fasts Summary and Overview

1. One fast only was appointed by the Mosaic law, that on the day of atonement. There is no mention of any other periodical fast in the Old Testament except in #Zec 7:1-7; 8:19| From these passages it appears that the Jews, during their captivity, observed four annual fasts, --in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months. 2. Public fasts were occasionally proclaimed to express national humiliation and to supplicate divine favor. In the case of public danger the proclamation appears to have been accompanied with the blowing of trumpets. #Joe 2:1-15| (See #1Sa 7:6; 2Ch 20:3; Jer 36:6-10| ) Three days after the feast of tabernacles, when the second temple was completed, "the children of Israel assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes and earth upon them," to hear the law read and to confess their sins. #Ne 9:1| 3. Private occasional fasts are recognized in one passage of the law -- #Nu 30:13| The instances given of individuals fasting under the influence of grief, vexation or anxiety are numerous. 4. In the New Testament the only reference to the Jewish fasts are the mention of "the fast" in #Ac 27:9| (generally understood to denote the day of atonement) an the allusions to the weekly fasts. #Mt 9:14; Mr 2:18; Lu 5:33; 18:12; Ac 10:30| These fasts originated some time after the captivity. 5. The Jewish fasts were observed with various degrees of strictness. Sometimes there was entire abstinence from food. #Es 4:16| etc. On other occasions there appears to have been only a restriction to a very plain diet. #Da 10:3| Those who fasted frequently dressed in sackcloth or rent their clothes, put ashes on their head and went barefoot. #1Ki 21:27; Ne 9:1; Ps 35:13| 6. The sacrifice of the personal will, which gives to fasting all its value, is expressed in the old term used in the law, afflicting the soul.

FASTS , There was only one day appointed as a fast by the Mosaic code, the day of atonement, Lev 16:29, sq., where the expression "Ye shall afflict your souls" probably refers to fasting. During and after the Babylonian captivity four special fast-days were observed. Zech 7:5. Subsequent tradition relates that fasts commemorated the breaking of the tables of the Law by Moses, Ex 32, and the siege of Jerusalem, Jer 52:4, sq.; the return of the spies. Num 13:25; the burning of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar; the sack of Jerusalem and the death of Gedaliah, 2 Kgs 25:13, sq.; and the reception by Ezekiel and others in Babylon of the intelligence of the destruction of Jerusalem. Public fasts were proclaimed at special seasons by Nehemiah, Neh 9:1, Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr 20:3, the Jews at Shushan, Esth 4:16, and others. The appointment of fasts by individuals for themselves was not uncommon, Neh 1:4; 2 Sam 1:12, and also, in the N.T., Luke 2:37, etc. Fasts indicate humility and a sense of dependence on the Almighty, and were observed on solemn occasions, such as the death of a prominent personage (Saul, 1 Sam 31:13; 2 Sam 1:12), an impending calamity, Jon 3:5; Esth 4:3, before a war, 2 Chr 20:3; Jud 20:26, and before a journey. Ezr 8:21. The Jewish fasts were kept with great strictness, and generally from evening to evening. The body was clothed with sackcloth, ashes were sprinkled on the head, the hands were left unwashed, the head was unanointed, and the air was filled with the voice of supplication and the sobs of grief and penitence. Isa 22:12; Joel 2:15-17. At the time of our Lord fasting was a very prominent religious observance and the occasion of much hypocrisy and parade. Matt 6:16. The fast spoken of in Acts 27:9 was the day of atonement. The weekly fasts were upon the second and fifth days of the week. Fasts were not observed upon the Sabbath, the new moons, the great festivals, or the feasts of Purim and dedication. John the Baptist and his disciples fasted, but we have no account that our Lord observed periodic fasts, although that he fasted is proved by Matt 4:2; cf. Matt 9:14. After the Lord's ascension Christians fasted, 2 Cor 6:5, and the N.T. recommends fasting as a means of Christian growth. Mark 9:29; 1 Cor 7:5, etc. The N.T. leaves the times of fasting to the full choice and appointment of the individual. In Matt 9:15 our Saviour teaches that fasting follows and springs from affliction, rather as a consequence than a cause, and then may be a means of grace.