In Isaiah 58 we see God rebuke His people for fasting in a way that was displeasing to Him. While God wanted His people to repent from the sinful ways that they were living in, they were unwilling to surrender their lives to Him and offered religious rituals as a substitute. What’s worse, in their spiritual ignorance, they expected God to listen to their half-hearted and surface-level fasting. God responded by giving them a sharp admonition to turn from their empty rituals, and to begin living in righteousness. While false fasting leads us to further separation from God, as demonstrated by the audience of Isaiah 58, true fasting comes as an outpour of repentance and leads to transformation in the life of the Christian.