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Isaiah 58 Commentary

Fasting That Pleases God

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KEY THOUGHT: Is it not to share your bread with the hungry [Isaiah 58:7a NKJV]

Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!

Isaiah 58 NKJV

Fasting that Pleases God

58 “Cry aloud, ^[a]spare not;
Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
²Yet they seek Me daily,
And delight to know My ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And did not forsake the ordinance of their God.
They ask of Me the ordinances of justice;
They take delight in approaching God.
³‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen?
Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
And ^[b]exploit all your laborers.
⁴Indeed you fast for strife and debate,
And to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You will not fast as you do this day,
To make your voice heard on high.
⁵Is it a fast that I have chosen,
A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the Lord?

⁶“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the ^[c]heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are ^[d]cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹Then 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 ^[e]pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your ^[f]darkness shall be as the noonday.
¹¹The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
¹²Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of ^[g]Streets to Dwell In.

¹³“If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
From doing your pleasure on My holy day,
And call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy day of the Lord honorable,
And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways,
Nor finding your own pleasure,
Nor speaking your own words,
¹⁴Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord;
And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth,
And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Footnotes

a. Isaiah 58:1 do not hold back
b. Isaiah 58:3 Lit. drive hard
c. Isaiah 58:6 Lit. bonds of the yoke
d. Isaiah 58:7 wandering
e. Isaiah 58:9 Lit. sending out of
f. Isaiah 58:10 Or gloom
g. Isaiah 58:12 Lit. Paths

New King James Version (NKJV)

Isaiah 58 Commentary

The Book of Isaiah isn’t all about visions. We also have straight teachings delivered directly to the remnant. How useful this sermon would be today! And it’s a hot one!

To the ‘right-living’ lovers, those with ambitions to have God on their side: Your worship means nothing before the LORD. And here’s why. It is all for profit – what you can possibly get out of God. Nothing real concerning actual humility of heart towards the LORD and His instructions.

It explains why we fight each other while in the place of worship. We hate the people we call brothers and sisters. We mistreat our workers; we cheat. We cause pain and suffering everywhere.

God forbid! Here’s the real stuff to help you understand what the LORD expects of you. No injustice. Break the cycle of oppression and wickedness. Be kind to the poor and feed the hungry. Clothe the naked and help the homeless.

Then your prayers will be answered. You will be on the same page with the God you worship. Your light will shine brightest.

This chapter has spoken to our inner ambitions and aspirations. Is God just another means to push through our selfish ambitions?

Check your prayers and see how self-centered they all are! The to-do list of the LORD has everything to do with others beyond self: the hungry, the naked, the oppressed, and the poor.

The ritual of fasting is on the chopping block. When we make it the end. When we are happy with tools! Having an axe isn’t the same thing as having the farm!

Of course, we can polish it. We can decorate it. We can even innovate and employ technology around it. But the axe isn’t the farm. Fasting cannot replace righteousness! It cannot be the end! It could be the means to the end, but never an end in itself or by itself!

Loving Scripture….

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25 thoughts on “Home”

It has been exciting learning how God can make things happen to his choosen one, God workout something wonderful and fulfils the promises he made to the father of Joseph.

God’s words remains true so are his promises and indeed it has been God working out the salvation of man Kind by Grace through Faith alone.

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Quite thought provoking. Thank you for the passage of scripture.