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Scripture Reading: Isa. 57; Isa. 58
In the foregoing message we saw that the real meaning of keeping the Sabbath is that we cease from our doing, stop our work, and enjoy what the Lord has done for us, drinking of Him as the waters. In the Old Testament, to keep the Sabbath was not to do any work but to remember what God had done in His creation. In the New Testament, to keep the Sabbath is to believe in the Lord Jesus. To believe in Christ is actually to be "fired," to be replaced with Christ, and to drink of Him as the waters. In the sight of God, this is the real keeping of the Sabbath. If we keep the Sabbath in this way, we will be able to say, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). The more we realize that it is no longer we who live but that it is Christ who lives in us, the more we drink of the waters. The crucial point in Isaiah 55 and 56 is learning how to drink the divine waters and to keep the Sabbath by being fired and replaced with Christ.
The crucial point in chapters fifty-seven and fifty-eight is how to fast. The real meaning of fasting is to stop eating all things other than the Lord Jesus and to not have the taste for anything other than Him. We should be weary of "eating" worldly styles, fashions, and beautification. We need to fast, to cease from all other kinds of eating, to stop the taste for all other foods, and to eat Jesus as the bread of life embodied in His word (John 6:48, 51, 63, 68). This is our fasting.
Let us keep this understanding of fasting in mind as we see in Isaiah 57 and 58 the evil condition and the need of the wicked of the house of Jacob who have nothing to do with Christ as the Servant of Jehovah. Christ was willing to serve them, but they were not willing to receive His service.
The evil condition of the wicked is that they do not come to the Lord to eat and enjoy the Lord. They do many things, but they do not come to contact Him, to take Him, to receive Him, to taste Him, and to enjoy Him. In the sight of God, nothing is more evil than this. Today, we may have a morning revival, come to the meetings, sing hymns, and even pray without contacting the Lord. To do this is to be a hypocrite.
Isaiah 57:1 and 2 indicate that it is better for the righteous and the godly to die that they may be separated from the wicked. "The righteous man perishes,/And no one takes it to heart;/And godly men are being swept away,/While no one considers/That the righteous man is being swept away from evil./He enters into peace;/They rest in their beds,/ Each who walks uprightly." The righteous and godly ones are the ones who come to God, contact God, and enjoy God. The wicked, however, are busy with other things and do not care for God's seekers. When the righteous die and rest in their beds, no one takes it to heart. The word beds in verse 2 signifies graves.
Verses 3 through 10 describe the evils of the wicked of the house of Jacob. These wicked ones were busy with many things, but they would not come to the Lord and contact Him. Today, we also may be busy, even with our morning revival, and not have any contact with the Lord. We need to learn at every moment and during every action to touch, taste, eat, and enjoy the Lord. We should not only touch the Lord, but we should also be touched by Him.
The wicked of the house of Jacob did not remember Jehovah and did not fear Him (vv. 11-13a). This means that they did not care for Him. Today we may care for such things as reading the Bible, singing hymns, and coming to the meetings but not care for touching the Lord.
In 57:13b-21 we have Jehovah's blessing to him who takes refuge in Him. Every day of our life is a storm. We need a refuge, and the refuge is the Lord Himself. To take refuge in the Lord is to get into Him and stay in Him to enjoy Him.
"He who takes refuge in Me will inherit the land/And possess My holy mountain" (v. 13b). When we stay in the Lord, taking Him as our refuge, we enjoy Him, and eventually we will inherit Him as the land and possess Him as our high mountain.
"It will be said,/Cast up, cast up; prepare the way;/Take up the obstacle out of the way of My people" (v. 14). The greatest obstacle to our Christian life is our failure to contact the Lord. This obstacle must be removed.
In verse 15 we have the word of the high and exalted One, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy. He says, "I will dwell in the high and holy place,/And with the contrite and lowly of spirit,/To revive the spirit of the lowly/And to revive the heart of the contrite." Our heart needs to be revived in one way, and our spirit needs to be revived in another way. The way to have a real revival is to contact the Lord. If we do not contact the Lord, we will not be revived.
In verse 16 Jehovah says that He will not contend forever, nor will He always be angry, for the spirit would faint before Him, and the souls which He has made. In verses 17 through 19 He goes on to say, "Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry,/And I struck him; I hid Myself and was angry;/And he went on, turning away in the way of his heart./ I have seen his ways/And will heal him;/And I will lead him and restore comfort to him/And to his mourning ones,/Creating the fruit of the lips:/Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,/Says Jehovah; and I will heal him." The expression the fruit of the lips refers to praise and thanksgiving. The word peace in verse 19 is significant. If we contact the Lord, have fellowship with Him, and remain in His presence, He will be happy and we will have peace. Otherwise, He will be unhappy with us and will contend with us.
"The wicked are like the tossed sea,/For it cannot be calm,/And its waters toss up mire and mud./There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked" (vv. 20-21). The wicked ones cannot be calm or have peace; they are like the tossed sea, which is never calm. The wicked ones do many things, but they cannot have peace, because they do not contact the Lord, rest in Him, and remain in His presence.
Isaiah 58:1-9a describes the hypocrisy of the house of Jacob. They fasted, but they did many things in pursuit of their own interests. They did not rest in God nor take Him as their nourishment and life supply. This was their hypocrisy.
Concerning those who fast in a genuine way, verses 8 and 9 say, "Then your light will break forth like the dawn, / And your recovery will speedily spring forth./And your righteousness will go before you;/The glory of Jehovah will guard you from behind./Then you will call, and Jehovah will answer;/You will cry out, and He will say, Here I am." If we fast in the way of contacting the Lord, taking Him as our nourishment and sustaining power, our light will break forth like the dawn. Otherwise, we will be in darkness.
Verses 9b through 14 are the instruction of Jehovah to the house of Jacob.
Verse 9b is a word about removing the yoke from their midst, the pointing of the finger and the speaking of wickedness. In the church life today, some may gossip about others and criticize them. To do this is to point the finger at others and to put a yoke on them. Some may think that they are right and others are wrong, that they are spiritual and others are not serious with the Lord. As a result, these ones condemn others in the church life, and their condemnation becomes a yoke on others' shoulders. For instance, an elder may be criticized to such an extent that he does not know how to serve as an elder. In the eyes of certain saints, he is wrong, no matter what he does. He must bear the yoke of criticism and condemnation.
Verse 10a goes on to speak of drawing out our soul to the hungry and satisfying the desires of the afflicted. This is to be merciful to others and to sympathize with them.
To those who remove the yoke and cease from the pointing of the finger and the speaking of wickedness, Jehovah says, "Then your light will rise in the darkness,/And your gloom will be like midday;/And Jehovah will guide you continually, / And satisfy your soul in the dry times,/And strengthen your bones;/And you will be like a watered garden,/And like a spring of water,/Whose waters do not deceive./And those who are of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;/You will raise up the foundations of generation upon generation;/And you will be called the repairer of the breach,/The restorer of the paths in which to dwell" (vv. 10b-12). These verses indicate that the one who fasts in the right way will be full of light and life, that he will be useful, and that he will enable others to go on.
In verse 13 Jehovah instructs the house of Jacob to turn back their foot from the Sabbath, from doing what they please on His holy day. They were to call the Sabbath a delight and honor it, not doing their own ways, nor finding their own pleasure and speaking idle words. They were to keep the Sabbath by enjoying God, having been fired and replaced by Him. But if they did not keep the Sabbath in this way, they would be those who do their own ways, find their own pleasure, and speak idle words.
If they honor the Sabbath, they will have delight in Jehovah, and He will cause them to ride upon the heights of the earth, and He will feed them with the inheritance of Jacob their father (v. 14).
In the book of Isaiah, we have seen that God has an economy. In His economy God makes Christ the centrality and universality. God wants us to learn one lesson — to stop our doing and to keep away from the taste of anything other than Christ. We should be replaced by Christ and enjoy God continually. This is the purpose for which Christ died for us and was resurrected for us. He is our Sabbath and our food. Now we can rest in Him, feed on Him, and have Him as our replacement in every way and in everything.
