This prophetic oracle may have been uttered during the time of the restoration of Judah's ruins (see Isaiah 58:12). We know from other sources how bad the situation was then (see Ezra and Nehemiah). It would appear that the Jews of the restoration not only worked hard to eke out a living (even at the expense of other people, see verse 3b), but also prayed hard for Yahweh's help. But no matter how much they fasted and observed the Sabbath, no help seems to be forthcoming. And because God seemed to not pay attention to their physical sacrifices, some are beginning to express their disappointment in the God who does not seem to care. It is within this context that one should read Isaiah 58:1-14, for it is Yahweh's response to complaints about his apparent lack of attention.
Summary of content
To understand how the oracle is developed, one must first see that when the prophet delivers God's word, it is as if these were his own. First, the prophet receives the word that is addressed to him, and second he delivers what he has heard in a way that Yahweh's "I" and his are indistinguishable. Abraham Heschel wrote about the prophetic pathos as precisely the passion of God experienced by the prophet and through him. This oracle is no exception: God answers the complaint of his people by first, lamenting before his spokesman (vv.2-5) and then giving his answer to the complaints (vv. 6-14).
- v. 1 is the call to the prophet to prophesy in behalf of God. The command is couched in the language of a ritual call to assembly. But in fact what follows is a declaration of the sins of Judah.
- v. 2-5 is Yahweh complaining about his people to the prophet as one who has been hurt by their insincerity and dishonesty. The phrases "seek Me" and "know Me" are cultic expressions ("to seek Yahweh, to know Him ... His Judgments). Yahweh's complaint is that the people are making a pretense of religious behavior. He quotes to the prophet what these people are saying:
We fast, but you don't see
We humble ourselves, but you don't notice! (3a)Rhetorically, Yahweh responds to the accussation that he does not pay attention. He has been paying attention! In verse 4, he declares the kind of fasting he has seen. It is the kind he doesn't care about (v. 5).
- v. 6-11 is the declaration of the kind of fasting that Yahweh demands. Religion after all is the worship of God, so it is God who should define the parameters of that worship, not the human being who performs it. It is structured in such a way that vv. 6-9a on the one hand and vv. 9b-11 on the other have elements that completely parallel one another. The idea is that true fasting is performed, then God will be truly with them and be their healing.
- v. 12 introduces a pause between vv. 6-11 and vv. 13-14 which deals with the question of the "holy day" mentioned twice in verse 5. It is the promise of the restoration, if the Jews practise the true religion.
- v. 13-14 follows the pattern of the verse groups in vv. 6-11. Here, however, the concentration is on the Sabbath, (the "day" in v. 5) which if truly kept holy will make it possible for the Jews to enjoy the Lord and his blessings in the land.
Some observations
1. It is clear from Isaiah 58:1-14 that it is not fasting nor the observation of the Sabbath which is the problem but how these are done. Yahweh has given the Israelites the ten commandments precisely so that there can be a society where Yahweh's care is experienced through people who do His will. True piety cannot mix in the same place with oppression and forms of injustice.
2. One of the complaints of Yahweh is that they do as they please. (58:3.13) on the day of religious observance. "Doing as they please" in Isaiah 58 is doing the religious act but not carrying out the demands of justice and right. One fasts in order to tell the body that it should not live by bread alone but by the Word of God which expresses His will. Everyone observes the Sabbath rest so that no one is in anyway enslaved to anything; for the Sabbath is a solemn reminder that man is called to God's rest and to delight with Him.
3. To seek the Lord and to be near Him (cf. vv. 2-3) is the reason for religious piety. Religious sacrifices are meant to bring about selflessness and mercy, justice and forgiveness, freedom and a society that does not tolerate any form of slavery. And when such sacrifices become expressions of a heart that sincerely obeys the will of God, then God...
your light will break forth like the dawn,
your healing will quickly appear
your righteousness will go before you
and the glory of the Lord will walk behind you... (And) you will be like a watered garden
like a spring that never fails. (58:8.11b)
