2006-09-22
Good Morning Cherished of God,
I'm led to continue sharing stories from the Bible that deal with fasting. Not a lot is known about the prophet, Joel, not even the exact date that his book was written. Some say it was possibly written during the boyhood years of King Joash, who ruled from 835 BC to 796 BC. At the time of the writing, if this theory is true, the High Priest, Jehoiada, son of Pethuel, was the regent of Judah. It seems likely that the book was written during the time of the Persian Empire. Joel describes a terrible invasion of locusts and a devastating drought in Palestine. In these events he sees a sign of the coming Day of the Lord, a time when the Lord will punish those who oppose His righteous will. The prophet conveys the Lord's call to the people to repent, and His promise of restoration and blessing for His people. It's of importance that God promises to send His Spirit upon all the people.
JL 1: 14-16 is in the time when the people are mourning the loss of their crops. "Give orders for a fast; call an assembly! Gather the leaders and all the people of Judah into the temple of our Lord your God and cry out to Him! The Day of the Lord is near, the Day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring! We look on helpless as our crops are destroyed. There is no joy in the temple of our God." We can see in this passage not only a kind of helplessness felt, but also a lack of sophistication in the understanding of the Lord's willingness to protect those who love Him. This reveals quite a bit about the state of the people's faith at that time in history. However, it also reveals an understanding of the value of fasting in calling on the Lord to pay attention to their pleas.
JL 2: 1-2 is the calling of another fast, this time in response to the "darkness" of an infestation of locusts. "Blow the trumpet; sound the alarm on Zion, God's sacred hill. Tremble, people of Judah! The Day of the Lord is coming soon. It will be a dark and gloomy day, a black and cloudy day. The great army of locusts advances like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there never will be again." In the book of Job, Job himself argued with his Jewish friends. They took the approach that all that God was doing was a reward/punishment response to their actions. Even today, traditionally Jewish people believe that one can do "mitzvahs" (good deeds) to earn their way into heaven. This is in direct contrast to the concept of grace (unmerited favor) that Messianic Jews and Christians believe. I mention this, because one can see this same reward/punishment kind of thinking in the approach Joel is taking with regard to the reasons and signs of the Day of the Lord.
Amidst JL 2: 12-17, we see a call to repentance. However, a concept quite foreign to the way traditional Judaism is conveyed, even in this country now, can be seen-forgiveness-is brought up. JL 2: 12-13, "'But even now,' says the Lord, 'repent sincerely and return to Me with fasting and weeping and mourning. Let your broken heart show your sorrow; tearing your clothes is not enough.' Come back to the Lord your God. He is kind and full of mercy; He is patient and keeps His promise; He is always ready to forgive and not punish." This last sentence seems like it belongs more in the NT. Sadly, the people just didn't understand. In (17), both the urgency of making a prayerful plea to God and the concept of God's will for Judah to not cause the mocking disrespect of other idolatrous nations is seen. "The priests, serving the Lord between the altar and the entrances of the temple, must weep and pray: 'Have pity on Your people, Lord. Do not let other nations despise us and mock us by saying, 'Where is your God?'" At last in JL 2: 18-19, we begin to see God's response to all this prayer and fasting. "Then the Lord showed concern for His land; He had mercy on His people. He answered them: 'now I am going to give you grain and wine and olive oil, and you will be satisfied. Other nations will no longer despise you.'" God tells the people He will remove the locusts. All of this makes me think of PS 71: 20-21, "You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but You will restore my strengthen; You will keep me from the grave. You will make me greater than ever; You will comfort me again."
All during reading the description of this response to fasting and prayer, one can't help but see God carefully and very gradually making extraordinary efforts to bring His people closer to Him. At that point they didn't understand their utter need for Him being the very center of their lives in order to live righteously and to return to Him for an eternal life of bliss and fellowship with Him. Sadly, the people didn't see how their propensity for legalism in their thinking and attention to ritual in their worship was driving a wedge between themselves and God. This was a real case of getting hung up on form of worship to the loss of understanding the content of God's teaching. And yes, forgiveness and promise-keeping on God's part have always been at the heart of His teaching, even in the days of the OT.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us prayer, study of Your word, and fasting as "tools" to be used to allow You to reveal Yourself to us [JS 1: 8 et al]. Your desire is for as many of us who will listen to the truth to be brought back to You in Your time and way, for a life of eternal bliss and fellowship with You [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 12: 4-5]. In our time, we have the incarnation of Christ, His ministry, and His sacrifice of His physical life for us on the cross. These things give us clear access to knowing Your will and to salvation (with our repentance and faith in Him) [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. Yet, even in OT times, You were trying to teach the people about repentance and His forgiveness. They just didn't understand either Your power to bring good or Your teaching. They, like their modern traditionally Jewish counterparts, responded with legalism and obsession on form over understanding of the content of Your teaching. You are indeed a forgiving God, One eager to bless His human creation [HE 8: 12]. It was good that the people of Joel's time were willing to fast and pray. That is why You had allowed bad things to happen to them and finally responded to put a stop to them. You allowed the people's fasting and prayer, which was genuine, to be a sign of lessons having been learned. You never stopped loving Your Jewish people, any more than You love Your Gentile ones. PS 8: 1, "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens." You are a loving, patient and hard-working God. From the time of the original sin [GN 3: 1-6], You have set about the gigantic task of civilizing mankind. While You have made some progress, there is still a long way to go. You know this and haven't given up on us. We need You to intervene in our lives to live righteously and to obey the command You have given us to, "Be holy because I am holy" [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19:2; 1 PET 1: 16]. We offer You our love, devotion, worship, praise, and thanks, because You deserve nothing less. These things we say in the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Fasting has been an integral part of the culture and practices of both the Jews and Christians. We see it used in a number of rich stories from the Bible, rich in lessons from God. That is why I am motivated to continue next week with more stories from the Bible which include fasting as a component. These stories boost our faith, show us God's amazing consistency in teaching over time, and enrich our faith-walks. Our God loves us to a degree that it is beyond measure. My own life, the very fact that I am alive today and cancer free, is only one small example of that. While He allowed me to have terrible trouble in gaining weight that I couldn't lose on my own and eventually having trouble breathing, He also delivered me to a very talented surgeon and other doctors available who could help me. He led me to them, caused me to be prayed over by my family and friends, and encouraged me to pray for His will for me. Then, He gave me the gift of peace- even as I was being wheeled into the operating theater. My son told me I was smiling as the prayers ended and I went in. I was ready to either go home to Him or to put up a battle royal against cancer, knowing He was with me. Never did I imagine a third possible outcome-emerging from my surgery cancer free! Christ's Atonement, our repentance and faith in Him, and the gift of the Holy Spirit given are larger, more important examples of the love God has for each of us. We should pay attention to the content of His lessons in our lives, and He will bless us beyond our wildest dreams. Be consoled and confident in Him; take comfort for His constant love.
Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn