Isaiah 58 has such a beautiful discussion about fasting and fast offerings that I pretty much spent the whole time going through the first 12 verses of that chapter. Most of the thoughts came from a podcast that I downloaded from the BYU Speeches website where I found some of the smart BYU professors talking about this. So I'll just kind of go through what we talked about. In the first verse, the Lord tells Isaiah to tell the people what they are doing wrong.
In verse two, He says that the people pray and do the ordinances, but they are still lacking something. The attitude is just not right. They say we have fasted and we have afflicted our souls, God can't you see how we have done that? And He says to them that they are working on the Sabbath day and doing things for their own pleasure.
In the days of Israel, a Fast Day was always a Sabbath. I don't know if it was the end of the end (Saturday) which they were observing as the Sabbath or another day. In the early days of the Church, Fast Day was held on a Thursday and was re-instituted as a way of helping the poor and less fortunate. The fast offerings were generally paid by actually donating the food that the family would have eaten, rather than money. A meeting was held in conjunction with fast day and that got to be difficult because of people working. So in December of 1856, Fast Day was changed to be the first Sunday of each month, and that is still observed today.
But going on with Isaiah verse 4 he says that the people make a lot of strife about how they are fasting (they're talking a lot about how hungry they are) and that they can't do anything else because they are fasting. (Like the son can't help his mother because he's fasting.) And God says, is this the fast that I have chosen for you to make a big deal out of it and to bow down your head as a bullrush? Bullrushes are a hollow reed-like plant with a thin cell wall. It bruises easily and then just falls over.
In verse 6 the Lord says that the fast He has chosen is to loose the bands of wickedness (it gives you strength to do the right thing), to undo the heavy burden (either yours or someone else's because you pray for them or give them food, etc.) Verse 7 goes on in the same vein, that you help the poor and unfortunate, cover the naked and don't hide yourself from your relatives. Isaiah explains this whole thing as a "cause and effect" situation. First he tells them that they aren't fasting correctly. Then he tells them how they are doing it wrong. Next he explains how they should do it right. And then in verses 8 - 12 he tells them what the rewards are of proper fasting and offering.
"Thy light shall break for as the morning and thy health spring forth speedily." "Thy righteousness shall go before thee" (like a shield which protects you in the front) and "the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward" (rearward). So the Lord essentially says "I've got your back" and will protect you from the unseen things which will come up behind you. Then comes this wonderful promise in verse 9. "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer; thou shalt cry and he shall say, Here I am." If you don't put other people down (with a yoke) or shake your finger at them scornfully or speak vanity, this blessing is promised as part of the fast.
Pres. Kimball and all the prophets have told us to give a generous fast offering. Not just the cost of the 2 meals, but more, much more.I can personally testify that the Lord blesses us when we give a generous offering. Isaiah says if we draw out our souls to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then "shall our light rise in obscurity, and our darkness be as the noonday." That means even the dark moments of our live won't be very dark because of Him. In verse 11, He will guide us continually, satisfy our souls in drought and make fat our bones. In the scriptural sense, to be "fat" is a good thing. "Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."
In verse 12 it appears that this proper fasting will also bless our posterity and be a foundation to them. Maybe it will repair relationships - "thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in."
All wonderful promises. Fasting should always have a purpose and be accompanied by mighty prayer. Don't ever just go hungry again.
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