Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 58

THE CHALLENGE OF JEHOVAH TO A THOUGHTLESS PEOPLE

(Isaiah 58:1 to Isaiah 66:24)

CONDITIONS FOR DIVINE ACCEPTANCE AND BLESSING

In this final section of Isaiah’s prophecy considerable stress is laid on practical righteousness, (comp. Romans 12:2; James 1:25-26). Outward conformity to religious rules and regulations, without the devotion, adoration, and worship of a loving and joyful heart, is not acceptable before God. Until the heart-attitude toward God is right ALL ELSE IS FUTILE!

Vs. 1-3b: SIN MUST BE CONDEMNED

1. Here, as in 40:1 and 49:1, is a two-fold command wherein Isaiah is to "cry out" against the sins of His people (vs. 1); their rejection is the just reward of their faithlessness, (Isaiah 50:1; Isaiah 59:12).

2. Their actions are ritualistic and hypocritical (vs. 2) - outward; not from the heart.

a. With brazeness they enter God’s courts as though they delight to know His ways, (comp. Isaiah 1:11; Titus 1:16).

b. They act as if they were a righteous nation that had never forsaken the law of its God, (Isaiah 1:4; Isaiah 48:1; Isaiah 59:13; Jeremiah 7:8-11).

c. Outwardly, they show great delight in drawing near to God, and ask Him to deal righteously with them, (Isaiah 29:13).

3. They have even dared complain of Jehovah’s UNFAIRNESS! (vs. 3).

a. He has not seen their fastings - which were certainly designed to impress Him, (Malachi 3:14; Luke 18:12).

b. Nor has He taken knowledge of their humility, wherein they afflicted their own souls - such as, they thought, should obligate Him to bestow special favor upon them.

c. Fools still imagine that, somehow, they can obligate God by self-prescribed pieties designed to win the commendation of men!

Vs. 3c-5: CAN THEY POSSIBLY VIEW THIS AS TRUE FASTING?

1. God answers their complaint: He has not been pleased with them because they have PLEASED THEMSELVES, while oppressing those who served them (vs. 3c; Romans 15:1-3; Isaiah 3:13-15) - extorting from them a full days’ labor, which was contrary to the law, (Leviticus 16:29).

2. This self-prescribed fasting of theirs only made them quarrelsome; it was not such as to make their voice heard on high, (vs. 4; Isaiah 59:2; Isaiah 59:6; Joel 2:12-14).

3. How could they imagine that God would be pleased with such a mechanical fast as theirs - one which used their religion as an instrument for oppression? (vs. 5).

Vs. 6-9a: THE REWARD OF TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS

1. The fast that the Lord chooses involves opposite characteristics from those manifested in Israel;

It will break every enslaving yoke of wickedness, so that the oppressed may go free, (vs. 6; Isaiah 1:19; Nehemiah 5:10-12; Jeremiah 34:8-9; comp. Acts 8:21-23).

2. Verse 7 sets forth the POSITIVE ACTION of a true fast, (Ezekiel 18:5-9).

a. It will feed the hungry, (vs. 10a; comp. Job 31:19-23).

b. It will provide a home for the outcast, (Hebrews 13:2; comp. Isaiah 16:3-4).

c. It will clothe the naked, (Matthew 25:34-36; Luke 3:11).

d. Nor will it hide itself from the needs of one’s own flesh and blood, (Deuteronomy 22:1-4; comp. 1 Timothy 5:8).

Vs. 9b-12: MARVELLOUS PROMISES

1. Again, Isaiah reminds the people of God that fellowship with the Most High requires them to renounce and put away such things as are contrary to His holiness, (vs. 9b); specifically, this involves: slavery, bribery and perjury, (Isaiah 59:13).

2. Then (vs. 10) he reiterates the necessity of unselfish care for others - bestowing on the hungry that which would be a delight to themselves (vs. 7; Deuteronomy 15:7-8) - with the promise that their light shall arise in obscurity, and their darkness shall be turned into noon-day brightness, (vs. 8; Isaiah 42:16; Psalms 37:5-6).

3. Thus would they enjoy perpetual blessings from the Almighty, (vs. 11).

a. Jehovah will be their constant guide, (Isaiah 49:10; Isaiah 57:18).

b. Their souls will be satisfied - even in the midst of drought and barrenness, (Isaiah 41:17; Psalms 107:9).

c. Divinely strengthened, they will become effective instruments in the accomplishment of God’s purpose, (Isaiah 66:14).

d. The effect of the Spirit’s being poured out upon them is likened to a watered garden and a fountain of water that never fails, (Isaiah 27:2-3; Jeremiah 31:12; John 4:14; John 7:37-38).

e. All this is available NOW - not to Israel only, but to ALL who will trust in the Lord and yield their lives to His service.

4. Great indeed will be the glory of those who restore and rebuild the Holy City, (vs. 12; Isaiah 49:8; Isaiah 61:4; Ezekiel 36:10-11; Amos 9:11-12).

Vs. 13-14: RESPECT FOR THE SABBATH ESSENTIAL TO ISRAEL’S PROSPERITY

1. The fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8) was always an important cornerstone in the life of Israel - whether they remembered it or not.

a. The Sabbath was designed for man’s good - physical and spiritual, (Mark 2:27; Exodus 23:12; Deuteronomy 5:14-15).

b. Judah’s failure to observe certain sabbath-responsibilities was a basic factor leading to her 70-year captivity in Babylon, (2Ch Isaiah 36:20-21).

c. One’s attitude toward the sabbath, which God ordained, manifests his real attitude toward God Himself!

d. The true "rest" of New Testament saints is found in a Person - Jesus Christ, the Son of God, (Hebrews 4:9; Matthew 11:28-29).

2. If Israel would truly seek to honor the Lord (with regard to His appointed sabbaths), instead of seeking her own pleasure, then the Lord would marvelously bless her, (vs. 13-14).

a. She would learn the blessedness of joying IN THE LORD HIMSELF! (vs. 14a; comp. Romans 5:2-3; Romans 5:11).

b. The Lord would then exalt her in the earth - enabling her to feast on the convenanted heritage of her father Jacob, (vs. 14b; Genesis 27:28-29; Genesis 28:13-15).

c. Such is the word of Jehovah Himself - whose promise NEVER FAILS! (vs. 14c; comp. Isaiah 1:20; Isaiah 40:5; Joshua 23:14).