# Isaiah 58 📖: True Fasting [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Isaiah Overview]] | [[Isaiah 57]] | [[Isaiah 59]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### The Lord Desires Genuine Devotion [[#Verse 01.]] “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet! Yell as loudly as a trumpet! Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; confront Jacob’s family with their sin. [[#Verse 02.]] They seek me day after day; they want to know my requirements, like a nation that does what is right and does not reject the law of their God. They ask me for just decrees; they want to be near God. [[#Verse 03.]] They lament, ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers. [[#Verse 04.]] Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven. [[#Verse 05.]] Is this really the kind of fasting I want? Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, bowing their heads like a reed and stretching out on sackcloth and ashes? Is this really what you call a fast, a day that is pleasing to the Lord? [[#Verse 06.]] No, this is the kind of fast I want: I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke. [[#Verse 07.]] I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe them! Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood. [[#Verse 08.]] Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. [[#Verse 09.]] Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’ You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully. [[#Verse 10.]] You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. [[#Verse 11.]] The Lord will continually lead you; he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water. [[#Verse 12.]] Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; you will reestablish the ancient foundations. You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls, the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ [[#Verse 13.]] You must observe the Sabbath rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. You must look forward to the Sabbath and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. [[#Verse 14.]] Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, and I will give you great prosperity, and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The command to shout like a trumpet (58:1) uses the *shofar*, the ram's horn used to call Israel to attention. 2. The only fast commanded in the Law was on the Day of Atonement, when Israel was told to humble themselves (Leviticus 16:29-31). 3. Additional fasts were added during and after the exile to mourn the fall of Jerusalem (Zechariah 7:3-5; 8:19). 4. Bowing the head like a reed and lying in sackcloth (58:5) were outward signs of mourning. 5. Jesus warned against fasting to be seen by others (Matthew 6:16-18). 6. Pointing the finger (58:9) was a gesture of scorn or accusation. 7. A watered garden and a spring that never fails (58:11) were powerful images in a dry land. 8. The repairer of broken walls (58:12) points ahead to rebuilding Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah. 9. Calling the Sabbath a delight (58:13) shows God intended rest as a gift. 10. Riding on the heights of the earth (58:14) echoes the blessing of Deuteronomy 32:13. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One who came to set the oppressed free (58:6; Luke 4:18). He identifies with the hungry, the stranger, and the naked (58:7; Matthew 25:35-40), and in Him our light breaks out like the dawn (58:8). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. The people fasted but quarreled and exploited their workers (58:3-4). How can spiritual practices become a cover for sin? 2. God's chosen fast is to loosen chains, share food, and shelter the poor (58:6-7). What does this look like in our community? 3. God calls those who rebuild ruins the repairer of broken walls (58:12). Where is God calling you to be a repairer? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 6: The fast God desires is to free the oppressed and break every yoke. - 📖 verse 10: If you pour yourself out for the hungry, your light will rise in the darkness. - 📖 verse 11: The Lord will guide you and you will be like a well-watered garden. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Luke 04#Verse 18.|Luke 4:18-19]] - To set free the oppressed. - 🔗 [[Matthew 25#Verse 34.|Matthew 25:34-40]] - You did it to Me. - 🔗 [[Matthew 06#Verse 16.|Matthew 6:16-18]] - When you fast. - 🔗 [[James 01#Verse 27.|James 1:27]] - Religion that God accepts. - 🔗 [[Mark 02#Verse 27.|Mark 2:27]] - The Sabbath was made for people. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Isaiah 58 - SOAP|Good Deeds Do Not Cover Up Sin]] ## 📂 Internal Notes