isaiah 58:6 explained
Isaiah 58:6-10 Meaning and Commentary - Bible Study Tools Secondly, To provide lodging for those that want it: It is to take care of the poor that are cast out, that are forced from their dwelling, turned out of house and harbour, are cast out as rebels (so some critics render it), that are attainted, and whom therefore it is highly penal to protect. Bring me no more of these empty, noisy, vain oblations," Isaiah 1:13; Isaiah 1:13. (1-3a) God's people ask: "Why do our prayers go unanswered?" "Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, 1. They and their families shall be public blessings. A man with a tender conscience who held slaves would have been likely to suppose that this part of the injunction applied to himself. He'll answer you when you call. Thirdly, To provide clothing for those that want it: "When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, both to shelter him from the injuries of the weather and to enable him to appear decently among his neighbours; give him clothes to come to church in, and in these and other instances hide not thyself from thy own flesh." That must be done on a fast-day which is a real affliction to the soul, as far as it is yet unregenerate and unsanctified, though a real pleasure and advantage to the soul as far as it is itself. This then is the fast that God has chosen. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Isaiah Chapter 58 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! What they expected from their performances. Isaiah 58:6-11 - BibleGateway.com As the world is a wilderness in respect of wanderings, so that they need to be guided continually, so also is it in respect of wants, which makes it necessary that they should have continual supplies, as Israel in the wilderness had not only the pillar of cloud to guide them continually, but manna and water out of the rock to satisfy their souls in drought, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, Ps 63 1. 481.]. In fact, their attitude towards these rituals is their chief sin (58:1-2).For example, many practise fasting not because they are truly humble before God, but because they hope God will be impressed with their actions. we have afflicted our soul, and you haven't taken any acknowledgment of it? The same word is used to denote burden ( motah), which in the subsequent member is rendered yoke, and the word which is rendered undo ( hatr from natar), is elsewhere employed to denote emancipation from servitude. a day for a man to afflict his soul? This interpretation would be confirmed by the use of the word rendered free. Retail: $44.99. On sabbath days we must not walk in our own ways (that is, not follow our callings), not find our own pleasure (that is, not follow our sports and recreations); nay, we must not speak our own words, words that concern either our callings or our pleasures; we must not allow ourselves a liberty of speech on that day as on other days, for we must then mind God's ways, make religion the business of the day; we must choose the things that please him; and speak his words, speak of divine things as we sit in the house and walk by the way. Isaiah 58:6-10 Meaning and Commentary INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 58. We prefer to assume that (persecuted) is regarded as part. The trumpet does not give an uncertain sound, but, though loud and shrill, is intelligible; so must his alarms be, giving them warning of the fatal consequences of sin, Ezek 33 3. A man with a tender conscience who held slaves would have been likely to suppose that this part of the injunction applied to himself. will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? That we be just to those with whom we have dealt hardly. The prophet therefore here shows them that their devotions would not entitle them to peace while their conversations were not at all of a piece with them. Don't let it be to gain an advantage." How many times people are trying to fast just to gain some kind of an advantage with God. Isaiah 58 Pulpit Commentary - Bible Hub III. But , pl. Nothing lay open to view that was a contradiction to their profession, but they seemed to be such as they should be. The cruel task-masters beat their servants, and the creditors their insolvent debtors, whom they delivered to the tormentors; they abused poor innocents with wicked hands. Note, It is common for unhumbled hearts to be proud of their professions of humiliation, as the Pharisee (Luke 18 12), I fast twice in the week. To undo the heavy burdens. Some understand it more strictly of a man's own kindred and relations: "If those of thy own house and family fall into decay, thou art worse than an infidel if thou dost not provide for them." California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Take of your substance and really give it to someone else. Scripture MasteryIsaiah 58:6-7 To help students memorize Isaiah 58:6-7, invite a student to come to the board and draw an image or write a word representing each statement in the verses.Ask the class to help the student with ideas of what to draw or write. Isaiah 58:6-8 In-Context. No, it is so far from being so that the hypocrisy of it is an abomination to him. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet (comp. 1. In what type of setting would you use this kind of language? Thus, in Psalms 105:17-20 : The king sent and loosed him ( vaytyrehu). We must abound in all acts of charity and beneficence. These two phrases are an example of parallelism, a pattern which we see repeated throughout these verses. The which points forwards is expanded into infin. "Here I am, ready to give you what you want, and do for you what you desire; what have you to say to me?" There was a popular religious movement on the surface, but the heart of the people was still alienated from God. (2.) (5.) Yet they seek me daily ( Isaiah 58:1-2 ), Now there was a real inconsistency here, because the attendance at the temple worship had not diminished at all. The Jews thought they were a righteous people because they carried out the daily rituals required by the law. To loose wicked bindings. They shall re-edify cities that have been long in ruins, shall build the old waste places, which had lain so long desolate that the rebuilding of them was quite despaired of. They would go to temple and worship God. Against the terror of that word they thought to shelter themselves with their external performances, particularly their fastings, which they kept up in Babylon, and for some time after their return to their own land, Zech 7 3, etc. ), much the same with those they are here charged with. And observe what it is that is their defence; it is their righteousness, and the glory of the Lord, that is, as some suppose, Christ; for it is by him that we are justified, and God is glorified. It is not afflicting the soul for a day (as some read it, v. 5) that will serve; no, it must be the business of our whole lives. When God calls to us by his word it becomes us to say, Here we are; what saith our Lord unto his servants? (f) That you leave off all your extortions. 4. They must not only break the yoke (v. 6), but take away the yoke, that those who have been oppressed may never be re-enslaved (as they were Jer 34 10, 11); they must likewise forbear threatening (Eph 6 9) and take away the putting forth of the finger, which seems to have been then, as sometimes with us, a sign of displeasure and the indication of a purpose to correct. 2. Commentary on Isaiah 58:1-9a [9b-12] - Working Preacher Let the oppressed go free How can any nation pretend to fast or worship God at all, or dare to profess that they believe in the existence of such a Being, while they carry on the slave trade, and traffic in the souls, blood, and bodies, of men! Here is a full account of the blessings and benefits which attend the performance of this duty. to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? And also it does also follow in the keeping of the sabbath day, the right and the wrong way. What Does Nehemiah's Life Teach Us about Following God? 1. Verse 1. We are here told negatively what is not the fast that God has chosen, and which does not amount to the afflicting of the soul. to loose the bands of wickedness; which some understand of combinations in courts of judicature to oppress and distress the poor; others of bonds and contracts unjustly made, or rigorously demanded and insisted on, when they cannot be answered; rather of those things with which the consciences of men are bound in religious matters; impositions upon conscience; binding to the use of stinted forms, and to habits in divine worship, which the word of God has not made necessary: to undo the heavy burdens. Read full chapter Isaiah 58:6 in all English translations Isaiah 57 Isaiah 59 The Hebrew means, 'Loose the bands of the yoke,' a figure taken from the yoke which was borne by oxen, and which seems to have been attached to the neck by cords or bands (see Fragments to Taylor's Calmer. This might refer to their compelling others to servitude more rigidly than the law of Moses allowed; or to holding them to contracts which had been fraudulently made; or to their exacting strict payment from persons wholly incapacitated to meet their obligations; or it might refer to their subjecting others to more rigid service than was allowed by the laws of Moses, but it would not require a very ardent imagination for anyone to see, that if he held slaves at all, that this came fairly under the description of the prophet. 2 Yet they importune me daily, eager to learn my ways,like a nation practicing righteousness and not forsaking the precepts of its God.They inquire of me concerning correct ordinances, desiring to draw. God would not allow them the use of such solemnities: "You shall not fast at all if you fast as you do this day, causing your voice to be heard on high, in the heat of your clamours one against another, or in your devotions, which you perform so as to make them to be taken notice of for ostentation. It is intended for admonition and warning to all hypocrites, and is not to be confined to those of any one age. "Thou shalt be the restorer of paths, safe and quiet paths, not only to travel in, but to dwell in, so safe and quiet that people shall make no difficulty of building their houses by the road-side." Now while they thus continued in sin, in those very sins which were directly contrary to the intention of a fasting day, (1.) "If they suffer unjustly, make no difficulty of sheltering them; do not only find out quarters for them and pay for their lodging elsewhere, but, which is a greater act of kindness, bring them to thy own house, make them thy own guests. Legacy Standard Bible II. It is here required, [1.] This is put first, as the most necessary, and which the poor can but a little while live without. We must not only give alms according as the necessities of the poor require, but, (1.) The Hebrew prophet's deliverance here is not in condemnation or disparagement of all fasting. They were even fasting, but they were saying to God, How is it that we have fasted, and you do not see it? He owns the matter of fact to be true. So the right way to fast; the wrong way to fast. Isaiah 58:6-10 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? a day for a man to afflict his soul? Job 39:5 : Who hath sent out the wild donkey free? Psalms 88:5 : Free among the dead. The usage, therefore, is settled that the word properly refers to deliverance from servitude. That word ( chophshym) evidently refers to the act of freeing a slave. 1. Isaiah 58:3. We are here told negatively what is not the fast that God has chosen, and which does not amount to the afflicting of the soul. Commentary on Isaiah 58:1-9a [9b-12] - Working Preacher Isaiah contrasted Gods conception of fasting with that of His people (cf. And God was interested in the heart.Now you remember when Jeremiah who prophesied shortly after Isaiah, and during the time of Jeremiah's prophecy, and we'll be getting into that a couple of weeks now, during the time of Jeremiah's prophecy when Josiah became the king. How could this command be complied with by a Hebrew if he continued to retain his fellow-men in bondage? Is it such a fast that I have chosen? What Kind of Place Is Jesus Preparing for Us? xxviii.) Thus, in Psalm 105:17-20 : The king sent and loosed him ( vaytyrehu). He must deal faithfully and plainly with them. How could this command be complied with by a Hebrew if he continued to retain his fellow-men in bondage? "You exact all your dues, your debts" (so some read it); "you are as rigorous and severe in extorting what you demand from those that are poor as ever you were, though it was at the close of the yearly fast that the release was proclaimed." The usage, therefore, is settled that the word properly refers to deliverance from servitude. Blessed, therefore, thrice blessed, is he that doeth this, and lays hold on it, that keeps the sabbath from polluting it. Isaiah 58:6-10 Meaning and Commentary - Bible Study Tools 66 Isaiah 58 - The Blessing of True Worship Audio for Isaiah 58: Isaiah 56-58 - Spiritual Adultery and Spiritual Worship A. is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? They were contentious and spiteful (v. 4): Behold, you fast for strife and debate. If slavery existed at the time here referred to, this word would be appropriately understood as including that - at least would be so understood by the slaves themselves - for if any institution deserves to be called oppression, it is theft of slavery. The sum is that, if they keep such fasts as God has chosen, he will settle them again in their former peace and prosperity, and there shall be none to make them afraid. But the participle marud cannot be found elsewhere; and the recommendation to receive political fugitives has a modern look. The Septuagint Tethrasmenos - Set at liberty those who are broken down. If slavery existed at the time here referred to, this word would be appropriately understood as including that - at least would be so understood by the slaves themselves - for if any institution deserves to be called oppression, it is theft of slavery. 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? We must call it the Lord's holy day, and honourable. But Isaiah appears to me to have had another object in view, namely, that hypocrites are exceedingly cruel in distressing the poor, and lay heavy burdens upon them. , is no adjective; and there is nothing to recommend the opinion, that by "wanderers" we are to understand Israelitish men. We must give plentifully and largely, so as not to tantalize, but to satisfy, the afflicted soul: "Do not only feed the hungry, but gratify the desire of the afflicted, and, if it lies in your power, make them easy." That must be done on a fast-day which is a real affliction to the soul, as far as it is yet unregenerate and unsanctified, though a real pleasure and advantage to the soul as far as it is itself. Good works shall be recompensed with a good name; this is included in that light which rises out of obscurity. See Isaiah 58:3a (printed below) They ask, Why have we fasted, but you have not taken notice of it? Verse Isaiah 58:6. What Does Nehemiah's Life Teach Us about Following God? Here we have, I. We must call it so to God, in thanksgiving for it and earnest desire of his grace to enable us to do the work of the day in its day, because we delight in it. God would not allow them the use of such solemnities: "You shall not fast at all if you fast as you do this day, causing your voice to be heard on high, in the heat of your clamours one against another, or in your devotions, which you perform so as to make them to be taken notice of for ostentation. Some think this refers to the yearly fast (which was called the day of atonement), others to their arbitrary occasional fasts. II. He would not accept of them in the use of them: "You shall not fast, that is, it shall not be looked upon as a fast, nor shall the voice of your prayers on those days be heard on high in heaven." Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content Isaiah 58:6 New International Version 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? And for this reason we must not hide ourselves from them, not contrive to be out of the way when a poor petitioner enquires for us, not look another way when a moving object of charity and compassion presents itself; let us remember that they are flesh of our flesh and therefore we ought to sympathize with them, and in doing good to them we really do good to our own flesh and spirit too in the issue; for thus we lay up for ourselves a good foundation, a good bond, for the time to come. Isaiah 58 Bible Commentary - John Gill's Exposition of the Bible when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Isaiah 58:6 in all English translations. 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? How the sabbath is to be sanctified (v. 13); and, there remaining still a sabbatism for the people of God, this law of the sabbath is still binding to us on our Lord's day. 2. In Isaiah 58:7 we have the same spirit of general humanity as in Job 31:13-23; Ezekiel 18:7-8 (compare what James describes in James 1:27 as "pure religion and undefiled"). If we thus remember the sabbath day to keep it holy, 1. Let not the finger be put forth to point at those that are poor and in misery, and so to expose them to contempt; such expressions of contumely as are provoking, and the products of ill-nature, ought to be banished from all societies. 2. As the hypocrite's humiliations are but like the hanging down of a bulrush, so his elevations in his hopes are but like the flourishing of a bulrush (Job 8:11; Job 8:12), which, while it is yet in its greenness, withers before any other herb. People were still going through outward forms of religion. How they boast of themselves, and magnify their own performances: "We have fasted, and afflicted our souls; we have not only sought God daily (Isaiah 58:2; Isaiah 58:2), but have kept some certain times of more solemn devotion." to make your voice to be heard on high; referring either to their noisy threatening of their servants for not doing their work; or their clamorous demands upon their debtors; or to their loud prayers, joined with their fasting, which they expected to be heard in the highest heaven, but would be mistaken; for such services, attended with the abov. They had a great form of religion. And so there was a combination. Even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for though thou mayest not, as some have done, thereby entertain angels, thou mayest entertain Christ himself, who will recompense it in the resurrection of the just. Isaiah 58:3 Commentaries: Why have we fasted and You do not - Bible Hub 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land. absolutes, which are carried on quite regularly in the finite tense. Hanging down the head did indeed well enough become the publican, whose heart was truly humbled and broken for sin, and who therefore, in token of that, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven (Luke 18 13); but when it was only mimicked, as here, it was justly ridiculed: it is but hanging down the head like a bulrush, which nobody regards or takes any notice of. Isaiah 1:10-20; Amos 5:25-27; Micah 6:6-8; Luke 14:26). Section 171). 2. Isaiah 58:6 NIV - "Is not this the kind of fasting I - Bible Gateway Does the Bible Advise Us about Dealing with Grief? In order to make trial of our fear of God, he demands these as more immediate signs, if we live justly, inoffensively, and kindly with each other. Commentary on Isaiah 58 by Matthew Henry - Blue Letter Bible Matthew 6:16-18). Compare Jeremiah 34:9-11, Jeremiah 34:14, Jeremiah 34:16 where the same Hebrew word is used, and is applied expressly to the emancipation of slaves. And God says to them that's not what I've called you to do. And the Lord says, "Hey, don't do it that way. What Does Nehemiah's Life Teach Us about Following God? And let the oppressed go free - Margin, Broken. The Hebrew word retsutsym is from the word ratsats, meaning to break, to break down (see the notes at Isaiah 42:3); to treat with violence, to oppress. [Note: Motyer, p. Secondly, To provide lodging for those that want it: It is to take care of the poor that are cast out, that are forced from their dwelling, turned out of house and harbour, are cast out as rebels (so some critics render it), that are attainted, and whom therefore it is highly penal to protect. It would be naturally understood by a Hebrew as referring to that, and unless there was something in the connection which made it necessary to adopt a different interpretation, a Hebrew would so understand it of course. Note, The more pleasure we take in serving God the more pleasure we shall find in it. Having shown the evil they were to abstain from in order to keep an acceptable fast, namely, every species of cruelty, he here proceeds to speak of the duty that was required, namely, the exercise of every kind of mercy, as a necessary fruit of true repentance, Daniel 4:27; Luke 19:8.For there are two parts of righteousness toward . He would not accept of them in the use of them: "You shall not fast, that is, it shall not be looked upon as a fast, nor shall the voice of your prayers on those days be heard on high in heaven." This was fulfilled when the captives, after their return, repaired the cities of Judah, and dwelt in them, and many of those in Israel too, which had lain waste ever since the carrying away of the ten tribes. Could it be true, whatever else he might do, that he would fully comply with this injunction, unless this were done? 3. It may refer, therefore, to slaves who are oppressed by bondage and toil; or to inferiors of any kind who are subjected to hard usage by those who are above them; or to the subjects of a tyrant groaning under his yoke. NASB 1977 "Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And break every yoke? Verse 1 (The beginning of Section C of Division VI (Isaiah 58-66)As Kidner observed, "God's trumpet call to the formalists is related to the previous indictment in Isaiah 57:1-13 "; [1] and this indicates that the period of Isaiah's own times and reaching down to the captivity is the historical era to which the chapter evidently refers. (1.) Having gone about to put a cheat upon God by their external services, here they go about to pick a quarrel with God for not being pleased with their services, as if he had not done fairly or justly by them. 3. The people of his day were in the habit, it appears, of denying themselves food, and assuming postures of mourning and humiliation as an offering to the Almighty, and an appeal to Him for His recognition and regard, while they were . Bible Study Courses Isaiah 58:1-14 Exploring the Passage Joel 2:13. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 2 Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. I don't want an outward fasting kind of a thing. 2. &c.] Which God has appointed, he approves of, and is well pleasing in his sight; these are works and services more agreeable to him, which follow, without which the rest will be rejected: to loose the bands of wickedness; That we be just to those with whom we have dealt hardly. 2. As the hypocrite's humiliations are but like the hanging down of a bulrush, so his elevations in his hopes are but like the flourishing of a bulrush (Job 8 11, 12), which, while it is yet in its greenness, withers before any other herb. Or, "God himself in his providence and grace shall both go before thee as thy guide to conduct thee, and attend thee as thy rearward to protect thee, and this shall be the reward of thy righteousness and so shall be for the glory of the Lord as the rewarder of it." 2. Motah, which is repeated palindromically, signifies in both cases a yoke, lit., vectis, the cross wood which formed the most important part of the yoke, and which was fastened to the animal's head, and so connected with the plough by means of a cord or strap (Sir. They shall carry on and finish that good work which was begun long before, and shall be helped over the obstructions which had retarded the progress of it: They shall raise up to the top that building the foundation of which was laid long since and has been for many generations in the rearing. 11 "And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of . When they proclaimed a fast to deprecate God's judgments, they pretended to search for those sins which provoked God to threaten them with his judgments, and under that pretence perhaps particular persons were falsely accused, as Naboth in the day of Jezebel's fast, 1 Kings 21:12. Bible Gateway Recommends. Here is the explanation. They love to hear good preaching; They delight to know my ways, as Herod, who heard John gladly, and the stony ground, that received the seed of the word with joy; it is to them as a lovely song, Ezek 33 32. and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. "You fast, but you make your workmen toil on still; you determine that they shall not have one atom of their labour abated; and you make an amusement of what you call a fast: 'In the day of your fast ye find pleasure.'" Isaiah 58:4. If now this whole injunction were fairly complied with in his land, who can doubt that it would lead to the emancipation of the slaves? The yoke, in the Scripture, is usually regarded as an emblem of oppression, or compulsory toil, and is undoubtedy so used here. Observe, I. and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be . We must call it so to others, to invite them to come and share in the pleasure of it; and we must call it so to ourselves, that we may not entertain the least thought of wishing the sabbath gone that we may sell corn. Others understand it more generally; all that partake of the human nature are to be looked upon as our own flesh, for have we not all one Father? p. In other words, God again was crying out against the fact that it was only a surface movement. 7. I reply, fasting is approved when it is accompanied by that love which we owe to our fellowmen; and therefore the Prophet directs that we shall be tried by this principle, that our consciences be entire and pure, that we exercise mutual kindness towards each other; for if this order prevail, then fasting, which shall be added to it, will be pleasing and acceptable to God. No sooner do they call to him than he answers, Ready, ready. Isaiah 58:6-8 are words from God to his people when they were going through all kinds of religious routine. Hanging down the head did indeed well enough become the publican, whose heart was truly humbled and broken for sin, and who therefore, in token of that, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven (Luke 18:13); but when it was only mimicked, as here, it was justly ridiculed: it is but hanging down the head like a bulrush, which nobody regards or takes any notice of. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. THE CALL TO COVENANT RIGHTEOUSNESS (ISAIAH 58:6). This is here promised (v. 12): "Those that now are of thee, thy princes, and nobles, and great men, shall have such authority and influence as they never had;" or, "Those that hereafter shall be of thee, thy posterity, shall be serviceable to their generation, as thou art to thine."
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isaiah 58:6 explained
