Temple Themes in the True Law of the Fast

 

In Isaiah 58, the Lord presents to the Israelites the True Law of the Fast. The Lord does so in the context of the holy temple, and an understanding of the temple will help readers better understand how to live the True Law of the Fast as described in this chapter.

Immediately at the outset of the chapter, the Lord tells Isaiah to announce Israel’s sins. Israel is said to still be approaching the Lord “as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God.” Israel still desires to approach God, but they are doing so in a way that is not acceptable to the Lord (see Isaiah 58:2).[1] A temple setting is further strengthened by the verb krv, “approach,” as it is often used in a ritual setting throughout the Old Testament.

The Israelites state that their fast is not acknowledged by the Lord, He does not see them, nor does He know their works. The fast they were performing will not allow their voice to be heard on high (see Isaiah 58:3–4). The Lord responds by stating that they are not performing the fast He has chosen.

Israel dressed in sackcloth and ashes, and their prayers were not answered. Much like the Savior’s rebuke of the hypocrites in the Sermon on the Mont, it is likely that many were fasting and praying to be seen of men (see Matthew 6:2). In reality, the opposite is implied to be needed: rather than being dressed in sackcloth, the opposite is needed. The true order of fasting and prayer involves dressing in holy robes and sacred forms of prayer.

So, what exactly does the true order of fasting look like?

This law is demonstrated to be an extension, if you will, of the Law of the Gospel, which invites us to be a more holy people.

The connections between the True Law of the Fast and the Law of the Gospel are quickly manifest. As John W. Welch pointed out, the phrase “law of the gospel” is only found once in the standard works, in which the Lord connects it to taking care of the poor and oppressed:

If any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment (D&C 104:18).

Compare this description of the law of the gospel with Isaiah 58:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
    and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
    and not to hide yourself from your own kin?[2]

The condition of the blessings linked to this law are repeated in Isaiah 58:9b–10a, stressing that such order of fasting and prayer are meant to not only heal yourself, but heal others who are sick, hungry, burdened, or otherwise afflicted:

If you remove the yoke from among you,
    the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the afflicted…

When living the True Law of the Fast, we are living the Law of the Gospel, as covenanted within the Holy Temple. We are seeking to undo other’s burdens, heal their afflictions, and lose ourselves in the service of others and the Lord. This is according to the Law of the Gospel as taught by the Lord in His premortal, mortal, and postmortal ministries. These goals should be the underlying intent of our worship and fast. It should not be a day to afflict ourselves and hope to be seen of men, but to undo the afflictions placed on others. Only by so losing ourselves will we, ourselves, be healed and obtain heaven: “then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.”[3]

The blessings for living this law are named in great detail. In Isaiah 58:8, for example, Israel is promised to have health and light, while being brought into the presence of the Lord:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up quickly;
your vindicator shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.[4]

It should be noted that this last phrase can be read literally as “the glory of the Lord shall gather you.” Read in a temple context, this could imply taking part in the Lord’s glory from behind the veil, having been admitted into His presence. This is further strengthened by the mention of Israel’s vindicator, which can be Christologically read as the Messiah who acts as the Great High Priest of the Heavenly Temple (see Hebrews 8–10).

Blessings of health and admission to the Lord’s presence are further offered in verses 11–12a:

The Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your needs in parched places
    and make your bones strong,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water
    whose waters never fail.
Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations.

This blessing is further coupled with being heard by the Lord in prayer:

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
    you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”[5]

As Stephen D. Ricks has noted, temple prayer is a prerequisite to admission to the presence of the Lord and opens the way for the temple petitioner’s access to the veil.[6] Similarly, Joseph Smith taught that the order of prayer performed in the temple would allow the Saints to “pray and have [their] prayers answered.”[7] Furthermore, the word the Lord will respond with to the temple petitioner, hinneni (literally “Behold me” or “Here am I”) is a word that often is said in a temple context, including the call of a prophet and his admission to the Divine Council. The Jerusalem Targum reflects that this word was spoken by Abraham “in the language of the sanctuary” on Mount Moriah.[8]

Finally, the temple petitioner who lives the true law of the fast is promised a new name within the temple:

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to live in.

By living the True Law of the Fast, Israel was invited into the Lord’s presence, to live a higher and holier way. Such a law is simply a means of living the Law of the Gospel, and by living this law today, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples who love and honor the Lord in His Holy Temple can be prepared to enter His presence. Those who live this today law are promised the same blessings:  they will hear the Lord’s voice, be fruitful and prosperous, be filled with God’s light and glory, heal others and be healed, and ultimately they will be led by the Lord, receive from Him a new name, and find rest in His presence, to go no more out.

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[1] All citations from the Bible will be taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

[2] Isaiah 58:6–7.

[3] Isaiah 58:10b.

[4] Isaiah 58:8.

[5] Isaiah 58:9a.

[6] See Stephen D. Ricks, “Temple Prayer in Ancient Times,” in The Temple in Time and Eternity ed. Donald W. Parry and Stephen D. Ricks (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1999), 88–90.

[7] Bathsheba W. Smith, “Recollections of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” Juvenile Instructor 27, no. 11 (June 1, 1892): 345. https://ia600700.us.archive.org/1/items/juvenileinstruct2711geor/juvenileinstruct2711geor.pdf

[8] J. W. Etheridge, trans., Jerusalem Targum (London: n.p., 1862). Accessed online at sefaria.org. The term sanctuary can literally be translated as “the holy house.”