What is the purpose of fasting, just a religious duty, or humility and a change of life? Let’s look at Isaiah 58.
Why do people sometimes perform religious actions, but God takes no notice?
Shout aloud! Don’t hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Declare to my people their rebellions, and to the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me day after day, and are eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practices righteousness and has not forsaken the justice of their God. They ask me to reveal just decisions; they are eager to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they ask, ‘but you do not see? ‘Why have we humbled ourselves,’ they ask, ‘but you take no notice?’” “Look! On your fast day you serve your own interest and oppress all your workers.” (Isa 58:1-3 ISV)
Are our motives and actions in line with our professed faith or are we just hypocrites? Is this the kind of fast that impresses God?
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? (Isa 58:4-5 KJV)
What kind of fast does God really want, one that is accompanied by repentance, and helping the needy?
Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To release the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the afflicted homeless into the house; When you see the naked, you cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isa 58:6-7 LSB)
What will happen when we fast with the right motives, repent and change our ways?
Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will spring up quickly; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, And if you offer yourself to the hungry And satisfy the need of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday.
And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (Isa 58:8-12 NASB)
Was another condition for right fasting Sabbath keeping? How would that apply under the new covenant, which does not require resting in a day, but resting in Jesus?
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isa 58:13-14 NIV)
How did Jesus instruct us to fast? Was it to be done in private?
Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Mat 6:16-18 NKJV)
Did Jesus even once command a Sabbath day for the Church? Is our rest now in Jesus rather than a day?
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Mat 11:28 NLT)
What does Hebrews 3-4 tell us about Sabbath rest, rest in the promised land, rest from human efforts, and our eternal rest? If Moses did not give a Sabbath keeping people rest, and Joshua spoke of another day, is there another Sabbathing for the people of God, a rest from our works?
There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For he who has entered into his rest has himself also rested from his [own] works, as God did from his. (Heb 4:9-10 WEB)
What is the purpose of fasting, just a religious duty, or humility and a change of life? You decide!
