“Declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.”
Isaiah 58:1
God says to Isaiah, “Declare to my people…” (58:1). Notice what God says about His own people and see if you think this describes Christians today.
These people were diligent about their personal relationship with God, serious about worship and serious about studying the Bible: “They seek me daily and delight to know my ways” (58:2), and they were serious about prayer and fasting: “They ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?’” (58:2–3).
God’s people had been worshipping, studying the Bible, praying, and fasting, and yet, bad things were happening to them. Trouble had come to their nation. God wasn’t answering their prayers.
So, God’s people were frustrated. They felt that God had let them down, and they wanted Him to know that they were not pleased about it (58:3). These believers felt that God owed them and that God was obliged to come through for them because of what they’d done for Him.
Hadn’t God seen their devotion? Yes, God had seen their devotion, and He sent the prophet Isaiah to tell the people that He was not impressed: “Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers… Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high” (58:3–4).
These believers were no different from other people who did not worship, read the Bible, fast or pray. They had settled for a private piety that left them as self-centred as if they had not known God at all. Their faith was a religious glaze over a self-centred life.
Where do you feel that you most identify with God’s people here?
