The True Fast of the Lord

God does indeed want his people to fast on the Day of Atonement, as well as on other days.  But what should be the form of a fast?  First, abstaining from water as well as food on Atonement as a “full” fast is not a mandate. Indeed, God does not appreciate the Pharisaical extremes of any fast.  “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isa.58:1).  God has a bone to pick with his people. They continually sin before him.  “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways…” (v.2a).  They sin, but they appear before man to be seeking and following God.  “ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen?  Why have we afflicted our souls, and you take no notice?’ ” (v.3a).  God was paying no attention to the people as they fasted and afflicted their souls. This is a pattern of God’s, and we need to pay attention to his ways.  He will surely begin to ignore us if we constantly displease him.

“In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers” (v.3b).  The fact was that they were not honestly afflicting themselves in the manner God prescribes.  What is God’s prescription?  Is it to wear a sour look—to groan within and without—to give a sermon about how rough you have it—to sleepily listen to a sermon on some irrelevant subject? “Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness.  You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high” (v.4).  The apparent intent and result of their fast was corrupt.  They had strife and debated with one another or others, enabling them all to further the cause of wickedness, but not to worship God.  “Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul?  Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?” (v.5a).  This colorful language is an indictment of those who misunderstood (and still misunderstand) the reasoning and methodology of the fast God specifies.

Take special notice: God receives no pleasure in this kind of self-promoting fast.  Yet, it is by far the most common type of fast being promoted within the churches of God today: self-righteous, introverted, and self-seeking. “Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?” (v.5b).  The answer should shock us.  Many respond in their practices as if with one voice: “Yes.”  But they are wrong.  “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?” (v.6).  God gets real pointed with what he considers a true fast.  A true fast to the Lord removes wickedness; it disengages heavy burdens; it frees the oppressed, and it breaks the yoke of bondage.  If your fast on the Day of Atonement does not include at least an effort to fulfill one of these cardinal points in Christ, you are failing to please God.  “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? (v.7).

“Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am’ ” (vv.8-9a).  The Eternal promises that if you do his will, you will be blessed, and he will listen to you.  Would you like the Lord to hear when you call?  Feed the poor.  Do you want the Lord to protect your back?  Help the oppressed and the helpless.  Do you want the Lord to go before you?  Bear another’s yoke; remove yokes of bondage.  The Eternal offers no exemption when you cry “Sabbath exception!” and you neglect your obligations (Lk.10:30-37). When you insist on the law over the spirit, you lose every time.  “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday” (Isa.58:10).  Do you want your light to shine in the darkness?  Extend your hand to the hungry and help remove afflictions from others. “And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In” (v.12b).  You can be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.  Then, your Sabbath will be a delight—a real delight (v.13).  Why not take a chance on Atonement and take the food you would have eaten and give it to someone else—even a stranger?  Pastor F. Paul Haney