Fasting
Roger Forster
Why and how should we fast? Roger helps us find out the answers as we examine the examples set in the Bible and church history.
Fasting (Heb. 'som' - to cover the mouth; 'anah' - to humble oneself; Grk. 'nesteia' - not to eat) is a practice found in all societies, cultures and centuries, prompted by a variety of objectives and rationales. Although it is a well established spiritual discipline occurring in both Testaments of the Bible, as well as other religious literature, it is not confined to religious usage. Gandhi's fast and I.R.A. hunger strikes are well known instruments of political pressure and protest against injustice, evoking admiration, but are morally questionable, whereas hunger lunches and abstention from food to identify with the poor and raise relief are clearly Christlike (Isaiah 58:6-7). Some health regimes use fasts to tone up the body (for God - 1 Corinthians 6:19).
The theology of fasting
Old Testament
In the Old Testament fasting is used to express repentance (Joel 2:12-13; Jonah 3:5,9) and/or a desperate plea for God's intervention when in peril (Esther 4:1-4). Consequently it was a sign of mourning and sorrow for sins - a stance of humility sometimes using sackcloth and ashes (Daniel 9:3) - and in itself a petition; however, it was often also accompanied by vocal prayer. (The natural abstention from food in bereavement may have been the origin of religious fasting, the historical roots of which are otherwise obscure.) On occasions it is resorted to for healing (1 Samuel 1:7-8; Psalm 35:13), protection, renewal and revelation, as when God spoke to Moses on Sinai (Exodus 34:28), but in essence in these cases fasting is also seen as a dramatic, serious appeal for God to act. This is the reason that God under the law ordered the only fast for all the people to be the Day of Atonement, when he annually removed the nation's sin, that it might go on with him (Leviticus 16:29-31).
Jesus' Example and Teaching
Jesus fasted (Matthew 4:2) and expected that his disciples would keep fasts also, along with the other two important Jewish disciplines, prayer and giving (Matthew 6:1-18). He inherits and assumes therefore all the Old Testament understanding concerning this discipline, re-emphasising the warning of Isaiah 58:1-5 against hypocrisy. Self-display and self-righteousness, as portrayed by the Pharisee in Jesus' parable in Luke 18:9-14, are rejected and consequently the Jewish practice of sackcloth and ashes (Matthew 6:16-18). The Day of Atonement, with its compulsory fast and sabbath (Leviticus 16:29-31; 23:26-32) is superceded by Jesus' 'sacrifice' of crucifixion and 'sabbath rest' of salvation without works. Although the Church, like Israel, has commanded compulsory fast days, these seem contrary to the spirit of Jesus' voluntary fasting, although a church or national fast would be acceptable as a corporate exercise if not enforced, as when Britain was threatened by Napoleon, or as in the case of Nineveh in Jonah 3. Even the four feasts mourning the end of the monarchy, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile were destined to be turned into joyful feasts (Zech. 8:19). No doubt Jesus as a good Israelite would have kept the one fast of the Law, but his disciples were criticised for feasting and not fasting. Jesus' reply was that they would fast when he was taken away (Mark 2:18-20; Luke 5:33-35). The church age of the new wineskin is to be characterised by both feasting and fasting, since the Kingdom is here but not in its entirety. Disciples will feast because they have met the Bridegroom, but will also fast for his return.
New Testament Church
Since apart from the New Testament little is known about the first century church, it is inadmissible to assert, as some do, that fasting was not practised or that Jesus' view on the subject is unclear (e.g. Behm T.D.N.T. Vol. IV Fasting). What is clear is (i) Jesus gave both example and teaching in the Gospels clearly indicating that it was an outward sign of an inner state; (ii) there are at least seven fasting passages in the best texts of the Acts/Epistles. Paul fasted (Acts 9:9; 13:2,3; 14:23) to receive light and power from God in the establishing of the church. 2 Corinthians 6:5 and 11:27 have been questioned as not relating to fasting to God, but the list of spiritual values in 2 Corinthians 6:6 indicates that 2 Corinthians 6:5 may be understood as fasting to God while 2 Corinthians 11:27 must mean fasting to God, else it is repetition.
Church history of fasting
The sub-apostolic church fasted, as Clement of Rome A.D. 96 indicates. The Didache (circa second century) in chapter eight teaches fasting twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays, to differ from the Pharisees ('hypocrites') who fasted Mondays and Thursdays) and also in preparation for Easter. The Shepherd of Hermas, second century, in chapter five, shows fasting in relationship to prayer for the Lord's return. The Epistle of Barnabas 3:1, Polycarp and Justin in his Dialogue 15:1 all show fasting as a regular Christian discipline. However, by the third century Tertullian clearly treats fasting as meritorious (De Patientia 13; De Oratone 18) as do the Apocrypha and Tobit 12:8, and later teachers till the Reformation suggest its value for atoning for sin. While most teachers of this period warn against asceticism, the theology of works of merit takes precedence over that of fasting being a discipline which is a means of grace.
Outstanding Christian leaders through the centuries practised fasting for a variety of reasons. Origen, Jerome, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Wesley, Brainerd, Finney, Franklin Hall are to name but a few.
Types of fasting
There are: 1. supernatural fasts, e.g. Moses and Elijah (sustained by God, since a human cannot live without water for more than three days); 2. absolute fasts, no food and water for a maximum of three days (Esther 4:16; Acts 9:9); 3. normal fasts, including water, long - forty days (e.g. Jesus) - or short - one day (Lev. 23:14); 4. partial fasts (Daniel 1:12-16, 10:2-3; 1 Kings 17:6). A Christian may engage in all these when led by the Spirit, as was Jesus (Luke 4:1-2). There are also hypocritical fasts (1 Kings 21:9-12; Isaiah 58:3-5; 1 Timothy 4:3).
God-guided fasting
Moses, Elijah and Jesus each fasted forty days and introduced the Law, the Prophets and the Kingdom respectively (Luke 16:16). Jesus went into his fast, led by and filled with the Spirit, and comes out in the power of the Spirit for the Kingdom age (Luke 4:1,14). 'Be followers of me as I am of Christ' (1 Cor. 11:1) said Paul to the church for all time on this subject.
Bibliography
- C. Brown: Dictionary of New Testament Theology (1960) Paternoster
- R.D. Chatham: Fasting (1987)
- E. Harrison: Baker's Dictionary of Theology (1960) Baker
- G. Kittle: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (1978 Vol. IV) Eerdmans
- A. Wallis: God's Chosen Fast (1979) Kingsway
- H.A. Waltke: Theological Word Book of the Old Testament (1980 Vol. II) Moody
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