GOD'S CHOSEN FAST

Introduction

This week, we continue our biblical investigation of fasting by looking at a unique passage of Scripture: Isaiah 58:1-7. Before you continue reading, I highly recommend that you read Isaiah 58 through in its entirety. In this week's devotion, we will examine the first half of this chapter (verses 1-7), which is most relevant to our topic. For the purpose of this devotion, I have divided this section of Scripture into two parts. The first part, Isaiah 58:1-5, is a description of faulty fasting. The second part, Isaiah 58:6-7, is God's description of true fasting. Although we are not going to consider the last half of the chapter in this devotion (Isaiah 58:8-14), it describes the benefits of obedience.

Isaiah 58:1-5: (1) 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?

Faulty Fasting

Isaiah chapters 40-66 are prophetic writings that foretell the exile of the Israelites by the Babylonians. Presumably this is the context for their fasting—they were seeking deliverance from God. Yet in spite of their fasting, God was silent to their cries. Why? “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.” The Israelites' sins had separated them from God (Isaiah 59:2). They claimed to know God, but by their actions they were denying Him (cf., Titus 1:16). If they had really known God, they would have known God's commands, and they would have, therefore, recognized the error of their ways: “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). Instead of recognizing what God was asking of them, they were fixated on their own desires—what they were asking of God: “They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.” Having forsaken God's commands and having therefore rebelled against God Himself, the Israelites were in no position to ask God for anything. To give an analogy, what they did was like quitting your job and then asking your ex-boss for a raise. It makes no sense. Before fasting “for just decisions”, the Israelites needed first to turn to God in repentance. Before asking for God's blessings, they needed to stop being rebellious.

ccc The Israelites' response to God's silence expresses their indignation: “Why have we fasted... and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?” Although outwardly the Israelites appeared to be people of God (through their sacrifices, their prayers, and their observance of the various fasts and festivals), all of their religious activities were only a pretense. They were not really seeking God Himself, they were seeking relief from their troubles. They wanted the benefits of God without the relationship—without the obedience. Their seeking was a selfish seeking. They were idolaters, because their hearts were not set on God. As Martin Luther has said (in his Large Catechism), “...whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god.” Describing the Israelites, God said, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men” (Isaiah 29:13).

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This heartless form of religion was also a problem in Jesus' day. To the Jewish leaders He said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matthew 23:23-27). Jesus has harsh words for those whose seeking of God—and, therefore, of Him!—is only pretense.

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The Israelites had asked, “Why have we fasted... and you have not seen it?” Although God had indeed seen the Israelites' fasting, He certainly didn't approve. In the second part of verse 3, God gives His rebuttal: “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.” Even as other nations had oppressed them, they were disobeying God by oppressing one another. The Israelites' fasting—indeed, their whole “religion”—was faulty. God speaks against this kind of religion in Jeremiah 7:9-10 when He says, “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, 'We are safe'—safe to do all these detestable things?” In these verses, God is saying that if we live of a life of sin, we cannot continue to come before Him with our sacrifices, expecting to be rewarded. Isaiah 1:11-13 expresses God's view of all such sacrifices: “The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me? ...I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings!...” The Israelites' religion was faulty because God was no longer at the heart of it. Their religion consisted only of empty rituals.

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And so God asks, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?” This is a question for us as well. Is it only a day that God is asking for—one day of fasting, one day of worship, one day of sacrifice? Is He not asking for our entire life? And is it only outward religion that God is asking for—“for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes”? Is He not asking for our entire self—heart, soul, mind, and strength? Are we not “to offer [our] bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” as a “spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1)? From these passages we see that fasting is not something that is done in isolation from the rest of our lives. We can't use fasting as a way of making up for a sinful lifestyle, nor should we think that God will disregard our sinful lifestyle just because we have “humbled” ourselves with fasting. Clearly there is much more to fasting than abstaining from food. This brings us to the next section of Scripture that we will consider:

Isaiah 58:6-7: (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?

True Fasting

In Isaiah 58:6-7, God asks two rhetorical questions. One thing we must consider is whether or not this is a stand-alone passage that we can use as a definition for true fasting. To consider this, let me pose a question: If we do all of the things described in this passage, and nothing else, are our lives pleasing to God—are we fasting? Since biblical fasting is fasting for God (Zechariah 7:5), the answer to my question must be “No.” A person can do all of these good things and still fail to acknowledge God. What God really asks of us is “...to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees...” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). And all of these commands are summarized in Jesus' statement to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-40). And when Jesus says that “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments,” He means to say that if you obey these two commands, all the others will follow.

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More than anything else, the rhetorical questions in Isaiah 58:6-7 suggest that these things in particular—loosing the chains of injustice, sharing food with the hungry, etc—were commands from God that the Israelites had failed to obey (e.g., Exodus 23:9, Deuteronomy 15:7-8). In these questions, God was speaking to the spiritual deficit of the current generation of Israelites. Reading between the lines, I can start to make out the multifaceted thoughts and intentions that God was (and is) communicating through this passage: (1) God didn't approve of the way the Israelites were treating one another, so it's as if He's saying to them, “Woe to you, you hypocrites! You seek Me with fasting, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness” (cf., Matthew 23:23). (2) God was also frustrated by how quickly the Israelites had forgotten and strayed from His commands. Through these verses He says, “Don't you remember what I've been telling you all along? That I want you to love Me above all else? And to love your neighbor as yourself?” (cf., Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18). (3) I also hear within God's questions a warning that says, “Abstain from your sins and your excesses! Stop taking advantage of others, and start standing up for the needs of your fellow man! Take an interest in the poor and the homeless! Don't you realize that to love Me is to love all of them as well?” Surely this is what Jesus meant when He said, “whatever you [do] for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you [do] for me” (Matthew 25:40).

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Isaiah 58:6-7 is God's plea to the Israelites of Isaiah's day to reform their ways—to give up their empty religious practices and to seek Him with their whole heart. God wanted them to exchange their false religion—devoid of love—for a relationship with Him. This is still what God wants from us today: to respect and trust Him, to walk in His ways, to obey His commands, and—most importantly—to love Him with all of our being. It is only when we do these things that our fasting (and other religious practices) can have any meaning.

Conclusion

In the last few devotions, we've scratched the surface of biblical fasting. It was not my intention to provide a detailed explanation for how to fast, nor was it my intention to provide a comprehensive description of Bible passages dealing with fasting. Instead, I have simply tried to answer a few basic questions: (1) Is fasting relevant for Christians today? Is it something we should even consider? (Yes.) (2) What is the purpose or significance of fasting? (It is not just an empty ritual, but an attitude of humility and total dependence on God.) (3) What are some reasons for fasting? (Mourning, Repentance, More focused prayer.) (4) Is there a wrong way to fast? (Yes! Mindless and hypocritical fasting are unacceptable to God.) The conclusion? Seeking God wholeheartedly is more important than any other thing we can do. Although fasting is an appropriate method for seeking God, it must be sincere.

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In light of this week's Scripture, I encourage you to fast from your indifference. Consider the poor, the homeless, and the oppressed around the world and take a moment to pray for them. Take the time to find out more about the persecution, poverty, and injustice that is taking place in the world right now. Request a free copy of the book "Tortured for Christ" to learn more about persecution. Browse the websites already listed or read “The Hole in Our Gospel” (by Richard Stearns) to learn more about how to get involved. Just remember that Jesus has commanded you to “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).