Reference: Fasting
American
In all ages, and among all nations, fasting has been practiced in times of sorrow, and affliction, Jon 3:5. It may be regarded as a dictate of nature, which under these circumstances refuses nourishment, and suspends the cravings of hunger. In the Bible no example is mentioned of fasting, properly so-called, before Moses. His forty days' fast, like that of Elijah and of our Lord, was miraculous, De 9:9; 1Ki 19:8; Mt 4:2. The Jews often had recourse to this practice, when they had occasion to humble themselves before God, to confess their sins and deprecate his displeasure, Jg 20:26; 1Sa 7:6; 2Sa 12:16; Ne 9:1; 1Ki 19:8; Jer 36:9. Especially in times of public calamity, they appointed extraordinary fasts, and made even the children at the breast fast, Joe 2:16; Da 10:2-3. They began the observance of their fasts, at sunset, and remained without eating until the same hour the next day. The great day of expiation was probably the only annual and national fast day among them.
It does not appear by his own practice or by his commands, that our Lord instituted any particular fast. On one occasion, he intimated that his disciples would fast after his death, Lu 5:34-35. Accordingly, the life of the apostles and first believers was a life of self-denials, sufferings, and fasting, 2Co 5:7; 11:27. Our Savior recognized the custom, and the apostles practiced it as occasion required, Mt 6:16-18; Ac 13:3; 1Co 7:5.
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When I went up into the mountain to receive the tables of stone - the tables of the covenant, which Yahweh had solemnised with you, then abode I in the mountain forty days and forty nights, food, did I not, eat, and water, did I not drink.
Then went up all the sons of Israel, and all the people, and came to Bethel, and wept, and tarried there before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, until the evening, - and caused to go up ascending-sacrifices and peace-offerings, before Yahweh.
Now, on the twenty-fourth day of this month, were the sons of Israel gathered together, with fasting and with sackcloth, having earth upon them.
And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah in the ninth month, that all the people of Jerusalem, and all the people who were coming in out of the cities of Judah into Jerusalem, had proclaimed a fast before Yahweh;
In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three sevens of days: food to delight in, did I not eat, neither flesh nor wine, came into my mouth, nor did I so much as, anoint, myself, - until were fulfilled three sevens of days.
Gather the people, hallow a convocation, collect the elders, gather the children, and the sucklings of the breasts, - let the bridegroom, come forth, from his chamber, and the bride from her bower:
And the people of Nineveh believed in God, - and proclaimed a fast, and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even unto the least of them.
and, fasting forty days and forty nights, - afterwards, he hungered.
And, when ye may he fasting, become not ye, as the hypocrites, of sullen countenance, - for they darken their looks, that they may appear, unto men, to be fasting: Verily, I say unto you, they are getting back their reward. But, when, thou, art fasting, anoint thy head, and, thy face, wash, - read more. that thou do not appear, unto men, to be fasting, but to thy Father who is in secret, - and, thy Father who seeth in secret, will reward thee.
Jesus, however, said unto them - Can, ye make, the sons of the bridechamber, fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But there will come days, even when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, then, will they fast, in those days.
Then, fasting and praying, and laying their hands upon them, they sent them away.
By faith, are we walking, not by sight; -
in toil and hardship, in watchings, oft, in hunger and thirst, in fasting, oft, in cold and nakedness: -
Fausets
The word (tsum) never occurs in the Pentateuch. The Mosaic law, though directing minutely the foods to be eaten and to be shunned, never enjoins fasting. The false asceticism so common in the East was carefully avoided. On the yearly day of atonement, the 10th day of the 7th month, Israelites were directed to "afflict the soul" (Le 16:29-31; 23:27; Nu 30:13). This significant term implies that the essence of scriptural "fasting" lies in self humiliation and penitence, and that the precise mode of subduing the flesh to the spirit, and of expressing sorrow for sin, is left to the conscientious discretion of each person. In Ac 27:9 the yearly day of atonement is popularly designated "the fast."
But God, while not discountenancing outward acts of sorrow expressive of inward penitence, declares, "is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal the bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest thy naked that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isa 58:4-7.) Compare similar warnings against mistaking outward fasting as meritorious before God: Mal 3:14; Mt 6:16.
The only other periodical fasts in the Old Testament were those connected with the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar: the fast of the 4th month commemorated its capture (Jer 39:2; 52:6-7); that of the 5th month the burning of the temple and the chief houses (Jer 52:12-14); that of the 7th the murder of Gedaliah (Jer 41:1-3); that of the 10th the beginning of the siege (Zec 7:3-5; 8:19). Jer 52:4, "did ye at all fast unto ME, even to ME?" Nay, it was to gratify yourselves in hypocritical will worship. If it had been to Me, ye would have separated yourselves not merely from food but from your sins.
Once that the principle is acted on, "he that eateth eateth to the Lord, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not" (Ro 14:6), and "meat commendeth us not to God, for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse" (1Co 8:8), fasting and eating are put in their true place, as means not ends. There are now 28 yearly fasts in the Jewish calendar. Daniel's (Da 10:3) mode of fasting was, "I ate no pleasant bread," i.e. "I ate unleavened bread, even the bread of affliction" (De 16:3), "neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth." In Mt 9:14 "fast" is explained by "mourn" in Mt 9:15, so that fasting was but an outward expression of mourning (Ps 69:10), not meritorious, nor sanctifying in itself.
A mark of the apostasy is "commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving" (1Ti 4:3). The "neglecting (not sparing) of the body," while seeming to deny self, really tends "to the satisfying of (satiating to repletion) the flesh." Ordinances of "will worship" gratify the flesh (self) while seeming to mortify it; for "self crowned with thorns in the cloister is as selfish as self crowned with ivy in the revel" (Col 2:18-23). Instances of special fasts of individuals and of the people in the Old Testament, either in mourning and humiliation or in prayer, occur in Jg 20:26; 1Sa 1:7; 20:34; 31:13; 2Sa 1:12; 12:21; 3:35; 1Ki 21:9-12; Ezr 8:21-23; 10:6; Es 4:16; Ne 1:4.
National fasts are alluded to in 1Sa 7:6 (wherein the drawing of water and pouring it out before Jehovah expressed their confession of powerlessness and utter prostration: Ps 22:14; 58:7; 2Sa 14:14); 2Ch 20:3; Jer 36:6-10; Ne 9:1; Joe 1:14; 2:15. In New Testament times the strict Jews fasted twice a week (Lu 18:12), namely, on the second and fifth days. While Christ is with His people either in body or in spirit, fasting is unseasonable, for joy alone can be where He is; but when His presence is withdrawn, sorrow comes to the believer and fasting is one mode of expressing his sorrowing after the Lord. This is Christ's teaching, Mt 9:15. As to the texts quoted for fasting as a mean of spiritual power, the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus manuscripts omit Mt 17:21; they omit also "and fasting," Mr 9:29. They and Alexandrinus manuscript omit "fasting and," 1Co 7:5. Evidently the growing tendency to asceticism in post apostolic times accounts for these interpolations.
The apostles "prayed with fasting" in ordaining elders (Ac 13:3; 14:23). But this continuance of the existing Jewish usage never divinely ordered does not make it obligatory on us, except in so far as we severally, by experience, find it conducive to prayer. Moses', Elijah's, and Christ's (the great Antitype) 40 days' foodlessness was exceptional and miraculous. Forty is significant of punishment for sin, confession, or affliction. Christ, the true Israel, denied Himself for 40 days, as Israel indulged the flesh 40 years. They tempted God that time; He overcame the tempter all the 40 days (Ge 7:4,12; Nu 14:33; 32:13-14; Ps 95:10; De 25:3; 2Co 11:24; Eze 29:11; 4:6; Jon 3:4).
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For in seven days more, I, am sending rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights, - so will I wipe out all the living things which I have made, from off the face of the ground.
(And it came to pass that the heavy rain was on the earth, - forty days and forty nights.)
And it shall become unto you, a statute age-abiding, - In the seventh month on the tenth of the month, Shall ye humble you souls And, no work, shall ye do, The home-born, Or the sojourner that sojourneth in your midst; For on this day, shall a propitiatory-covering, be put over you, to cleanse you, - From all your sins before Yahweh, shall ye be clean. read more. A sabbath of sacred rest, it is unto you, Therefore shall ye humble your souls, A statute age-abiding.
Surely on the tenth of this seventh month, is, the Day of Propitiation, a holy convocation, shall it be to you, therefore shall ye humble your souls, - and bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh.
and your sons, shall be shepherds in the desert forty years, and shall bear your unchastities, - until your dead bodies are consumed in the desert.
As for any vow, or any oath of binding, to humble ones soul, her husband, may make it stand, or, her husband, may make it of none effect.
So the anger of Yahweh kindled upon Israel, and he made them wander in the desert, forty years, - until all the generation who had done the evil in the eyes of Yahweh, had wasted away! Lo! therefore, ye have arisen in the room of your fathers, brood of sinful men, - to heap up yet more upon the heat of the anger of Yahweh, towards Israel.
Thou shalt not eat therewith any thing leavened, seven days, shalt thou eat therewith unleavened cakes the bread of humiliation, - for in haste, camest thou forth out of the land of Egypt, that thou mayest remember the day when thou earnest forth out of the land of Egypt, all the days of thy life.
forty stripes, may he give him not going beyond, - lest, if he do go beyond to smite him above these, with many stripes, then should thy brother be of no account in thine eyes.
Then went up all the sons of Israel, and all the people, and came to Bethel, and wept, and tarried there before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, until the evening, - and caused to go up ascending-sacrifices and peace-offerings, before Yahweh.
So they gathered themselves unto Mizpah, and drew water, and poured it out before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, and said, there, We have sinned against Yahweh. And Samuel judged the sons of Israel in Mizpah.
And Jehoshaphat was afraid, and set his face to seek unto Yahweh, - and proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
Then proclaimed I there a fast, by the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, - to seek of him a smooth way, for us and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to ask of the king, a band of soldiers and horsemen, to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God, is upon all who seek him, for good, But, his power and his anger, are against all who forsake him. read more. So we fasted and sought of our God, concerning this, - and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.
Then arose Ezra from before the house of God, and went into the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, - and, when he came thither, bread, did he not eat, and, water, did he not drink, for he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of them of the Exile.
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and I mourned certain days, - and continued fasting and praying, before the God of the heavens;
Now, on the twenty-fourth day of this month, were the sons of Israel gathered together, with fasting and with sackcloth, having earth upon them.
Go! gather ye together all the Jews who are to be found in Shusan, and fast ye for me - and neither eat nor drink - three days, night nor day, and, I and my maidens, will fast so, - and, in this manner, will I go in unto the king, though it is not according to the law, and, when I have perished, I have perished!
Like water, am I poured out, and, put out of joint, are all my bones, - My heart, hath become, like wax, it is melted in the midst of my body;
Let such men flow away like waters that disperse themselves: He prepareth his arrow, Like grass let them be cut down:
When I have humbled my soul with fasting, Then hath it turned to my reproach;
Forty years, loathed I that generation, So I said - A people going astray in heart, they are, Even they, have not known my ways!
Lo! for strife and contention, ye fast, And to smite with the fist of lawlessness, - Ye shall not fast as to-day, To cause to be heard on high your voice! Like this, shall the fast be that I choose, A day for the son of earth to humble his soul? Is it to bow down as a rush his head, And sackcloth and ashes, to spread out? Is it, this, thou wilt call a fast, Or a day of acceptance with Yahweh? read more. Is not, this, the fast that I must ever choose - To unbind the tight cords of lawlessness, To unloose the bands of the yoke, - and To let the crushed go free, and That every yoke, ye tear off? Is it not to break unto the hungry, thy bread, And the thrust-out oppressed, that thou bring into a home, - When thou seest one naked, that thou cover him, And from thine own flesh, shalt not hide thyself?
Thou, therefore shalt enter and read in the roll which thou hast written from my mouth the words of Yahweh in the ears of the people in the house of Yahweh on the day of a fast, - moreover also, in the ears of all Judah who are coming in out of their cities, shalt thou read them: Peradventure, their supplication, will fall prostrate, before Yahweh, and they return every man from his wicked way, - For, great, are the anger and the indignation which Yahweh hath spoken against this people. read more. So then Baruch son of Neriah did according to all which Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of Yahweh in the house of Yahweh. And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah in the ninth month, that all the people of Jerusalem, and all the people who were coming in out of the cities of Judah into Jerusalem, had proclaimed a fast before Yahweh; Baruch, therefore, read in the book the words of Jeremiah, in the house of Yahweh, - in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan - the scribe, in the upper court, at the opening of the new gate of the house of Yahweh, in the ears of all the people.
In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month on the ninth of the month, was the city broken into.
And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama of the seed royal and chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, came in, unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, - and they did there eat bread together in Mizpah. Then arose Ishmael son of Nethaniah - and the ten men who were with him and they smote Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan - with the sword and slew him whom the king of Babylon had set in charge, over the land. read more. And Ishmael smote, all the Jews who were with him even with Gedaliah in Mizpah, and the Chaldeans who were found there the men of war.
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, - and he built against it a siege-wall round about.
In the fourth month on the ninth of the month, when the famine had become severe in the city, - and there had come to be no bread for the people of the land, then was the city broken up, and all the men of war, beginning to flee went forth out of the city by night, by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the garden of the king the Chaldeans being near the city round about, - and they went the way towards the Waste Plain.
And in the fifth month on the tenth of the month, the same, was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, chief of the royal executioners, - who stood before the king of Babylon into, Jerusalem; and he burned the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, - yea all the houses of Jerusalem even every great man's house, burned he with fire; read more. and all the walls of Jerusalem round about, did all the force of the Chaldeans who were with the chief of the royal executioners, break down.
And when thou hast ended these, then shalt thou lie, on thy right side. a second time, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah, - forty days, one day for each year, have I appointed thee.
The foot of man shall not pass through it, Nor shall the foot of beast, pass through it, Neither shall it be inhabited forty years:
food to delight in, did I not eat, neither flesh nor wine, came into my mouth, nor did I so much as, anoint, myself, - until were fulfilled three sevens of days.
Hallow ye a fast, Call a solemn assembly, Gather, O elders, all the inhabitants of the land, unto the house of Yahweh your God, - and make ye outcry unto Yahweh.
Blow ye a horn, in Zion, - hallow a fast, call a solemn assembly:
So Jonah began to enter into the city, one day's journey, - and he cried out and said - Yet forty days, and, Nineveh, is to be overthrown!
to speak unto the priests that pertained to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, - Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? Then came the word of Yahweh of hosts unto me, saying: read more. Speak thou unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying, - When ye fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh, even these seventy years, did ye, really fast, unto, me?
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the eleventh, shall become to the house of Judah a gladness and a rejoicing, and pleasant appointed meetings, - But, truth and peace, see that ye love.
Ye have said, Vain is it to serve God, - and, What profit when we have kept his charge, or when we have walked gloomily before Yahweh of hosts?
And, when ye may he fasting, become not ye, as the hypocrites, of sullen countenance, - for they darken their looks, that they may appear, unto men, to be fasting: Verily, I say unto you, they are getting back their reward.
Then come near unto him the disciples of John, saying, - Wherefore do, we, and the Pharisees, fast, whereas, thy disciples, fast not? And Jesus said unto them, - Can, the sons of the bridechamber, mourn, so long as, the bridegroom, is, with them? But days will come, when the bridegroom, shall be taken from them, and, then, will they fast.
And Jesus said unto them, - Can, the sons of the bridechamber, mourn, so long as, the bridegroom, is, with them? But days will come, when the bridegroom, shall be taken from them, and, then, will they fast.
And he said unto them - This kind, by nothing, can come out, save, by prayer.
I fast twice in the week, I give a tenth of whatsoever things I gain!
Then, fasting and praying, and laying their hands upon them, they sent them away.
Moreover, appointing unto them by vote, in each assembly, elders, praying with fastings, they commended them unto the Lord on whom they had believed.
And, when a considerable time had passed, and sailing was already dangerous, because, even the Fast, had already gone by, Paul began to advise,
He that regardeth the day, unto the Lord, regardeth it, - and, he that eateth, unto the Lord, doth eat, for he giveth thanks unto God; and, he that eateth not, unto the Lord, doth not eat and give God thanks.
Be not depriving one another - unless perhaps by consent for a season, that ye may have leisure for prayer, and, again, may be together, - lest Satan be tempting you by reason of your want of self-control.
Food, indeed, will not commend us unto God, - neither, if we eat not, do we lack, nor, if we eat, do we abound.
Let, no one, against you, be arbitrating, however wishful, - in respect of lowliness of mind, and of a religious observance of the messengers: upon what things he hath seen, taking his stand, in vain, puffed up by his carnal mind, - And not holding fast the head: from which, all the body, through means of its joints and uniting bands, receiving supply, and connecting itself together, groweth with the growth of God. read more. If ye have died, together with Christ, from the first principles of the world, why, as though alive in the world, are ye submitting to decrees, - Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch; - Which things are all for decay in the using up; - according to the commandments and teachings of men? The which things, indeed, though they have, an appearance, of wisdom, in self-devised religious observance, and lowliness of mind, and ill-treatment of body, are, in no honourable way, unto a satisfying of the flesh.
Forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which, God, created to be received with thanksgiving by them who believe and personally know the truth;
Hastings
FASTING
1. In the OT.
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And it shall become unto you, a statute age-abiding, - In the seventh month on the tenth of the month, Shall ye humble you souls And, no work, shall ye do, The home-born, Or the sojourner that sojourneth in your midst;
And it shall become unto you, a statute age-abiding, - In the seventh month on the tenth of the month, Shall ye humble you souls And, no work, shall ye do, The home-born, Or the sojourner that sojourneth in your midst; For on this day, shall a propitiatory-covering, be put over you, to cleanse you, - From all your sins before Yahweh, shall ye be clean. read more. A sabbath of sacred rest, it is unto you, Therefore shall ye humble your souls, A statute age-abiding.
A sabbath of sacred rest, it is unto you, Therefore shall ye humble your souls, A statute age-abiding.
Surely on the tenth of this seventh month, is, the Day of Propitiation, a holy convocation, shall it be to you, therefore shall ye humble your souls, - and bring near an altar-flame unto Yahweh.
A sabbath of sacred rest, shall it be unto you, so shall ye humble your souls, - on the ninth of the month in the evening, from evening to evening, shall ye keep your sabbath.
A sabbath of sacred rest, shall it be unto you, so shall ye humble your souls, - on the ninth of the month in the evening, from evening to evening, shall ye keep your sabbath.
And on the tenth of this seventh month, a holy convocation, shall there be unto you, - when ye shall humble your souls, - no work, shall ye do;
And on the tenth of this seventh month, a holy convocation, shall there be unto you, - when ye shall humble your souls, - no work, shall ye do;
As for any vow, or any oath of binding, to humble ones soul, her husband, may make it stand, or, her husband, may make it of none effect.
Then went up all the sons of Israel, and all the people, and came to Bethel, and wept, and tarried there before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, until the evening, - and caused to go up ascending-sacrifices and peace-offerings, before Yahweh.
and took their bones, and buried them under the tamarisk-tree in Jabesh, - and fasted seven days.
David therefore earnestly sought God in behalf of the boy, - and David kept a fast, and used to go in and pass the night, and lie upon the ground.
David therefore earnestly sought God in behalf of the boy, - and David kept a fast, and used to go in and pass the night, and lie upon the ground. And the elders of his house stood up over him, to raise him from the ground, - but he would not, neither would he eat food with them.
And it came to pass, in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came - he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, - and they built against it a siege wall, round about.
And, in the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, the same, was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, chief of the royal executioners, servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem;
Then proclaimed I there a fast, by the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, - to seek of him a smooth way, for us and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to ask of the king, a band of soldiers and horsemen, to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God, is upon all who seek him, for good, But, his power and his anger, are against all who forsake him. read more. So we fasted and sought of our God, concerning this, - and he suffered himself to be entreated by us.
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and I mourned certain days, - and continued fasting and praying, before the God of the heavens;
And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and I mourned certain days, - and continued fasting and praying, before the God of the heavens; and said, I beseech thee, O Yahweh God of the heavens, the great and fearful GOD, - keeping the covenant and lovingkindness for them who love him and keep his commandments: read more. Let, I pray thee, thine ears be attentive and thine eyes open - to hearken unto the prayer of thy servant - -which, I, am praying before thee now, day and night, for the sons of Israel, thy servants, - -and making confession concerning the sins of the sons of Israel, which we have committed against thee, both I and the house of my father, have sinned. We have dealt, very corruptly, against thee, - and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes nor the regulations, which thou didst command Moses thy servant. Remember, I pray thee, the word, which thou didst command Moses thy servant, saying, - If, ye, are unfaithful, I, will scatter you among the peoples: When ye return unto me and keep my commandments and do them, though it should be that ye have been driven out unto the uttermost part of the heavens, from thence, will I gather them, and bring them into the place that I have chosen to make a habitation for my Name there. They, therefore, are thy servants, and thy people, - whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy firm hand. I beseech thee O My Lord, let - I pray thee - thine ear be attentive unto the prayer of thy servant, and unto the prayer of thy servants who delight to revere thy Name, and oh prosper, I pray thee, thy servant to-day, and grant him compassion before this man. Now, I, was cup-bearer unto the king.
So the priests and the Levites and the door-keepers and the singers and some of the people, and the Nethinim and all Israel, took up their abode in their cities. And, when the seventh month arrived, the sons of Israel were in their cities.
Now, on the twenty-fourth day of this month, were the sons of Israel gathered together, with fasting and with sackcloth, having earth upon them.
So they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God, a fourth part of the day, - and, a fourth part, they were making confession and bowing themselves down, unto Yahweh their God.
Seeing, therefore, all this, we, are plighting our faith, and putting it in writing, - and, upon the sealed scroll, are our rulers, our Levites, our priests.
But, as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, I humbled, with fasting, my soul, though, my prayer, unto mine own bosom, might return:
Wherefore have we Fasted and thou hast not seen? Humbled our soul, and thou wouldst take no note? Lo! in the day of your fast, ye take pleasure, But all your toilers, ye drive on!
Like this, shall the fast be that I choose, A day for the son of earth to humble his soul? Is it to bow down as a rush his head, And sackcloth and ashes, to spread out? Is it, this, thou wilt call a fast, Or a day of acceptance with Yahweh?
In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month on the ninth of the month, was the city broken into.
And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama of the seed royal and chiefs of the king, and ten men with him, came in, unto Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah, - and they did there eat bread together in Mizpah.
And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his force, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it, - and he built against it a siege-wall round about.
In the fourth month on the ninth of the month, when the famine had become severe in the city, - and there had come to be no bread for the people of the land,
And in the fifth month on the tenth of the month, the same, was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, chief of the royal executioners, - who stood before the king of Babylon into, Jerusalem;
So I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek him by prayer, and supplication, - with fasting, and sackcloth and ashes;
And the word reached unto the king of Nineveh, so he arose from his throne, and laid aside his robe from off him, - and covered him with sackcloth, and sat on ashes. And he caused an outcry to be made - and said - throughout Nineveh, By decree of the king and of his great men, Be it known: - Man and beast, herd and flock, Let them taste, nothing, let them not feed, and, water, let them not drink:
to speak unto the priests that pertained to the house of Yahweh of hosts, and unto the prophets, saying, - Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years? Then came the word of Yahweh of hosts unto me, saying: read more. Speak thou unto all the people of the land, and unto the priests, saying, - When ye fasted and lamented in the fifth and in the seventh, even these seventy years, did ye, really fast, unto, me?
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the eleventh, shall become to the house of Judah a gladness and a rejoicing, and pleasant appointed meetings, - But, truth and peace, see that ye love.
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts - The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the eleventh, shall become to the house of Judah a gladness and a rejoicing, and pleasant appointed meetings, - But, truth and peace, see that ye love.
And, when ye may he fasting, become not ye, as the hypocrites, of sullen countenance, - for they darken their looks, that they may appear, unto men, to be fasting: Verily, I say unto you, they are getting back their reward. But, when, thou, art fasting, anoint thy head, and, thy face, wash, - read more. that thou do not appear, unto men, to be fasting, but to thy Father who is in secret, - and, thy Father who seeth in secret, will reward thee.
Then come near unto him the disciples of John, saying, - Wherefore do, we, and the Pharisees, fast, whereas, thy disciples, fast not? And Jesus said unto them, - Can, the sons of the bridechamber, mourn, so long as, the bridegroom, is, with them? But days will come, when the bridegroom, shall be taken from them, and, then, will they fast. read more. Howbeit, no one, layeth on a patch of unshrunk cloth, upon an old garment, - for the shrinking of it teareth away from the garment, and, a worse rent, is made. Neither pour they new wine into old skins: otherwise at least, the skins are burst, and, the wine, runneth out, and, the skins, are spoiled, - but they pour new wine into unused skins, and, both, are together preserved.
And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting; and they come and say unto him - For what cause, do, the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees, fast, whereas, thy disciples, fast not? And Jesus said unto them - Is it possible for the sons of the bridechamber, while the bridegroom is with them, to be fasting? So long as they have the bridegroom with them, it is impossible, to fast. read more. But there will come days, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and, then, they will fast, in that day. No one, seweth a patch of unshrunk cloth upon an old mantle, - otherwise, at least, the shrinking teareth away from it - the new from the old - and, a worse rent is made. And, no one, poureth new wine into fold skins, - otherwise, at least, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and, the skins. But new wine is for unused skins.
And he said unto them - This kind, by nothing, can come out, save, by prayer.
But, they, said unto him - The disciples of John, do fast much, and, supplications, do make, - likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees; but, thine, do eat and drink! Jesus, however, said unto them - Can, ye make, the sons of the bridechamber, fast, while the bridegroom is with them? read more. But there will come days, even when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, then, will they fast, in those days. Moreover, he went on to speak, a parable also, unto them - No one, rending a patch from a new mantle, patcheth it upon an old mantle; otherwise, at least, both, the new, he will rend, and, with the old, the patch which is from the new, will not agree. And, no one, poureth new wine into old skins; otherwise, at least, the new wine, will burst the skins, and will, itself, be poured out, and the skins be destroyed. But, new wine, into unused skins, must be poured. No one, having drunk old, desireth new; for he saith, The old, is, mellow.
I fast twice in the week, I give a tenth of whatsoever things I gain!
And Cornelius said - Four days ago, counting unto this very hour, I was keeping, the ninth hour, as one of prayer, in my house. And lo! a man stood before me, in bright clothing,
And, as they were publicly ministering unto the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said - Separate forthwith unto me, Barnabas and Saul, unto the work whereunto I have called them.
Moreover, appointing unto them by vote, in each assembly, elders, praying with fastings, they commended them unto the Lord on whom they had believed.
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in toilings, in watchings, in fastings,
in toil and hardship, in watchings, oft, in hunger and thirst, in fasting, oft, in cold and nakedness: -
Watsons
FASTING has been practised in all ages, and among all nations, in times of mourning, sorrow, and affliction. We see no example of fasting, properly so called, before Moses. Since the time of Moses, examples of fasting have been very common among the Jews. Joshua and the elders of Israel remained prostrate before the ark from morning till evening, without eating, after Israel was defeated at Ai, Jos 7:6. The eleven tribes which fought against that of Benjamin, fell down on their faces before the ark, and so continued till evening without eating, Jg 20:26. David fasted while the first child he had by Bathsheba was sick, 2Sa 12:16. The Heathens sometimes fasted: the king of Nineveh, terrified by Jonah's preaching, ordered that not only men, but also beasts, should continue without eating or drinking; should be covered with sackcloth, and each after their manner should cry to the Lord, Jon 3:5-6. The Jews, in times of public calamity, appointed extraordinary fasts, and made even the children at the breast fast, Joe 2:16. Moses fasted forty days upon Mount Horeb, Ex 24:18. Elijah passed as many days without eating, 1Ki 19:8. Our Saviour fasted forty days and forty nights in the wilderness, Mt 4:2. These fasts were miraculous, and out of the common rules of nature.
2. Beside the solemn fast of expiation instituted by divine authority, the Jews appointed certain days of humiliation, called the fasts of the congregation. The calamities for which these were enjoined, were a siege, pestilence, diseases, famine, &c. They were observed on the second and fifth days of the week: they began at sunset, and continued till midnight of the following day. On these days they wore sackcloth next the skin, and rent their clothes; they sprinkled ashes on their heads, and neither washed their hands, nor anointed their heads with oil. The synagogues were filled with suppliants, whose prayers were long and mournful, and their countenances dejected with all the marks of sorrow and repentance.
3. As to the fasts observed by Christians, it does not appear by his own practice, or by his commands to his disciples, that our Lord instituted any particular fast. But when the Pharisees reproached him, that his disciples did not fast so often as theirs, or as John the Baptist's, he replied, "Can ye make the children of the bride-chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bride-groom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days," Lu 5:34-35. Fasting is also recommended by our Saviour in his sermon on the mount; not as a stated, but as an occasional, duty of Christians, for the purpose of humbling their minds under the afflicting hand of God; and he requires that this duty be performed in sincerity, and not for the sake of ostentation, Mt 6:16.
4. Although Christians, says Dr. Neander, did not by any means retire from the business of life, yet they were accustomed to devote many separate days entirely to examining their own hearts, and pouring them out before God, while they dedicated their life anew to him with uninterrupted prayers, in order that they might again return to their ordinary occupations with a renovated spirit of zeal and seriousness, and with renewed powers of sanctification. These days of holy devotion, days of prayer and penitence, which individual Christians appointed for themselves, according to their individual necessities, were often a kind of fast-days. In order that their sensual feelings might less distract and impede the occupation of their heart with its holy contemplations, they were accustomed on these days to limit their corporeal wants more than usual, or to fast entirely. In the consideration of this, we must not overlook the peculiar nature of that hot climate in which Christianity was first promulgated. That which was spared by their abstinence on these days was applied to the support of the poorer brethren.
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And Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and ascended into the mountain. And it came to pass that Moses was in the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Then Joshua rent his clothes and fell upon his face to the earth before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel, - and they lifted up dust upon their heads.
Then went up all the sons of Israel, and all the people, and came to Bethel, and wept, and tarried there before Yahweh, and fasted on that day, until the evening, - and caused to go up ascending-sacrifices and peace-offerings, before Yahweh.
David therefore earnestly sought God in behalf of the boy, - and David kept a fast, and used to go in and pass the night, and lie upon the ground.
So he arose, and did eat and drink, - and journeyed, in the strength of that eating, forty days and forty nights, as far as the mountain of God - Horeb.
Gather the people, hallow a convocation, collect the elders, gather the children, and the sucklings of the breasts, - let the bridegroom, come forth, from his chamber, and the bride from her bower:
And the people of Nineveh believed in God, - and proclaimed a fast, and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the greatest of them, even unto the least of them. And the word reached unto the king of Nineveh, so he arose from his throne, and laid aside his robe from off him, - and covered him with sackcloth, and sat on ashes.
and, fasting forty days and forty nights, - afterwards, he hungered.
And, when ye may he fasting, become not ye, as the hypocrites, of sullen countenance, - for they darken their looks, that they may appear, unto men, to be fasting: Verily, I say unto you, they are getting back their reward.
Jesus, however, said unto them - Can, ye make, the sons of the bridechamber, fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But there will come days, even when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, then, will they fast, in those days.