Isaiah 58:1-14

Isaiah: God controls the nations

God’s promises to his special people

Isaiah Chapter s 58 to 66

Norman Hillyer

Chapter 58

Wrong practice of religion

v1 (This is what God says.) ‘Shout loudly with all your strength! Sound the alarm! Tell my people about the wrong things that they have done. Tell them how they have neglected to obey my commands. v2 They are so proud of the way that they practise their religion. They come to the *Temple every day. They are glad to hear the words of my laws that somebody reads. (Although they do not think that they should bother to obey them.) In fact, they consider my commands to be of no importance. But how eager they are to give me honour in the proper manner! How they love all that happens in the *Temple!’

v3 (The people complain to the *Lord.) ‘Why do you not notice when we *fast to give you honour? Why do you give no attention when we make ourselves humble?’

(But God is ready with his answers.) ‘When you *fast, you are only doing it for your own selfish reasons. That is clear from the way that you deal with your workers. You continuously urge them to work harder for you. v4 When you *fast, you get in a bad temper. Then you quarrel. You fight each other with your fists. To *fast like that does not encourage God to listen to your prayers! v5 That is not the kind of *fast that I expect. You make a show of your humble actions. You bend your heads in front of me like long grass bends in the wind. You dress yourselves in *sackcloth. And you cover yourselves with ashes. That is not what I would call a *fast! That is not the sort of holy day that the *Lord approves of.’