2006-10-06
Good Morning God's Treasures,
There's a strip of cardboard on my desk, and I can't remember where I got it. The words, "God bless you!" are printed on it with multicolored lettering. I keep it there to remind me that every day God does exactly that to each true believer in Christ. And yes, we are indeed God's treasures. As His treasures, He wants us to enjoy every benefit from being more and more familiar with His word. That's one reason why He directs me to continue writing about what is in His word about fasting.
There are times when a fast is called for unrighteous reasons. Such was the case when the evil queen Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab decided to help her husband acquire the vineyard land of Naboth, who had previously refused to sell that vineyard in 1 K 21: 1-8. (9-10) Her plan was, "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together and give Naboth the place of honor. Get a couple of scoundrels to accuse him to his face of cursing God and the king. Then take him out of the city and stone him to death." (16) "At once Ahab went to the vineyard to take possession of it." Through Elijah, the prophet, God said to Ahab in (19b), "In the very place that the dogs licked up Naboth's blood, they will lick up your blood." Furthermore, Elijah said, "You have devoted yourself completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight. So the Lord says in (20b-21), 'I will bring disaster on you. I will do away with you and get rid of every male in your family, young and old alike.'" The Lord had more to say of a dire nature to Ahab in (23-25), "And concerning Jezebel, the Lord says that dogs will eat her body in the city of Jezereel. 'Any of your relatives who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and any who die in the open country will be eaten by vultures. There was no one else who had devoted himself so completely to doing wrong in the Lord's sight as Ahab-all at the urging of his wife, Jezebel.'" Ahab and Jezebel had committed the most shameful of sins, worshipping idols. When Elijah had finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, refused food [fasted], and went about gloomy and depressed, i.e. he mourned in the characteristic method of the ancient Jews. His fast here was a righteous one. In response, the Lord said, in (29), "Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Since he has done this, I will not bring disaster on him during his lifetime; it will be during his son's lifetime that I will bring disaster on Ahab's family." This humility wasn't practiced at any time by Jezebel, and she really died as the Lord had described.
There are real lessons for us all in looking at this story. To begin, we can see that some fasts are called for unrighteous motives like the one Jezebel called. These have nothing to do with God and are truly the devil's work. Other fasts, like the one observed by Ahab, are for real and righteous reasons-in this case humbling himself before God. This fast allowed the Lord to see humility and emotional pain the delivery of God's harshest of all judgments. We are given God's perspective in PS 37:11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace." It must be understood that idolatry of any kind is the sin God hates the most. Jezebel had made a lifestyle of it, and God showed His righteousness in bringing her harsh condemnation. Imagine if God didn't do this in the face of such rejection. There were would ethical and spiritual chaos! No one could depend on God's mercy for goodness or condemnation for evil [see RO 3: 25-26]. That's not the God we know. Our God is a just God, Who is eager to bless those who are faithfully obedient to Him [2 CH 16: 9]. If we as believers commit a sin but stop the behavior, then God is forgiving, unless the sin is of a heinous nature. Then, He must see to it that just punishment is delivered. It is up to Him to decide the punishment for a sin, and we can believe that He takes the circumstances into consideration before deciding on the punishment.
Ezra's fast in EZRA 10: 6 is another example of a righteous withdrawal from eating. It happened in response to his plea for ending mixed marriages. It was in response to the unfaithfulness of the exiled Jews. A group of people had married foreign wives and had children with them. They eventually sent the wives away, a very partial solution to the problem. My words here sound as if I'm prejudice, but I am trying to write from God's point of view at the time. His reasons for abhorring mixed marriages were two-fold. He didn't want the introduction of idolatry into Israel, nor did he want land given by divine right to His chosen people to fall out of their hands. Imagine what He must think about modern day trading by Israel of land for peace! In the meanwhile, Ezra knew that social and cultural chaos could easily result from mixed marriages in his time. We need only think of the example of what happened to Solomon, who fell away from God and married many foreign women. The number of his enemies grew to be large as he broke away from his covenant with God. God finally delivered a painful judgment, painful for both Him and Solomon. Solomon would lose his kingdom, although the line of David would be preserved [1 K 11: 1-13]. We must remember that it was after Solomon that Israel was severed into two separate kingdoms-something that surely displeased God. We must assess our reasons for fasting, and fast in a way pleasing to God. God never wants any of us to break with the covenant we have with Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, when we come to Your table to partake of the sacrament, we are having our most intimate contact with You available to us on earth. There are times when people approach Your table without having taken the time to assess their need for forgiveness for their sins. A sin sometimes practiced by some people is to fast for wrongful reasons. Others fast for reasons which are right with You. The stories we have seen today bring up important social issues that may still happen today, things like unlawful seizure of land or personal property, idolatry, and greed. Often these sins are rationalized, but that doesn't change the fact that they are sins. We need to remember the great sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross for our salvation with faith. We need to remember that committing the modern versions of these sins is as abhorrent to God as what Jezebel brought about. Dearest Abba, we ask that You direct us when to fast and how long to fast. We dedicate ourselves to making the choice to fast only for reasons that are right with You. Prayer helps us to make good decisions. PS 119: 10, "With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments." You have promised us direction in PS 32: 8, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with Mine eye." We have no desire to sin against You. You are a loving Lord, who hears our prayers and answers them [PS 116:1]. We want to make a sanctuary for Your Spirit, just as David did in PS 43: 3-4. "Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You dwell. Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my Joy and my Delight. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God." And so, Dear Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we honor, praise, thank, and worship You with all our hearts. Amen.
I hope you are not getting tired of all these stories about fasting. Each one of them has important lessons contained in it for us. There are more for me to share, so I hope you will bear with me as I follow the Lord's direction on this matter. Next week, we will begin looking at some of them from the New Testament. Whether or not one fasts, the Lord knows the content of each of our hearts. He is eager for teachable hearts like Isaiah's. IS 50: 4, "The sovereign Lord has taught me what to say, so I can strengthen the weary. Every morning He makes me eager to hear what He is going to teach me." I'm sure God wishes each believer had this kind of passion for what He has to say. My own experience with being teachable is that it brings a kind of joy that isn't available any other way- when the teaching comes from God. God knew that I needed to know that He really does miracles. This year I have seen one miracle of healing and protection from cancer after another, such as what happened to people like Dick Kveton, Shirley Mertens, Judy Goetsh, Pastor Marlin Harris, and myself. God really does love each true believer with a passion unmatched by any human being. Yes, Dear Readers, this means you! That is such a good reason for each of us to study the word daily, have an active prayer life, serve God in our homes, churches, communities, the mission field, or any number of ways, according to the talents He has given us. Most of all, He wants us to witness to the love and blessings of faith in Jesus Christ within the realms of our own sphere of influence. Our Lord loves each of us more than a person can conceive! Praise be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn