The Prophecy of Isaiah – Lesson 50

Today's verses cover some practical aspects of fasting and godly living. There is the way that seems right to a man but then God shows where the heart of man fails and misleads.

 

"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. 'Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.

Isaiah 58:1-3

Pragmatism is the name given the philosophical movement that began in the 1800s. Briefly, pragmatism evaluates ideas on the basis of the utility of an idea. If the idea "works" then it is accepted. While this particular emphasis in Europe and the United States had a tremendously negative impact on mankind's relationship to God (and they would object to this characterization), pragmatism was not a new process in the minds of men. We are creatures who look for patterns and even see patterns were they do not exist.

 

There is a danger that we will simply ask what God wants us to do and fail to learn that it is our hearts that are at stake and that God has something He wants us to be. In this chapter of Isaiah we see a pragmatic view of religion being condemned by God.

 

The next chapter and a half (to 59:13) is a poem that is meant to convict of sin and lead to repentance in the mercy of God. Those who are pragmatically seeking God do so with persistence, a focus on the right way to do it, they appear to be righteous, and they enjoy the process. The question they want an answer to is, "Why isn't this religious activity working?" and God says it is because of their corrupt attitudes and actions.

 

On the fast day they simply take a day off from their work and require work from their servants and employees. It sounds as if this might refer to the commanded fast of Leviticus 23:26-32 and refers to the "Day of Atonement".

 

This would bring the focus back to the Cross and challenge us again to consider our acts and attitudes about our day of rest. We need to be cautious in our observance of our day of rest. Sunday is not an extra Saturday for Christians.

 

We serve a Holy God and we certainly can't make the argument that we don't need to spend a day focused on Him and we can't say that Scripture is silent about how we spend the day. Fundamentally we need to move from seeking our own pleasure to seeking to be pleasing to God.