Various Forms and Reasons for Fasting

Fasting from Distress and Inquiry

Judges 20:26 And all the children of Israel and all the people ascended. And they came unto the House of God. And they wept and sat there before Yehovah. And they fasted that day until evening, and offered ascensions and ‘peaces’ before Yehovah. ²⁷And the children of Israel enquired of Yehovah—for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days; ²⁸and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron stood before it in those days—to say, “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” And Yehovah said, “Ascend. For I will deliver them into thine hand tomorrow.”

The Israelis were in a fix. They had attacked one of the Israeli tribes for a moral issue, and both sides of the attack took great losses. The Israelis now needed to know whether they should continue the attack or stop. The tribe of Benjamin was being brought to extinction; yet the rest of the tribes could not ignore the moral issue.

A fast of this nature will occur because of the loss of appetite. How could they eat when they were in the process of exterminating a brother? Yet, how could they stop when that brother was not addressing the gross immorality?

2 Chronicles 20:1 It came to pass after this also, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and with them besides the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. ²And there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, “There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria! And behold, they are in Hazazontamar (that is Engedi)!” ³And Jehoshaphat feared. And he set himself to seek Yehovah. And he proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of Yehovah. They even came to seek Yehovah out of all the cities of Judah.

Ezra 8:21  And I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance. ²²For I was ashamed to require a band of soldiers and horsemen from the king to help us against the enemy in the way. For we had spoken unto the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him, and His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him.” ²³So we fasted and besought our God for this. And He was entreated by us.

Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev in the twentieth year as I was in Shushan the palace ²that Hanani, one of my brethren, came—he and certain men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped who were left from the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. ³And they said unto me, “The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach! The wall of Jerusalem also is broken down and the gates thereof are burned with fire.” ⁴And it came to pass when I heard these words. And I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of the heavens. ⁵And I said, “I beseech thee, Yehovah God of the heavens, the great and terrible God Who keeps covenant and Grace for them who love Him and observe His commandments, ⁶Thine ear shall now be attentive and thine eyes open, and Thou shalt hear the prayer of thy servant that I pray before Thee now day and night for the children of Israel thy servants. And I am self-confessing the sins of the children of Israel that we have sinned against Thee. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷We have dealt very corruptly against Thee and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes nor the justices that Thou commanded Thy servant Moses. ⁸Remember, na, the word that Thou commanded Thy servant Moses, saying, ‘If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the races! ⁹But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments and do them; though there were cast out from you unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence! And I will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there!’ ¹⁰Now these are Thy servants and Thy people whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy great power and by Thy strong hand. ¹¹My Lords, na, Thine ear shall now be attentive to the prayer of Thy servant and to the prayer of Thy servants who desire to fear Thy Name. And prosper, na, Thy servant this day. And grant him mercy in the sight of this man!” For I was the king’s cupbearer.

 

 

Mourning Fast

1 Chronicles 10:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. ⁹And when they had stripped him, they took his head and his armour, and sent into the land of the Palestinians round about to carry tidings unto their idols and to the people. ¹⁰And they put his armour in the house of their gods. And they fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹And when all Jabeshgilead heard all that the Palestinians had done to Saul, ¹²they arose—all the valiant men—and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons. And they brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh. And they fasted seven days. ¹³And Saul died for his transgression that he committed against Yehovah, even against the word of Yehovah that he didn’t keep, and also for asking counsel of one who had a familiar spirit to enquire of it. ¹⁴And he didn’t enquire of Yehovah. Therefore He slew him and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.

1 Samuel 31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of what the Palestinians had done to Saul, ¹²all the valiant men arose and went all night. And they took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan. And they came to Jabesh. And they burned them there. ¹³And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh. And they fasted seven days.

The viciousness of enemies against King Saul and his sons, along with their deaths, took away the appetites of those fighting men. Israel had also suffered a defeat. Those men didn’t desire to eat. They mourned. That mourning is further described:

2 Samuel 1:12 And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yehovah and for the House of Israel because they were fallen by the sword.

Another type of mourning occurred before a death; it was a mourning over a great slaughter about to take place. The king had just agreed to permit a slaughter of the Jews and taking all their belongings. The following shows their response:

Esther 4:3 And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

The Jewish queen also responded:

Esther 4:16 “Go! Gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also and my maidens will fast likewise. And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

The following text gives yet another example of a mourning fast:

Psalm 69:8 For I carried reproach concerning Thee! Calamity covered my faces! ⁹I was alienated to my brothers and a foreigner to children of my mother. ¹⁰For the zeal of Thy House ate me. And reproaches of Thy reproachers fell upon me! ¹¹And I wept in the shutting of my being. And she was for reproaches to me. ¹²And I gave my garment sack[cloth]. And I was to them for a proverb. ¹³Sitters of the gate will meditate via me, and guitar-songs drinkers of strong-drink. ¹⁴And I— My prayer is to Thee, Yehovah, the time of desirability, Elohim. Via the multiplicity of Thy Grace, answer/humble me in the Truth of Thy Salvation [masculine]! ¹⁵Rescue me from mire! And I will not sink. I will be rescued from my haters and from great-depths of waters!

I rendered the word fast literally in this text.

 

Fasting for Request

2 Samuel 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, “I sinned against Yehovah.” And Nathan said unto David, “Yehovah also put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. ¹⁴Nevertheless thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Yehovah to blaspheme by this deed. The child also that is born unto thee, dying shall die!” ¹⁵And Nathan departed unto his house. And Yehovah struck the child that Uriah’s woman bare unto David. And it was very sick. ¹⁶David therefore besought God for the child. And David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. ¹⁷And the elders of his house arose. And they went to him to raise him up from the earth. But he would not. And he didn’t eat bread with them. ¹⁸And it came to pass that the child died on the seventh day. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead. For they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice. How will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead?” ¹⁹But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead. And David said unto his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” ²⁰And David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of Yehovah, and worshipped. And he came to his own house. And when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. ²¹And his servants said unto him, “What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was alive. And when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread!” ²²And he said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, ‘Who can tell whether Yehovah will be gracious to me, and the child will live?’ ²³But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me!”

This event shows the basics of fasting. David did not, indeed could not eat while this crisis was ongoing. His appetite was gone. His concern was at its highest level. He wasn’t on some sort of religious cleansing mission. A life was at stake. He wasn’t playing games; he was deadly serious. He was fasting for request, because his appetite shut down until he obtained an answer.

Another example of fasting for request is in the following text:

Psalm 35:13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my being with fasting. And my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

The speaker had verbally violent enemies. When those enemies became sick, the speaker put on sackcloth, and humbled his own being via fasting for the sake of those enemies.

 

 

Fasting for Violence (Then for Fear)

Please read the entire chapter:

1 Kings 21:1 And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ²And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying, “Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house. And I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.” ³And Naboth said to Ahab, “Yehovah forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.” ⁴And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him. For he had said, “I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers.” And he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face, and would eat no bread. ⁵And Jezebel his wife came to him. And she said unto him, “Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?” ⁶And he said unto her, “Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite. And I said unto him, ‘Give me thy vineyard for money—or else if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give thee my vineyard.’” ⁷And Jezebel his wife said unto him, “Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? Arise and eat bread, and thine heart shall be merry! I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite!” ⁸So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name. And she sealed them with his seal. And she sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city dwelling with Naboth. ⁹And she wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast! And set Naboth on high among the people! ¹⁰And set two men—sons without a yoke—before him to bear witness against him, saying, ‘Thou didst blaspheme God and the king!’ And then carry him out and stone him! And he shall die!” ¹¹And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters that she had sent unto them. ¹²They proclaimed a fast and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹³And there came in two men, sons without a yoke. And they sat before him. And the men without a yoke witnessed against him—even against Naboth—in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth blasphemed God and the king!” And they carried him forth out of the city and stoned him with stones. And he died. ¹⁴And they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth is stoned and is dead.” ¹⁵And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise! Take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to give thee for money! For Naboth is not alive, but dead!” ¹⁶And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. ¹⁷And the word of Yehovah came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Arise! Ascend to meet Ahab king of Israel who is in Samaria! Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth where he ascended to possess it. ¹⁹And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, ‘So says Yehovah, “Hast thou killed? And hast thou also taken possession?”’ And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, ‘So says Yehovah, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick thy blood—even thine!”’” ²⁰And Ahab said to Elijah, “Hast thou found me, my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found thee! For thou hast sold thyself to work bad in the sight of Yehovah! ²¹Behold, I will bring bad upon thee! And I will take away thy posterity! And I will cut off him who pisses against the wall from Ahab, and him who is shut up and left in Israel! ²²And I will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which thou hast provoked me to anger and made Israel to sin!” ²³And Yehovah also spoke of Jezebel saying, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel! ²⁴ The dogs shall eat him who dies from Ahab in the city. And the fowls of the air shall eat him who dies in the field!” ²⁵And there was none like unto Ahab who sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of Yehovah, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. ²⁶And he did very abominably in following idols according to all things as did the Amorites whom Yehovah cast out before the children of Israel. ²⁷And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth upon his flesh. And he fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. ²⁸And the word of Yehovah came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ²⁹ “See thou how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the bad in his days. But I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days!”

Religious ‘swine’ can proclaim fasts in order to sucker folks into cooperation with self-seeking plans. I personally have no doubt that most fasts that are called by religious folks will be of this nature. These fasts can harm folks (either the participants or those who are targeted by the religious leaders) and can be used to obtain support to kill the innocent.

Ahab humbled himself before Yehovah after his wife’s plot was opened to him. Ahab knew the wrath of Yehovah, and he knew he was in trouble. He feared Yehovah. That fear wasn’t to Salvation, but it was a real fear. The man quit eating. He didn’t play fasting games (like removing just certain foods, and living on other foods). Yehovah noted this.

 

Fasting for Shame to Turn to Righteousness

Nehemiah 9:1 And in the twenty and fourth day to this month the children of Israel were assembled via fasting and with sackclothes. And soil is upon them. ²And they separated the seed of Israel from all children of a foreigner. And they stood. And they confessed concerning their sins and iniquities of their fathers. ³And they stood upon their standing. And they called via a scroll of the Teaching of Yehovah their Gods a fourth of the day. And a fourth they are confessing and prostrating to Yehovah their Gods.

These Israelis knew that they had much reason for shame before Yehovah. They desired to learn the Torah (Teaching) in order to do right.

 

Fastings in Remembrances

Esther 9:29 And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. ³⁰And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with words of peace and truth ³¹to confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry. ³²And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim. And it was written in the book.

The fastings continued after the event, and became part of Jewish traditions. I know of no such fastings over this event today.