Isaiah 58
Dear RTB’ers,
Isaiah writing as if Israelites were speaking: Why have we fasted, and You see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and You take no knowledge of it? (v. 3a) Integrity test here – am I (are we) like the Israelites of old, fully confident in my (our) own righteousness, expecting God to acknowledge and affirm my (our) supplications? Might there be a better way to approach our holy God? Humility, contrition, thanksgiving, prayer, praise…? Maybe… Not my will, but your will be done.
Blessings!
I can see why the Israelites may have acted how they did. This is how I behaved in Church for so long while I was growing up and then for years after… I was trying so hard to keep the rules and behave as how I thought others thought I should behave. I spent so much energy just trying to do this, that I totally missed just being who God created me to be. (I seem to remember a good dose of fear and guilt in all this, too). I finally got worn out to the point where I just didn’t care. Then some folks held me accountable and I approached God in humility and thanksgiving, as Fred points out. It had to be shown to me that following rules and worrying about what others thought of me was not getting me close to Jesus, but I couldn’t see it for myself. It took the help of others to point that out to me. Glad someone did!!
Thanks for sharing, Bruce. But I have to add a comment to your comment, from verses 3b and 4:
True, you may have been seeking your own pleasure, but I doubt that you were oppressing your workers (or your colleagues), seeking to quarrel and fight, hitting with that wicked fist. Those Israelites were true hypocrites, just “going through the motions” at the temple. They remind me of that montage at the end of The Godfather, the baptism alongside the gang slaying!! Again, thanks for sharing!
Hmmm…
Fred, I very much appreciate the desire to defend Bruce (I like him, too!), but the problem is that you are looking at Bruce as a Christian now and not at his heart before meeting Christ. As a result, your words take the edge off of Isaiah 58:3-4, softening it for us all so that we can look at ourselves and say, “Well, gee, I’ve never actually hit anyone with my fist. I don’t go around actively oppressing workers. These verses apply only to those hypocritical Israelites and can’t possibly have any relevance to me. I’ll just (continue to) ignore what God says through Isaiah.” And that would be a huge mistake for each of us!
We need to hear God’s Word here. We need to look within ourselves to see what needs changing. We need to let God’s Word be living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)