Isaiah 58 · The Lantern

True Fasts and Sabbaths

Call out with the throat, do not hold back! Like a horn raise your voice, and tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

(Chapter 58—Verse 1.) Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For also when God saw the dying condition of the Jews who of their own will stopped their ears, and blinded their eyes, and made thick their hearts against the remembrance of the knowledge of God, He stirred up Isaiah to rouse them up, and cried to him to cry into their ears, saying, "Cry with thy throat, and spare not, and lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people t…

1022. Cry, cease not. Here he excludes a useless remedy, by which they wished to prepare themselves for salvation. And first, he enjoins the duty of announcing, setting out the manner of announcing, that it be loud without fear suppressing it: cry, above: lift up your voice with strength, you that bring good tidings to Zion (Isa 40:9); that it be continuous: cease not, below: u…

Yet me they seek day by day, and they delight to know my ways, like a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the justice of its God. They ask me for judgments of righteousness; they delight in the drawing near of God.

(Verse 2) They search for me day after day and desire to know my ways, like a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the judgment of their God. LXX likewise.

These words about the calling of those from Israel can be transferred and come to be understood in another good and highly useful way.… For I think the scope of the prophecy is to be unveiled to those who are prayerful, as will become clear from what follows.

1023. The prophet, in the person of the Lord, excludes the useless remedy: for they seek me from day to day. And concerning this, he does two things: first, he excludes the remedy in which they trusted; second, he exhorts them to those things in which they were lacking: is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? (Isa 58:6). 1024. Concerning the first, he does two things.

“Why have we fasted, and you have not seen? We have afflicted our soul, and you take no notice?” See, in the day of your fast you find delight, and all your laborers you drive hard.

The Word blamed the children of Israel on account of such a fast as this, exhorting them by Isaiah the prophet and saying, "This is not the fast or the day that I have chosen, that a person should humble his soul." That we may be able to show what kind of persons we should be when we fast, and of what character the fast should be, listen again to God commanding Moses.… In the t…

Now fasting is a very worthwhile and excellent thing, and prayer is most useful. And humbling oneself in God's eyes has much to commend it. … The God of the universe says, return to me with fasting, wailing, mourning. For he readily has mercy on those doing penance through travail.

Again, they trust in the observation of fasts: why have we fasted, and you have not regarded, as if you were grateful; have we humbled our souls, as to the circumstances of their fasts, in outward humiliation, and you have not taken notice, with the knowledge of approval: he labors in vain that serves God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances? (Mal 3:14).

See, for quarrel and strife you fast, and to strike with a fist of wickedness. You do not fast today so as to make your voice heard on high.

Is this the fast I would choose — a day for a human to afflict his soul? To bow his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call a fast, and a day of favor to the LORD?

If you have fasted two or three days, do not think yourself better than others who do not fast. You fast and are angry; the other eats and wears a smiling face. You work off your irritation and hunger in quarrels. He uses food in moderation and gives God thanks.

You see then that fasting is certainly not considered by the Lord as a thing that is good in its own nature, because it becomes good and pleasing to God not by itself but by in conjunction with other works. Again, in light of surrounding circumstances it may be regarded as not merely vain but actually hateful, as the Lord says: "When they fast, I will not hear their prayers."

1026. Second, he shows the insufficiency of these goods: is this such a fast as I have chosen, for God does not choose your punishment per se, neither as to the affliction of the flesh, which he touches on when he says: for a man to afflict his soul for the entire day; nor as to the abjection of exterior humiliation, which he touches on where he says: to wind his head about lik…

Is not this the fast I would choose: to loosen the fetters of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, and to send the crushed away free, and that you tear off every yoke?

Do you see, dearly beloved, what true fasting really is? Let us perform this kind and not entertain the facile notion held by many that the essence of fasting lies in going without food till evening.

(Verses 6, 7.) Isn't this the fast that I have chosen? To loosen the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Isn't it to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor who are cast out into your house? When you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

1027. Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? Here he brings in useful counsel. And first, as to the zeal of piety towards one's neighbor; second, as to the worship of religious duty toward God: if you turn away (Isa 58:13). Concerning the first, he does two things.

Is it not to break your bread for the hungry, and to bring the homeless poor into a house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and from your own flesh you do not hide yourself?

And we shall find many examples also in other places,-as, for instance, respecting prayer: "Good works are an acceptable prayer to the Lord," says the Scripture. And the manner of prayer is described. "If thou seest," it is said, "the naked, cover him; and thou shalt not overlook those who belong to thy seed.

He is finding fault, you see, with the fasts of the quarrelsome; he is looking for the fasts of the kindhearted. He is finding fault with those who oppress others; he is looking for those who give relief. He is finding fault with those who stir up strife; he is looking for those who set free.

And that they extend mercies, exhorting them to mercy as to the hungry: break your bread for the hungry, that is, if you have little; as to the homeless: and bring the needy and the harborless into your house; as to the naked, when you shall see one naked, cover him: if I have denied to the poor what they desired (Job 31:16).

Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your healing will spring up quickly; and your righteousness will go before you, the glory of the LORD your rear guard.

(Vers. 8, 9.) Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am.

The light is desirable, but more desirable still is the dawn that appears after the night. This he has called "the morning light." … Aquila has, "Then your light will break through like the dawn." For just as the dawn tears away the curtain of the night, so, he says, the night of your misfortunes, your life lived under the law, will disperse, and the light of my providence will…

1028. Second, he shows the fruit of this counsel: then shall your light break forth. And first, as to the efficacy of their merits, then as to the works of their virtues: then shall your light break forth as the morning, namely, your merits will appear clearly in the rewards, about which you now complain to the Lord because they are not yet seen; the glory of the Lord shall gat…

Then you will call and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help and he will say, Here I am. If you remove from your midst the yoke, the pointing of the finger and the speaking of iniquity,

God is always one and the same; but people have come to be afterwards through the Word, when the Father himself willed it; and God is invisible and inaccessible to originated things, especially to people on earth.

[Daniel 9:21] "While I was still speaking in my prayer, behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen at the beginning of the vision." He calls the previous vision preceding this one the beginning. The effect of his prayer was considerable, and the promise of God was fulfilled which says, "While thou art yet speaking, lo, I am at hand" (Isaiah 58:9).

Then as to intercessions of prayer: then shall you call, above: at the voice of your cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer you (Isa 30:19). 1029. Second, as to the attainment of goods. And first, he returns to the meritorious work: if you will take away the chain, by which you oppress the poor, and cease to stretch out the finger, disparaging and threatening. 1035.

and you offer yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in the darkness and your gloom will be like noon.

[My father] actually treated his own property as if it were another's, of which he was but the steward, relieving poverty as far as he could and expending not only his superfluities but his necessities—a manifest proof of love for the poor, giving a portion not only to seven, according to the injunction of Solomon, but if an eighth came forward, not even in his case being sting…

(Verse 10.) If you remove the chain from your midst, and you cease to extend your finger, and to speak what is not helpful. When you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.

When you shall pour out your soul to the hungry, through compassion, and shall satisfy the afflicted soul, through assistance in necessities. 1030. Second, he promises the reward: then shall your light rise up.

And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in parched places, and give strength to your bones. And you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

(Verse 11) And the Lord will always give you rest, and will fill your soul with splendor, and will free your bones. And you will be like a well-watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters will not fail. LXX: And your God will be with you always: and you will be filled as your soul desires, and your bones will become fat.

As for "Here I am," this does not mean a voice but the operation through actions. For you are taught by events that the God whom you called on is with you.You will have God present, who will offer you a share of his goodness. We think by "bones" is meant the thoughts; for these receive joy.

And the Lord will give you rest, as to temporal evils: God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness (2 Cor 4:6); multiplication of interior, spiritual goods: he will fill your soul with brightness, namely, virtues or consolations, and deliver your bones, as to bodily goods: a cheerful and good heart (Sir 30:27); and multiplication of exterior goods: and you shall be li…

And from you they will build the ancient ruins; the foundations of generation after generation you will raise up. And you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths to Dwell In.

(Verse 12.) And the deserts of the ages will be built in you: you will raise the foundations of generation after generation: and you will be called the builder of walls, turning paths into peace.

The prophetic word comes to us through two further metaphors, and the beautiful form of hidden ideas is displayed. For it is about a deserted town and its defenseless state that a form of words is molded.

1031. Second, as to the rebuilding of their homeland: and the places that have been desolate for ages, that is, namely, the cities of the desert in former times, shall be built, after their return from captivity; you shall raise up, rebuilding upon the old foundations, above: who say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited: and to the cities of Judah: you shall be built (Isa 44:26…

If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your own delights on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honored; and you honor it, not doing your own ways, not finding your own delight and not speaking a word —

(Verse 13.) If you turn your foot away from the Sabbath, and do your own will on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and holy to the glorious Lord, and honor him by not doing your own ways, nor finding your own will, nor speaking idle words. LXX: If you turn your foot away on the Sabbaths, so as not to do your own desires on the holy day.

"If you call the sabbath a delight," in other words, you honor it for the banquets and the drinks, finding your joy on that day as if it were a party. "If you honor it, not following your will or speaking any word." Indeed, it was not forbidden to them to speak but it was forbidden to lie.

1033. If you turn away your foot from the sabbath. Here he sets out counsel as to the worship of religious duty in the observation of the sabbath.

then you will take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth, and I will feed you the inheritance of Jacob your father — for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

(Verse 14.) Then you will delight in the Lord [Vulg. the Lord); and I will lift you up above the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. LXX: And you will trust in the Lord: and he will exalt you above the good things of the earth, and he will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father.

I used to strive daily to win my way outside the world, outside the flesh; to drive all phantasms of the body from the eyes of my soul, and to see incorporeally supernal joys; and not only with my voice but in the core of my heart I used to say, "My heart hath said unto Thee, I have sought Thy face, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." Moreover desiring nothing, fearing nothing, in th…

Second, he sets out the fruit: then shall you be delighted in the Lord, as to spiritual goods; and I will lift you up above the high places of the earth, leading you back to your land, which is mountainous; and will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father, as to the enjoyment of the goods of the land: then shall you abound in delights in the Almighty (Job 22:26).

Isaiah58

True Fasts and Sabbaths