ETERNAL TREASURE - WHEN YOU FAST?

 

Although there is no commandment in the New Testament to fast, Jesus assumed his followers would fast when he said, "Moreover, when ye fast… ” (Matt. 6:16). When Jesus and his disciples were criticized for not fasting, he replied, "Can the children of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast" (Matt. 9:15). And they did fast:

As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away (Acts 13:2, 3).

And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they had believed (Acts 14:23).

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that you may give yourself to fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7:5).

            In the Old Testament, the LORD criticized Israel for the way they were fasting (Isaiah 58:3b–5 NKJV). "In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your labors. In deed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?" 

               Jesus criticized people for the way they were fasting. "Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward" (Matthew 6:16). Fasting isn't making ourselves miserable, as Israel did to get the Lord's attention (Isaiah 58:5), neither is it having a sad countenance as the hypocrites did to get the people's attention (Matthew 6:16). Rather, it is hungering and thirsting after righteousness (Matthew 5:6), the desire to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37–39).

            There is one place in the Old Testament where the LORD gave instructions for fasting (Isaiah 58:6–14). It isn't a commandment, but instructions for living in a personal covenant relationship with the LORD. It is called the fast chosen by the LORD, often referred to as the "Chosen Fast." Although Jesus didn't give a commandment in the New Testament to fast, a considerable amount of his teaching and that of other New Testament writers were practical applications for practicing the "Chosen Fast."

Public Fasts—Old Testament

            Public fasts were called in times of peril. When the nations came to battle against Jehoshaphat in Jerusalem, he called for a fast (2 Chronicles 20:1–3). After Jonah proclaimed doom to the city of Nineveh, the king called for a fast of both people and animals (Jonah 3:6–8). Esther called for a three-day fast when she was informed that Haman had conspired to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom (Esther 4:15). In the time of a locust plague, the people were called to fast (Joel 1:14).

            Following defeat, a public fast was called for repentance and mourning. During a two-day battle of Israel against Benjamin, Israel lost forty thousand men. "Then all the people of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came into the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord" (Judges 20:26). When the ark of the Lord was taken away by the men of Kirjath Jearim, Samuel called for a fast to mourn and repent (1 Samuel 7:1–6). When Saul and Jonathan were killed, David and his men mourned and wept and fasted until evening (2 Samuel 1:11). Fasting in the times of a national crisis or defeat is a common human response just as it is in the time of sickness. In life-threatening situations, we have no desire to eat.

Individual Fasts—Old Testament

            In addition to pubic fasts, there were individual fasts. David fasting when his son by Bathsheba was gravely ill gives us some insight into his reasoning for the individual fast. He fasted until the child died. Then he arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate.

            He explained to his servants why he fasted. "While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live?' But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (2 Samuel 12:2).

            Another account of an individual fast is found in the book of Daniel. He mourned three full weeks. During that time, he ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into his mouth, nor did he anoint himself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled (Daniel 10:2, 3). Following the fast, he received a vision of what would transpire with the nation of Israel in the latter days (v. 14).

            Right away, one important difference emerges between the fast of David and that of Daniel. David didn't eat while fasting, but Daniel did. He called the food he ate unpleasant. He ate no meat or drank any wine (Dan. 10: 2, 3). The word translated "vegetable" in Daniel 1:12 (NKJV) and "pulse" (KJV) and the one translated "food" in Daniel 10:3 (NKJV) and "bread" (KJV) are two different words, but carefully studying the two verses, we can conclude that the unpleasant food in Daniel 10:3 was the same as the vegetables in Daniel 1:12.

            The Hebrew word translated vegetables in Daniel 1:12 comes from the word for seed. "And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat'" (Genesis 1:29). Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains are all from seed. So Daniel's food during his twenty-one days of fasting may have included fruits, nuts, and grains as well as vegetables.

            David's fast was for his infant son by Bathsheba who was gravely ill. In such crisis, few people have a desire to eat, but Daniel's fast was to hear from the Lord concerning the future of the nation of Israel. They were exiles in Babylon at that time. While waiting to hear from the Lord, Daniel would no doubt have gotten hungry. The fast lasted twenty-one days (Daniel 10:12–14). From these two individual fasts, we also observe the similarities found in the public fasts: times of peril and waiting before the Lord for wisdom.

Forty-Day Fasts—Old and New Testaments

            Moses fasted forty days while on Mount Sinai receiving instructions from the LORD for Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).   Elijah fasted forty days before he heard the still small voice of the Lord telling him to anoint Hazael as king of Syria, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha to be his successor (1 Kings 19:5–16). Jesus fasted forty days while being tempted of the devil (Matthew 4:1–11).

Excerpted from The Chosen Fast & Prayer by Robert P. Holland