Isaiah 58

In this chapter, God exposed the Israelites’ empty practice of two religious rituals—fasting and Sabbath-keeping: “On the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high… If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, (vs 3-4, 13-14)

By this time, the people of Israel had obviously lost the significance of both of these rituals, and they had degenerated into a meaningless practice designed to “butter God up” so they would get what they wanted. Unfortunately (or fortunately), contrary to the common belief about gods at the time, Israel’s God couldn’t be bought off or appeased with ritual.

God wants something more.

It’s interesting that both of these traditions—fasting and Sabbath-keeping—are primarily defined as not doing something. Fasting is about not eating. And keeping the Sabbath is about not working. Or so the Israelites thought.

But what God reveals in this chapter is that He is not just interested in what we don’t do; He cares deeply about what we do! “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? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” (vs 6-7)

I think this provides us with a glimpse into God’s own character, because He is definitely an actor, not simply a refrainer. He doesn’t just keep from doing evil; He grabs the initiative and does good. He doesn’t only refrain from cursing us; He actively blesses us.

This is why Jesus said that the Golden Rule was to do unto others as we would want them to do to us—not refrain from doing to others what we wouldn’t want them to do to us. God acts, and He is well-pleased when the religious rituals we engage in go beyond empty tradition to meaningful practice. As we allow the Spirit to have greater reign in our hearts, we will find that the list of things we don’t do will only be outweighed by the list of things we do!