Fasting

In short

Not eating for some reason. In the Old Testament, the examples I see are all negative, basically – it’s to repent of sin or mourn a death. In the New Testament, it seems more of a deep devotion to God – for Jews and Christians.

Why it is important

In hindsight, I might have done better to call this a theme of the Bible. Fasting stretches across the Scriptures, yet is rarely commanded except for Purim (a VERY late tradition) or to honor the dead, though scholars seem to assume the self-affliction on the Day of Atonement is a fast. Also, there is a neat poem in Isaiah 58.

Old Covenant examples

The word(s) for fast/fasting don’t appear in the Bible until AFTER the Torah, starting in Judges 20:26, putting it outside of all of the laws of the Old Covenant. But we do have the example of Moses not eating for 40 days when receiving the Ten Commandments (Ex 34:28).

• During a civil war with Benjamin (Jdg 20:26)
• Repenting of idolatry (1Sa 7:6)
• At the deaths of Saul and Jonathan (1Sa 31:13; 2Sa 1:12)
• David pleads with God for the life of his illicitly-conceived son (2Sa 12:16-23)
• Ahab repents (1Ki 21:27)
• King Jehoshaphat is told they are about to be defeated (2Ch 20:3)
• Ezra prays for a safe journey (Ezra 8:21-23)
• Nehemiah’s distress over Jerusalem’s disrepair (Neh 1:4)
• The Jews in Persia learn of their fate (Est 4:3)
• Purim (Est 9:31)

New Covenant examples

Conversely, fasts cease to be mentioned after 2 Corinthians. The example that stands out to me is in Luke 18:13, where the Pharisee brags, “I fast twice a week.” It seems their fasts were a day at most, likely only a single meal. Yet Jesus went 40 days in the wilderness without food – like Moses.

• Jesus in the desert (Mt 4:2)
• Don’t look all sad (Mt 6:16-18)
• John the Baptist’s disciples (Mk 2:18-20)
• The prophetess Anna (Lk 2:37)
• The Pharisee who prays hypocritically (Lk 18:12)
• To consecrate Barnabas and Saul (Ac 13:2-3)
• After appointing elders (Ac 14:23)

Isaiah 58 – A Fast that God Wants

Bonus! A poem on a Saturday! In this poem, God rebukes (even mocks) the Jews for their hypocrisy of fasting (their show of religiousness) while acting neglectful of the needy. He says a true fast is to consider the poor and oppressed. Here is a section of that poem.

[3] ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?

                   Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

                   and oppress all your workers.

[4] Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

                   and to hit with a wicked fist.

Fasting like yours this day

                   will not make your voice to be heard on high.

[5] Is such the fast that I choose,

                   a day for a person to humble himself?

Is it to bow down his head like a reed,

                   and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

Will you call this a fast,

                   and a day acceptable to the LORD?

[6] “Is not this the fast that I choose:

                   to loose the bonds of wickedness,

                   to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

                   and to break every yoke?

[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?

Isaiah 58:3–7, ESV