Isaiah 58:1-12 is a grand text. It is appointed as the alternative Old Testament reading for Ash Wednesday and as such it serves very well in tandem with the Gospel reading for the day, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21. Both texts are about false piety. It will be the preacher's considerable task to bring to bear the message that false piety is useless to both us and God while also sharing the gospel that draws us near to God.
(The following questions have been developed to help exegetes see the way the Word functions in the text, a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers. These questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but work well with other fine sets of questions available to exegetes. For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? Clearly the Word is functioning as Law here. The opening line makes this clear: "Announce to my people their rebellion." This is a classic call to repentance.
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? While there are hints of God's desire for God's people, there is little word of Gospel here, little evidence of God's mercy or grace.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? In any text it is important to identify with those to whom the Word is addressed. Here that is the people in need of repentance. Preachers are apt to forget this in texts like these, choosing rather to identify with the prophet by announcing to their listeners their rebellion. How much better to sit with the congregation and hear these words together.
4. What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text? There are a number of verses in this text that invite us to live a certain way in response to God's mercy. While God's mercy is not laid out here, the calls to obedience are clear: let the oppressed go free, share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house, clothe the naked (vss. 6-7), remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil (vs.9b).
5. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? Without gospel verses to draw on, we will need to invent several to match our law terms. Some suggestions: guilty/forgiven; estranged/embraced.
6. Exegetical work: The original Hebrew gives us some help in discerning the core issue in this text. Over and over, the prophet uses the term, nephesh, which is often translated breath or life. The verb that accompanies that term also is illuminating. In verses 3 and 5, the translation is often "humbling oneself." The term for humbling (anah) might better be translated "afflict." That would result in the complaint of the pious being, "Why do we afflict our life (i.e. deprive ourselves), and you do not notice, O God?" Later the term nephesh comes up again in connection with God's desire. In verse 10, we read about offering food to the hungry and satisfying the desires of the afflicted. The verb in this case (pavech) is better rendered "pour out." That would then mean verse 10 would read, "If you pour out your life (nephesh) for the hungry, and fill up the life (nephesh) of the afflicted..." Finally, in verse 11 the promises come to us, "The Lord will...fill up your life (nephesh) whenever you are in parched places..." These terms help us get a better idea of what's at stake for the prophet. It's also interesting to note that both Westermann, in his classic commentary, and Luther in his lectures on Isaiah, identify the primary sin as trying to fool God. Westermann says the issue is "ungenuine fasting." (The OT Library series, Isaiah 40-66, p. 333). Luther says that God does not reject fasting per se, but "fasting as a cover for ungodliness." (Luther's Works, vol. 17, p. 286) In other words, we are trying to "pull the wool over" God's eyes. Luther also warns that fasting can also "become a cover to blind our eyes so that we may not see our sins." (Ibid, p. 284).
Blessings on your proclamation!
