STUDY TIPS: See Fourth Commandment before reading this page. Also see Time: Hours, Days, Weeks and Ages
THREE WORDS DESCRIBE ONE CONCEPT
On the surface, Sabbath, fasting and rest do not seem to have anything in common. When we look at the way God uses them, however, we see that they all describe the same thing: Ceasing from religious labors.
SABBATH
Sabbath, fasting and rest are three Biblical concepts that describe one spiritual condition: New Covenant. See Fourth Commandment for a detailed discussion of the Sabbath.
FASTING
Fasting is one of those Biblical concepts about which there is little room for disagreement between religions. With some minor exceptions regarding the reason for fasting, when to fast and what should be included in the fast, fasting for Catholics is much the same as for Lutherans and Pentecostals and the same for Jews as Christians. In these and other religious cults, fasting is basically about abstaining from food, drink, sex or something else that is otherwise considered good for the purpose of being closer to God or influencing him to act. It all sounds reasonable, but it is not at all how God thinks of fasting.
Fasting from food and drink is a fairly common phenomenon in all religions and was practiced by many religions — even before the days of the Bible. The fact that it is practiced in other religions is a clear indicator that Jews and Christians should not fast from food or drink because God warned Israel that it should not follow the customs of other religions. We conclude, therefore, that the practice of religious fasting is another example where God has borrowed a well-known concept from ancient religions and used it to represent a spiritual truth.
AUTHORS’ NOTE: See Origins of Religion for more about following customs of other religions.
Because fasting was and is practiced by other religions, past and present, it is therefore, inappropriate, unnecessary and undesirable for New Covenant disciples who conduct their worship in spirit and truth — not in fleshly religion.
As a relic of Old/First Covenant religion, the tradition of fasting is not necessary for New Covenant disciples. It is old wine contained in the Old/First Covenant wineskin because it was introduced to Israel in the package of religious laws given to Israel by God at Mount Sinai. Fasting, therefore, is Old/First Covenant religion that has been fulfilled by the New Covenant just as all other legalistic works specified in Old/First Covenant laws were fulfilled through Christ. Since Christ symbolizes the New Covenant, God’s laws about fasting in the flesh are fulfilled spiritually in people who are New Covenant disciples. New Covenant disciples understand this truth and by faith accept that performance of physical fasts and other religious works done with their physical bodies are no longer necessary.
Old/First Covenant religionists who do not understand this truth continue to fast with their physical bodies by abstaining from food, drink and other natural functions. This proves that they are still slaves to religious laws. New Covenant disciples know by faith that they are no longer under the law, and also know that they need not fast in their flesh by abstaining from food or drink. Knowing that the law is written on their hearts and that they are no longer slaves to the laws that include fasting, they have no need or desire to perform any of the old religious traditions prescribed by the law.
Nevertheless, because it appears often in the Bible, fasting from food and other bodily requirements appears to have qualities and powers that make it attractive to Old/First Covenant religionists who interpret the Bible literally. In their ignorance of the fact that God uses old religious terms such as fasting and circumcision to represent a spiritual truth or a spiritual activity, they fast and otherwise humble/afflict themselves thinking that what they do with, and to, their flesh (i.e. physical bodies) will somehow give them favor with God. They forget, or ignore, that God looks at the heart — not at the religious things people do with their bodies.
Another piece of their thinking is the anticipation of earning favor with other religionists who know that they have fasted or plan on fasting. This, along with circumcision, public prayer and public observance of other religious traditions, is a good way to to build a reputation for being spiritual. But, because assumptions made on the basis of literal interpretations of the Bible that always lead to error, these spiritual wannabes deceive themselves and others about their true, empty spiritual condition. All this religious activity has a form of godliness but lacks real spiritual power.
Unfortunately, neither Jews nor Christians have come to understand these spiritual truths. Indeed they cannot understand as long as they acquire their understanding by reading the literal words of the Bible while ignoring its symbolic content. Thus, Jewish traditions still include both public and private fasts. Some Christian denominations also have a favorable attitude about fasting.
For all religions that do fast, there is a belief that self affliction through denial of food, drink, sex and other worldly appetites will somehow gain favor with their god regarding personal sins and/or circumstances that affect a larger community. In other words, fasting is seen as a way to influence their god for personal and communal benefit. If we drill down to discover the motives of the heart, we see that fasting, like prayer, is nothing more than a fleshly attempt to manipulate God to act in some way that will relieve an physical/natural circumstance that is beyond the control of those who fast. Often, it is a last-ditch, desperation effort to solve a problem. As such, it is a clear example of a fleshly religious work that still has a prominent place in Judaism and Christianity.
It is not surprising that fasting is still practiced. In both the Old Testament and New Testament their appears to be enough references to fasting to give it the legitimacy necessary to support the practice. The problem is, however, that fasting is interpreted literally as abstaining from food. But, the way we see it, there is never any attempt by Jews or Christians to consider that fasting might have symbolic, spiritual meaning. It is just another example of a religious practice adopted by many religions past and present. Considering that God said about not following the customs of other religious nations, this fact in itself should be enough reason to avoid religious fasting.
Nevertheless, there remains little disagreement among religionists about fasting, God’s idea of fasting is not even close to what they think it is. While religionists see fasting as an important religious work to be done on certain occasions such as Lent or Yom Kippur, or in times of trouble, God uses fasting as a term that describes an ongoing spiritual condition of the heart that is found only in New Covenant disciples. We find clear instruction about that heart condition in the following scriptures:
Ezra 8:21: Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Aha’va, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a straight way for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
COMMENTARY: We find here an unexpected correlation between fasting and humility. The scripture basically says that the people fasted so that they might humble themselves. This prompts us to ask how fasting results in humility. We begin to see a connection when we recognize that the Hebrew word anah which is translated as humility in English is also translated as afflict. In fact, in the NAS Bible, anah is translated as afflict, afflicted, or affliction more times than it is translated as humble or humbled. This leads us to conclude that the scripture could also be legitimately translated to say that the people fasted so that they might afflict themselves as we see in the KJV.
True humility is a condition of the heart. Some people may try to present themselves as humble through their speech, posture, or actions that are culturally equated with humility. That is false humility. Other people may be fooled by displays of false humility, but God is not fooled because he sees what is really in their hearts.
See HUMILITY for more about this topic.
Isaiah 58:1-11 “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God.
COMMENTARY: This is God speaking to Israel about its sins. It is also a message to Jews and Christians today. God complains that people who make false claims to obedience seek him and ask for his help as though they deserved it because of their prideful opinions of their righteousness.
While Israel’s sins are not specified in verse 1, verse 2 tells us what they are: Seek God daily and delight to know is ways. On the surface, these appear to be good things and not sins, but God, who sees what is in the heart, knows sin when he sees it. What he sees is a people that honor him with their lips and bodies even though their hearts are far from him. In other words, they are saying and doing all the right religious things according to their religious traditions and according to the written law, but their hearts are still far from him. This is code language that says they practice Old/First Covenant religion according to the written law but they are not New Covenant disciples for whom God’s laws are written on their hearts. These differences are discussed in detail in Two Covenants.
In their belief that their righteousness is based on exacting obedience to all of the laws of Moses, they believe they have satisfied God’s expectations regarding the written law (i.e. ordinance of their God) when they obey the literal words of the Bible. Thus they expect that God will treat them well (i.e. righteous judgments). But, as we see in verse 3 below, however, they are not satisfied with how God is treating them.
Israel’s delight to draw near to God would also seem to be a good thing. But God also sees through their outward behaviors to know what is in their hearts. What he sees is people who take great pride in their traditions and their faithfulness to follow them precisely.
Israel’s attitude toward God is identical to the attitudes of contemporary Jews and Christians. For Jews, the standard of righteousness is still the written law and Rabbinic Literature dated back to the Jerusalem Talmud, and the Babylonian Talmud. For Christians, the standards of righteousness varies from denomination to denomination. Thus we see that there is great diversity among religionists about God’s expectations for them.
Considering this diversity, it is no wonder that both Jews and Christians do not cry out like the Israelites as we see in verse 3.
3.a ‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’
COMMENTARY: This is Israel complaining to God about his failure to respond to their fasting. The people believe they have done what God wants by fasting and humbling/afflicting themselves with their bodies. They are saying in effect that they have done what the literal law requires but God has not rewarded them for their religious works.
There is no public evidence that either Jews or Christians are crying out like Israel to God for some action on his part in response to all their religious activity. We can assume that all organized religions are satisfied with God’s mediocre response to their religion. And so each denomination keeps plugging along doing the same rituals, singing the same hymns, preaching the same sermons and in general keeping their traditions without wondering why God does not take knowledge of them or their religious works.
In the margins of the religious world, however, there is evidence that some religionists are asking why all their religious works do not produce greater results. The evidence is that people are dropping out of churches in record numbers.
3.b Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.
COMMENTARY: This is God speaking again to his people. He says that they are fasting to please themselves — not him. Their pleasure is the rewards they receive from coreligionists who honor and praise them for practicing their religious righteousness (e.g. fasting, prayer, etc.) in a communal setting.
Oppressing all their workers is God’s criticism of religious leaders who force religious people in their congregations to rigidly obey Old/First Covenant laws given at Mount Sinai and other laws that they have added down through the ages. Religious leaders teach that obedience to the traditional rules and regulations of their denomination are the religious standards of righteousness that must be obeyed in order to have favor with God. God says here that religious leaders oppress their congregants (i.e. workers) by holding up those standards for them to obey. In God’s eyes, forcing congregants to perform many religious works that God never ordered them to do equates with oppression.
In the New Testament scriptures, these religious leaders are often called Judaizers because they pressured converts to Christianity to continue obedience to the written law given on Mount Sinai. The term may also be applied to any religious leader who pressures someone to obey whatever religious laws, customs and traditions that apply to that religious leader’s particular brand of religion.
God hates Judaizers and Nicolaitins because they pressure people to obey religious laws. They do not understand or preach the principles of the New Covenant in which the law is written on the heart.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
COMMENTARY: God uses the imagery of quarreling and fighting here to symbolize disagreement and contention between all religious organizations — both Jewish and Christian. Basically he is saying that their lack of agreement on the truth is why he does not listen to them. They all represent themselves as followers of God, but they are in fact Gods at War. This wrongly represents God to a watching world as a house divided.
Fasting is used here as a symbol for all kinds of religious activity included in Defiled Religion.*** He could also have said stop practicing your righteousness before men, cease observing your religious laws and your traditional holidays, festivals and feasts, stop your Music, Singing and Dancing, stop praying prayers that I do not hear, quit speaking and praying in tongues, don’t bring to me any more Sacrifices and Offerings or tithes. Basically fasting is about resting/ceasing from all kinds of religious activity.
5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
COMMENTARY: This is God speaking again to his people. He says that he will not hear their appeals for help because their religious activity is concentrated in to specific times with specific religious activities. He sees through the false represented in public worship activities and recognizes it as mere lip service while their hearts are far from him.
God says that this kind of fasting and related worship activities (e.g. Displaying Your Righteousness Before Men, Holidays, Festivals and Feasts, Music, Singing and Dancing, Sacrifices, Tithes and Offerings, Tithes, and Tabernacles, Temples, Altars, High Places and Pilgrimages etc.) are not what he wants. To God, it is all religious work that he does not want and will not accept.
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
COMMENTARY: God is not impressed or influenced by outward religious displays. What God wants to see is loosing the bonds of wickedness and setting people free from legalistic religion that is represented in the temple system with all its rules and regulations that keep people in bondage to the “yoke” of religion.
The term “yoke” is used in both the Old and New Testaments to describe bondage to Old/First Covenant religion. We have discussed yoke in detail in
7 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 him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
COMMENTARY: God wants Israel to take care of the spiritually poor (i.e. Old/First Covenant religionists) — not to just act religious by fasting from food. In other words, he wants them to fast from organized religion and to help others do the same. This is the essence of setting the captives free.
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.
COMMENTARY:
10 “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 11 And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
COMMENTARY: Israel has complained to God that their fasts have not produced any results. They wrongly think that doing the religious act of fasting is enough to influence God. Israel thinks it has humbled itself by submitting to bodily discomfort that comes from fasting. What we learn here, however, is that God is not interested in fasts of food and drink or other kinds of self abasement. What he is really interested in is setting people free from Old/First Covenant religion so that they can become New Covenant disciples.
The message of this scripture may also be applied to churches. If God was not influenced by Israel’s religious activity, he will not be influenced by Christians’ religious activity either.