◄ Isaiah 58:4 ►
You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today and have your voice be heard on high.
Study Bible
You fast with contention and strife

Israel’s acts of self-denial had become occasions for quarrels, rivalry, and the pursuit of personal advantage. Fasting was meant to humble the heart before God, turn from sin, and seek His mercy, as Joel called Judah to do in Joel 2:12–13. God would not accept a ritual that preserved injustice and hostility.

Jas 4:1-3 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you?…
Pro 13:10 Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is…
Pro 17:14 To start a quarrel is to release a flood;…

to strike viciously with your fist.

Their outward devotion existed alongside actual violence against others. Such conduct violated the covenant obligation to love one’s neighbor and to deal justly with the weak and oppressed. God condemns worship that masks cruelty, calling His people instead to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.

Exo 21:18 If men are quarreling and one strikes the other…
Mrk 14:65 Then some of them began to spit on Him…
Mat 26:67 Then they spit in His face and struck Him.…

You cannot fast as you do today

Their fasting could not accomplish its intended purpose because it was not joined to repentance and obedience. They desired God’s attention while refusing to change the sins that provoked His displeasure. Isaiah (“Yahweh is salvation”) later identifies the fast God approves: freeing the oppressed, sharing bread with the hungry, and caring for the needy.

Mat 6:16-18 When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites…
Zec 7:5-6 Ask all the people of the land and the priests,…
Luk 18:12 I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’

and have your voice be heard on high.

God does not regard prayers offered with unrepentant hearts and violent hands. Sin had created a barrier between Judah and the Lord, as Isaiah 59:2 explains. Genuine fasting seeks God Himself and produces humility, mercy, and righteousness.

Psa 66:18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not…
Pro 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer…
Jhn 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Isaiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, Isaiah is the author of the book that bears his name. He prophesied to the Kingdom of Judah during a time of moral and spiritual decline.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, where Isaiah's ministry took place. The people of Judah are the primary audience of Isaiah's prophecies.

3. Fasting
A religious practice involving abstaining from food and drink, intended as a means of humbling oneself before God. In this context, it is being misused by the people of Judah.

4. Quarreling and Strife
The behaviors that Isaiah condemns, indicating that the people's fasting is not leading to righteousness but rather to conflict and violence.

5. Wicked Fists
A metaphor for physical violence and aggression, highlighting the hypocrisy of the people's religious practices.
Teaching Points
True Fasting and Worship
Fasting should be an act of genuine humility and devotion to God, not a ritualistic practice devoid of true spiritual intent.

The Danger of Hypocrisy
Engaging in religious practices while harboring sin and conflict in our hearts is hypocritical and displeasing to God.

The Importance of Right Motives
Our religious activities should stem from a desire to honor God and serve others, not from selfish ambition or to gain favor.

The Call to Righteous Living
True worship involves living righteously and justly, seeking peace and reconciliation rather than conflict and strife.

Hearing from God
To have our voices heard on high, we must align our actions with God's will, seeking His guidance and correction in our lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Isaiah 58:4 challenge our understanding of religious practices like fasting? What should be our focus when engaging in such practices?

2. In what ways can we ensure that our worship and religious activities are sincere and pleasing to God, rather than hypocritical?

3. How do the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 6:16-18 relate to the issues addressed in Isaiah 58:4? What can we learn from His instructions on fasting?

4. Reflect on a time when you experienced or witnessed conflict within a religious community. How might Isaiah 58:4 provide guidance for resolving such conflicts?

5. How can we apply the principles of Isaiah 58:4 to our daily lives, ensuring that our actions and attitudes align with God's desires for justice and righteousness?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 6:16-18
Jesus teaches about the proper attitude and approach to fasting, emphasizing sincerity and humility rather than outward show.

James 4:1-3
James discusses the source of quarrels and conflicts among believers, pointing to selfish desires and wrong motives, similar to the issues Isaiah addresses.

Zechariah 7:5-6
God questions the sincerity of the people's fasting, asking whether it was truly for Him, echoing the concerns in Isaiah 58.
Sermons
Conviction Before ComfortIsaiah 58:1-4
Cry AloudJ. A. Alexander.Isaiah 58:1-4
National Sins Protested AgainstR. Shittier.Isaiah 58:1-4
Selfish PietyHomilistIsaiah 58:1-4
The Minister Must be FaithfulIsaiah 58:1-4
Religion: its Semblance, its Substance, its RewardW.M. Statham Isaiah 58:1-12
True and Spurious FastingE. Johnson Isaiah 58:1-12
Selfishness Spoiling Religious HabitsR. Tuck Isaiah 58:3, 4
FastingBp. Talbot.Isaiah 58:3-7
FastsProf. S. R. Driver, D. D.Isaiah 58:3-7
Incipient PharisaismProf. J. Skinner, D. D.Isaiah 58:3-7
Ye Fast for StrifeJ. A. Alexander.Isaiah 58:3-7
People
Isaiah, Jacob
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Angry, Behold, Blows, Cause, Contention, Debate, Ears, Ends, Evil, Expect, Fast, Fasted, Fasting, Fight, Fighting, Fist, Fists, Giving, Hands, Hit, Holy, Keeping, Makes, Present, Quarrel, Quarreling, Quickly, Ready, Smite, Strife, Strike, Striking, To'-day, Voice, Wicked, Wickedness, Yours
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 58:4

     5914   optimism
     5924   quarrelsomeness
     8245   ethics, incentives

Isaiah 58:1-7

     8432   fasting, practice

Isaiah 58:1-9

     8160   seeking God

Isaiah 58:2-7

     5943   self-deception

Isaiah 58:3-7

     5773   abstinence, discipline

Library
June 17. "The Glory of the Lord Shall be Thy Reward" (Isa. Lviii. 8).
"The glory of the Lord shall be thy reward" (Isa. lviii. 8). He comes by our side as our helper; nay, more. He comes to dwell within us; to be the life in our blood, the fire in our thought, the faith within us, both in inception and consummation. Thus He becomes not only the recompense of the victor, but the resources of the victory. He is the Captain and the Overcomer in our lives. If we have caught any help that has relieved us of a troubled morning, it has been of Him. He lifts our eyes up unto …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Spiritual Growth
Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring whose waters fail not.' (Isaiah lviii. 11.) 'Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' (2 Peter iii. 18.) The truths of the Bible exist in counterpart, having at least two aspects, each of which must be considered in relation to the other, if their full meaning is to be understood. That is a very necessary statement in regard to the aspect of truth which we emphasize under the general heading of 'Spiritual …
T. H. Howard—Standards of Life and Service

Prayer Essential to God
"Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. 14th verse: 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."--Isaiah 58:9. It must never be forgotten that Almighty God rules this world. He is not an absentee God. His hand is ever on the throttle of human affairs. He is everywhere present in the concerns …
Edward M. Bounds—The Weapon of Prayer

From his Entrance on the Ministry in 1815, to his Commission to Reside in Germany in 1820
1815.--After the long season of depression through which John Yeardley passed, as described in the last chapter, the new year of 1815 dawned with brightness upon his mind. He now at length saw his spiritual bonds loosed; and the extracts which follow describe his first offerings in the ministry in a simple and affecting manner. 1 mo. 5.--The subject of the prophet's going down to the potter's house opened so clearly on my mind in meeting this morning that I thought I could almost have publicly …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

Attributes of Love.
8. Efficiency is another attribute or characteristic of benevolence. Benevolence consists in choice, intention. Now we know from consciousness that choice or intention constitutes the mind's deepest source or power of action. If I honestly intend a thing, I cannot but make efforts to accomplish that which I intend, provided that I believe the thing possible. If I choose an end, this choice must and will energize to secure its end. When benevolence is the supreme choice, preference, or intention of …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Evidences of Regeneration.
I. Introductory remarks. 1. In ascertaining what are, and what are not, evidences of regeneration, we must constantly keep in mind what is not, and what is regeneration; what is not, and what is implied in it. 2. We must constantly recognize the fact, that saints and sinners have precisely similar constitutions and constitutional susceptibilities, and therefore that many things are common to both. What is common to both cannot, of course, he an evidence of regeneration. 3. That no state of the sensibility …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Epistle xxxiv. To Venantius, Ex-Monk, Patrician of Syracuse .
To Venantius, Ex-Monk, Patrician of Syracuse [1331] . Gregory to Venantius, &c. Many foolish men have supposed that, if I were advanced to the rank of the episcopate, I should decline to address thee, or to keep up communication with thee by letter. But this is not so; since I am compelled by the very necessity of my position not to hold my peace. For it is written, Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet (Isai. lviii. 1). And again it is written, I have given thee for a watchman …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

A Summary of the Christian Life. Of Self-Denial.
1. Consideration of the second general division in regard to the Christian life. Its beginning and sum. A twofold respect. 1. We are not our own. Respect to both the fruit and the use. Unknown to philosophers, who have placed reason on the throne of the Holy Spirit. 2. Since we are not our own, we must seek the glory of God, and obey his will. Self-denial recommended to the disciples of Christ. He who neglects it, deceived either by pride or hypocrisy, rushes on destruction. 3. Three things to be …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Entire Sanctification as Taught by John.
John, before Pentecost, was emphatically a Son of Thunder. He could forbid a man to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, because the man was not of his own particular fold. He was ready to imitate Elijah by calling down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans who would not extend the rites of hospitality to his Master. He was eager to have the highest possible place in the coming kingdom of his Lord, and this at whatever cost. But after Pentecost, John was par excellence the apostle of love. …
Dougan Clark—The Theology of Holiness

What Manner of Man Ought to Come to Rule.
That man, therefore, ought by all means to be drawn with cords to be an example of good living who already lives spiritually, dying to all passions of the flesh; who disregards worldly prosperity; who is afraid of no adversity; who desires only inward wealth; whose intention the body, in good accord with it, thwarts not at all by its frailness, nor the spirit greatly by its disdain: one who is not led to covet the things of others, but gives freely of his own; who through the bowels of compassion …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

At a Public Fast in July, First Sabbath, 1650. (257)
At A Public Fast In July, First Sabbath, 1650.(257) Deut. xxxii. 4-7.--"He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment," &c. There are two things which may comprehend all religion,--the knowledge of God and of ourselves. These are the principles of religion, and are so nearly conjoined together, that the one cannot be truly without the other, much less savingly. It is no wonder that Moses craved attention, and that, to the end he may attain it from an hard hearted deaf people, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How to Make Use of Christ as the Truth, when Error Prevaileth, and the Spirit of Error Carrieth Many Away.
There is a time when the spirit of error is going abroad, and truth is questioned, and many are led away with delusions. For Satan can change himself into an angel of light, and make many great and fairlike pretensions to holiness, and under that pretext usher in untruths, and gain the consent of many unto them; so that in such a time of temptation many are stolen off their feet, and made to depart from the right ways of God, and to embrace error and delusions instead of truth. Now the question is, …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Cæsarius of Arles.
He was born in the district of Chalons-sur-Saone, A. D. 470. He seems to have been early awakened, by a pious education, to vital Christianity. When he was between seven and eight years old, it would often happen that he would give a portion of his clothes to the poor whom he met, and would say, when he came home, that he had been, constrained to do so. When yet a youth, he entered the celebrated convent on the island of Lerins, (Lerina,) in Provence, from which a spirit of deep and practical piety …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Epistle v. To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor.
To Theoctista, Sister of the Emperor. Gregory to Theoctista, &c. With how great devotion my mind prostrates itself before your Venerableness I cannot fully express in words; nor yet do I labour to give utterance to it, since, even though I were silent, you read in your heart your own sense of my devotion. I wonder, however, that you withdrew your countenance, till of late bestowed on me, from this my recent engagement in the pastoral office; wherein, under colour of episcopacy, I have been brought …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

How to Make Use of Christ for Steadfastness, in a Time when Truth is Oppressed and Borne Down.
When enemies are prevailing, and the way of truth is evil spoken of, many faint, and many turn aside, and do not plead for truth, nor stand up for the interest of Christ, in their hour and power of darkness: many are overcome with base fear, and either side with the workers of iniquity, or are not valiant for the truth, but being faint-hearted, turn back. Now the thoughts of this may put some who desire to stand fast, and to own him and his cause in a day of trial, to enquire how they shall make …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

The First Galilean Ministry.
The visit to Nazareth was in many respects decisive. It presented by anticipation an epitome of the history of the Christ. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. The first time He taught in the Synagogue, as the first time He taught in the Temple, they cast Him out. On the one and the other occasion, they questioned His authority, and they asked for a sign.' In both instances, the power which they challenged was, indeed, claimed by Christ, but its display, in the manner which they expected, …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Putting God to Work
"For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God beside thee who worketh for him that waiteth for him."--Isaiah 64:4. The assertion voiced in the title given this chapter is but another way of declaring that God has of His own motion placed Himself under the law of prayer, and has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of men. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby He will do things through men as they pray, which He would not otherwise do. Prayer …
Edward M. Bounds—The Weapon of Prayer

Jeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.
"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."--Jeremiah i. 8. The Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were resisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten. But there was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the earlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour; though hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high places, and ruled in the congregation. …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

In the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles.
(October, a.d. 29.) ^D John VII. 11-52. ^d 11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he? [It was now eighteen months since Jesus had visited Jerusalem, at which time he had healed the impotent man at Bethesda. His fame and prolonged obscurity made his enemies anxious for him to again expose himself in their midst. John here used the word "Jews" as a designation for the Jerusalemites, who, as enemies of Christ, were to be distinguished from the multitudes who were in doubt …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Regeneration by Faith. Of Repentance.
1. Connection of this chapter with the previous one and the subsequent chapters. Repentance follows faith, and is produced by it. Reason. Error of those who take a contrary view. 2. Their First Objection. Answer. In what sense the origin of Repentance ascribed to Faith. Cause of the erroneous idea that faith is produced by repentance. Refutation of it. The hypocrisy of Monks and Anabaptists in assigning limits to repentance exposed. 3. A second opinion concerning repentance considered. 4. A third …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

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