A Slow Look at Fasting: Fasting for a Time

posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
Jan. 6 - Intro
Jan 13 - Fasting in Faith
Jan 20 - Fasting seeking Answers
Jan 27 - Fasting as Submission
Feb 4 - Fasting for a Time

Fasting for a Time

There's another aspect of fasting I want to look at in our little exploration here...folks who have a specified time for fasting.

Probably the most familiar fast of this kind is the fast Esther requested before going uninvited into the king's presence. It was an extreme fast; the fate of Esther and all her people depended upon the king granting her favor:

Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. -- Esther 4:16

Esther did not have any time at her disposal; her people could not wait. So the time was set at three days...the most they could survive an extreme fast...and then she was to go before the king. This fast was not a fast to seek answers, or a fast to align themselves; it was a desperate fast in agreement seeking one thing only: the favor of the king. They all fasted for three days, then Esther dressed herself royally and went before the king, not knowing if she would live or die.

It's interesting to note that God is not specifically mentioned anywhere in the book of Esther. Esther strikes me as being very much an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. She didn't have prophetic guidance; no angels appeared to her. She was walking out her faith with no supernatural assurances that it was going to be ok. She is a great example of trusting God to lead one step at a time and taking that one step, without knowing how it would turn out. She fasted...and when the time was up, she acted. And the favor of the king was granted.

There is another example of folks with time pressing upon them who fasted: Ezra the priest and those with him who were returning to Jerusalem when the exile was ending. Ezra was authorized by King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem with any Jews who desired to return, including any priests and Levites, taking large gifts of gold and silver for the temple and a letter requesting financial assistance for the travelers and exemption of taxes from any of the treasuries they would encounter upon their journey. However, because Ezra had assured the King that God was well able to take care of them, he did not request an armed escort of soldiers. Instead, to show that God was well able to care for them, they elected to return...with all the people and all the provisions and all the valuable gifts...totally under God's protection. So, just before they set out, they camped at the Ahava Canal for a period of three days, to fast before God and request His protection on the trip. After the three days, Ezra divvied up the valuables amongst the leadership, and they set out. (Ezra 8:21 - 31).

The journey lasted approximately four months (Ez. 7:9), and Ezra recalled that ...The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way. -- Ez. 8:31

However, when Ezra arrived in Jerusalem, after the sacrifices of thanksgiving were made, he found something that appalled him: The Israelites, including the priests and Levites, had not maintained the separation from the pagan people around them and had taken the first step back into the idolatry that brought the captivity upon them 70 years earlier...they had all married women of pagan nations. Ezra grieved and mourned in public until the evening sacrifice, when he prayed for the people. The folks of the city gathered around him and began to mourn and grieve likewise, until one of the leaders suggested they all separate from the pagan folks, according to the Law. Ezra got up, they all took an oath to do what had been suggested, and Ezra went to the house of Jehonan, where he undertook another fast; three days of no food or drink, while the proclamation went over the whole country for everyone to assemble in Jerusalem to deal with this issue.

In this case, Ezra's fasting had to do with grief and, I believe, intercession. The recorded prayer confesses the sins of the people and petitions God for mercy; Ezra 9:6 simply states that during the three days of fasting Ezra continued to mourn over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

Within three days, all the men had assembled in a miserable rain and Ezra went out to them and told them of their error and called upon them to confess their sin and separate themselves from their foreign wives. The men agreed (well, most of the men agreed), and a plan was made to see that the marriages were investigated case by case, and a list was compiled of everyone who repented. It took them two months to listen to all the cases. God did not judge Israel; the people judged themselves. And the hearts of the people were willing to repent. Again, Ezra's time of fasting and prayer had results.

Ezekiel also did a fast for a specified period of time...but it was really weird, and it didn't only involve food. He was to make a model of a siege against Jerusalem, and lie on his left side for 390 days for the sin of Israel, and then lie on his right side for 40 days for the sin of Judah. (Mr. Scofield's notes state that Ezekiel did this for a few hours each day...not for the entire time. However, I'm not sure how he came to that conclusion). His food for this length of time was to be wheat, barley, beans and lentils made into bread and baked over a cow dung fire. (this was a favor from God to Ezekiel, who balked at defiling himself by baking his bread over human excrement). The point of that fast was to illustrate the appalling conditions of the coming exile. An example or lesson, if you will. And Ezekiel was not to intercede for the people as he lay; he was to prophesy against Jerusalem with a bare arm (Ezek. 4:7). Not at all comfortable for us to consider. In this case, the time was specific, as it stood for years of apostasy.

Note that with all of these fasts, there is not necessarily a victory or a release or any kind of event that signified accomplishment of purpose. For Esther's fasts and Ezra's fasts, the proof of accomplishment came when they walked out the event for which they had prayed. Ezekiel's fast ended at the appointed time... demonstrating that there was a specific time for judgment to fall, and a specific time for judgment against the nation to end.

These fasts did, however, all have a purpose to accomplish; they were not random at all. They were born out of hearts that were passionate for God, for God's people, and were obedient, even when the outcome was not assured. The people all set their sights on God and did not flinch from following His purpose, even when they were only seeing through the glass darkly.

Points to ponder: How have I prepared my heart to follow God? In what areas am I now asking to see the way clearly before I proceed, rather than taking the one step in faith that will lead to the next step that will lead to the next step? What aspect of my self am I unwilling to let 'perish' in order to give God the opportunity to work on my behalf?

One little note...as I have been studying through this, I've found one more type of fasting that probably would be good to consider, so next week I'm adding one more lesson...Fasting for Show. Should be interesting. ;)