Reference: Fasts
Smith
Fasts.
1. One fast only was appointed by the Mosaic law, that on the day of atonement. There is no mention of any other periodical fast in the Old Testament except in
From these passages it appears that the Jews, during their captivity, observed four annual fasts, --in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months.
2. Public fasts were occasionally proclaimed to express national humiliation and to supplicate divine favor. In the case of public danger the proclamation appears to have been accompanied with the blowing of trumpets.
(See
1Sa 7:6; 2Ch 20:3; Jer 36:6-10
) Three days after the feast of tabernacles, when the second temple was completed, "the children of Israel assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes and earth upon them," to hear the law read and to confess their sins.
3. Private occasional fasts are recognized in one passage of the law --
The instances given of individuals fasting under the influence of grief, vexation or anxiety are numerous.
4. In the New Testament the only reference to the Jewish fasts are the mention of "the fast" in
(generally understood to denote the day of atonement) an the allusions to the weekly fasts.
Mt 9:14; Mr 2:18; Lu 5:33; 18:12; Ac 10:30
These fasts originated some time after the captivity.
5. The Jewish fasts were observed with various degrees of strictness. Sometimes there was entire abstinence from food.
etc. On other occasions there appears to have been only a restriction to a very plain diet.
Those who fasted frequently dressed in sackcloth or rent their clothes, put ashes on their head and went barefoot.
6. The sacrifice of the personal will, which gives to fasting all its value, is expressed in the old term used in the law, afflicting the soul.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Her husband may confirm or revoke every vow and binding obligation that afflicts her.
So they came together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out in the LORD's presence.
Nevertheless, as soon as Ahab heard this message, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He even slept in sackcloth and wandered around meekly.
On the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the Israelis gathered together while fasting, wearing sackcloth, and covering themselves with dust.
"You also came down to Mount Sinai, spoke with them from heaven, and gave them impartial regulations, true laws, statutes, and good commands.
"Go and gather all the Jewish people who are in Susa and fast for me. Don't eat or drink for three days, night or day. Both I and my young women will also fast in the same way, and then I'll go in to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting, and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them.
You go and read the words of the LORD that you wrote at my dictation from the scroll. Read them to the people at the LORD's Temple on the fast day. Also read them to all the people of Judah who are coming from their towns. Perhaps their pleas for help will come to the LORD's attention, and each of them will turn from his evil lifestyle in light of the great anger and wrath that the LORD has declared against this people." read more. So Neriah's son Baruch did just as Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, reading the words of the LORD from the scroll at the LORD's Temple. In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed in the LORD's presence in Jerusalem for all the people of Jerusalem, as well as all the people who were coming from the towns of Judah. Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll to all the people at the LORD's Temple. He did this from the office of Shaphan's son Gemariah the scribe, in the upper court at the entrance of the New Gate of the LORD's Temple.
I ate no fancy foods neither meat nor wine entered my mouth. Furthermore, I didn't use any ointment until the end of the entire three weeks.
"Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Tremble, all of you inhabitants of the land, because the Day of the LORD is coming. Oh, how near it is! A day of doom and gloom, a day of clouds and shadows like the dawn spreads out to cover the mountains a people strong and robust. Never has there been anything like it, neither will anything follow to compare with it, even through the lifetime of generation upon generation." read more. "A fire blazes in their presence, and behind them a conflagration rages. Before they come, the land is like the garden in Eden; after they leave, there is only a barren wasteland. Indeed, nothing escapes them. As to their form, they're like horses; and like chariot horses, how they can run! They leap like the rumbling of chariots echoing from mountain tops, like the roar of wild fire that devours the chaff, as an army firmly established in battle array. The people are terrified in their presence; every face grows pale. They run like elite soldiers, climbing ramparts like men trained for war. Each man advances in proper order, never breaking rank. Neither does a man crowd his fellow soldier; each one marches in his own path. When they fall by the sword they are not injured. They swarm through the city, running upon its ramparts. Climbing atop the houses, they enter through windows like a thief." "The land quivers in their presence; even the heavens shake. The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will stop shining. The LORD will shout in the presence of his forces, because his encampment is very great; for powerful is he who carries out his message. Truly the Day of the LORD is great, and very terrifying. Who will be able to survive it?" "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil. Who knows? He will turn back and relent, will he not, leaving behind a blessing, even a grain offering and drink offering for the LORD your God?" "Sound the ram's horn in Zion! Dedicate a fast and call for a solemn assembly!
During the fourth year of the reign of King Darius, a message from the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev. The people of Bethel were sending Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to pray in the LORD's presence read more. and to speak to the priests assigned to the Temple of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies along with the prophets, asking, "Am I to go about mourning, denying myself throughout the fifth month, as I have these many years?" Then this message from the LORD of the Heavenly Armies came to me: "Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, "When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me? And when you eat and drink, you're eating and drinking for your own benefit, aren't you? Isn't this what the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah?'"
"This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "The fasts that occur in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be joyful and glad times for the house of Judah, replete with cheerful festivals. Therefore, love truth and peace.'"
Then John's disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don't fast?"
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees would fast regularly. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples don't fast?"
Then they told him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples keep right on eating and drinking."
I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of my entire income.'
Cornelius replied, "Four days ago at this very hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, I was praying in my home. All at once a man in radiant clothes stood in front of me