Fasting - 6

5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

These actions described the typical fast. A person would choose a day to humble and deny himself.

The outward forms the people were going through in the day of their fast did not please God.

The people never stopped seeking what they wanted.

They fasted to get God to grant them their desires.

Instead of seeking God and looking to see what He wanted, they went through all the outward forms of fasting in an effort to gain what they wanted.

Isaiah 58:6 (NIV84)

6“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice (bonds of wickedness, lsb) and untie the cords of the yoke (to release the bands of the yoke, lsb), to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

God does want to bless his people (58:8–9, 10b–12), but that blessing cannot be obtained by cultic manipulation (e.g., fasting to get God to do something).

Other activities have replaced Israelite rituals, such as church attendance, daily devotions, prayer, tithing, and so on, and these are all liable to the same dangers.

The danger is that we engage in them in order to wring blessings from a God who, we feel, is disinclined to give blessings unless we manipulate him in some way.

Some people mistakenly interpret these verses as a reward for fasting.

Fasting does not result in the loosening of the chains of injustice; fasting consists in the loosening of the chains of injustice.

Isaiah 58:7 (NIV84)

7Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

The traditional practice of fasting is not what God would have chosen, that type of fasting is inward looking and selfish. So what kind of fasting will please him?

True fasting looks outward and is not so much about depriving ourselves as it is about caring for others.

Traditional fasting is useless when divorced from the spirit of love.

Isaiah 58:8 (NIV84)

8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Light = אוֹר ʾôr = it is used of physical light and of God’s light.

The references to light in this teaching refer to God’s light.

Psalm 119:130 (NIV84)

130The unfolding (entrance, nkjv) of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Unfolding = פֵּ֫תַח pētaḥ 1x = becoming open or being made open.

the act of opening something.

To carve (words or art) into a hard object.

Understanding = בִּין bîn = to cause to understand; to cause to know and comprehend the nature or meaning of something.

“I saw the light.”

Idea:

Simple = פֶּ֫תִי petî = simple, naive, someone easily deceived or persuaded.

Why is it that some people hear or read the Bible and gain insight and understanding, while others do not?

Hebrews 4:1–2 (NIV84)

1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

Some heard and believed; others heard and did not combine it with faith.

Hebrews 4:2 (LSB)

2For indeed we have had good news proclaimed to us, just as they also; but the word that was heard did not profit those who were not united with faith among those who heard.

2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV84)

22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

United with faith among those who heard.

We must hang around others with like faith, be united with faith among others who hear the message of the gospel.

Hebrews 3:12–13 (NIV84)

12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Turns away = ἀφίστημι aphistēmi = to distance oneself from some person or thing; go away, withdraw.

Encourage = παρακαλέω parakaleō = from pará, to the side of, and kaléō, to call. To aid, help, comfort, encourage.

to cause someone to be encouraged or consoled, either by verbal or non-verbal means.

Hardened = σκληρύνω sklērynō = to cause to be unyielding in resisting information.

to be or become stubborn, conceived of as being or becoming hardened or inflexible.

Deceitfulness = ἀπάτη apatē = to cause someone to have misleading or erroneous views concerning the truth. (Louw & Nida)

Richard A. Seymour: Many believers have been hardened through the deceitfulness of the sin of unbelief. The Lord says this will not happen, if we exhort one another daily.

Hebrews 3:12–13 is an exhortation to watchfulness against especially the sin of not believing God’s gracious promises to His children.

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NIV84)

24And let us consider how we may spur (stimulate, lsb) one another on toward love and good deeds.

25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Spur (stimulate) = παροξυσμός paroxysmos = the act of stirring up (emotions, feelings, and responses).

παρα (para-): prefix meaning "beside, beyond, alongside"

ὀξύς (oxýs): "sharp, keen, acute"

-σμός (-smós): noun-forming suffix indicating the result or state of an action

Literally, παροξυσμός means "a sharpening" or "a state of being sharpened/intensified."

In ancient Greek, παροξυσμός referred to:

A sharpening or stimulation

Irritation or provocation

An attack or fit (especially of illness)

Stimulus to the point of discomfort.

Proverbs 27:17 (NIV84)

17As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Hebrews 3:16–4:3 (NIV84)

16Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?

17And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert?

18And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?

19So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

4:1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.

Rest = κατάπαυσις katapausis = a change of state from activity or work to a cessation from work that results in a feeling of refreshing tranquility and an absence of tension or worry; especially that God provides.

Rest here refers to the blessing of salvation.

Simply hearing the gospel will not guarantee that one will enter God’s rest on the last day.

The wilderness generation heard the good news about entrance into Canaan, but they never entered the land.

They heard what God promised, but they were not united with those (like Joshua and Caleb) who heard the message in faith.

They did not join with Joshua and Caleb in a faith that trusted that the Lord God would do as He promised.

Hearing + Believing (Faith) = Resting

Hebrews 4:6, 11 (NIV84)

6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.

11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

The Israelites failed to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief (3:19).

We also see that they would never enter God’s rest because they disobeyed (3:18).

Disobedience = Unbelief

Disobedience is equated with unbelief.

Obedience = Belief

Obedience to God’s Word is equated to faith or belief.

John 6:28–29 (NIV84)

28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

The New Covenant is a covenant of faith and not works.

What must we do to do the works of God?

Believe! Believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

Faithlife Study Bible: The only “work” necessary for salvation is faith in Jesus as the Messiah sent by God.

1 Corinthians 2:11–14 (NIV84)

11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The apostles spoke words taught by the Spirit. These words were spiritual words that expressed spiritual truths.

God’s wisdom is secret or known only to God in the sense that talk of spirituality and wisdom comes to nothing unless God’s Holy Spirit activates the message of the cross and brings it home afresh.

This secret language is the language which the Spirit teaches, interpreting things of the Spirit to people of the Spirit (v. 13).

The unregenerate man cannot understand the spiritual words of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, will help the believer to understand the spiritual truths expressed in spiritual words.

Only the Bible contains spiritual words that express the spiritual truths of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV84)

4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Who has blinded the minds of the unbelievers?

The god of this age, Satan.

Spiritual blindness came as a result of sin, which separated us from God and his light.

No light; no sight.

Who will remove the blindfold and give unbelievers their sight?

Can an unbeliever choose to see, when they are spiritually blind. Do they one day decide to follow Jesus?

John 3:3, 5-6 (NIV84)

3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

Did you choose the day of your physical birth? No.

Neither can you choose the day of your spiritual birth.

Unless one is born again, they cannot see, grasp, or comprehend the spiritual realities that exist within the kingdom of God.

This includes hearing and understanding God’s Word.

The Word of God falls on deaf ears, unless the person is born again.

John 16:13–15 (NIV84)

13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.

15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

The Holy Spirit of truth will guide us in God’s Word, which is truth.

John 1:1, 14 (NIV84)

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 14:6 (NIV84)

6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 17:17 (NIV84)

17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Jesus is the Word; Jesus is the truth; the Word is truth.

The Holy Spirit of truth always points to truth (the Word) and gives glory to Jesus Christ.

Jesus taught many significant doctrines, there were many more things still to be taught.

Even though Jesus was departing, it would be the work of the Holy Spirit to communicate these teachings.

The teachings that the Holy Spirit communicates are the Scriptures already recorded in the Bible.

2 Peter 1:16–21 (NIV84)

16We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

18We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.

21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 8:19–20 (NIV84)

19When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

Romans 8:8–9 (NIV84)

8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

The unregenerate man does not and therefore cannot submit to God’s law.

John 10:3-5, 22–30 (NIV84)

3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

22Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,

23and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.

24The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,

26but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.

27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

30I and the Father are one.”

God’s sheep listen to God’s voice.

They will not follow another.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV84)

18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Romans 1:16–17 (NIV84)

16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

The gospel reveals a righteousness from God that is received through faith, not earned by works.

God’s righteousness is a gift, and the faith to receive God’s righteousness is a gift.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV84)

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

9not by works, so that no one can boast.

The faith to believe in Jesus as our Savior is a gift.

How does this faith come about?

Next Week!!! (The Lord Willing)

Related Media

Related Sermons

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.