Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 25: Isaiah 34–66

Top Highlights

“So the good news is that the period in which Yahweh had to act against his people through the Assyrians and Babylonians is over and past. He is now positively related to them. His presence and his grace are turned to their welfare. He is open to their worship and devotion.” (Page 83)

“The scene is a prologue composed of four well-defined speeches: vv 1–2, 3–5, 6–7 (+8), and 9.” (Page 78)

“The kind of worship God will choose and honor (vv 5–14) is not ostentatious self-abnegation in fasting with much beating of breasts, but acts which overcome the problems. (cf. Nehemiah’s acts and programs in Neh 5.) To please God, one should recognize wrongs, stop the ones doing wrong, and aid the victims (vv 6–7). If this is done as an act or prelude to worship, success will follow for ruler and people. God will be present and answer the prayers of worshipers (vv 8–9).” (Page 277)

“Rebellion is defined in this scene as doing one’s own pleasure or as one wishes in worship or political allegiance (v 3b) rather than as God wishes (vv 5–7, 10, 13). The results of sin are: violence and strife (v 4), slavery (a yoke, v 9), spying and accusations (a pointing finger, v 9c) and insolent or libelous talk (speaking trouble, v 9c). Rebellion and sin were a part of Yahweh’s accusation against 8th-century Jerusalem (1:17–25 and Mic 3:8).” (Page 273)

“Fasting in sorrowful memory of Jerusalem’s great catastrophe and as a symbol of humiliation before God became a problem when it failed to move one to look toward the future (cf. Neh 9). When fasting, accompanied by grief over sin and repentence from sin, leads to new resolve and compensating action, it can be both useful and therapeutic. When it becomes an end in itself, it is sterile and counterproductive.” (Page 277)