Lord answers them, "...on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists...." (v:3-4)
God mentions the things about their fasts which displease Him. They perceive a fast as a means of a spiritual spanking; the wording suggests corporeal punishment - only a day for a man to humble himself...
They view fasting as an outward humbling only - only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes... God’s intention behind the fast is that our humility go deeper and be more than superficial and merely external and mechanical. He doesn’t want us simply to outwardly bow our head as if we are trying to look humble. He wants us to be meek.
In Biblical times when a person was distraught and broken, when they were truly repentant, they would dress in a coarse material known as sack cloth and sprinkle themselves with ashes. Probably our closest similar material to sackcloth is the old rough burlap bag that horse and cattle feed used to come in. It is abrasive. It itches. It is uncomfortable. You would wear it as a reminder of your heart ache. It was a string around your finger. And it was a denial of personal luxury and physical comfort. But if it was merely external without genuine inward repentance, what good were they.
Each year on Ash Wednesday you will see devout Catholics wearing an ashen smudge or cross on their foreheads. You can imagine how such a practice can degenerate into something mechanical. Suppose that person hasn’t been doing too well in their spiritual life lately. Suppose their thoughts have been far from the Lord and their behavior has been anything but godly. Yet on the appointed Wednesday morning, they rise early to go to the church and have the ashes smeared between their brows. Does that act change them? Do they emerge from the church changed simply because now ashes are on their forehead? Of course not, and it was the same with Israel in Isaiah’s day. Just because they wore robes of rough, itchy, cloth and sat in heaps of ashes that didn’t mean their hearts were any better off than before they began their fast.
The signs God looked for as an indication of a changed heart was a different attitude and changed behavior. But all He saw was selfish people retaining their selfishness while going through the motions of fasting. They did as they pleased - a point the Lord makes three times in this chapter. (v:3, 13) They continued exploiting their workers - taking advantage of their employees. Even while fasting they wound up arguing and fighting with each other. And God wasn’t pleased.
If Israel couldn’t get away with these things neither can we. If we want miraculous results to our prayers we have to come to the Lord in a manner pleasing to Him. He is always most interested in our heart. What good does it do to skip lunch and supper if our attitude doesn’t change?
Components of Fasting God’s Way
Then, in verse 6, we are introduced to the kind of fast the Lord honors. He reveals the elements of a true, scriptural, fast. I have broken them down into individual segments - bite-sized pieces, if you will. In the first section of the fast God chooses we find a list of positive, constructive projects in which we are to involve ourselves. These are the components God says are important to successful fasting.
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?
This appears again in v:9-10. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, ... 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,... (v:9-10)
Verse 6 speaks of injustice and oppression. It seems to have been a cultural issue in Israel concerning wrongfully keeping other Hebrews as slaves longer than was proper and longer than was provided for in the law. It seems to be connected with indebtedness. They kept people as servants long after their debts had been paid. They ignored the Law which demanded Hebrew slaves only be kept in service for six years and released on the seventh year.
The application for us seems to be one of fairness and justice. We are to stand up for those who are unfairly taken advantage of. I once spoke to managers on behalf of an elderly man who wasn’t being paid properly. If we know this sort of thing is going on we are supposed to try to right the wrongs.
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,
The first three-fourths of the seventh verse addresses humanitarian concerns. It speaks of the social needs of food, shelter, and clothes. These are the needs Jesus tells us to address in the parable of the King. (Mt. 25:35-36) 1 John 3:17 asks, "How can we claim the love of God indwells us if when we see a brother with these needs we walk on by as if we didn’t notice?" (GB)
What do you know about the Salvation Army? They collect money at Christmas to feed the poor, and they have thrift stores to clothe the poor. Those things are important.
If, in your fast, you become aware of someone’s needs, do what you can to help. That is just as spiritual as abstaining from food for a day. More so if you avoid food and refuse help where it is needed.
The last line of verse 7 seems tied in with meeting those same material needs of others, only here it comes closer to home.
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
What good is it if we send clothes to Africa, and coats to Detroit, if our mom’s shoes are shot, and dad’s coat is insufficient for the winter? Charity begins at home. In other words, when you’re looking for a place to do good deeds, don’t overlook family and friends. This could also have a broader application of ‘countrymen’ (GB) or mankind in general. (EJ Young, p. 420)
A little later He says,
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger"
This is wrongful accusation, passing the buck. It was a gesture of contempt - perhaps similar to a gesture sometimes made in traffic in the U.S.. Among Arabs pointing the finger was a means of wishing misfortune on others. (Young, p. 422)
and malicious talk,
God is not pleased when we speak ill of other people, especially those of the household of faith. He is not honored when one claiming to be a Christian says something mean and hateful about another believer. True fasting includes watching our tongue.
Fasting is more than refraining from a few meals here and there. It is abstaining from food for the purpose of drawing closer to the Lord and for focusing on spiritual things rather than physical. But it is more than that. It includes helping the oppressed, sharing with those less fortunate, and getting along with one another.
Promised Results of Biblical Fasting
Now there are some promises given to those who fast according to God’s will. The concluding portion of this chapter shows the benefits of fasting God’s way. These are the promises connected with fasting. You will notice the things promised are often preceded by the word "then." It underscores the conditions of the fast and its promises. If you do these things, then, and only then, these things will happen - but they will happen!
When you’ve met God’s conditions of the fast...
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
- Spiritual light, morning. It is the dispelling of darkness.
and your healing will quickly appear;
- Healing, health, wholeness, well-being. Spiritual, physical, mental, emotional.
then your righteousness will go before you,
- Your righteousness will be apparent. I.e., "Your reputation precedes you."
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
- God will come up behind and protect you from the back.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
(Then -GB) you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I.
- Now God is answering!
... 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 give direction to your life and help you in your decisions.
He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
- He will provide for you in hard times, and in difficult places.
and will strengthen your frame.
- Your frame is your body. He will brace up or invigorate your bones. This refers to rejuvenation or recuperation. (Young, p. 424)
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
- You will flourish, and prosper, and be fruitful, even when others are "dry" and barren. Where only death is expected you will find life because of His provision. (p. 423-4)
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.
- I see this as spiritual rebuilding; a restoration of a former godliness lost in the past - maybe even by previous generations - but God will help you restore the faith and regain the promises.
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,
- What does "Sunday" mean to you? What keeps you from church attendance and worship? Do you delight in assembling with believers or doing as you please? There are six lines here about the Sabbath...
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- You’ll inherit the blessings if you observe the Lord’s fast the Lord’s way.
Close:
Fasting is a tremendous spiritual resource available to the Body of Christ. If you fast and nothing happens, run through the checklist of this chapter. See if there is something you are missing. Or if there is something in your heart that hinders your prayers. If so, repent of those things. Begin doing the things He tells us to do. And fast and pray in faith expecting miracle results.
Let me encourage you to read this chapter fairly often over the next two weeks during our fast. Let it serve as a guide to spirituality and godliness. Let it bend our hearts in inner humility and shape our attitudes toward others, and inspire our behavior toward all we meet.
It is my prayer that we will all hear of the great things the Lord does in and through this congregation by the end of this time of fasting together.
