Isaiah 58

I just wanted to take a break from ‘regular’ articles and give you Isaiah 58. 

Just enjoy this chapter.  Please don’t skim.  Read over it slowly, then you’ll know why it’s here.

Isaiah 58

1“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
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.
‘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.
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.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

“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?
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 them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

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.
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 in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

 

Though I prefer NASB, I thought the NIV here would be more clear.

If you’ve read other articles on this site, I’m guessing you’ve figured out why this is here.  If this is your first article, then I’ll help you out! 

What did God want from Israel?  Just outward obedience to the Law?  No.  He wanted them to love Him and do right by their neighbors.  ‘Obey Me from your heart, love others.  Let your actions be a demonstration of your thoughts.’ 

*****

Isaiah 58 is mentioned in the Romans article and should have been referenced in Qualifying for the Kingdom and Synoptic Gospels, but wasn’t.

You might say, “Who cares what the Old Testament says.  It was to the Jews, the Law’s fulfilled, and it’s ancient history.”

I would say, “Wrong mindset.  It goes like this:  OT for Israel; Gospels thru Acts for Israel; Hebrews thru Revelation for Israel.  We, the Sealed and Secure Church, stand alone in Romans thru Philemon.  God’s not done with Israel by any means.”

 

Church Chart should help.