The Fast God Chose What if the thing God rejected was not their lack of religion, but their religion itself? They were fasting. They were praying. They were seeking God daily. And yet the LORD said, in effect, “This is not the fast that I have chosen.” That is where Isaiah 58 gets uncomfortable. Because this chapter is not aimed first at people who never talk about God. It is aimed at people who know the language of worship, but have lost the heart of obedience. The main text for this episode of Context Counts is Isaiah 58:6-7: “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 ye break every yoke?Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” That is not a soft passage. That is not a decorative verse. That is God pressing His finger on the difference between religious performance and true spiritual obedience. Here is the central thought: The fast God chooses is not a religious show that leaves us unchanged. The fast God chooses humbles the heart before Him and opens the hand toward others. Religious, But Wrong Isaiah 58 begins with a trumpet blast. God tells the prophet: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1 Notice who the message is for. “My people.” This is not first a word to the pagan nations. This is not first a word to Babylon, Assyria, or the world outside. This is a word to people who claim the name of the LORD. And that is why Isaiah 58 must be read carefully. It is easy to hear a passage like this and immediately think of someone else. It is much better to pray, “Lord, shew me my transgression.” The people in Isaiah 58 were not openly irreligious. In fact, the Bible says: “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways…” Isaiah 58:2 That sounds spiritual. They sought God daily. They wanted to know His ways. They asked about justice. They took delight in approaching God. But the problem was not their religious vocabulary. The problem was their heart. They wanted the appearance of nearness without the obedience of nearness. They wanted the vocabulary of righteousness without the practice of righteousness. They wanted God’s blessing without God’s correction. That is a dangerous place to be. Religious activity can become a hiding place. We can hide behind attendance, knowledge, ministry, fasting, giving, praying, singing, preaching, teaching, and serving. All of those things can be good. But none of them can replace a heart that is right with God. False Fasting The people ask: “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” Isaiah 58:3 In other words, “God, we fasted. Why did You not respond?” God answers plainly: “Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.” Isaiah 58:3 Their fasting had not interrupted their selfishness. They were abstaining from food, perhaps, but they were not abstaining from sin. They were afflicting their souls outwardly, but still taking advantage of others. Then God says: “Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness…” Isaiah 58:4 That is a searching word. They thought fasting would make God listen. But God says, “Not like this.” Not while you are fasting for strife. Not while you are fasting for debate. Not while you are smiting with the fist of wickedness. Not while your religion is disconnected from repentance. Fasting is not wrong. But fasting can be corrupted. Jesus said: “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance:for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” Matthew 6:16 The issue is not whether fasting can be biblical. It can be. The issue is whether fasting becomes performance. A fast that does not humble you before God may only inflate you before men. If fasting makes me proud, something is wrong. If fasting makes me harsh, something is wrong. If fasting makes me self-righteous, something is wrong. If fasting gives me a religious excuse to ignore the needs around me, something is wrong. The fast God chooses does not make a man colder. It makes him more tender. It does not make him more impressed with himself. It makes him more aware of his dependence on God. It does not make him blind to suffering. It opens his eyes to the burdens around him. Justice Is a Bible Word Isaiah 58:6 says: “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 ye break every yoke?” Isaiah 58:6 Notice the verbs. Loose. Undo. Let go free. Break. This is not passive religion. This is repentance that changes how people are treated. There are bands that should never have been tied. There are burdens that should never have been laid. There are yokes that should never have been placed on another person’s neck. And God says the fast He has chosen loosens those bands. That means true devotion to God cannot be separated from righteousness toward others. The same truth appears in Zechariah 7. The people had questions about fasting, and God asked: “When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” Zechariah 7:5 That question cuts deep. Was it really unto God? Or was it habit? Was it worship? Or was it reputation? Then the LORD says: “Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor…” Zechariah 7:9-10 Fasting is tested by justice. Religious mourning is tested by mercy. Spiritual language is tested by how we treat the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, and the poor. Sometimes Bible-believing people get nervous when they hear words like justice and compassion. We understand why. Those words are often twisted by the world, redefined by politics, and used in ways that are not rooted in Scripture. But we must not let the world steal Bible words. Justice is a Bible word. Mercy is a Bible word. Compassion is a Bible word. The poor, the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, and the oppressed are Bible concerns. The answer to a corrupted version of justice is not injustice. The answer to a man-centered version of compassion is not coldness. The answer is to let the Bible define the terms. Micah 6:8 says: “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;and what doth the LORD require of thee,but to do justly, and to love mercy,and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8 That is not a slogan. That is Scripture. Binding Burdens or Bearing Them? Isaiah says the fast God chooses is “to undo the heavy burdens.” Some burdens are part of life in a fallen world. Sickness is a burden. Grief is a burden. Labor is a burden. Aging is a burden. But Isaiah is speaking of burdens people place on other people. Heavy burdens that should be undone. The Lord Jesus rebuked this kind of religious burden-laying when He said of the scribes and Pharisees: “For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne,and lay them on men’s shoulders;but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” Matthew 23:4 False religion loads people down but does not lift a finger to help. But the New Testament says: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 There is a world of difference between binding burdens and bearing burdens. The Pharisee binds burdens. The servant bears burdens. The hypocrite increases the weight. The Christlike believer helps carry it. So we should ask: Am I binding burdens or bearing burdens? In my home, am I making it harder for people to walk with God, or am I helping them? In my church, am I adding needless weight to wounded people, or am I pointing them to Christ? In my relationships, am I using truth like a hammer only, or am I speaking the truth in love? Justice begins closer than we think. It begins when we ask, “Where have I placed a yoke that God wants broken?” Compassion Gets Practical Isaiah 58:7 moves from justice to compassion: “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him;and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” Isaiah 58:7 God does not leave compassion in the clouds. He brings it down to bread, houses, clothing, and presence. Bread for the hungry. Shelter for the cast out. Clothing for the naked. Refusing to hide from your own flesh. A false fast says, “Look what I gave up.” A true fast asks, “Who can be helped by what I give?” A false fast says, “Notice my sacrifice.” A true fast says, “Lord, use my sacrifice to bless someone else.” This theme runs all through Scripture. Proverbs warns: “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.” Proverbs 21:13 That is not accidental ignorance. That is intentional refusal. It is a man hearing the cry and choosing not to hear. It is a person making himself deaf to need. That lines up with Isaiah 58. The people were asking, “Why have we fasted and Thou seest not?” God’s answer was, “You have been refusing to see what I told you to see.” They wanted God to hear their cry while they ignored the cry of others. That is a dangerous contradiction. Do Not Hide One of the most searching phrases in Isaiah 58:7 is this: “and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh.” Isaiah 58:7 Sometimes compassion begins by refusing to look away. We hide in many ways. We hide behind busyness. W
