Day 215. Isaiah 58-60

The religious environment of post-exilic Jerusalem—the city of Ezra and Nehemiah—was very observant—outwardly, at least. The fasts and feasts of the Jewish year were rigorously observed and celebrated. But the inner reality was quite different. The prophet whose voice we hear in this third section of Isaiah is fiercely critical of the superficial nature of their religious rites and practices, and he ruthlessly tears off the mask of hypocrisy. The people fast and "bow down the head like a bulrush and . . . lie in sackcloth and ashes," (58:5) but at the same time they are oppressing the helpless and fighting among themselves. "Look," shouts the prophet, "you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers" (58:3). This is a constant theme for prophets, from Amos to Jesus of Nazareth—worship and outward observance of the law mean nothing without justice for the poor and those marginalized by society.
The people make a spectacle of their abstinence, but the kind of fast that the LORD approves is "to share [their] bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into [their] house" (58:7). They wonder why the LORD does not listen to their prayers, but only when the people start to perform those ordinary acts of compassion, will LORD will answer. Then they will "cry for help, . . . he will say, Here I am" (58:9)—but not until. When they "offer food to the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted" (58:10), then the oracles of former prophets will be fulfilled and the land will "be like a watered garden" (58:11). But self-serving use of the fast-days and Sabbaths exploited in the pursuit of their own affairs (58:13), far from pleasing God, stirs him to anger.
"The iniquities [of the people] have been barriers between [them and their] God"—the lies, the dishonest and frivolous lawsuits, the violence to travelers and the indifference to those who seek justice. Civility is lost, and people behave little better than animals—"we all growl like bears" (59:11), the prophet laments. Those who are honest with themselves see apostasy everywhere—"transgressing, denying the LORD, and turning away from following God" (59:13) are the rules. Those who try to behave righteously get taken advantage of—"truth is lacking, and whoever turns from evil is despoiled" (59:15).
The LORD sees all this, and he is greatly displeased. Because there is no justice, and "there was no one [else] to intervene" (59:16), he himself is putting on his armor and wrapping "himself in fury as in a mantle" (59:17), in order to bring "wrath to his adversaries, requital to his enemies" (59:18). But to those in Jerusalem who "turn from transgression," God the Warrior comes as "Redeemer" (59:20).
And when the Redeemer appears and justice is executed, everything will change. Jerusalem will be renewed and the scattered people of Israel will be gathered from the four corners of the then-known world and brought back to it. The glorious days of Solomon will return—caravans will come bringing "the wealth of the nations" (60:5)—they shall "bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD" (60:6). (In his Gospel St. Matthew uses this passage as a prediction of the coming of the wise men to visit the child Jesus—see Matthew 2:11.) And we Christians see the gathering of the nations as a shadow the new, inclusive community of the Church in which, as St. Paul writes, there "is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). In his New Jerusalem the universal reign of peace shall prevail—"Violence shall no more be heard in your
land," the LORD promises, "devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise" (60:18). In that New Jerusalem the sun shall no longer be needed as the light of the city—the LORD will be its light. There will be no more darkness either in the sky or in the hearts of men and women, because all the people shall be without exception righteous. When the time of renewal comes, the LORD "will accomplish it quickly" (60:22).