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FASTING

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 1, 1875

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 46, No. 1.

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FASTING

By D. T. Bourdeau

BY ELD. D. T. BOURDEAU.
TEXT: “And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast; and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.” Mark 2:18–20.
Owing to the abuses of this subject, an impression prevails with many that fasting is a duty of minor importance, if indeed it should be practiced at all. Not a few, looking at fasting only through the practice of the Roman Catholic Church, and through the spirit of bigotry and self-righteousness that characterized the Pharisees of old, regard it as one of those duties which were peculiar to Old-Testament times, and which passed away with the ushering in of the new dispensation. But in our text the Saviour takes a different view of the subject. He teaches that when he should be taken away his children would fast. While he was with them they could rejoice; but when he should be taken away, then they would have occasion to fast.
Immediately after his baptism, and just before entering upon the more public duties of his mission, Jesus engaged in a long fast; and at the close of this fast, he, in his notable sermon on the mount, spoke thus on the subject of fasting: “Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” Matt. 6:16–18.
If fasting was to cease with the old dispensation, would Christ have been thus particular in giving instructions on the course to be pursued in fasting? Would we not, in that case, expect him to speak on this wise: The hypocrites do thus and so when they fast; but do not as they do, I say unto you, Fast not at all? Our Saviour here exposes the selfish object that some had in fasting; namely, to be seen of men. Those who fasted with this object in view received their reward in the praise of those of their class, and that was all the reward that such would ever have. But those who, so far as the applause of men is concerned, fasted as though they were alone and secluded from all, and who fasted with the sense that God saw and knew them, although they might not receive the praise of men, would, nevertheless, be rewarded by God openly. Here is, indeed, great encouragement for those who fast according to the will of God.
As we might expect from the teachings of Christ, the apostolic church attached great importance to fasting, which was practiced in times of perplexity, when special wisdom was needed in regard to decisions having an important bearing on the prosperity of the cause. Acts 13:1–3. It was resorted to when men were emerging out of darkness and searching for light; Acts 9:9; 10:30; when men were ordained elders, and set apart to an important work. Acts 13:3; 14:23. Paul speaks of it as a necessary practice among Christians who had received the gospel under his labors. “That ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer,” is his language to the church at Corinth; 1 Cor. 7:5; to whom he also speaks of his own example by way of commendation, for the sake of the gospel, thus: “In hunger and thirst, in fastings often;” “in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings.” 2 Cor. 11:27; 6:4, 5.
There is no evidence from the New Testament that stated fasts, occurring on certain days of certain months, or during certain periods of the year, were instituted for this dispensation. The time or times of fasting seem to have been left optional, or, rather, the wants, circumstances, and emergencies of the church and of individuals in the light of such Scripture examples as are not connected with types, indicate when fasting is necessary.
We should avoid the error of regarding fasting as a work of supererogation whereby we may merit pardon and the favor of God. We should regard fasting as a means of grace, as one of the helps that God grants us to obtain his unmerited favor. None of our actions, however commendable they may be, can be better than what the law of God requires of us, so that nothing that we can perform can offset against and cancel our past sins, and merit for us the favor of God. Yet the plan of God is such that his mercy is bestowed on conditions. How inconsistent, then, is that view of the subject which makes fasting a means of display and self-justification!
The fast that is acceptable to God is that which is from the heart, whose praise is not of men but of God. It grows out of a deep sense of our unworthiness, and dependence on God, and of our great need of God’s help. It is accompanied with deep and heartfelt humility in view of past sins, with confession of sins, and contrition or sorrow for them, and with an earnest deprecation of God’s displeasure, and humble supplication that he would avert his judgments. It embraces a turning away from sin and intercession with God for such spiritual and temporal blessings upon ourselves and others as are needful. It evinces that the soul longs more for victory over sin, for spiritual food, and for the favor and blessing of God, than it does for natural food and the gratification of the appetites and passions.
Such a fast as this is a mighty means of grace, and is sure to bring victory and relief when other means have failed. The Scriptures abound with striking illustrations of this truth, and since the Bible was written many have been enabled to testify to this truth from blessed experience.
Moses, as a type of Christ, fasted forty days, during which he communed with God, having a high sense of God’s holy law, which he was to receive from Jehovah for the people; and emerging out of this long fast his face shone with the glory of God. Elijah, as a type of John the Baptist and of those who will prepare for the second coming of Christ, and to meet the “dreadful day of the Lord,” Mal. 4, etc., was abstemious in his diet, and following a long abstinence, employed in close converse with God and in self-abasement, he received more than usual grace and power to finish up his work, and then is translated to Heaven without tasting death. At the close of Christ’s protracted fast the angels of God ministered unto him, and he entered upon the work of preaching “in the power of the Spirit.”
In the days of the judges, the children of Benjamin rebelled against and threatened to vanquish the ten tribes, who humbled themselves and took to prayer and fasting, and obtained a great deliverance. Judges 20. In the days of Jehoshaphat, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and others came against Judah in battle, and it seemed as though, unless God made bare his arm in behalf of his people, they would be swallowed up. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah, which was responded to. A very encouraging testimony came from God through a prophet, giving instructions as to what course Judah should pursue. The testimony was heeded, and victory came to God’s people. 2 Chron. 20.
A fearful threatening of impending judgment comes to wicked Ahab, who rends his clothes, puts sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasts; and God thus speaks of him to Elijah: “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days.” 1 Kings 21. In the time of Esther, Haman the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy, succeeded in inducing Ahasuerus, king of Persia, to pass a decree that all the Jews should be killed. At the command of Esther, the Jews fasted for her, and neither ate nor drank three days, night or day, and a mighty deliverance came to the Jews, who were saved from the wicked plot of Haman.
The Ninevites, although outside of God’s chosen people, present a most remarkable case of the benefit of genuine fasting. God threatened them through Jonah with immediate destruction, because of their great wickedness; whereupon they “believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.” Jonah 3:5–8.
In view of this wonderful change in this people, God changed his purposes concerning them and gave them a new probation, saving them from the threatened calamity. How different is this fast in its nature, proclamation, and results, from most of our national fasts, which might more properly be called occasions of pleasure, feasting, and sin, than occasions of mourning, fasting, and reform.
When Ezra was about to start from Babylon with a small company to go and rebuild Jerusalem, he was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help them against the enemy on the way; but he and his people found in prayer and fasting a greater safeguard than they would have found in an army well equipped and well drilled. Ezra 8. See also Neh. 9. It was by fasting, prayer, humiliation, and confession, that Daniel obtained valuable knowledge in which we now rejoice. Dan. 9, etc. Cornelius fasted and prayed, and God sent him Peter with the instruction he so much needed, and for which he was doubtless thirsting. Acts 10:30, etc. Saul at his conversion is arrested by the mighty power of God, and is three days without eating or drinking. He prays, evidently hungering for the words of life, and longing for light and freedom, and Ananias is instructed in vision to go and meet his pressing wants.
So far as abstinence from food is concerned, it may be said that, owing to different circumstances and different conditions of health, there are different grades of fasting. In cases of robust persons, it may on certain occasions be proper to abstain wholly from food for a certain period; while in other cases to eat more sparingly, to abstain from “pleasant” food, and to partake of a smaller variety of food, is all that may be expected. The good God who has made us to live and enjoy health does not require us to pursue a course that would be destructive of health, and that would so enfeeble us as to prevent our engaging properly in important duties embraced in fasting. Strong David could fast to profit and acceptance until his knees were weak, while a similar course in others would be objectionable.
Proper fasting is a healthful practice, and has often been known not only to cure disease, but also to prevent threatening maladies and prolong life. Our readers are perhaps acquainted with the history of Pomponius Atticus, who, despairing of life, and having made up his mind to die of hunger, found himself healed after a few days of entire abstinence. The same thing is also related of the Stoic Cleanthus, who died at the age of one hundred. From this standpoint fasting was practiced by the bitterest enemies of Christianity. Julian, the apostate, was so exact in this observation that it is said he outdid the priests themselves.
Although we are far from indorsing, from a religious view of the subject, fasting as practiced by the Catholic Church, we are forced to admit that it has been a benefit to many healthwise, especially during the period of lent, following the clogging up of the system with impurities through the excessive use of flesh-meats, etc., in the winter; from which impurities the system should be relieved as the spring opens, to obviate fevers and other serious maladies.
Fasting is very useful in attending to self-examination and close and deep study of any kind. Newton ate only bread during those days in which he engaged in those great labors which have immortalized his name. For forty years Buffon took no other food at his breakfast. Seneca, the philosopher, lived principally on fruits and vegetables, remarking that abstinence from flesh-meats rendered his mind more clear and penetrating.
Although we do not approve the course of the church of Rome in the fourth century, in turning the Sabbath of the Lord into a fast, to make it despicable in the eyes of the people, we think it would be very proper for the laboring classes, who, to sustain nature, are compelled to use a larger amount of food than others, to eat less on the Sabbath than on the laboring days. Nature requires less that day, and to then partake largely of food,and of different kinds of food, without taking the usual amount of physical exercise, beclouds the mind and unfits it to properly engage in devotional exercises, and to render unto God the service that he justly demands.
Fasting lies at the very foundation of self-denial, and is highly necessary to keep the body and the selfish propensities in subjection, and to cultivate benevolence and reverence, equal love to our fellow-men, and supreme love to God. Isa. 58. God cannot accept our fast unless it embraces these essential traits. But these excellent qualities cannot be developed where the appetites and selfish organs are unduly cultivated.
It is a law in religion, as well as in the human organism, that when one class of organs is exercised to excess the other organs must become enfeebled and be inefficient in performing their functions. If the vitality of the system is drawn to the appetites and the selfish organs by their undue exercise, the result will be selfishness, a lack of reverence for superiors, worldly-mindedness, sensuality, a want of aptitude to discern and appreciate divine things, and to manifest an interest in those parts of religion that require sacrifices and self-denial. Can we, therefore, lay too much stress on curbing the appetites, especially as they have been strengthened and perverted in each successive generation.
“The Jews,” says Mr. Buck in his Theological Dictionary, “had every year a stated and solemn fast on the tenth day of the month Tisri [the seventh month], which generally answered to the close of our September. This solemnity was a day of strict rest and fasting to the Israelites. Many of them spent the day before in prayer, and such like penitential exercises. On the day itself, at least in later times, they made a tenfold confession of their sins, and were careful to end all their mutual broils.” See Lev. 16; Num. 29:7, 12; Lev. 23:23, 32.”
This was a most solemn day with Israel. It was the day of atonement, the day of judgment and of the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, the day in which the high priest finished up the yearly round of service in the sanctuary. And as we believe that we have reached the antitypical day of atonement at the close of all prophetic periods, Dan. 8:14, and that Christ is now finishing up his work as our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, how proper it is for us to engage in the work typified by the fasting and reforming of the Jews on their great day of atonement. Hence it is that when the day of the Lord cometh, and is nigh at hand, we are commanded to “sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thy heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them; wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?” Joel. 2.
May the emergencies of the times lead us to engage in this fast.