My Thoughts on the Doctrine of Fasting in Isaiah 58
Fasting is one issue in the Christian church today. Some may think fasting is just an Old Testament command but it's not. Fasting was done in Acts 13-14. Jesus also mentioned in Luke 2:37 and 5:33 that prayer goes with fasting in the Christian discipline. Fasting is most often associated with a reduced intake of food intake. Sometimes, fasting can be confused with abstinence. More often, I hear a comment that says Lent has become more associated with eating delicious food that's not meat in contrast to fasting. Me eating a vegetarian meal doesn't always equal fasting. I might end up eating more when I'm on my days when I abstain from meat to get the energy I need in contrast to when I eat meat (or fish) with vegetables and wheat (or rice). I guess that's why God gave permission to mankind to eat meat after the Flood because the conditions of the Earth would wear people out faster than the pre-Flood times. Meat would allow you to get full faster while vegetables were needed for proper digestion. I've noticed that I would easily get hungry if I ate a medium serving of a vegetarian meal in contrast to eating meat with vegetables with carbohydrates.
Fasting in itself is not wrong per se. Fasting was done when there was a national crisis (such as when Haman plotted to murder the Jews in Persia in Esther), individual needs, periods of distress such as when David's son born of sin fell ill, and when facing spiritual decisions. However, Isaiah 58 reveals the problem God had with how the fasting was done, not fasting itself. God wasn't going to honor the fasting of the people because of hypocrisy. I decided to re-read through Vernon McGee's commentary to get insights on the matter. It turns out that their worship was purely ceremonial or ritualistic. Fasting was affected by such hypocrisy as a result.
The study of Isaiah 58 reveals that these people were afflicting their own selves during fasting. These people who were fasting were petulantly complaining. The answer is simple - their hearts are far from God. Isaiah 29:13 already predicted such hypocrisy. Many people in that time (and even today) made their fasting more and more focused on ritualism. It's almost like you name it and you claim it mentality. Fasting is but an outward expression of the soul but they had made it into a form that ministered into their ego and pride. In the New Testament, the Pharisees were renounced for their externalism in their fasting. It doesn't help that I've been receiving such an arrogant attitude from some Roman Catholics who judged me for eating a burger on Ash Wednesday or how the occasion becomes more of an occasion for arrogance. They really boasted about the fact that they have fasted rather than making it a private transaction with God. No wonder Jesus warned about how not to fast in Matthew 6:16-18.
Isaiah 58:4 reveals an even uglier truth. Many of the people fast for strife and debate with the fist of wickedness. I could remember how some Roman Catholics tend to be like that. They put on quite a show on Ash Wednesday, they fast (or well, abstain) and condemn others who do. It's really not surprising since the Roman Catholic institution is being run by Pharisees pretending to be priests of God. It looks like they were fasting not to renounce worldliness but to boost worldliness. It almost reminds me of some pagan literature when some people declare penance to receive a boon to boost their own personal interests. God can't accept such fasting that's directed towards pride and arrogance. Fasting is supposed to help humble people and wean them from worldliness. Instead, such people made fasting a license to worldliness. Isaiah 58:5 further has God speaking that such fasting such as sackcloth and ashes has become just for show. How often the practice of fasting has become for show. Who can remember Ahab's fasting in 2 Kings 21 was but for show? Ahab's later actions proved he wasn't repentant in 2 Kings 22. Such people followed the path of Ahab's hypocritical fasting.
What kind of fasting does God command? The next verses would really tell you the kind of fast God wants. He wants them to stop with their externalism and deal with the issue of sin. It was a call to stop backbiting, to stop wicked behavior, to have holy conduct, deal honestly, and sticking to the truth. One can go ahead and wear sackcloth and ashes and return back to sinful living after it's over. It just reminds me of how it's become a common sight that some Roman Catholics tend to be in their best behavior during Christmas and the Lenten Season then return to their worldly interests for the rest of the year. More often, their charity was just for show. In reality, they were also turning their backs on the poor and needy. How often people give up food for themselves but not for people who are powerless? I'm not endorsing mendicancy. The problem is that charity has become but for show business where they're only doing it in December and the Lenten Season. However, many of these charities are but once a year or twice year affairs rather than charities all year round. It was demanding that those who have something to spare for the less fortunate to help them out. The authentic charity was ignored. This is even portrayed so well when the Vatican was full of wealthy cardinals while the poor sat on its gates. The Pharisees would later get chastised in Matthew 23 for not lifting a finger to help people in need when they could do so. The Vatican had such well-documented history during the Dark Ages when such scandals were gossip. Today, the Vatican hushes such sensitive information up and the average Roman Catholic is usually left clueless about those scandals.
What would be very true is that one of the signs you're not saved is when you don't feel sympathy for the less fortunate (Proverbs 29:7). The Vatican had a very long history of the Popes and priests who exploited the poor for their own benefit. One reason why Martin Luther exploded in anger during the Reformation was how often the poor were milked for money in the name of the heresy that priests save souls. Luke 16:16-31 tells us the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man could've helped the diseased beggar Lazarus (characterized by the sores on his body, probably leprosy) on his gate but didn't. I think Lazarus was a contagious disease so he had every excuse to beg for alms. Such indifference towards Lazarus was a sign that the rich man wasn't saved. One could always say that the rich man didn't go to Hell for not helping Lazarus. The rich man went to Hell in his unbelief. The evidence of his unbelief, however, was in his indifference towards the poor. A real fast would demand people to help out those incapable of helping out themselves.
How can a Christian practice real fasting? It would be like giving extra to charity work without making a show out of it. Donate quietly as much as possible rather than donate to post on social media for likes. It's like you may give your tithes (though not all churches today preach on it), offerings (which non-tithing churches today preach mostly on), and even firstfruits (which I believe should be voluntary) without making a show out of it. It would be like giving up worldly interests by God's grace in exchange for the Lord's work. It's like sacrificing one's personal glory and choosing that God gets the glory. It would be like sacrificing profits if such profits will compromise character. I'm not saying Christians can't schedule to skip a meal or two for personal discipline (such as gluttony is a hard foe to defeat). Instead, the focus of fasting should never be for worldly gain like what the Pharisees did. A Christian should never announce to the world that he or she skipped eating his favorite pizza as a form of a fast. Instead, he or she should make it a private transaction with God or skipping certain parties because there's Bible study or evening service to attend to. Christians should be careful to guard their hearts against the leaven of the Pharisees when they're fasting. Instead, true fasting should be focused on one command to summarize all offerings in 2 Corinthians 9:7 - God loves the cheerful giver. That in itself would be real fasting that God recommends instead of external piety muddled with internal hypocrisy.
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