Show them their transgression
Isaiah 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
I think this chapter is easier for me to understand if we go in reverse order. Let's look at the goal first, then we can understand what the sin is.
The Goal
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward.
There will be a reward, the glory of the Lord will shine through you. This chapter exposes the transgression that we are making if the glory of the Lord is not shining through us and how to remedy that.
9 Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
God will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. This is the goal of the book of James when he talks about Elijah.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
"putting forth the finger" is what we call pointing your finger at someone else. This is when we blame others for failure rather than take responsibility for our own failures. Speaking vanity here is a word that can mean wickedness, evil, mischief, etc. This could be an off color joke, it could be gossip, it could be self justification or condemnation of others. This word yoke refers to bands of oppression, making people slaves, beasts of burden, etc.
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 noon day:
There is a need around you, if you take up that burden to meet that need then the light will shine.
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.
As you have done it will be done to you. If you are feeding, watering and caring for others then you will be fed, watered and cared for yourself.
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
This is the goal, you will be called the "repairer of the breach" or the "restorer of paths". This chapter talks about fasting but it is important to understand the goal. Maybe there is a hole in the wall, we are fasting that it would be repaired, not to complain about the government, but to be the repairer of the breach ourselves. Perhaps we feel the country is on the wrong path, well we can fast to be a restorer of the path.
13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
What do people do on Sunday? Are they watching football? Having a party? Spouting off about their own opinions? Or, are they refraining from all that, are they in God's word, following God's ways, and speaking God's words? The Sabbath is a day to rest from all your work, all your opinions, all your ideas, and a time to listen to the Lord, honor Him, let Him speak to you.
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
This is the goal, if you learn to pray and fast appropriately it will be like surfing the top of the wave rather than always being swamped by the waves.
OK, so how do we get to this goal?
6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Consider Tom Brady. He is famous because he doesn't eat certain foods that he feels will shorten his career. One of the things he doesn't eat is strawberries? Can you believe that? He has kept himself from eating strawberries and other foods for his entire career. Why? So that he could be a champion, so that they could win a number of rings, so that he could go to the playoffs every year of his career. This is why we fast, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke. When I was teaching my goal was to "let the oppressed go free". I was teaching in Brooklyn, my kids came into the school as some of the poorest inner city kids in the city, their scores were at the bottom of the city and my goal was that they would leave at the top. To do that you have to fast. I would spend my summers preparing lesson plans. I wasn't mourning, I had a goal, just like Tom Brady had a goal.
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
I knew the stuff I was teaching was easy for me and I wanted to make it easy for my students. We saw some students make a tremendous transformation over four years, that was truly a joy to our heart.
Now that we know the goal and the way, let's look at the error that was being made
2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.
Sounds good.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
Really? This does not sound like Tom Brady. Where is the goal of restoring the wall or the paths of old?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
Yes, you go to church on Sunday, but then you go watch the football game and you are making others work. It is still a day all about you, no listening to the Lord, no letting the Lord speak, no goal of the Lord working through you to bring salvation.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
You are self righteous. You are on Facebook and other platforms to debate and accuse and condemn. You are not fasting to rebuild the waste places, or to loose the yoke of bondage, no you are fasting so that your voice can be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
You don't fast because you are mourning. You fast because you have a goal, I want these kids to be the ones riding on the waves, not being swamped by them. Sure I want them to work hard, study hard, but I can't control that, what I can control is my own working, my own studying. I need time and to get it I fast. Maybe I skip the football game, maybe I skip the debates on Facebook, maybe I skip the movie, maybe I skip dinner. Whatever it is, the goal, like Tom Brady, is to be a champion, to shine forth Jesus Christ, so that our Father in heaven's name would be hallowed.
