WTW 2021
30 March
Isaiah 58
Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1
Israel is no longer an earthly nation.
Jacob is no longer Yeshurun of the old.
In God’s economy, Israel is God’s people who are in covenant with him. All Israel will be saved.
Now regarding fasting, these profound insights here in this chapter are as revealed in the new as they are in these pages of the old. And these never get old. They have always been fresh and new.
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Isaiah 58:6-7
What is new is this next observation about slander. We have known this. We have known that anyone who never sins in what he says is a perfect man. Yet there has been a new light shining from a number of passages. From these comes another new focus understanding the significance of purity of speech and speaking as God speaks. His WORD is perfect and ours should be also.
This however does not come by desire or effort. Righteousness in speech does not come from controlling our words or merely speaking nice sounding words. This only amounts to a fine glaze on earthen pottery. Righteous speech comes from The Righteous One speaking from the heart by the Spirit of Truth.
Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk. Isaiah 58:9
For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 1 Peter 3:10
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7:20-2
Therefore, rid yourselves of
all malice and all deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and
slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1
Wisdom in the WORD 
Actions speak louder than words!
“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.
Isaiah 58:6-9 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/isa.58.6-9.MSG
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