We have looked at why Jesus wanted his disciples to fast. It was to gain strength to succeed in spiritual warfare. That may cause some people to look at fasting as a short cut to gain power.
In fact, the history of the religions is a history of people misappropriating it for personal gains.
Earlier, in a blog, I mentioned that Jesus called Pharisees white washed sepulchres because they used to put ashes on their faces when they fasted. We also looked at the Old Testament requirements for fasting by members of the Israelite community. Eventually it became a sham and a show. So God spoke against it through his prophets. The entire chapter of Isaiah 58 is about it. Since it worth noting, I quote it below from NIV.
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
It shows the blessings of doing the fast right and the kind of fast God hates.
A clear example of the second type is found in Acts 23:12 onward.
"12The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with
an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
13More than forty men were involved in this plot.
14They
went to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have taken a
solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
15Now
then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before
you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case.
We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”
Can you imagine people tying fasting to a plot to kill another person? But that is what they did.
Even now people fast for wrong reasons. But if the ultimate goal is to destroy someone in some way, that fast will be mere religious exercise, not a fast that God is pleased with. We may not murder someone today. But when we scheme to destroy others and use spiritual means for that, it is the same as murdering someone. Because in both cases, you are trying to finish off someone you do not like.
Finally, the picture of prayer in the Bible is erecting an altar. The current series I am doing in Gateway on "The Prayers In The Bible," has made it very clear. Erecting a counter altar to the true altar of God is one of the biggest offenses before God. That is why Bible speak so harshly against idol worship.
Look at what God did when someone dared to erect a counter altar to stop people from going to Jerusalem temple:
1By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.
2By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord
says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he
will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here,
and human bones will be burned on you.’ ”
3That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4When
King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at
Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!”
But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he
could not pull it back.
5Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.
6Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before. (1 Kings 13: 1-6 NIV).
Remember that God had given the kingdom to King Jeroboam. But God objected strongly to his attempt to erect a counter altar in Samaria. Why? He made a sham of God's business in his intention was to stop people from going to Jerusalem temple!
Yes, all of us have personal freedom. We may use that freedom to erect altars to suit our purposes. But never forget that there is God who judge our motives. He will reward us according to the purity of our hearts, not according to our religious efforts.
