HEALING WATERS
MINISTRIES
Touching Nations, Changing Lives
Dr. Jeremy and Reverend Niki Mays
Love Letter
WHY ISAIAH 58?
Isaiah 58:1-3 “Cry aloud, do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me day by day and delight superficially to know My ways, as if they were in reality a nation that has done righteousness and has not turned away from the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments, they delight in the nearness of God. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You do not see it? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Hear this O Israel, on the day of your fast when you should be grieving for your sins, you find something you desire to do, and you force your hired servants to work instead of stopping all work, as the law teaches”.
Here the Lord used Isaiah to bring to light God’s people having a shallow relationship with Him. People then and now are still asking “why are my prayers going unanswered?” This was the answer to the people of Isaiah’s day and reflection for us all:
1. Cry aloud, don't hold back…tell My people their transgression: God speaks loudly and directly. His people need to hear their transgression—but will they hear?
2. First, God describes the appearance: They seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways. On the surface, it seemed that God’s people loved Him and were devoted to Him. They had the reputation of a nation that did righteousness, and they looked like people who would take delight in God.
3. Why have we fasted…and You have not seen? They felt God was unfair to them. “LORD, we have fasted, but You still don’t answer our prayer. Don’t you know that we seek you daily, delight to know Your ways, do righteousness, and take delight in You? Yet You do not answer our prayers!”
In this next set of scriptures, God exposes the shallow worship and shallow relationship they have with Him:
Isaiah 58:3-5 ‘Why have we fasted?’ they say, ‘and You do not see it? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ And God responds, “Hear this O Israel, on the day of your fast when you should be grieving for your sins you find something you desire to do, and you force your hired servants to work instead of stopping all work as the law teaches. The facts are that you fast only for strife and brawling and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You do not fast as you do today to make your voice heard on high. Is a fast such as this what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? Is it only to bow down his head like a reed and to make sackcloth and ashes as a bed pretending to have a repentant heart? Do you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?”
1. “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers”: Enough with the image; now God exposes the reality. The reality was that His people didn’t fast with the right heart, and did it only as an empty ritual. The reality was that even on a day when they fasted, they still exploited their employees. God didn’t accept their fasting when it wasn’t connected with a sincere heart of obedience.
2. “Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness”: They fasted for needs, certainly; but selfish needs like ‘LORD, help me win this argument.’ ‘LORD, help me defeat this person.’ Though their prayer was accompanied with fasting, it was still a selfish, even wicked prayer - so God did not answer.
3. “You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high”: The purpose of their fasting was to glorify themselves, to make their voice heard on high. God says, “No more. You will not fast as you do this day.”
4. “Is it a fast that I have chosen?” The kind of fasting God rebukes here is a hollow empty show without spiritual substance behind it. This isn’t the kind of fast God has chosen. Even though they do all the right things in fasting (bow down his head like a bulrush…spread out sackcloth and ashes), God does not even call this a fast.
The people of Isaiah’s day had the same problem as the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. They trusted in empty ritual apart from spiritual reality. Real fasting, fasting that is partnered with real repentance—and isn’t only about image—has great power before God (Matthew 17:21). But God sees through the hypocrisy of empty religious ritual, including fasting. In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, He told how the self-righteous Pharisee made a special point to say, “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:9-14).
It isn’t that Isaiah and the LORD are down on fasting; they are down on any empty religious ritual. The answer isn’t to stop fasting, but to get right with God and make your fasting more than superficial. As Jesus said to His people about the empty religious rituals of the Pharisees, “These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23). The character and blessings of true worship can be found in Isaiah 58:6-7 which lays the groundwork for the kind of worship and fasting most acceptable to God.
1. Isaiah 58:6-7 “Rather is this not the fast which I choose, to undo the bonds of wickedness, to tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break apart every enslaving yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not to hide yourself from the needs of your own flesh and blood? Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness?” God tells His people, “If you want to fast in a way that pleases Me, begin with getting right with your brothers and sisters. Stop oppressing others, and reach out to help.”
2. First, they had to stop acting wickedly towards others (loose the bonds of wickedness…undo the heavy burdens…let the oppressed go free…break every yoke). Getting right with
God begins by stopping the evil we do towards others.
3. Then, they had to start acting lovingly towards others (share your bread with the hungry… cover those without clothing, and to not hide yourself from your own flesh).
Getting right with God continues by doing loving things for other people. Isaiah 58:8-12 goes on to show the blessings God promises for the true worshipper…
Isaiah 58:8-12 “Then your light will break out like the dawn and your healing restoration; new life will quickly spring forth; your righteousness will go before you, leading you to peace and prosperity; 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 I am.’ If you take away from your midst the yoke of oppression, the finger pointed in scorn toward the oppressed or the godly, and every form of wicked sinful, unjust speech, and if you offer yourself to assist the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your soul in scorched and dry places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. And your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up and restore the age-old foundations of buildings that have been laid waste; You will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings”.
1. Then your light shall break forth like the morning: If God’s people would couple their fasting with lives of righteousness and love—then they would see their prayers answered. They would have lives full of light, full of healing, full of righteousness, full of the glory of the LORD and then when they called out to God, the LORD would answer.
2. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness:
Again, the LORD gives them three things to stop doing: stop treating people as animals bound with a yoke (oppressing them); they must stop pointing the finger at others; and they must stop speaking wickedness. These are all sins of commission [these are the sins that we go out and do against the LORD and against others intentionally]. To walk right with God, we must stop and guard against sins of commission.
3. If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul: again, the LORD gives them two things to start doing: minister to the hungry with more than food and extend their soul to the hungry. They had to look for the afflicted soul and seek to satisfy them; failing to do these things were sins of omission. These are things that should be done, yet we have not. If we seek to walk right with God, we must open our eyes and do what is our loving duty before Him towards others.
4. Then your light shall down in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday: to the repentant, God promises blessing. Not only will they have light, but even their darkness shall be as the noonday!
5. The LORD will guide you continually: this is a promise for those who do more than just empty religious rituals. To have the guidance of the LORD, empty religious ritual isn’t enough; we need to seek God with both sincere hearts and sincere actions.
6. And satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones: those who serve God with sincere hearts and actions enjoy a health and life of the soul that is impossible for the superficial follower of God to know.
7. Those from among you shall build the old waste places: those who serve God with sincere hearts and actions also accomplish things for God’s kingdom. They build, and are called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell in. You can’t build anything for God’s kingdom on the foundation of a superficial walk with God.
8. This passage shows us several characteristics of a life right with God.
· It is an enlightened life: Your light shall down in the darkness.
· It is a guided life: The LORD will guide you continually.
· It is a satisfied life: And satisfy your soul in drought.
· It is a fragrant life: Like a watered garden.
· It is a freshly sustained life: Like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
· It is a productive, healing life: You shall build up the old waste places.
Isaiah 58:13-14 “If you turn back your foot from unnecessary travel on the Sabbath, from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a spiritual delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, not going your own way or engaging in your own pleasure nor speaking your own idle words, then you will take pleasure in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the high places of the earth, and I will feed you with the promised heritage of Jacob your father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
1. Call the Sabbath a delight…the holy day of the LORD honorable. The Sabbath was another empty religious observance for the Jewish people of Isaiah’s day. God calls them to delight in the heart and in the purpose of the Sabbath—to honor Him, not doing your own ways. This fits in perfectly with the fulfillment of the Sabbath in light of the finished work of Jesus. We keep the Sabbath on Sunday, yes, but we also honor Him every day by doing those things we know will please Him instead of seeking ways to justify our own self-indulgence.
2. When we keep the meaning of the Sabbath and not merely as an empty religious ritual, then we shall delight ourselves in the LORD. God will bless us, and we shall delight, not only in the blessings, but in the LORD Himself. We know it is sure, because the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
In this chapter, God exposed the emptiness of two religious rituals as practiced in Isaiah’s day: fasting and keeping the Sabbath. Both of these are expressions contain examples of not doing certain “things”. In fasting, you don’t eat. In keeping the Sabbath, you don’t work. An important aspect to this chapter is showing us that what we don’t do isn’t enough to make us right before God. Our walk with God shouldn’t only be defined by what we don’t do, but it should also be defined by what we do choose to do for the LORD. We are not saved by our works, but we also know that faith without works is dead; so, we are still required to do those things that bring God glory.
I know that this devotion was long but I felt lead to teach the background of Why Isaiah 58? It is so important that anything we do cannot be an empty ritual but have a servant's heart.
Thank you so much for reading to the end. Love you all.
God Bless,
Niki Mays