Isaiah 58:3 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the anger of these hypocrites toward God because he did not accept the services they valued so highly (Isaiah 58:3). They said, “Why have we fasted, and you did not notice?” In this, they followed the way of Cain, who was angry with God and took it as a great insult that his offering was not accepted. They had tried to deceive God with outward religion, and now they turned around and blamed him for not being pleased, as if he had treated them unfairly.

Notice how they boast about themselves and their own actions. “We have fasted and humbled ourselves,” they say. They had not only sought God daily (Isaiah 58:2), but also kept certain set times for more serious worship. Some think this points to the yearly fast, the Day of Atonement, while others think it refers to their own chosen fasts. It is common for proud hearts to boast about their acts of humility, just as the Pharisee said, “I fast twice a week” (Luke 18:12).

Also notice what they expected from their actions. They thought God should pay close attention to them and feel bound to reward them for their service. Hypocrites often do this. While they go through outward acts of religion, they assume they will be accepted by God, though he has promised that only to the sincere. They act as if acceptance were automatic, or as if God owed it to them.

Then see how deeply they resented it when God did not show special favor to them. They wanted immediate rescue from trouble, along with honor and success. Because that did not happen, they accused God of injustice and favoritism, and they seemed ready to give up religion altogether. They used this complaint to defend themselves, saying they had gained nothing by praying to God (Job 21:14-15; Malachi 3:14). Reigning hypocrisy often breaks out into bold disrespect toward God and religion, even though the hypocrisy itself is the real cause of the problem. Sinners then speak of religion as if it were a hard and gloomy task with no reward, when the real reason it seems that way is that they are not sincere.

The true reason God did not accept their fasts, or answer the prayers offered on those fast days, was that they did not fast in the right way, to God, even to him (Zechariah 7:5). They fasted, but they kept on sinning. They did not, like the people of Nineveh, turn away from evil ways. On the day of fasting, despite their public sorrow and promises, they still did whatever pleased them, whether right or wrong. They made their own desires into their law, while pretending to humble themselves and still feeding their sinful desires as before.

They were just as greedy and unkind as ever. God says, in effect, “You still press your workers hard, and you will not release them as the law requires, or ease the burden of their slavery.” This had been their sin before the captivity (Jeremiah 34:8-9), and it remained their sin after the captivity, even with all their solemn fasts (Nehemiah 5:5). Some understand this to mean, “You still demand full payment of your debts.” In either case, they were still harsh in taking from the poor, even though the yearly fast ended with a proclamation of release.

They were also quarrelsome and mean-spirited. “Look,” God says, “you fast for fighting and arguing” (Isaiah 58:4). When they called a fast to turn away God’s judgment, they pretended to search for the sins that had brought that judgment on them. Under that cover, some people may have been falsely blamed, like Naboth in Jezebel’s fast (1 Kings 21:12). Or the different groups among them used those occasions to attack one another with harsh words, each side saying, “It is your fault that we are not being delivered.” Instead of judging themselves, which is what a fast day should lead us to do, they condemned one another. They even turned fasting into a contest over who could look most serious and religious.

It was not only talk. They also used violence. “You strike with the fist of wickedness.” Cruel masters beat their servants, and creditors handed over poor debtors to be tortured. They abused innocent people with violent hands. While they kept doing these sins, sins that directly opposed the purpose of fasting, God would not allow them to keep such holy days in that way. In effect, he said, “You must not fast like this, with angry shouting and noisy quarrels, or with public devotion done for show.” He would not accept those empty, noisy offerings (Isaiah 1:13). Those who refuse the power of religion have no right to enjoy its outward honor.

Nor would he accept their fasting while they continued in evil. Their fast would not count as a true fast, and heaven would not hear their prayers on those days. Those who fast and pray, yet keep walking in sin, only mock God and deceive themselves.

A true religious fast has a clear purpose. First, it is meant to honor and please God. It must be the kind of act he has chosen (Isaiah 58:5). It should be an acceptable day to the Lord, with duties that seek his approval and favor. If it is not that, then it is no true fast, and it does no real good.

Second, a fast is meant to humble us. It is a day to afflict the soul. If it does not show real sorrow for sin and help weaken sin’s power, then it is not a fast at all. The law of the Day of Atonement was that on that day they should afflict their souls (Leviticus 16:29). On a fast day, we should do what is truly painful to our corrupt nature, even if it helps the renewed part of us.

So on a fast day we should ask what will truly please God and truly humble our sinful nature, helping to weaken it. Here we are told, by contrast, what is not the fast God has chosen, and what does not count as afflicting the soul. It is not enough to look sad, to wear a grave and gloomy face, and to bow the head like a withered bulrush. That is how the hypocrites acted, making themselves look miserable so others would think they were fasting (Matthew 6:16).

Hanging the head was fitting for the tax collector, who was truly humbled and broken over sin. He would not even lift his eyes to heaven, as a sign of deep repentance (Luke 18:13). But when that kind of posture was only copied, as it was here, it deserved ridicule. It was like the head of a bulrush hanging down, something no one notices or cares about. In the same way, the hypocrite’s lowly appearance is empty, and his hopes rise and fade like a bulrush, which looks green for a time but soon withers before other plants do (Job 8:11, Job 8:12).

It is not enough to do a little self-denial and trouble the body while the heart of sin is left untouched. It is not enough to spread sackcloth and ashes under oneself, which may cause some pain for a moment, but will soon be forgotten when a person goes back to resting in comfort, like the people in Amos 6:4. So when God says, “Will you call this a fast?” the answer is no. It is only the shell of a fast, not its real substance. And will he call it an acceptable day to the Lord? No, for such hypocrisy is hateful to him. The outward forms of religion, however impressive they may look to people, are not accepted by God unless the heart is truly engaged.

The true fast God chooses is described positively here. It is what shows real grief over sin and really weakens and bends the sinful nature. And this is not something for a single day only, as some read it in Isaiah 58:5, but something that should shape a whole life. First, we must deal fairly with those we have treated harshly. The fast God chooses includes reforming our lives and undoing what we have done wrong (Isaiah 58:6). We must loose the chains of wickedness, the chains we have wrongly fastened, by which others have been kept from their rights or pressed down under cruel treatment. What may have started as lawful claims, like collecting a real debt, can become chains of wickedness when pressed too hard against people whom providence has reduced and emptied. Those chains must be broken, or they will bring us into far worse chains of guilt. We must also lift the heavy burden from the poor servant’s back, free the oppressed from the bitter trouble that makes life hard, and release the debtor who has nothing to pay. Let the unjust case be dropped, let the servant who has been held past the time of service be freed, and break every yoke. Do not only release those wrongly held under it, but break the yoke of slavery itself so it cannot be used again.

Second, we must be generous toward those who need help, as Isaiah 58:7 says. The earlier acts can be seen as justice, because they release people whom we have oppressed. But these are clearly acts of charity. This is the fast God has chosen. First, feed those who are hungry. That is mentioned first because it is the most urgent need, and the poor cannot live long without food. “Break your bread to the hungry” means to give real food, and bread that is honestly earned, not stolen from others, and not held back from what you need for yourself. We should deny ourselves so that we can give to the one in need. If we save food for ourselves and our families on a fast day, but give nothing, then it is only a miser’s fast. It is fasting for the world, not for God. The true fast is to break bread to the hungry, not just hand out crumbs, but to give enough to meet their need.

Second, give shelter to those who have none. Care for the poor who are cast out, driven from their homes, and left without shelter. If they suffer unjustly, do not hesitate to house them. Do not only find them a room and pay for it somewhere else, but bring them into your own home and make them your guests. Scripture says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers.” Some have entertained angels, and all who welcome the needy may be welcoming Christ himself, who will reward such kindness in the resurrection of the righteous. “I was a stranger and you took me in.”

Third, clothe those who are naked. When you see someone without clothing, cover him, both to protect him from the weather and to help him appear decently among other people. Give him clothes suitable to wear to worship and in daily life. In all these things, do not hide yourself from your own flesh. Some understand this more strictly as a duty to one’s own relatives and family. If those of your own household are in want, you are worse than someone without faith if you do not provide for them (1 Timothy 5:8). Others take it more broadly. All people share the same human nature, so we should treat them as our own flesh. For this reason, we must not avoid them, pretend not to see them, or turn away when someone in need comes seeking help. Let us remember that they are flesh of our flesh, and in showing kindness to them we also do good to ourselves in the end, for this lays up a good foundation for the future.