The Failing Response of the People (Isaiah 58:2-3 a)
“Yet it is me they seek daily,
And delight to know my ways.
As a nation which did righteousness,
And did not forsake the judgment of their God.
They ask of me the judgments of righteousness,
They delight to draw near to God.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see not?
Why have we afflicted our soul, and you do not notice it?' ”
This is recognising the people's response. It was their outward view of themselves. They cannot understand what the problem is, for they saw themselves as behaving satisfactorily, because they had no discernment. This was their claim:
1) They seek Him daily through the daily sacrifices and ministrations.
2) They are concerned to carry out all proper religious practises.
3) They make a great demonstration of maintaining justice by utilising the God-appointed means.
4) They fast and indulge in self-affliction at crucial times.
This being so, how can Yahweh be disappointed with them? We must analyse the claims in more depth.
‘Yet it is Me that they seek daily.' They see themselves as those who seek Yahweh, and Him especially (the ‘Me' is stressed), and do it daily. After all they assiduously offer the daily sacrifices and go through the daily ministrations. They offer the morning and evening sacrifices. Compare Isaiah 1:12-15.
‘And delight to know my ways.' They considered that because they utilised God-appointed means of establishing justice and listened to the priests and prophets attached to the temple, this was all that could be required of them. Did it not demonstrate that they delighted in His ways? They want all to recognise that it is their great joy to seek to know Yahweh's will, especially in matters of justice.
‘As (if they were) a nation which did righteousness, and did not forsake the judgment of their God. They ask of me judgments of righteousness, they delight to draw near to God.' They behaved as though they were a truly righteous nation, one that wanted to know Yahweh's will. But all the time it was nothing but outward show. No one could criticise their careful attention to religious detail. They did everything the cult required. They followed the means. All that was true, but their hearts were not in it. It was not a genuine seeking of Yahweh.
‘They ask of me judgments of righteousness.' They were even assiduous in seeking His judgment on things, possibly by use of the Urim and the Thummim, or by use of the lot (both of which could be manipulated). Indeed they give the appearance of delighting to draw near to God for this purpose to discover His ways. They sought to give the impression that they were a righteous nation, that they ‘did righteousness', and that they were assiduous in seeking justice by God-appointed means, and they made a great outward show of it.
An outsider would surely have been impressed by their cultic observance and their concern to seek God's judgment on things and their apparently careful attention to finding His will. But the problem was that as far as He was concerned it was all a pretence. In His eyes it was an outward show of religious activity and justice that was not true at heart. For along with what they claimed the worship in the high places continued, people were still not treated fairly in the courts, and their behaviour to each other, both in business and private matters, continued to be abysmal. They drew near to Him with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him.
‘Why have we fasted, and you see not? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you do not notice it?' The people were surprised and offended at the suggestion that they were anything but righteous. Did they not do everything that was required of them? (Compare Isaiah 1:11-15). As well as daily ordinances, and a proper seeking of justice, they also keep their fasts and indulge in self-abasement. What more did God want?
But this was in fact the problem. They saw God as Someone to be manipulated by their religious endeavours, by their outward show. They considered that if they engaged in the right rituals God would be forced to respond. What they overlooked was that God was concerned about the fact that they were failing to live rightly and were not observing the details of the covenant in their daily lives, and especially about how they were behaving in their personal relationships with each other. They were not loving their neighbour as they loved themselves.
The basic sinfulness of man comes out in this attitude to religion. In his blindness He sees God as Someone Who has certain requirements, and as long as he fulfils those he considers that God should therefore gratefully respond. When they wanted Baal to bring about the fruitfulness of their crops, or Asherah to ensure fertility, they indulged in free and unrestrained sex before their images. That was what inspired such gods to act. But they knew that Yahweh was a severe God. So their approach was different. Before Him they fasted, went without food and afflicted themselves (compare Judges 20:26; 2Ch 20:3; 2 Samuel 12:16; 2 Samuel 12:22-23; 1 Kings 21:27). Molech was a tough god and was called on when things were hard, and they then passed their children through his fires, assuming that the sacrifice would persuade him to act also on their behalf. Each was to be persuaded to act by different approaches. They considered that they had a well rounded religious viewpoint.
But what they overlooked with Yahweh was that He was not that kind of God. He was not a God among others. He was not a God Who had to be persuaded to act. He was not a God easily impressed by outward show. He was Yahweh, the only God, ‘the God Who is there'. He was the God Who was always active. He was the God Who wanted to respond with love to those who loved Him (like Abraham did - Isaiah 41:8). He was the God Who required from them genuineness of heart. And because of that He was continually concerned with every aspect of their lives, and took account of their everyday behaviour. He looked behind the religious facade. He was the covenant God, and true daily righteousness in every aspect of life resulting from their love for Him and for righteousness was expressedly an important part of the covenant (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 6:5). (This was in contrast, for example, to Baal who was not seen as concerned with their behaviour. How could he be? It was pretty much like his own purported behaviour anyway).