Isaiah 58-59: A Rebillious People

Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
'Why have we fasted,' they say,
'and you have not seen it?.....
.....Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high. - Is. 58:1-4

"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 him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?....
....."If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail. - Is. 58:   6-10

Did Isaiah foresee that there would be other sun-scorched nations throughout time just like Israel.  Nations whose foundations would be in justice and righteousness, but who would through prosperity become self centered and self absorbed to the point that their only concern would be their own well-being, not that of the widow, the orphan, the alien in their midst, or even their own flesh and blood.  Did he foresee people who call themselves godly, engaging in quarrels, strife, and abuse, constantly fearful that they might lose something.  Did he foresee people who would bring their tithes and offerings from their earnings as a result of exploiting others:  slum landlords, payday loan operators, recipients of medicaid fraud, snake oil salesmen, even televangelists.

...to be continued.