"Cry aloud; spare not: Like a trumpet lift up your voice: And declare unto my people their transgression; And to the house of Jacob their sin. Yet me day after day they seek; And to know my ways they take delight: As a nation that does righteousness, And has not forsaken the ordinance of their God. They continually inquire of me concerning the ordinances of righteousness; They take delight to draw near unto God. Wherefore have we fasted, and You see not? Have we afflicted our souls, and You do not regard? Behold, in the day of your fasting you enjoy your pleasure; And all your demands of labor you rigorously exact. Behold, you fast for strife and contention; And to smite with the fist the poor. Wherefore fast you unto me in this manner; To make your voice to be heard on high? Is such then the fast which I choose; That a man should afflict his soul for a day? Is it, that he should bow down his head like a bulrush; And spread sackcloth and ashes for his couch? Shall this be called a fast, And a day acceptable to Jehovah? Is not this the fast which I choose? To dissolve the bands of wickedness; To loosen the oppressive burdens; To deliver those that are crushed by violence; And that you should break asunder every yoke? Is it not to distribute your bread to the hungry; And to bring the wandering poor into your house? When you see the naked, that you clothe him; And that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the morning; And your wounds shall speedily be healed over: And your righteousness shall go before you; And the glory of Jehovah shall bring up your rear. Then shall you call, and Jehovah shall answer; You shall cry, and He shall say, Lo, I am here! If you remove from the midst of you the yoke; The pointing of the finger, and the injurious speech: If you bring forth your bread to the hungry, And satisfy the afflicted soul; Then shall your light rise in obscurity, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. And Jehovah shall lead you continually, And satisfy your soul in the severest drought; And He shall renew your strength: And you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a flowing spring, Whose waters shall never fail. And they that spring forth from you shall build the ancient ruins; The foundations of old time shall they raise up: And you shall be called the repairer of the broken mound; The restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants. If you restrain your foot from the Sabbath; From doing your pleasure on my holy day: And shall call the Sabbath, a delight; And the holy feast of Jehovah, honorable: And shall honor it, by refraining from your purpose; From pursuing your pleasure, and from speaking vain words: Then shall you delight yourself in Jehovah; And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth; And I will feed you on the inheritance of Jacob your father: For the mouth of Jehovah has spoken it." (Isaiah 58:1-14,Lowth)
The student surely cannot help noticing that although the entire book of Isaiah is one message, relating to one time, each one of these later chapters is complete in itself. It is as though the prophet himself had made the division, each chapter being the sermon for a certain day. The lesson for this day is one of the richest in the collection, and one day's study will no more than give us an introduction to it.
It will be noticed that in this lesson certain ones are addressed, and are exhorted to give a very definite message to the professed people of God. But a little way back the Lord has declared that His watchmen,--the regular ministers who are set to guard and feed the flock, "are shepherds that cannot understand. ... [They] are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber." (Isaiah 56:11,10,RV)
Therefore He issues a call to whomsoever will hear it, to lift up his voice like a trumpet, to awaken the people from their dangerous slumber. This shows that in the last days God will have men to proclaim His warning message, who are not reckoned among "the clergy," but whose qualification is that they love the Lord, and know His voice, and follow Him.
Tell the Whole Truth
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1)
The Lord says, "spare not." That is, keep nothing back; withhold not. The word is the same as that used in Genesis 39:9, where Joseph says of Potiphar, "neither has he kept back anything from me." (Genesis 39:9)
Paul obeyed the injunction, for he said to the elders of Ephesus, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. ... For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." (Acts 20:20,27)
It is true that Jesus said to His disciples, before His crucifixion, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now." (John 16:12)
But whoever would make this an excuse for withholding from the people any truth that God has revealed unto him, ignores the words of Jesus immediately following, namely, "Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak; and He will show you things to come." (John 16:13)
God gives His servants light, in order that they may pass it on to others, and whoever keeps any of it back from the people, is unfaithful to his trust.
One must certainly use judgment as to when and how the truth is presented to different persons, but it must not be his own worldly-wise judgment, but that of the Spirit of God.
One who is guided by the Spirit of God will discern when a person whom he may meet is in a state of mind to listen to certain phases of truth, or whether or not it is wise to speak to him at all just then; but whoever keeps back truth that has been committed to him, quoting in his own behalf the words of Christ, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now," (John 16:12) takes himself out of the ranks of those who are sent, and places himself on a level with the Lord himself. The Lord has no favorites among men; none whom He takes off in a corner, so to speak, and whispers to them something that He does not wish the others to hear; but what He says to His most intimate disciples, He says to all.
Has the Lord revealed himself to you in a marked manner? Then that is evidence that there is some other soul who is waiting for you to bring the message to him. Do not keep it back, but watch for the fitting opportunity to declare it.
A Warning Against Formality
"Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and You see not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and You take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, you fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: you shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh?" (Isaiah 58:3-7)
The message of this chapter relates chiefly to fasting, a thing which is very much misunderstood and perverted. The universal tendency is to make a mere matter of form, an outward show. So it was with the Pharisees of old, against whose example God warns us. "When you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; That you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly." (Matthew 6:16-18)
In the chapter before us, we find that the people are most active in what they are pleased to term their "religious duties." They go to meeting frequently, they love to listen to preaching, they fast and afflict their souls, and act, to all outward appearances, like a people that do righteousness; but God who looks on the heart and life, knows better. He judges men, not according to their profession, nor to their diligence in going to meeting, nor the length and frequency of their prayers, but "according to their works." (Revelation 20:13)
Those who "profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him," (Titus 1:16) are counted as the worst sinners. "He that says he abides in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked." (1 John 2:6)
How did He walk? "[He] went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38)
The ones to whom this chapter is specially addressed, make their religion consist in fasting on certain days, and in having special seasons of "self-denial," thus confessing that the rest of the time they live to please themselves. The less Christian vitality there is in a people, the more scrupulous will they be in the observance of set forms, and of special religious days. But that will not satisfy the Lord. Read the very beginning of this prophecy. "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? says the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1:11-15)
What Fasting Is
The mere act of fasting is in itself a very simple thing. It consists in abstaining entirely from food. Its object is to emphasise to the one fasting, the fact that he lives not "by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God," (Matthew 4:4) and that it is God alone who supports him, and keeps him in life. It is to remind him that nothing that he has belongs to himself, but that, since it comes from the "God and Father of all," (Ephesians 4:6) that which comes to him belongs to his brother man as well as to him, and that it is given into his hands only to use as the Lord's steward. Therefore the fast in which the Lord delights, is one where the bread is dealt to the hungry, and the poor are taken in and cared for.
What True Fasting Accomplishes for One
While it is impossible for a man to fast all the time, and the Lord would not have it done, because "[He] giveth us richly all things to enjoy," (1 Timothy 6:17) and tells us to eat that which is good, having made our food one of the chief means of revealing himself and His Gospel to us, the effects of our fast are to be continual, and not to cease with the day.
For one to afflict his soul for a day, does not please the Lord; indeed, doing penance is not what the Lord ever requires. But an acceptable fast to the Lord is one which reaches out beyond the day of abstinence from food, and affects the whole life.
To make fasting, or any other religious act, a matter of strife and contention, is most displeasing to the Lord. Instead of contending over forms, the true people of God will be revealing the righteousness of God in their lives. Strife and debate never yet converted a single soul; that is done only by the life of Christ; and since He is in the heavens, hidden from the sight of mortals, it must be manifested in mortal flesh.
So the acceptable fast unto the Lord is that which looses the bands of wickedness, and lets those who are oppressed by the devil go free. That means, of course, first of all, that one's own bands are unloosed, and he knows "the freedom wherewith Christ makes men free." (Galatians 5:1)
Fasting, therefore, is for the purpose of bringing the individual into closer relationship with Christ, and giving him a better understanding of His life; and this knowledge and companionship are to be lasting. Their fruits are to be seen in all the days that follow the special season of fasting. Men are to know that a fast has been held, not by any formal announcement of it, but by the results of it.
A fast which leaves the faster still in the yoke of bondage, has been to no purpose. In the very time of fasting, one is not to be of a sad countenance, as though he were undergoing torture, for the anointing of the head with oil signifies a cup running over with the goodness of the Lord. "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over." (Psalm 23:5)
As the body may feel the pangs of hunger, the person is to rejoice in that he is a partaker of Christ's sufferings, because he understands the keeping power of the Lord. He sees that great as is the life and power that are conveyed to us in the visible gifts of God, there is an infinitude of life for us, outside of that which is contained in what our senses can appreciate.
This knowledge, which is emphasized by fasting, makes the day of fasting a day of delight.
Deliverance from the Powers of Darkness
Wonderful promises are made to those who keep this acceptable fast, using their knowledge of the freedom which God gives, to rescue others from the snare of the devil. They shall walk in the light of the countenance of the Lord all the day, and in His righteousness shall they be exalted. Compare: "Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rereward." (Isaiah 58:8) "Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance. In your name shall they rejoice all the day: and in your righteousness shall they be exalted." (Psalm 89:15-16)
They will be in such complete accord with the Lord, that even the darkness will be light to them. Compare: "Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rereward. Then shall you call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noonday." (Isaiah 58:8-10) "Yea, the darkness hides not from You; but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to You." (Psalm 139:12)
What a marvelous privilege! The soul will be completely delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son." (Colossians 1:12-13)
Health to the True Worshiper
"And your health shall spring forth speedily." (Isaiah 58:8) "Godliness ... has promise of the life that now is, as well as that which is to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)
How can anybody who believes the Bible, read such passages as this, and still think that it is necessarily the lot of God's people to suffer from disease? Nothing can be more plain than that the Lord promises health to all those who serve Him intelligently and in truth. "And you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your bread, and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you." (Exodus 23:25)
This is not an arbitrary thing, but the result of a definite cause. Notice that there is here a close connection between health and food.
The rule among men is to consider only their appetite, and to eat whatever pleases it. Most people eat for the mere enjoyment of eating, and not in order that they may have the most perfect life; and thus they defeat themselves; for although they have a momentary enjoyment while the delicate morsels are going down their throats, the suffering which they undergo in consequence of disregarding the laws of life are almost continual; while those who eat only to have life wherewith to glorify God, not only get pleasure in the act of eating, but are continually filled with the joy of the life of the eternal God.
Givers of Life
Christ said, "He that believes on me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38)
The life which the believers receive from the Lord, flows out in a stream of blessing to others. Occasional fasting reminds us that we live only by the power of God, and that when we do eat it should be only for the purpose of receiving that life in its fullness and purity. It also reminds us that it is God who supplies the food, and that He can keep us alive just as well when the earth does not bring forth anything as when it yields abundantly. "The Lord shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought," (Isaiah 58:11) or, as one translation has it, "in times of famine." He who has divided his last crust with the hungry, and still has found that the handful of meal did not fail, will not fear when famine comes over all the land, for he knows whom he trusts. His bones will be as fat in times of scarcity as in times of plenty, for the God who turns the flinty rock into streams of water, can give him abundant drink from the very sands of the desert.
The knowledge of all this is indicated in the true fast, which means the distribution of bread to the needy; and such knowledge--the knowledge that he is in touch with the great Creator--cannot fail to make one joyful. Instead of famishing, he himself will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. That is, although he be poor, he will always be able to distribute something to the needy, because he has the unfailing storehouse of the God of the universe to draw from. "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." (2 Corinthians 6:10)
Enveloped in God's Righteousness
"Your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rearward." (Isaiah 58:8,RV)
This shows that the righteousness will not be from ourselves, but from the Lord. The righteousness which proceeds from a man himself, goes with him, but here we have the picture of a man surrounded by the life of the Lord. His righteousness, "the righteousness of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ," (Romans 3:22) goes before him, and the glory of the Lord is his protection in the rear. He is surrounded by a rampart of righteousness, and the glory of it, through which darkness and sin cannot break.
Sabbath-Keeping
"If you turn away your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." (Isaiah 58:13-14)
The last message of the Gospel is to "Fear God, and give glory to Him, ... and worship Him as the Creator of the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Revelation 14:7)
To give God glory, is to keep His commandments. Compare:
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
So here in giving glory to God as the Creator of the heavens and earth and sea, we have unmistakable reference to the Sabbath, which is the memorial of that work. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11)
The last proclamation of the Gospel makes the Sabbath of the Lord very prominent, because the Sabbath of the Lord means perfect rest and trust in the Lord, and that must be the condition of those who are prepared for His coming.
Keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, does not mean salvation by works, but salvation by resting in the Lord. It is not a grievous thing, but a delight. He who finds the Sabbath a hardship has never kept it, and does not know what it is, for it is a delight. It is "the holy of the Lord, and honorable." (Isaiah 58:13)
Therefore let all beware how they despise it.
God's Holy Day
There should be no misunderstanding here as to what day is meant. The Lord says, "my holy day." (Isaiah 58:13)
There is therefore a certain day which He claims as His own above all other days. What day is that? "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." (Exodus 20:10)
That is, the seventh day of the week, the day that is commonly known as Saturday, and which follows the sixth day, Friday, which the Mohammedans regard as the prayer day, and which is followed by the first day of the week, known as Sunday, which the Papacy has succeeded in palming off on many Christians instead of the Lord's day.
Jesus declared himself to be the Lord of the Sabbath day, speaking of the day which the Jews professed to observe, and which they falsely accused Him of breaking. (Mark 2:28)
So the Lord's day is the seventh day of the week, the day which in the time of Christ, and even now, the Jews kept outwardly, but with no knowledge of the spirituality of it. All who honor the Lord must also honor His day, which He says is honorable.
The Delight Which Sabbath-Keeping Gives
But as with fasting, the results of the Sabbath do not end with the one day of the week which is set apart as the sign of resting in the Lord. The observance of the seventh day, on which God rested from all His work, means constant rest in Him.
It is not merely on that day that we are not to do our own pleasure, nor to speak vain words, but every day. At no time have we any right to find our own selfish pleasure, and to speak vanity. We are to be so intimate with the Lord, and so closely conformed to His life, that our religion will not consist in the observance of certain forms and ceremonies at certain times, but in a continual godly life.
True Sabbath-keeping means godliness all the week. To limit the prohibition from seeking our own pleasure and doing our own ways and speaking vain words to the day of the Sabbath, is to miss the meaning of this entire chapter, which teaches continual and not occasional service. "Then shall you delight yourself in the Lord." (Isaiah 58:14)
The blessing of rest, which the Sabbath brings, will extend throughout the week, and the soul will revel in the deliciousness of it. The true Sabbath-keeper will be a king, set over the highest places of the earth, and his whole life will be one bright glad day.
O, accept this glorious message, and delight yourself in the Lord himself.--Present Truth, May 3, 1900--Isaiah 58:1-15.