Isaiah 58 is a favorite chapter for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because we as a church are encouraged to fast once a month. Today I taught about the law of the fast in my youth Sunday School class. As I was preparing for the lesson I caught on the phrase, "Is not this the fast I have chosen?" (58:6) and it made me wonder what fast days the Lord had established for his people. A quick search and I found that in the Torah, there is only one day that was designated as a fast day, Yom Kippur. In Leviticus 23: 26 "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves,[d] and present a food offering to the Lord." It doesn't even say explicitly that people should fast, but it is implied that people should fast and take the food they would have eaten as a "food offering". By the end of the Old Testament era, there were several more fast days that were observed, which mostly commemorated tragedies in Israelite history, like the destruction of the temple, and the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem.
Understanding this, the Lord's condemnation of how the Jews were fasting makes more sense.
3 ¶ Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
It seems like these fast days where people were lamenting their captivity had become politicized and had turned into a time of "strife and debate," and a time to mourn in "sackcloth and ashes." This purpose of fasting is far from the purpose God proscribed for Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, was just a little before Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the new liturgical year. It was a time of reflection, resentence and forgiveness. It was the day of the scapegoat ceremony, when the sins of the nation were ritually transferred to a goat, that was then driven into the wilderness, taking the people's sins with it. It was a time for fresh starts, not a time of mourning.
As Isaiah 58 continues, it emphasizes that people are supposed to bless the poor and needy through fasting (v. 7) and seek communion with the Lord (v. 9). When we do, the Lord promises that he will "have our back" so to speak, and empower us with his glory (v. 8).
Later, Jesus condemned those who fasted "to appear unto men to be fasting." He called them hypocrites and commended the practice in fasting in secret. ( Matt 6:16-18) I think this has application to the modern time. What is our first thought when we remember that it is fast day. Is it, "Oh no. I have to starve myself?" Instead, it should be "who can I bless with my fast today?" That blessing can come through prayers for another's behalf, and from paying a generous fast offering. It is not wrong to fast for inspiration for ourselves. Didn't God promise that when we called he would answer "Her I am?" The yokes that we break through fasting could be other's needs, or it could be our own sinful nature.
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