Here we are finally on the last week of the study of Isaiah. Today I want to focus on another passage that is often quoted by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Is it not to deal thy bread to the poor that are cast out to they house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Members of the church love this passage because it coincides with their practice of fasting once a month and giving the money they would have spent on food to the poor. The thing is, this is a very modern, very LDS interpretation of this passage. What would a Jew in Isaiah's day think when they read this?
There is a fairly strong tradition of fasting in the Old Testament. Moses fasted 40 days and 40 nights while talking with the Lord on Sinai (Exodus 34:28). Esther asked the Jews of Susa to fast before she went to talk to the king (Es 4:3). There were other accounts of people fasting when they were mourning or pleading for repentance.
However, there was only one regular Jewish observance when the people in general were (and still are) required to fast, Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. I think that when the Lord says "Is not this the fast that I have chosen?" (58:6) he is referring to Yom Kippur. So what is Yom Kippur all about? Anciently the High Priest would make an offering for his own sins, and then two goats would be chosen. One goat would be sacrificed. The Priest would confess the sins of the people on the head of of the other goat, and then it would be lead into the wilderness and set loose, symbolically taking the sins of the people with him. (Lev 16). During this process the House of Israel is supposed to "afflict your souls" which was interpreted as fasting. The ceremony was intended to make the people clean from the sins of the previous year so they could start a new year free from the burdens of sin.
(Lev 16:30).
It is interesting that Isaiah seems to be condemning the House of Israel for doing exactly what they were commanded to do, i.e. afflict their soul. "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?" (Isaiah 58:5). Isaiah is clearly using the same phrase here as in Leviticus to teach a point. The ancient rituals were meaningless unless they were performed with faith and with intent to do good. This passage teaches the Jews how to do this, and it seems that they listened.
In modern Judaism there are several holy days occurring in the fall that are called the High Holy Days. They culminate in the week between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. At Rosh HaShanah each faithful member contemplates their sins of the last year and makes an effort to make amends and repent of anything they have done wrong. On the eve of Yom Kippur, they give charity to the poor and do other good works. Then on Yom Kippur they refrain from eating, having sex, bathing or washing, wearing any kind of perfume, and wearing leather shoes. These things, though they seem a little random, represent all the things people started to do after the fall of Adam (the washing and wearing of perfume representing necessities arising from working by the "sweat of thy brow") Some very devout groups wear special white robes on Yom Kippur, similar to ones worn by priest in the ancient temple that represent purity. The holy day is a time to atone from all the sins of the past year and attempt to return to the state of purity that Adam and Even enjoyed in the Garden.
The Law of Moses set up rituals that helped the people understand right and wrong, and that sins must be righted. Many of these rituals were focused on making sacrifices at the temple. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews had no access to the temple. These passages about fasting show the expatriate Jews that, even though they could not perform the rituals that they were used to at the Temple, they could do the much harder and more important work of personal examination, repentence, and good works.
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