Biblical Fasting in Isaiah 58: What God Really Asks of Us
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loosen the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke?" — Isaiah 58 v 6
Why the Israelites Were Angry with God
For this final exploration in our Lent series on biblical fasting we turn to a blockbuster chapter in the Old Testament, Isaiah 58.
At the time, many Israelites were thoroughly disgruntled with God. This was the nub of their complaint: "Why have we fasted, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed?" (58:3). They felt they were obediently following the required religious rituals, including regularly fasting from food, to get God's attention and gain his favour, but he seemed to be indifferent or even blind and deaf to their efforts.
God's Response: Religion Without Justice Is Not Enough
God's response is devastating. He accuses them of meticulously keeping the religious rituals whilst at the same time behaving with total disregard for the weightier matters of God's Law, such as justice and mercy. Their sinful actions included exploiting their employees, arguing and fighting with each other, ignoring the plight of the needy and oppressing the vulnerable.
Straining a Gnat, Swallowing a Camel: Jesus on Empty Religion
Interestingly, Jesus accused the religious leaders in his day of the same tendency, graphically illustrating their behaviour as 'straining out a gnat while swallowing a camel!' (Matthew 23:24).
The Fast God Chooses: Justice, Mercy and the Promise of Blessing
So, God urges the Israelites through Isaiah to adopt a different kind of fast — not a religious fast from food, but a moral fast from injustice and lack of mercy. God promises that, if they do this, he will bless them: "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame." (58:9-11)
Mind the Gap: Closing the Distance Between Worship and Action
Sometimes when I am travelling on the London Underground, as the tube pulls into a station, I hear the warning words of the announcer: "Mind the gap!" This is helpful advice to enable us to avoid endangering ourselves by falling down the gap between the train and the platform. Sadly, we can sometimes be guilty of allowing a dangerous gap to open up between our spiritual and moral life, between our life of worship and prayer on the one hand and the outworking of our faith in acts of justice and mercy on the other hand. "Mind the gap" might be an appropriate summary of Isaiah 58 to the Israelites of yesteryear, as well as a loving plea by our gracious Father to us today.
A Lent Challenge: Minding the Gap This Week
So, let's mind the gap as we travel through this coming week!
Every blessing.
