Fasting is one of those topics that surfaces every now and then. In some streams, Lent is a season where fasting something—food, sweets, an enjoyable activity—is considered sacrificial. I’m not sure to what end as it seems to be highly individual besides obedience to a traditional dogma.
Fasts even have trends. We’ve heard of “Daniel fasts” that involve anywhere from seven to twenty-one days of pretty much a vegan menu. More recently, I’m hearing of an “Esther fast,” but I can’t seem to figure out what that means either—too many interpretations out there. People seem to feel free to lift the word “fast” from biblical contexts and impose it on current contexts. I don’t necessarily think that it’s a bad thing to use a past event as a model, but I also don’t think we should be making new dogma out of it (eisegesis).
The point of these fasts differs. Is it to garner some favor with God? Is it to refocus on what should be important in life? Is it to follow the tradition of a religion? Is it to achieve some health benefit? Is it to use the time of eating to pray and hear from heaven? I particularly like the argument that fasting helps control the flesh so that we can focus on hearing from heaven, but I’m not willing to make a doctrine out of it. Having both spiritual and health personal benefits are reasonable and valid—no argument there.
The New Testament does not require fasting, but it does mention it as something Jesus, His disciples, and the early Church did. That being said, I do want to look at a fast mentioned in Scripture I don’t hear very often as an intentional fast—God’s Fast—the “Chosen Fast.”
[God speaking] Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo 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 homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58:6–7, NASB).
To Loosen the Bonds of Wickedness
Have you ever had super glue bonded between your fingers? It’s a challenge to separate your fingers without ripping your skin, but you just don’t leave it alone. Scripture gives us the antidote for wicked glue in every circumstance and the imperative to use it.
Nothing is better in this life than living free—free from obstacles to fulfillment. Wickedness keeps people from living in liberty. The enemy of souls keeps dangling the prospect of satisfying whatever is lacking and keeping them preoccupied with their issues so that they don’t see the way of escape. The prisoner is trapped-bonded-glued, getting a little short-lived satisfaction, then becoming quickly disappointed and having to reach for the next happy fix. Jesus has given us the equipment-antidote to loosen prisoners from the bonds of wickedness in His Name and for His glory.
To Undo the Bands of the Yoke
The closet of evil has too many outfits to list, but this we can say without fail, it seeks to dress weaknesses and brokenness with its couture. God’s promises in His Word—the good news—the gospel—has the answer to every fashion of sin. Our amazing God has given His followers the power, the authority, and His Word to loosen the cincture of iniquity from wrecked lives so that they can put on a fresh wardrobe of God’s grace and love.
To Let the Oppressed Go Free
I’m reminded of the last scene in the film Braveheart, where the character William Wallace powerfully cries out “Freedom!” just before he is executed. Whether the oppression is from the outside or the inside, oppressed people want to be free. Always. Free from sickness, disease, oppression, depression. But sometimes they don’t know the path to freedom.
Followers of Christ are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Having been freed, they have the privilege and the responsibility to be the light and path to lead others. In the final words of Jesus, “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover (Mark 16:15–18).”
To Break Every Yoke
Yes, the Word says EVERY. No name is higher than the name of Jesus, and that includes the name of every yoke of bondage known to humanity (Phil 2:10, Gal 5:1). A yoke is any device that is used to attach two things so that they cannot move independently (like bonding glue). Oxen are yoked to form a team of strength in plowing a field. People oppressed of evil beings are yoked so that they are unable to act independently. The Word of God spoken with the authority of the name of Jesus breaks the yoke. It does not only release from the yoke, it breaks the yoke. We are called to be yoke-breakers.
To Divide Your Bread with the Hungry
Ministry is twofold—bringing the Word of deliverance on the one hand, and then social action that brings relief to the natural condition on the other hand. It’s good to give the Word of God as food to the soul, but bellies need to be filled as well.
Jesus preached to the multitudes, and then He recognized that they needed to be fed. So he took a little boy’s lunch and miraculously fed 5,000. Can followers of the Master do less to bring food for the soul as well as the body to the hungry? Bringing the gospel feeds hungry souls, and bowls of food fills hungry bodies. They both count in the Kingdom.
To Cover the Naked
Sharing clothing is a good thing, but covering nakedness is not only about clothes. How hard is it to fill bags of clothing to donate from a culture that has over-stuffed closets, especially in response to a sudden catastrophe? Non-profits will even come to your door to pick up the bags. It’s not a hardship. In fact, it is a blessing to declutter.
Another kind of covering calls for much more. Besides clothing naked bodies, covering the naked is covering the shame of broken people and loving the unlovely. This kind of covering requires personal involvement.
To Not Hide Yourself from Your Own Flesh
Of all the imperatives of Isaiah’s chosen fast, this one is most peculiar. How do we hide from our own flesh? It speaks of self-examination—conviction, not condemnation. Self-condemnation serves no good purpose, but revisiting one’s convictions and decisions in light of the God’s Word is where growth takes place. Checking the beam in one’s own eye before a mote in another’s (Lk 6:42) helps to keep flesh under control.
And Finally
Isaiah 58:6–7 describes a fast that is not simply a time set aside for denial. Sacrificing food or some other thing has its place and benefits as an event that add to one’s spiritual growth, especially when joined with prayer. “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (James 3:17).”
The chosen fast has to do with a sacrificial lifestyle that looks beyond self and really begins to see. The underlying theme of the chosen fast reveals the heart of God as it describes compassion for humanity. It’s not just our job; it’s our joy.
Copyright 2017 by Eva S. Benevento. All rights reserved.