MAKE YOUR VOICE

HEARD ON HIGH

Isaiah 58

Michael David Bentley

Fasting By Biblical Characters

and

Commentary on Isaiah 58

Dedicated to those who encouraged and helped

me to fast, and who prayed for me.

Front cover by Church of the Brethren Network.

Island of Crete - Where most of my long fasts were experienced.

Back cover by Xerxes Wahl (www.wisementrading.com)

Michael David Bentley

michaeldbentley7@gmail.com

www.To-The-Jew-First.org

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Special thanks to: Marilyn Lawrence, Carl Barnes,

Michael and Panouqou Moua, Karen Pittman, Randy and

Julia Amos, and Martha Langley.

“MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD ON HIGH.”

Bethany Baptist Church

Pastor – David Langley

All scripture references from the King James Version

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Table of Contents

Forward.................................................................................4

Acknowledgements................................................................6

Preface...................................................................................7

Fasting By Biblical Characters...............................................9

Old Testament .....................................................................12

New Testament....................................................................29

Commentary on Isaiah 58 ....................................................44

Isaiah 58:1...........................................................................47

Isaiah 58:2...........................................................................49

Isaiah 58:3...........................................................................55

Isaiah 58:4...........................................................................61

Isaiah 58:5...........................................................................63

Isaiah 58:6...........................................................................66

Isaiah 58:7...........................................................................75

Isaiah 58:8...........................................................................79

Isaiah 58:9...........................................................................85

Isaiah 58:10 .........................................................................88

Isaiah 58:11 .........................................................................91

Isaiah 58:12 .........................................................................95

Isaiah 58:13 .......................................................................100

Isaiah 58:14 .......................................................................106

References.........................................................................114

Bibliography......................................................................117

How to KNOW I will go to Heaven...................................121

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Forward

God called me to serve Him and pastor His flock while I was

young and without experience. Very soon I realized this

ministry is so hard, and I needed much more power and strength

to be able to serve the church. More than 25 years ago I met my

dear Brother Michael and I remember one evening when he

invited me to pray together. I thought it would be a one or two

minutes prayer but when he begun to pray I lost the sense of

time, and I was very impressed when Michael was praying. It

was like Jesus was just face to face with us. He asked me about

fasting and I told him I used to fast one day from time to time.

I was amazed because I never heard anybody speaking or

teaching about fasting. He opened the Bible at Isaiah 58 and

taught me how to fast and how powerful it is this combination

prayer and fasting. This book he has written about Isaiah 58 it

is one of the most powerful tools for every Christian, every

servant of the Lord who really wants to be efficient in the

ministry of personal walk while on the path of faith.

I want to share with you one of my first experiences about

fasting when Michael Bentley lived in my house and told me he

would fast 10 days. I challenged the church to have prayer

meetings every morning during these 10 days. While Michael

fasted all these 10 days we just kept fasting one by one. Michael

took me with him to buy potatoes and a lot of food for poor

families and we went together to distribute to fulfill (verses 7

and 10) from Isaiah 58. These 10 days of fasting encouraged me

very much. Then I decided to fast 40 days only skipping

breakfast every day and eating after 12 or 1 pm according to my

strength. I will share with you a great testimony about 40 days

fasting. In 2004, I prayed many times to be able to sell our

house. I fasted 1-3 days then I fasted 5 days with my wife, and

nothing happened then I decided to have 40 days fasting

together with my wife and the children. We use to wake up

every morning, read the Bible, and pray together and fast till 1

pm every day for 40 days. At the beginning, I thought it would

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be a piece of cake and it was the first 7-10 days, but after that it

became day by day more like a spiritual battle and more

difficult than I thought. So, I needed strength and determination

to keep fasting for 40 days, but at the end we were amazed.

Exactly on the 40th day on Sunday evening at 22:15 the phone

rang, and someone asked me if we had a house for sale. I said

yes. Next day they came to sign the paper and we shouted a big

hallelujah! It was almost unbelievable, exactly after 40 days in

fact in the 40th day evening after we finished the 40 days fast.

God sent the answer to our prayer. How powerful a combination

of fast and prayer is to fight the spiritual battle. I learned from

this teaching about fasting from Isaiah 58 written by my dear

friend Michael that we are in the middle of a spiritual battle. We

do not fight with the flesh and blood but with the power of

principalities who are in the heavenly places. I am sure you will

read this book because you need to learn some spiritual keys to

have victories and be full of power against our enemy. God

bless you all of those who will read this powerful teaching about

fasting from Isaiah 58.

Pastor Ioan Tone

Maranatha Baptist Church

Bucharest, Romania 2020

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Acknowledgements

The encouraging remarks of believers who were encouraged by

my teaching on fasting: Pastor Ioan Tone of Bucharest,

Romania who wrote the introduction. Mrs. Nanette Rotemen a

missionary in France was helped. The Mioveni Brethren

Assembly in Romania which heard my teaching on fasting and

together we had fasting conferences of three and seven days. I

encouraged them with my teaching on Isaiah 58 then did a 40

day and night fast in 2021. The pastor of the Word of Life

Hungarian church used my teachings on fasting in his church.

Sotiris and Mary Karalis of Crete, Greece. They kept me in

their house during my extended fasts on the Island of Crete

during the years 1992 to 2005. Sotiris was pastor of Bible Team

Church in Heraklion, Crete. This church stood with me in my

extended fasts.

In January 1990, the Lakeland Bible Church in Lakeland,

Florida, provided me with lodging for my first 40 day and night

fast. I am thankful for Christ’s protection over me during the

extended fasts. In Crete in May 1988 I slept in a tent on Elias

Tubbeh’s olive orchard for a 30 day and night fast. In

November 1991 I slept in my Volkswagen Passat station wagon

on the Island of Crete for a 40 day and night fast. As best I can

remember in all my extended fasts I never had a headache.

Only in one fast I experienced physical difficulty. In 2001 in

Crete I planned a 40 day and night fast. By the 30th day I had

trouble with my stomach. I continued to day 37, but I then

decided to stop the fast.

The guiding and protecting hand of God was evident in my

extended fasting. I am thankful for this unique period of my

Christian life and experience. It was fruitful in my personal life,

the many persons, churches, and Christian organizations

especially Christian missions that I prayed for.

Michael D. Bentley

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Preface

After 58 years of prayer and fasting, and with years of teaching

fasting, I decided to write a book on the subject. Many of the

30 to 40 day fasts were recorded and sent to supporters. From

my study of fasting in the Bible, I became convinced it was one

of God’s means of blessing His servants and their service.

There is confirmation of the effectiveness of fasting by born

again Christians.

Fasting came early and easily for me in my Christian life. I was

saved in late 1960. I was teaching Sunday school in the Naval

Air Station in Jacksonville, FL, in 1962. I chose a breakfast fast

because Communion was taken before Sunday School. In

September 1963 I started Bible College at Tennessee Temple

University. Evangelist Lester Roloff spoke to the schools each

year and encouraged us to fast one day a week. It has been my

practice to fast one day a week ever since. When I travel, I

normally do not fast.

Early in my Christian life, I started to fast one day and after

several times increased to two days, then three. I soon reached

a week with no food. In 1966 on an undetermined fast as a

student and working a job, the assistant Pastor J.R. Faulkner

cautioned me about fasting while being full-time. As I recall

that fast stopped on day 27. During my 20 years in Israel I recall

a fast of 15 days. I remember finishing fasts in Israel on the

Eastern Syrian shore of the Sea of Galilee.

The regular long fasts began in May 1988, after I was expelled

from Israel. The long fasts were often decided upon a year

before the fast occurred. A day and night fast of 30 to 40 days

requires preparation and after the fast it is best to be quiet for a

week. After the long fast caution must be exercised in breaking

the fast. I was able to stop my evangelistic missions and

concentrate on the fast. On a 40 day fast, J. Harold Smith would

continue his Radio Revival Hour responsibilities.

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I chose to free myself of normal responsibilities for the fast as

much as possible. It is my prayer and purpose in sharing my

fasts and Bible teachings on fasting that Christians, who read

this booklet, will better understand and appreciate Biblical

fasting. I pray that those who are already fasting will continue,

and that those Christians who have not, will begin fasting.

There may be physical reasons why a believer cannot fast. If a

believing Christian can fast but has not yet started to fast I

would encourage him or her to be open to begin fasting.

Michael D. Bentley

Missionary - Eastern Europe

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Fasting By Biblical Characters

Jews Who Were Important In The Plan Of

Salvation And In The Writing Of The Bible.

he idea for this message came to me in the summer of 2005.

It was at Maranatha Baptist Church in Colentina,

Bucharest, Romania. I was asked to speak briefly at an

evangelistic meeting. The pastor Ioan Tone likes me to talk

about fasting. I chose Biblical characters who fasted and who

were involved in giving us the Bible.

T

I showed the price they paid.

Later that summer I was at camp in Rucar, Romania and was

asked to come and speak at a Tudor Church in Rucar. I wanted

to speak on fasting. When I arrived I was given the evangelistic

message. Fasting is a message for believers, not the unsaved. I

decided to give the part fasting had in making salvation and the

Word of God available today to all. I wanted to impress upon

the unbeliever the investment Jewish believers made to make

the Word of God and salvation available to all.

On another occasion I was in Saone, France at a Sunday

morning meeting. I shared this message of fasting. I emphasized

the sacrificial fasting of the Jews especially concerning their

writing the Bible. There was a communist at the meeting. After

the meeting he came to me to say he did not realize the

commitment of the Jews to write the Bible. The message has

now been further developed. By this message I want to show

the investment Jews made so salvation could be available to all

today and their work to record the Word of God. To receive the

Word you have to have the People of God, the Jews, to

originally record it and then the Word to be preached and

translated by believers. The believing Jew had to be in the right

Spiritual state to be able to receive the Word by inspiration of

God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

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Part of the ministry of the believing Jews who are called the

remnant of Israel was to keep the People of God close to God.

Often it meant bringing them back to God. It also often meant

they fasted to bring the People of God back to Him. Jehovah in

Joel 2:12 commanded all the Jews to turn to Him with fasting.

“God had many purposes for the Jews, here are two.”

1. To make salvation available to all: John 4:22, Jesus is

speaking to the Samaritan women. “Ye worship ye know not

what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.”

2. To write the Word of God: Romans 3:1-2, “What advantage

then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

Much every way: chiefly because that unto them were

committed the oracles of God.”

They were to bring salvation to this world, and they were to

write the Bible. God is the author of salvation, and He is the

author of the Bible. But He used the Jewish Believing Remnant

to give us salvation and the Bible. Romans 9:4-5, “Who are

Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and

the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God,

and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as

concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed

forever. Amen.” Jesus was born of a Jewish woman of the tribe

of Judah. Romans 11:11-12, “…but rather through their fall

salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to

jealously.” Gentile Christians are to provoke the Jews to

jealousy. Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father

which is in heaven.”

Fasting is a voluntary act of devotion. It proves sincerity and

manifests love. To prove the sincerity of their love Paul asked

the churches of Macedonia to send the money promised. 2

Corinthians 8:8, “To prove the sincerity of your love.” In 2

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Corinthians 8:24 their offering given is proof of their love.

Fasting is a sacrifice, and it is difficult. It requires determination

and deep commitment. It is a proof of one’s love to God and

His Word, to the unsaved and to the born again Christians.

James 2:20, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith

without works is dead?” James 2:26, “For as the body without

the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

One purpose of this message is to show the extent to which

Jewish men and women of the Bible went to give us the Bible

and make salvation available to all today. Their dedication

could be shown in several ways. They were brave and spoke the

truth at the risk of their lives. Jeremiah was imprisoned for

speaking the truth before the King of Judah. Micaiah was put in

prison by Ahab because he spoke the truth from God (2

Chronicles 18:26). They manifested their love to Israel by

telling them the truth whatever the cost. They were also men

and women of prayer. They were faithful to God and His Word

in a time when most Jews were not. They had faith. I want to

use fasting as a means to show their dedication to God and man.

Mioveni Church Camp of 20 years in Rucar, Romania.

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Old Testament

e see the anointing of Jesus by Mary in John 12:2,

W

_{Matthew 26:6-13. Jesus said it was an anointing for His}

burial. Fasting is a form of anointing of JESUS CHRIST in His

honor and acknowledgement of His authority and exalted

position.

ELIEZER

Abram said, “the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus”

(Genesis 15:2). Abram sent Eliezer to his kindred to find a wife

for his son Isaac. Eliezer found Rebekah and he met her family.

Genesis 24:33 says, “And there was set meat before him to eat:

but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he

said, speak on.” It was not time to eat. There were far more

important concerns on his heart. This is a fundamental part of

Biblical fasting. This was the beginning of a new approach to

God.

MOSES

1. Moses was to receive the Law from God. The Jews were to

follow this Law for 1,500 years until “The Messiah” came and

died and was resurrected. God would give the instructions for

worshipping Him through the ministry of the priests and the

tabernacle. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights before He began His

public ministry. Ezra and Nehemiah fasted before beginning

their return to Jerusalem. It was a very strategic time and very

important ministry which Moses was given. He wanted to be at

his best spiritually. He wanted to please God, and to be sure he

had it right what he was to give to the People of Israel. That is

looking at it from the human side. The Word Moses gave us

was inspired by the Holy Spirit. But the Jew had to be in a

spiritual state to receive the inspired word (Exodus 34:27-28,

Deuteronomy 9:8-21). Moses’ fast of 40 days and nights

without food and water, is recorded in Exodus and in

Deuteronomy. It was only at the end of the 40 days that Moses

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received the two tables of stone also called tables of the

covenant (Deuteronomy 9:11, Exodus 31:18). We learn in

Exodus 32 Israel’s impatience to wait the 40 days for Moses to

finish his fast and return from the mountain. They convinced

Aaron to make them gods. Aaron made a golden calf. God was

so angry at the Israelites that He wanted to destroy them and

make another nation in their place. That would have made an

interesting history (His-Story). He said to Moses “Let me alone,

that I may destroy them…” (Deuteronomy 9:14). God knew

the power of Moses’ prayers. Moses was so angry at the People

that he broke the two tables of stone (verse 17). He did it

because of the sins of the People (verse 18). Moses knew how

angry God was so to save the People he went into prayer and

fasting again 40 days and nights without food or water for

them, as he had fasted for receiving the Word. He won their

lives (verse 19). The second time is related in Deuteronomy

9:18 and Deuteronomy 10:5. Exodus 32:32-33, “Yet now, if

thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out

of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto

Moses, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out

of my book.” Moses also had to plead for the life of Aaron his

brother (verse 20). Paul was willing to be accursed from Christ

if that would help the Jewish People (Romans 9:3). The first 40

day fast was for the Word, the second was for the People. In

Daniel 9, Daniel fasted to understand the words of Jeremiah and

at the same time he carried the burden of the sins of Israel.

“Fasting is a teaching and a practice found in the Bible.”

2. Moses was a mediator between God and the Israelites. Jesus

Christ is the Mediator between God and man. 1 Timothy 2:5,

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,

the man Christ Jesus.” On the cross He prayed for the

forgiveness of those who crucified Him. Fasting by the Holy

Spirit’s leading will help Christians to be mediators. Exodus

34:27, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these

words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant

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with thee and with Israel. Exodus 34:28, “And he was there with

the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread,

nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the

covenant, the ten commandments.”

3. Leviticus 16 the Day of Atonement: Verses 29 and 31 use

the verb anah –

ענה

, teahnu -

תענו

(verse 29) veeinitem -

ועניתם

(verse 31). This verb is used with fasting in Psalm 35:13, and

Ezra 8:21. The word fasting is not mentioned here in Leviticus

16, but the Jews have from before the New Testament believed

that on the Day of Atonement Jews should fast. In Leviticus

16:29 and verse 31 it says, “ye shall afflict your souls”. It does

not say afflict your body. God’s work begins with His word.

Once the believer understands the truth, then the truth must also

reach the soul. Fasting affects the body, but God is working

through fasting to reach the soul. In Psalm 35:13, David said, “I

humbled my soul with fasting.” The verb anah is used and in

literal order reads, “I humbled with fasting my soul.” Here

Anah is translated humbled rather than afflicted.

BENJAMITES

Judges 20:26-28 - Some Benjamite, sons of Belial, wanted to

abuse a Levite, “that we may know him…”, who was spending

the night in Benjamin (Judges 19:22). The concubine of the

Levite was given to these evil men instead of the Levite and

they abused her all night. In the morning she was at the

threshold of the house dead (Judges 19:26-28). All the tribes

gathered in Mizpeh to decide what to do (Judges 20:1). The

tribe of Benjamin needed to be judged for their treatment of the

Levite and his concubine. The rest of the tribes were as one in

agreement that Benjamin must be judged (20:8,11). The tribes

asked Benjamin for the sons of Belial who did this sin, but

Benjamin refused to give them for their judgment (20:13).

Therefore the whole tribe of Benjamin must be judged. After

the tribes that had attacked Benjamin lost twice, they fasted

until evening with weeping and offering sacrifices to know

God’s will (verse 26). Should they attack again (verses 27-28)?

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Jehovah told them to attack this being the third time and then

they succeeded in destroying Benjamin (Judges 20:39-48).

Fasting is helpful in knowing God’s will. Fasting can lead to

victory. God’s guidance found by fasting is also seen in Ezra

8:21-23 and taught by Isaiah in Isaiah 58:11.

Fasting during a war, or just before the war, can give assurance

that Jehovah is leading. The fasting of the 11 tribes was in

accordance with physical and spiritual conditions. But in the

case of Saul’s fast while fighting the Philistines it was not the

proper time to fast (1 Samuel 14:24). Saul’s motive was not

spiritual. Saul proclaimed the fast in the flesh, not in the spirit

of God. A spiritual act must be done with a spiritual attitude.

The Israeli army suffered because of it. “And the men of Israel

were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people,

saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening,

that I may be avenged of mine enemies. So none of the people

tasted any food.” (verse 24). After the battle “… and the people

were very faint. And the people flew upon the spoil, and took

sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and

the people did eat them with the blood.” (verses 31-32). Saul

made this his battle, not Jehovah’s. He was trusting in fasting,

not trusting Jehovah. Jehoshaphat properly fasted just before he

was attacked in Jerusalem by three armies (2 Chronicles 20:1-

3). Jehoshaphat sought Jehovah’s will. The people were with

him in spirit. Jehovah said: “Be not afraid or dismayed by

reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but

God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15).

HANNAH

1 Samuel 1:6-28 - She was troubled by the devil because she

was barren (verses 2,5, and 6). Her troubled spirit acted up

especially each year as she went to the house of the Lord in

Shiloh. She wept and did not eat. Fasting and weeping often go

together (verse 7). [See also David in 2 Samuel 1:12, 12:21-22

and Joel 2:12-17]. Her heart was grieved her husband noticed

(verse 8). She was in bitterness of soul and prayed and wept

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sore (verse 10). She vowed that if God gave her a son, she

would give him to God all the days of his life (verse 11). She

told Eli that she was a woman of sorrowful spirit and that she

had poured out her soul before the LORD (verse 15). This is

what it takes for a person to come to the end of himself. Eli

prayed for her to have her request (verse 17). She had faith, got

the victory, and was no longer sad (verse 18). And so God

remembered her, and she gave birth to a son. She called him

Samuel because she had asked him of the LORD (verses 19-

20). She gave Samuel to the Lord after she had weaned him

(verse 22). Once she would leave him at the temple he would

abide there forever. Hannah lent Samuel to the Lord (verse

28). Surrender was an integral part of Hannah’s receiving a

man child. It appears to me that Jehovah would not give

Hannah a child until she was willing to give him to Jehovah.

Hannah needed to surrender her man child to the service of

Jehovah. This is a call Christian mothers should be willing to

accept.

SAMUEL

1 Samuel 7:1-9 - Samuel called the Israelites to repentance: “If

ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away

the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare

your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will

deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (verse 3). The

people responded in a positive sense (verse 4). Then the people

of Israel were ready to repent so Samuel called all Israel to

Mizpeh and prayed for them (verse 5). The people first poured

out water as an offering to Jehovah then fasted in repentance

with Samuel judging them. “And they gathered together to

Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD,

and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against

the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in

Mizpeh” (1 Samuel 7:6). The corporate fast is especially

blessed of Jehovah. Because Israel gathered together, the

Philistines prepared to attack them in Mizpeh. Samuel

sacrificed a suckling lamb as “…a burnt offering wholly unto

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the LORD: and Samuel cried unto the LORD for Israel; and the

LORD heard him” (1 Samuel 7:9) [See 1 Samuel 31:1-13]. The

Philistines defeated Saul and his army in the valley of Jezreel

and on Mount Gilboa (verses1-9). Jews of Jabesh-gilead

rescued the bodies of Saul and his three sons from the wall in

Beit Shean and carried them to Jabesh-gilead, burned them and

fasted seven days (verses 10-13). “And they took their bones

and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days”

(verse 13). The week of fasting was a time of grieving for Saul,

his three sons and for the army of Israel. It was their way of

separating from them. It was common to fast for the rest of the

day after a death. David and his men when they heard of the

death of Saul and Jonathan and the army of Israel they fasted

until evening (2 Samuel 1:11-12). Why did Jabesh-gilead fast

seven days? Saul was a Benjamite. When the 11 tribes judged

and destroyed the tribe of Benjamin virgins were sought for the

men of Benjamin left alive. In the last day of the battle 25,000

Benjamite soldiers were killed (Judges 20:46). Six hundred men

were left alive (verse 47). Then the rest of the tribe of Benjamin

was destroyed (verses 47-48). In chapter 21 we learn that

virgins were sought from the tribe that did not come to fight

Benjamin. Jabesh-gilead did not come. Therefore Jabesh-gilead

was destroyed, but 400 young virgins were spared (Judges

21:12). Perhaps because 400 young virgins of Jabesh-gilead

became the wives of Benjamin, the men of Jabesh-gilead risked

their lives to recover the bodies of Saul and his sons to give

them a Jewish burial and honor them with a seven day fast.

“There is a right time and a wrong time for a FAST…”

SAUL

Saul was not guided by Jehovah but by his own spirit when he

commanded the fast in 1 Samuel 14. On the day of battle with

the Philistines, Saul proclaimed a fast for the whole battle (1

Samuel 14:24-52). Jonathan and his amour bearer before the

battle left the camp unannounced to Saul. The battle was

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imminent (1 Samuel 14:1-23). Saul did not know that Jonathan

would discover that Jehovah would deliver Israel from the

Philistines. When you see the suffering of the soldiers who

fought without eating available food you sense things were not

ordained by Jehovah. Jonathan received strength from tasting

the honey. Jonathan did not know of Saul’s oath to charge the

army to fast. The army was not in a spiritual state as they fell

upon the animals and ate them with blood, which was forbidden

to do. Fasting is to be Holy Spirit led. Isaiah 58:2-5 shows the

false, rejected fast. Jesus spoke of the false fast in Matthew

6:16-18. Saul fasted the day before his death. (1 Samuel 28:20-

23).

DAVID – The king of fasting

There are at least 6 references to David and fasting.

1. ) 2 Samuel 1:12 - David weeps and fasts because of the death

of Saul.

2. ) 2 Samuel 3:35 - David fasts and weeps over the death of

Abner. He refused to eat before the sun went down. Here is an

example of fasting for a part of a day.

3. ) 2 Samuel 12 - David fasts for his dying son. Nathan has

brought David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah

her husband, to David’s attention, and he has responded in

repentance. The judgment was the death of the child and trouble

in David’s family the rest of his days. When the child became

very sick (verse15), David hit the ground, started fasting and

did not leave the ground or the fast for seven days. He did not

eat (verses 16-18). David fasted and wept (verse 22). When the

child died David arose from the earth, washed himself, changed

his clothes and went into the house of God to worship (verse

20). I believe David got the victory. The seven days were for

David. He may have received the thoughts of Psalm 51 during

this time. Psalm 51 was written after Nathan had spoken to him,

after he came into Bathsheba. David’s first move after rising

from the ground was not to eat, but to clean himself and to

worship.

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I think it was in early 1965, I needed money to pay for the

Winter Semester of Tennessee Temple University. If I did not

pay I could not take the final exams which were in one week. I

told God I would not eat or drink until He gave me the money.

It was seven nights and seven days later I got the notice that the

bill had been paid. My first desire was not to drink, but to get

alone and worship God and thank Him for His care for me. Only

after that did I go to drink and eat.

The Messiah came through the family of David.

David was the writer of several Psalms.

4. ) Psalm 35:13 - A Psalm of David. “I humbled my soul with

fasting.” The verb anah, aniti. Fasting was one of the ways

David kept himself spiritually fit and humble. He was a

successful king, powerful, smart, rich and blessed of Jehovah.

He needed to humble himself. Fasting helped him to be

humble.

5. ) Psalm 69:10 - A Psalm of David. “When I wept, and

chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.”

Chastened in KJV is added.

בצום

ואבכה

. Ve-evkeh vatzom.

Darby Bible translated “And I wept, my soul with fasting: that

also was to my reproach.” David wept while praying and

fasting. Not only did David weep while fasting, but his soul

was exercised at the same time. When David fasted He not only

met God, but he also saw the evil in his life. That was a

reproach to him. When others see a fasting Christian they notice

the thinness of the faster and that can be a reproach to the faster

and to the one noticing the loss of weight. Hannah in 1 Samuel

1:7, “therefore she wept and did not eat.” In Esther 4:3 “there

was great mourning among the Jews, fasting, weeping, and

wailing…” In Joel 2:12-14, “Therefore also now, saith the

LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting,

and with weeping, and with mourning:”

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6. ) Psalm 109:24 - David said: “My knees are weak through

fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.” This is part of the price

David paid to stay in a spiritual state and to be able to receive

the Word of God. Some effects of fasting on the body: during

a long fast sometimes while walking my knees would buckle.

My knees lacked their normal strength. “I ate no pleasant bread,

neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint

myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled“ (Daniel

10:3). “…I became dumb… and I have retained no strength”

(Daniel 10:15-16). During Daniel’s 21 day partial fast he had a

vision, and he was left without strength. Jesus after His 40 day

and night fast needed physical help. “Then the devil leaveth

Him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto Him”

(Matthew 4:11). His human body was deprived of nourishment

during 40 days and nights which rendered Him physically

weak. Added to that the spiritual warfare against Satan left Him

so weak He needed angelic ministry. This 40 day fast was

necessary for Jesus’ three and a half years of ministry that were

before Him. It was preparatory for His public ministry. This is

why the Holy Spirit led Him to fast 40 days and nights

(Matthew 4:1-2 and Luke 4:1-2). Moses fasted 40 days and

nights during the time he received the Law of Jehovah. It also

prepared him for leading Jehovah’s people in the wilderness.

DISOBEDIENCE AND DEATH OF THE MAN OF GOD

In 1Kings 13:1-32, The man of God, a prophet, from Judah, was

sent to prophesy against Jeroboam’s altar. When Jeroboam

rejected the message and ordered that the prophet be seized,

Jeroboam’s hand was “dried up, so that he could not pull it in

again” (1 Kings 13:4). The prophet was instructed to not eat or

drink while in the northern kingdom. The prophet prayed for

the King and the King was healed. The King invited the prophet

to come to his house. He refused the hospitality of Jeroboam.

The prophet explained why: “for so was it charged me by the

word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, not drink water, nor

turn again by the same way that he came to Beth-el” (verse 9).

An old prophet of God tricked or tested the prophet and invited

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him to eat. The prophet ate and drank (verses 18-24). As the

prophet was on his way back to Judah a lion killed him. Fasting

is a serious commitment to God and to His SON “JESUS

CHRIST.” I pray this study about fasting will show you the

seriousness of fasting.

KING JEHOSHAPHAT

2 Chronicles 20, Life threatening danger, destruction of city.

Jehoshaphat brought about a revival of faith in Jehovah (2

Chronicles 17:6-9, 19:4). He, Judah and Jerusalem were

threatened by three advancing armies from the Southeast. They

were already in En-gedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea. He

sought the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout Judah (2

Chronicles 20:3). It is not normal to proclaim a fast just before

a battle. Saul did it and it was a disaster for his army (1 Samuel

14:24-45). We studied in Judges 20:26-28 that the 11 tribes

fasted before the third attack against Benjamin. Jehovah told

them to attack again. Judah gathered together in the temple

before Jehoshaphat (verses 4-5). Corporate prayer is especially

blessed of God. Jehoshaphat confessed his inability to do

anything and that he did not know what to do. In verses 6-12 is

found the King’s prayer. The Jews and their families were there

before Jehovah (verse13) Israel did not have to physically fight

in the battle. Jehovah would fight for Israel. Therefore Israel

was not to fear. Here is encouragement for believers today

(verse 15-17). Jehoshaphat had faith, assurance, boldness, and

courage as they marched toward the enemy (verses 20-21).

When they started to sing Jehovah moved against the enemy

(verses 22-23). When Israel arrived at the battlefield all were

dead, they killed each other. It took three days to collect the

spoil (verses 24-25).

EZRA

Ezra was a scribe of the law of God (Ezra 7:11-13). Some Jews

needed to return to Israel. Ezra had permission from King

Artaxerxes to take Jews who wanted to return to Jerusalem to

rebuild it. Verses 12 and 13 are in Aramaic. Ezra was not sure

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if he should approach the King to ask for an armed guard to

accompany them back to Jerusalem. He therefore fasted with

the Jews to find the will of God (8:21-23). The verb in verse 21

says they afflicted themselves. This verb is used several times

in the Old Testament related to fasting (Leviticus 16:29, 31,

Psalm 35:13, Isaiah 58:3,5, Daniel 10:12). Proper fasting

afflicts the soul. Jehovah was intreated of them. Therefore Ezra

understood he had Jehovah’s permission to ask of the king an

armed guard to accompany the Jews back to Jerusalem. God

revealed His will. Jews needed to be in Israel for the appearing

of the Messiah 450 years later. The armed guard would help to

assure the arrival of the Jews to Jerusalem with all that they

brought with them. Jerusalem needed to be built up and

inhabited. Fasting is helpful in finding God’s will (Judges

20:26, Isaiah 58:11).

NEHEMIAH

Nehemiah heard of the condition of the Jews in Israel and of

Jerusalem. He was burdened so he sat down and wept, and

mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of

heaven (Nehemiah 1:4). Jerusalem was the center of God’s

work on earth in the Old Testament times. For God’s purposes

to be accomplished, Jerusalem must be built up. And Jews

needed to be living in Bethlehem for here the Messiah would

be born. Nehemiah went back 14 years after Ezra arrived in

Jerusalem. The Jews were living in sin, many had taken non-

Jewish wives (Nehemiah 9:1-3). In the seventh month the Jews

of Jerusalem gathered with fasting. They separated themselves

from the strangers and confessed and read the book of the law

for a fourth of the day and confessed one fourth of the day.

Fasting was used to bring Jews back to where they could

accomplish God’s will and work (Nehemiah 9:1-3). Nehemiah

wrote the book of Nehemiah.

QUEEN ESTHER

King Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia had

authorized evil Haman’s plan to destroy all the Jews in his

22

Kingdom (Esther 3:6-11). When the Jews heard it they turned

to mourning, fasting and weeping (Esther 4:3). Mordecai told

Queen Esther of the plan and challenged her to plead for the

life of the Jews before the King, her husband. She risked being

killed because she had not been called in to the King for one

month (Esther 4:11).

Esther was well trained in spiritual matters by Mordecai. She

was willing to die, but she would do what she could to get God’s

protection and blessing. She asked all the Jews present in the

city where she lived in Shushan to fast, eating and drinking

nothing for three days and nights. Esther fasted as well (Esther

4:16). The Jews were saved from annihilation. Esther sent the

history of this deliverance with its fasting’s to all the Jews in

the 127 provinces (Esther 9:29-31). This fast is never to be

forgotten by Bible believers. All the Jews could have been

destroyed. That would have meant that there was no longer a

family of David from which the Messiah had to come. Looking

at it from a human viewpoint Esther had a definite part in this

deliverance and so did the fasting.

ELIJAH

1 Kings 19:8 “And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in

the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb

the mount of God.” Some believe this was a fast. If Elijah did

not eat did he also not drink for the 40 days and nights? This

has been my experience many times, to have eaten my last meal

and not eat any food nor drink juice or tea but only water for 30

to 40 days and nights. I drink only water on an extended fast.

After 40 days and nights of no food I was still functioning. If

Elijah did not eat during 40 days and nights I assume divine

strength was given to make the walk to Mount Horeb. Jesus,

after His fast of 40 days and nights, was ministered to by angels

(Matthew 4:11). One secret to ending a fast and beginning to

eat is caution, care and discipline. Slowly, very slowly return

to eating. Eat small amounts. Overdoing it will result in having

to start all over again to retrain your system.

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ISAIAH

Isaiah devoted a whole chapter to fasting (Isaiah 58). I have an

extended teaching on this chapter on my website: To-The-Jew-

First.org. He spoke as one who understood fasting. He

explained the false fast (58:2-5). At the end of that discussion

he gave a very clear statement of what the true fast is. Verse 6

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of

wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed

go free, and that ye break every yoke?” This is what a chosen

fast accomplishes. After this verse he gave practical instructions

about what the faster can do and what blessings the one fasting

would receive.

In 1991, I was in the midst of my second 40 day and night fast,

drinking only water, nothing else. I was on Crete, sleeping in

my car in the countryside, near Lefkogia and Monastery Moni

Preveli. I wanted to be alone for 40 days and nights. I was

asked to come and speak in the Evangelical Free church in

Iraklio, but beside that I did not want to see a person, only Jesus

Christ. Moses and Jesus when they fasted 40 days and nights

were alone with God. But people began coming by where I was

parked. There were many living in the wild in the area. The

first was Enzo from France, with whom I spent time during the

fast. There came a Greek woman to me. She was living in a

cave about 100 meters from me! She was living off the land.

She said there were many people in the area who were poor.

She had friends who had orange trees who gave her permission

to take as many oranges as she wanted. She had no car, but I

did. She asked me to help her go get oranges for these poor

people here. I told her I wanted to be alone for 40 days. I was

fasting and did not want to have anything to do with food. I

told her tomorrow I would give my answer. After this, I read

Isaiah 58:7: “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that

thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou

seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not

thyself from thine own flesh?” That verse convinced me to go

get the food and help her to distribute it. It worked for the

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furtherance of the gospel as I met the people and was able to

witness to them. To some I returned several times with food

and a witness. In the seven day and night fast without water in

1965, verse 11 was a great comfort to me: “And the LORD

shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and

make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and

like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:11). I

drank from that spring many times during those seven days.

Once I found grace, I was able to continue the fast without

water. In a 30 day and night fast on Crete in 1988 I took verses

2-5 and turned them into a positive sense. What the Jews knew

about the spiritual life is profound. They were well instructed.

They were not accomplishing what they said they were doing.

But they knew what they should be doing in order for Jehovah

to accept their fast. But their attitude was not right. It is a

challenge to me to consider what they wanted to accomplish. I

want to do that in my spiritual life. Jehovah said to these

hypocritical Jews “…ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make

your voice to be heard on high” (Isaiah 58:4). A proper fast will

make your voice to be heard on high. Isaiah appears to me to

have been a man who knew what fasting was, by experience.

DANIEL

Daniel 6:18 - This is in an Aramaic section. It is not the normal

Hebrew word for fasting. Daniel was in the lions’ den and King

Darius could not sleep. He asked for no music and no food. {

ת

טו

Strong’s translates hungrily}. Daniel 9:2-3 says Daniel

had read in Jeremiah about the 70 years in the desolations of

Jerusalem (Jeremiah 25:11-12). He was sad because of what

would happen to Jerusalem and its people. I imagine his

concern also for the promises of Adonai Elohim to Jerusalem

were in his thinking. With a heavy heart and with great respect

for Jerusalem and the Jews he sought the Adonai Elohim. “And

I set my face unto the Adonai Elohim” (verse 3). He naturally

began praying and making supplications with fasting which

then led to confession. Daniel’s confession is in verses 4 to 21!

Fasting often leads to confession. We see when Gabriel came

25

in verses 21-23 it was to give Daniel understanding of the

seventy years. The understanding Daniel received is an

amazing prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27). It gives the date of the

birth of the Messiah and speaks of His death. It gives the final

reconciliation of Israel to Jehovah. Daniel paid the price needed

to care for God’s People, Jerusalem, and God’s Word. Daniel

10:1-21 was mourning three full weeks, “I ate no pleasant

bread, neither came flesh in my mouth, neither did I anoint

myself at all, till three whole weeks where fulfilled” (verse 3).

Daniel saw in a vision an amazing man, so much so, that he was

left with no strength (verses 5-8). He heard his voice and Daniel

had his face flat upon the ground (verse 9). The man touched

Daniel and Daniel arose (verses 10-11). “Then said he unto me,

Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine

heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy

words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (verse 12)

“to chasten thyself” is the reflexive of anah,

ולהתענות

-

ulehitahnot. This is now the third English word used to translate

the meaning of anah. The reflexive form of anah is also found

with fasting in Ezra 8:21. “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the

river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves (lehitahnot-

ת

להתענו

) before our God, to seek of him a right way for us and

for our little ones, and for all our substance.” The reflexive verb

of anah used in Daniel 10:12 speaks of the nature in which

Daniel sought Jehovah. This angelic man had tried for 21 days

to reach Daniel, but the demonic opposition was too great. So

one of the chief princes (Archangel) Michael had to help the

angel reach Daniel (Daniel 10:13). In verse 21 the importance

and power and authority of Michael is described. In chapter 9

the angel Gabriel gave Daniel understanding. We believers are

in the midst of spiritual warfare. Fasting will help us persevere

and conquer. Fasting and Ephesians 6:10-20 are to be joined

together. “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand

him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes

4:12).

26

JOEL

Joel 1:14 - 2:12-15 and Joel 1:1-12 describe total devastation of

the land, especially of its agriculture, Spiritually as well for

there are no meal offerings or drink offerings being brought to

the priests (verse 9 and 13). The priests mourn and there is no

joy among the people (verse 12). Joel called the elders and the

people back to Jehovah by fasting. “Sanctify ye a fast, call a

solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the

land into the house of the LORD (Jehovah) your God (Elohim)

, and cry unto the LORD (Jehovah)” verse 14. In Joel 2:12 with

fasting and weeping and mourning. “Therefore also now, saith

the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with

fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning” (Joel 2:12). It

was to avoid the judgment of Jehovah soon to fall on them. In

Joel 2:12 it was Jehovah who told them to fast. In both

references the people are called to sanctify a fast. A fast done

for God is holy. Those who proclaim salvation will come from

among the people of Israel. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman

“Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for

salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). After the Jews brought

salvation to this world, those who were saved after that

proclaim salvation to their generation. The shofar was blown

and a fast was proclaimed. “Blow the trumpet (shofar) in Zion,

sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:” 2:15. Fasting and

weeping go together. Weeping is called for in verses 12 and 17.

Hannah wept and fasted (1 Samuel 1:7). David wept and fasted

for his son (2 Samuel 12:21). When God calls for a fast,

whether it be an individual or a church, believers are to fast.

After Jesus was baptized He received a call from the Holy Spirit

to go to the desert for a 40 day and night fast (Matthew 4:1-11).

He was obedient, will we be?

ZECHARIAH

From Zechariah it is seen that there were several fasts during

the year. Several months had its proper fast (Zechariah 7:5).

The fasts of the fifth and seventh months are mentioned. In the

seventh month comes the fast of Yom Kippur, the Day of

27

Atonement. Leviticus 16 and Zechariah points out in verse 5

that their fasts were not accepted during the 70 years. These are

the 70 years of disobedience before the Babylonian captivity.

Their fasts were false, and they did not observe the sabbatical

year of not farming in order to give the Land a rest. Jehovah

exiled the Jews for 70 years in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:10-13) for

sabbatical punishment (2 Chronicles 36:21 and Leviticus 26:32-

39). Zechariah 8:19 adds the fast of the fourth , and the tenth

months. The LORD of Hosts also says the fast is to be joy, and

gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and a feast

was a prearranged Holy Day. It is the same Hebrew word used

in Leviticus 23:4. “The feasts of the LORD.” Fasting gives the

faster the possibility to search his soul to see if he is spiritually

right with God or not. Is the faster in truth or in deception and

sin. Regular fasting was a part of the Old Testament faith. We

see that it is carried over into the New Testament in the

disciples of John and of the Pharisees (Matthew 9:14, Luke

18:12). Fasting helps a backslidden Christian to return to Christ

and helps a Christian to maintain a spiritual life.

I joined Central Missionary Clearinghouse-CMC in 1984. As

an Independent Baptist Missionary, I found that CMC became

an amazing help to my ministry. Since 1984 CMC has

experienced phenomenal growth.

Larry Maddox - Pastor, Central Baptist

Church, Houston, Texas President Central

Missionary Clearinghouse

a

non-profit

corporation. Since the inception of Central

Missionary Clearinghouse in 1974, our sole

desire has been to render a service to

missionaries who have been called of the Lord to serve Him,

primarily on the foreign mission field. It is our purpose to

provide for "... those for whom nothing has been prepared."

(Nehemiah 8:10), and to that end we endeavor to serve

missionaries at as little cost to them as possible.

28

New Testament

ANNA

Luke 2:36-38 Anna (Hebrew Hannah) a widow served God

with fastings and prayers night and day. For Hannah’s (mother

of Samuel) testimony of fasting see HANNAH. “And she was

a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not

from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night

and day” (Luke 2:37). Anna in the New Testament was in such

a spiritual state that she was able to recognize the eight day old

Jesus to be the Christ. She was also ready to speak to those who

looked for redemption in Jerusalem. It appears she knew who

in Jerusalem sought the truth. “Birds of a feather flock

together.” She lived with her husband for seven years until his

death. She immersed herself into a life of fasting and prayer.

“Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God,

and continueth in supplications and in prayers night and day”

(1 Timothy 5:5). I believe her fasting had a significant part in

her being in such a spiritual state to be able to recognize the

baby Jesus as the Messiah. And God wanted those in Jerusalem

”them that looked for redemption Jerusalem” to know of the

birth of the Christ.

May the testimony of Anna be a challenge to Christians to make

fasting an integral, ever present practice in their lives. In 1963

or 1964 I was challenged by Lester Roloff to fast one day a

week. I have kept this goal before me ever since. I did not fast

every week, but it was my desire to fast one day a week when

possible.

Christians have left record of their fasting through the ages.

JESUS

Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. After Jesus was filled with

the Holy Spirit at His baptism, He was led up of the Spirit into

the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Jesus then fasted 40

days and nights. I am interested in knowing why the 40 day and

29

night fast. Did the Holy Spirit put it in Jesus’ mind to fast 40

days? Did Jesus understand that a 40 day and night fast was

necessary if He was to be tempted of the devil? 40 in the Bible

is a time of testing. From Luke’s description of the 40 days it

appears to me Jesus was tempted of the devil all during the fast.

“And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed

from him for a season” (Luke 4:13). Luke describes the time of

temptation in the singular. It appears Luke called the 40 days,

“The Temptation.” The fast was to prepare Him to be tempted

of the devil. I believe Christ also prepared Himself during this

fast for His three and a half years of public ministry. That has

been a part of many of my fasts of 30 to 40 days. This has to

do with what the Christ came to accomplish. This was done so

that we might have the Word and Salvation. These Jews of the

Old Testament and New Testament who fasted paid a heavy

price to please their God, to be able to accomplish their part in

salvation’s story. While Jesus was alive the Old Testament still

was in valid. How skillfully Jesus used the Word of God, all

from Deuteronomy, to resist and defeat the temptation of the

devil three times. It is interesting to me to know more about the

part the human body plays in a believer accomplishing Christ’s

calling by fasting. It appears to me the devil’s three-pronged

temptation came after Jesus was hungry, at the end of the 40

days fast. This was the final phase of the 40 days of the devil’s

temptation against Jesus. The devil chose this moment to attack

Jesus Christ. This would be His weakest moment of the fast.

Jesus is God, but while on earth He was also a human. Fasting

greatly affected Him, as it would any human being.

I was doing a 30 day and night fast on Gouves, Island of Crete.

The time to break the fast was set. Half an hour before the end

of the fast I could pray no more. I sat down and immediately

fell asleep. I woke up just before the end of the fast to offer a

last prayer before breaking the fast. We are not told that Jesus

40 day fast was without water. Moses’ 40 days and nights fast

on Mount Horeb was without water (Deuteronomy 9:9). It has

been taught that at the end of a fast of 40 days and nights the

30

body will tell you when the fast must be stopped. If the faster

goes beyond this his body begins starvation. That is why Jesus

became hungry and so He would begin to decide how He would

break the fast. This returning hunger may be for a 40 day fast

without water. I have fasted three times for 40 days with water.

In those three fasts I do not recall the hunger returning. One

brother I read said the hunger could return shortly before the

40th day or just after. It depends on the faster’s body. In 2001

I was on my fourth 40 day and night fast with water. By the

30th day I sensed something was not right. This was probably

my body telling me the fast is over. I forced myself on to the

37th day, but by then I was convinced I must stop the fast.

The First Temptation

Jesus knew that His fast was soon to be broken once the hunger

returned. “Satan’s one object in the threefold temptation was

to induce Christ to act from Himself, in independency of His

Father.” (Scofield note on Matthew 4:1-11). Satan then told

Jesus Christ to prove He was the Son of God by turning the

stones into bread. I see in this a double temptation, the manner

in which Jesus would prove He is the Son of God and getting

bread in this fashion. Jesus understood this was not the moment

neither the manner in which the fast should be terminated. It

was not for the devil to decide what was to be done. Jesus

quoted the last part of Deuteronomy 8:3. “And he humbled

thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna

which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he

might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but

by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD

doth man live.” Life is not found only in eating bread, but true

life is given by the word of God. Jesus: “I am the living bread

which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he

shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh,

which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).

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The Second Temptation

The devil took Jesus to the Holy City which is Jerusalem and

put Him on a pinnacle of the temple (Matthew 4:5). The devil

quoted Psalm 91:11-12 (verse 6). The promise is given in

Psalm 91 that the angels will deliver Him. “For he shall give

his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They

shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against

a stone.” Jesus knew this was not the way in which these verses

were to be applied. Therefore Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16.

“Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in

Massah.” For Jesus to jump from the pinnacle and expect

Jehovah to save Him would be tempting Jehovah. Satan was

trying to take advantage of Jesus’ weakened condition. Angels

would be sent to help Jesus after this 40 day fast (Matthew

4:11).

Another threefold cord…

“Prayer, the Word, and Fasting”

The Third Temptation

Matthew 4:8-10 - The Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain

and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

The devil offered all to Jesus if Jesus would fall down and

worship the devil. Jesus said to him “Get thee hence, Satan: for

it is written, Thou shalt worship the LORD, and him only shalt

thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). (see Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20).

Jesus, in all His weakness and hunger, stayed firm in His

commitment to His Father and the Word of God. Jesus would

break the fast but in the proper manner, pleasing to His Father.

There are at least two differences between the recording of the

40 day fast of Jesus in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. The order of the

temptations is not the same. Matthew uses “Then” in verse 5

which shows Matthew was concerned about the order of the

temptations whereas Luke was not. Matthew says stones in

verse 3, Luke in verse 3 says stone. Ellicott’s Commentary for

English readers says, “The singular form is somewhat more

32

vivid than the plural.” Jesus was hungry after the fast. He was

weak therefore angels came and ministered to Him. “Then the

devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto

him” (Matthew 4:2,11). In Gethsemane it was necessary for an

angel from heaven to appear in order to strengthen Jesus, “And

there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening

him” (Luke 22:43). This 40 day fast Jesus Christ did for us.

Now what are we going to do for Him, for God’s Word and for

the born-again believers and for the unsaved? Before I mention

the next instance of fasting in Matthew I want to look at John 4.

Jesus and His disciples came to Samaria to the city of Sychar.

Jesus rested, because He was tired after the journey at the well

of Jacob, while the disciples went to get food (verses 5-8). Jesus

witnessed to a woman (verses 7-25). The disciples returned

before the woman left. They were surprised Jesus talked to the

woman. The disciples offered Jesus food. Before He ate, Jesus

wanted to drive home a spiritual lesson. There was something

far more important to Him than food. It was to do the will of

God His Father who sent Him, and to finish His work (verse

34). In verse 35 Jesus talked about the fields white already to

harvest. That was what He was involved in when He talked to

the Samaritan woman.

Being Tired: Kaarlo Syvanto, in 1947 was tired after a week of

work in a post office in Finland. On the weekend he returned to

his home as he did not work in his hometown. As he entered

the small train cabin he asked Jesus to let him be alone in the

cabin because he was tired. A well-dressed woman entered.

Kaarlo began to discuss it with Christ. He said he was tired,

and this was a woman. The first stop the woman went out.

Soon a conductor came back with the woman telling her to get

in the cabin and stay there. Kaarlo gathered courage and he

witnessed. Being tired does not give us an excuse to miss an

opportunity offered by Jesus Christ. After the witness, the

woman spoke. She said she went out of the train and put her

head right at the wheel of the train. She wanted to commit

suicide. Fortunately, the conductor saw her and forced her back

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onto the train and put her in her cabin. In 1962, at the Navy

Base, in Jacksonville, Florida, I was eating, and my neighbor

was outside her house. I had been wanting to witness to her. I

fought as to whether I should continue eating or not. I left my

food and witnessed to her. When the Holy Spirit calls, a

believer in Jesus Christ is to abstain from food. The believer

should respond by fasting.

Jesus’ Further Teaching On Fasting

Matthew 6:16-18 - “16 Moreover when ye fast, be not as the

hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces,

that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you,

they have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint

thine head, and wash thy face. 18 That thou appear not unto men

to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father,

which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”

Jesus expects those who believe in Him to fast. There are some

believers who cannot fast due to physical reasons. But He gives

warnings about how one is to fast. We are not to be as the as

the hypocrites, which would refer to the Pharisees. They

purposely put on a sad countenance and disfigured their faces

that thy may appear unto men to be suffering from fasting.

They will get recognition from man but no reward from God.

When a believer fasts he is to anoint his head and to wash his

face. He is not to appear as fasting. He experiences the

discomfort of fasting, but understanding, trust, confidence,

assurance and patience are his.In 1969 I worked in Israel in

Karen Kyemit LeIsrael (Jewish National Fund) in a forest

station in Jattir near the 1967 border between Jordan and Israel.

It is mentioned in the Bible and is near Eshtemoa. It is one of

the cities to which David distributed spoil after he destroyed the

Amalekites who had destroyed Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:27-28).

The boss of my group showed up at work one day unshaven. I

asked him if he did not have time to shave. He said that he did

not shave because he is fasting (Matthew 6:18). “As sorrowful

yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having

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nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Our fast is to be in secret and unto God. The word of Jehovah

Tzevaot to Zechariah “Speak unto all the people of the land, and

to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth

and seventh month, even those 70 years, did ye at all fast unto

me, even to me?” (Zechariah 7:4-5). Our Father who sees the

faster in secret shall reward the faster openly. Our fasting is

unto God. We are not trying to impress others with our

dedication and sacrifice.

Matthew 9:14-15 - The disciples of John said to Jesus that they

fast often and so do the Pharisees, but Jesus’ disciples do not

fast (verse 14). I assume the fasts of John’s disciples were

proper fasts. “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of

the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with

them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be

taken from them, and then shall they fast” (verse 15). The

bridegroom is Jesus Christ and He was taken from His body,

the church, when He ascended to His Father. Jesus expects His

followers to fast. Fasting is an integral activity of the Christian

faith. Believers who are physically able to fast should fast.

Matthew 17:21 - Is a problem verse as some manuscripts do not

have this verse. This verse is found in Mark 9:29 where fasting

is not mentioned. The King James Version of the New

Testament was translated from the Textus Receptus which has

Matthew 17:21. This event is also spoken of in Luke 9:37-43.

Luke does not deal with the disciple’s question of why they

could not cast out the demon. In Matthew 10:5-8 Jesus gave

power to the twelve to cast out demons. But here in Matthew

17 they could not cast the demon out. In the case of the lunatic

of Matthew 17 more than the disciples had was needed. Jesus

says fasting is needed. We believers in Jesus Christ are

encouraged to fast for the ministry of deliverance.

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Matthew 15:32-39 - Also in Mark 8:1-9. Matthew 15:29-31

gives the setting of the type of ministry Jesus had at this time.

He had just returned from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon

(Matthew 15:21). Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee. Jesus

went up on a mountain for three days of intense ministry

characterized by extensive healing, (verses 29-31). There was

no time for eating, Jesus kept the ministry continuing during

three days. We hear of no complaints from the multitude about

the lack of food! In Israel I was with Yoram who was fasting.

We had just climbed Tel Beth-shan. It was a steep strenuous

climb. I then went to get gas by the Sea of Galilee. Yoram

collapsed while outside the car in the gas station. Beth-shan is

at the east end of the Valley of Jezreel on the north side of the

valley, not far from the Jordan River (1 Samuel 31:10). Saul’s

body was placed on a wall in Beth-shan. It appears these three

days of Matthew 15:32 were not a set aside time for fasting, but

the ministry was so intense no time could be spared for eating.

There were 4,000 men beside women and children there

(Matthew 15:38). “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and

said: I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue

with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not

send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way” (Matthew

15:32). May we believers find the proper balance between our

spiritual and physical needs.

PHARISEES

Luke 18:9-24 - In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican,

verse 9 explains this parable is given for those who trusted in

themselves, that they were righteous, and despised others. The

Pharisee said he was not as other men are (sinners) such as

extortioners, unjust, adulterers and even as the publican (verse

11). He said he fasted twice a week and he gave tithes of all he

possessed (verse 12). It could be that the fast was a 24 hour

period as that was common practice among the Jews. These

two acts of adoration and service, fasting and tithing, are

accepted by God if they are done in the right spirit. But Jesus

shows the Pharisee’s false, wrongly motivated devotion, was

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permeated with pride. This is a false fast. Isaiah 58 exposes the

false fast, especially verses 2-5, and Jesus in Matthew 6:16-18.

The publican was in submissive humility standing afar off and

not lifting up his head to heaven, beating upon his breast. He

asked God to be merciful to him a sinner in verse 13. The

publican was not forcing himself to be close to God. He did not

even look to heaven. Jesus justified the publican but not the

Pharisee. The Pharisee was proud of the fact he was not like

the publican! Jesus said, “for every one that exalteth himself

shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted”

(verse 14). In Matthew 6:16 Jesus said, “Moreover when ye

fast, be not as the hypocrites,.” In Matthew 23 Jesus said seven

times: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”

THE EARLY CHURCH - Fasting in Acts

a. ) Acts 9:9 - Paul at his conversion, three days without water,

food or sight. Acts 9:1-25 Paul was on his way to Damascus to

bind those Jews who were disciples of Jesus Christ. They were

called disciples of this way. That were of the Way, that is,

Christ (verses 1-2 and John 14:6). Near Damascus Jesus

appeared to Saul of Tarsus in light (Acts 9:3-9). In

consideration of the light: “For God, who commanded the light

to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the

light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus

Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:6). When Paul opened his eyes, he

could not see (verse 8). It was such a dramatic experience that

he could not eat, drink or see for three days. At such an

experience fasting is a typical Jewish response as I have tried to

show in this study. The combination of the brightness of the

light from heaven and speaking with Jesus overwhelmed Paul.

His three day fast helped prepare him for his meeting with

Ananias (Acts 9:10-18).

b. ) Acts 10:30 - Cornelius was a Roman centurion fasting four

days. An angel of God appeared to him while he was fasting.

The angel said, “Thy prayers and thy alms are come up for a

memorial before God” (verse 4). Cornelius was told by the

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angel to send for Peter. Peter then fell into a trance and saw

unclean animals in a sheet. A voice said “Rise, Peter; kill, and

eat” (verse 13). They were common and unclean animals

according to the Law. Therefore, Peter did not want to eat of

them. The voice said, “What God hath cleansed, that call not

thou common” (verse 15). While Peter was doubting (much

perplexed) in himself wondering what the vision meant, men

came from Cornelius in Caesarea seeking Peter to bring him to

Cornelius to speak to him. Many were waiting for Peter (verse

27). This was now the fourth day Cornelius had been fasting

(verse 30). Peter was the apostle to the Jews, but he understood

that God was no respecter of persons and that He would save

Gentiles as He had saved Jews (verses 34-35). Peter preached

Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the grave (verses 38-40).

The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles! And they were baptized!

(verses 44-48). I cannot resist the question: Did fasting have

anything to do with this? The fasting of Cornelius showed his

sincerity and earnestness. God heard the supplications and

pleas of Cornelius (verse 4). For this reason, an angel was sent

to Cornelius. Cornelius’s fast was recognized and honored by

God.

c. ) Acts 13:1-3 - While the church was ministering to the Lord

and fasting, “the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and

Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” With fasting

and prayer the two were sent away (verse 3). Fasting was a part

of the early church’s services. Fasting by the church was used

to choose the missionaries and then to send them out. Paul used

fasting in establishing new churches.

d. ) Acts 14:22-23 - Paul and Barnabas established churches in

Lystra, Iconium, Derbe and in Antioch. They confirmed the

disciples “and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that

we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of

God. And when they had ordained them elders in every church,

and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord,

on whom they believed.” Their praying with fasting was an

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encouragement for the churches to practice fasting. Fasting is

also for new believers.

e. ) Acts 27:33 - Fourteen days on the boat in the storm they did

not eat. Fasting is seen in the non-Jews as well as in the Jews.

The storm in the Mediterranean Sea was so violent that not one

of the 276 men aboard dared to eat, it was a matter of life or

death. Just before the 14th day of the storm an angel of the

LORD appeared to Paul to assure him that not one person would

die for all shall be saved (verses 21-25). I assume the people

on the boat were not Jews. There were Roman soldiers with

their centurion (verses 42-43). The boat was full of wheat

(verse 38). From verse 35 it may give us the idea that Paul also

fasted: “And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave

thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken

it, he began to eat.” The prayers of these non-Christians were

heard on high. God spared their lives.

Before The Conclusion:

Consider What Paul Said About Fasting In 1 And 2 Corinthians.

a. ) Acts 9:3-9 - Paul fasted without water for three days at the

time of his conversion.

b. ) 1 Corinthians 7:5 - Some manuscripts do not have the

word fasting, but the Textus Receptus has it. “Defraud ye not

one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may

give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again,

that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” I sense Paul’s

encouragement to not have sex is when one or both are fasting

and praying. Paul considered fasting a very serious spiritual

engagement with God. There is a difference between fasting

and praying and just praying without fasting.

In 1

Thessalonians 5:17, Paul taught believers to “Pray without

ceasing.” 1 Corinthians 7:5 makes more sense to me when

fasting is mentioned. If only praying is mentioned why would

Paul speak of a couple defrauding one another? Coffman’s

Commentaries on the Bible says fasting here is an interpolation

(insertion).

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c. ) 2 Corinthians 6:5 and 11:27 - “Fastings” is mentioned in

both of these verses and the message in each is very similar.

Paul suffered much to bring the gospel to Jew and Gentile. He

was weary, experiencing pain, watchings often, in hunger and

thirst. There were times he could not get his necessary food or

water. He could have said I have suffered enough without food.

Yet he voluntarily added to his sufferings many fasts. Why?

Paul fasted because it was the teaching and example of the Old

Testament and because the Holy Spirit led him. The Holy

Spirit led Jesus to fast (Matthew 4:1-2). Fasting for Jesus at

the time of His 40 day and night fast was an immediate, natural

Biblical response, there was no other response to be considered.

“As sorrowful , yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many

rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2

Corinthians 6:10). All can fast, the rich and the poor. Anna

lived many years a widow, she may have been poor, but by

fasting night and day she made many rich (Luke 2:36-38).

Paul gives a long, impressive list of his sufferings for Christ in

2 Corinthians 11:22-27. All this that I have pointed out to you,

in this message, Paul knew. He knew what Jews had done

before to receive the Word and to make salvation available to

the people. That was his goal, and he would do the same as his

predecessors. He knew there was power in fasting that cannot

be found in anything else Isaiah 58:6. Paul needed power,

guidance, and he needed prayers answered. He was an

evangelist and church planter. He had to write a portion of the

Word of God and he needed to be in the right spiritual state to

receive the Word from the Holy Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 11:28

Paul’s concern for all the churches is mentioned. He prayed for

them and fasting helps prayer. They go together like a hand and

a glove. Will your hand go gloveless in the cold of winter?

John Wesley (1703-1791) of England in his diary told of fast

days, and so did David Brainerd (1718-1747) who ministered

to the American Indians. He lived when Jonathan Edwards

lived. They were both in the American Colonies and they knew

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each other. When Jonathan Edwards preached ‘Sinners in the

Hands of an Angry God’ he had fasted three days. During the

Welsh Revival of 1904 there was fasting. Men working in the

coal mines fasted, even while working.

In USA J. Harold Smith, a Baptist pastor and then evangelist,

fasted 40 days and nights. He knew when he left the pastorate

he did not have the power needed for the ministry of

evangelism. Therefore he felt led to fast 40 days and nights.

When he fasted he drank water as I do. His book is titled,“Fast

Your Way to Health.” It is out of print. He died in 2001. He

said his best meetings as an evangelist were when he got on the

plane to go the meeting, he ate, then he did not eat until he got

back on the plane after the meeting was over.

David Brainerd wrote: “Once more, Never think that you can

live to God by your own power or strength, but always look to

and rely on Him for assistance, yea, for all strength and grace.”

David Brainerd’s body was weakened by tuberculosis, yet he

chose to fast. In David Brainerd’s diary, he would note if the

day was a fast day. Fasting weakens the body. The faster in his

weakened condition is better able to understand his need of

Christ’s presence, power and action. After Paul asked Jesus to

heal him three times he said: “For this thing I besought the Lord

thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, my

grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in

weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my

infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in

necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for

when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).

And we should appreciate the sacrifice on the part of the Jews

who accomplished these two very important works.

The Word of God has been given, and salvation is available. It

is our responsibility to know the Word, and the plan of

salvation. This knowledge we are to take to others. This is our

main task while God keeps us here.

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I highly recommend fasting to believers if your health permits

it. It greatly helped those we have just studied, and it will

greatly help you in your Christian life, in finding God’s will for

your life, and accomplishing it with power and precision.

Fasting is a calling, a ministry, a prayer, and a spiritual battle.

Fasting can help in grief as in the case of a death, in time of

testing, for dealing with demon possession, for drug addicts, for

alcoholics, for deliverance, for oppressed Christians, for

possessed non-believers, for heavy burdens, and for financial

needs.

The purpose of this book was to show the part Jews had in

writing the Word of God, and in offering salvation to the world.

They wrote the Bible, were the first Believers, and they were

the first missionaries. Fasting had a definite part in

accomplishing this amazing work.

Michael David Bentley

What can fasting prepare us for?

The list is long!

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Three Day Fasting Conference in 2023.

Mihai & Maria Czentye

Living Hope Independent

Baptist Church Hunedoara, Romania

John & Dina Poenar

Bethel Codlea Assembly

He took me in Romania, to Bran, Gimbov, Rasnov, Codlea,

Brasnov, and Tohanul Vechi, where I taught Fasting.

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Commentary on Isaiah 58

“BREAK EVERY YOKE”

Introduction:

his is The Fasting Chapter of the Bible. I sense Isaiah

speaks as one who knew the experience and power and

T

results of fasting. This chapter is on one hand a plea against

hypocrisy in religious acts, and on the other hand it is a teaching

on fasting. This message against hypocrisy is also found in

(Isaiah 1:10-20). It is possible to be truly religious and socially

indifferent. It is possible to be religious but at the same time to

not know the one true God, Jesus Christ.

J.D. Smart, History and Theology in Second Isaiah, Epworth-

1965 “One of the unique features of the Biblical faith is that

there is no genuine relation with God that is not at the same time

a relation with the brothers” (pg. 247). The study of this chapter

gives ample opportunity for a professing believer in Jesus

Christ to examine his faith. Is God’s righteousness our

righteousness? Are we real or are we hypocrites? Are we trying

to establish our own righteousness, or are we truly submitting

ourselves unto the righteousness of God? “For he made him to

be sin for us, who knew no sin: that we might be made the

righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Are we operating in our own strength and wisdom or are we

relying upon God through His Holy Spirit to lead us and

empower us? Are we doing things in our own way according

to our own pleasures and knowledge or are we serving God

according to His desires and His will? (Isaiah 55:8-9). Is His

will our will, are His choices our choices? Are we trying to

impress man rather than humbly submitting to God? Is the fast

to God? Jehovah said to Zechariah, ask the Jews, and their

priests, if their fasts were to Jehovah (Zechariah 7:5). Are we

accomplishing our work for Christ in our own strength or in His

strength? In John 15:5 Jesus says “…for without me you can

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do nothing.” Is our business, our job, our family or anything

else interfering with our faith in Jesus Christ? Is Christ pleased

with our testimony? Are we pleased with our own testimony?

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my

thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead

me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). In 2 Corinthians

13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove

your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus

Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates.”

The end does not justify the means. There is a wrong way and

a right way to do the right thing. The fasting of Isaiah 58:2-5

was rejected by Jehovah. Their professed goals were right and

what Jehovah expected, but their means, their attitudes were

sinful. They did not obtain their professed goals or claims. I

endeavor to search my heart and soul during fasting. In Daniel

nine as Daniel began fasting and praying confession was first

upon his heart and lips. “And I set my face unto the Lord God,

to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth,

and ashes. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my

confession…” (Daniel 9:3-4). His confession is found in

verses 4-20!

What do I know about Biblical fasting? Do I fast? Is fasting

for me? Jesus: “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the

hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces,

that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you,

they have their reward. But thou when thou fastest, anoint thine

head, and wash thy face. That thou appear not unto men to fast,

but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which

seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly" (Matthew 6:16-18).

Jesus practiced and taught fasting.

Fasting is not to impress others or to prove to others you are

spiritual, but it is to be seen by God and for His glory. Fasting

does not forgive our sins, nor does it justify wrong attitudes. I

mentioned the false fast of Saul in (1 Samuel 14). The

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Philistines gathered at Micmash to attack Saul. Saul’s army had

no swords (1 Samuel 13:19). Jehovah gave a mighty victory to

Jonathan just before the battle (1 Samuel 14:1-15). Saul

proclaimed a fast on the day of battle (1 Samuel 14:23).

Jonathan did not know of the oath and in the battle found honey

on the ground in the forest and ate of it (1 Samuel 14:26-32).

Jonathan did not agree with his father’s proclamation of a fast

on the day of battle. Once the army reached the Aijalon Valley

they could resist no longer and fell upon the spoil of the battle

and ate the meat of the sheep with their blood, which is

forbidden (Leviticus 3:17, Deuteronomy 12:23-24). Obviously

Saul had wrong motives in proclaiming the fast at such a

strategic time. When Saul found out that Jonathan had eaten he

was ready to kill his son, but the people would not let him

because the victory was because of Jonathan. Jehoshaphat

declared a fast on the day of battle, but it was done in the right

spirit and Jehovah accepted the fast and gave the victory over

the three armies that were coming against Jerusalem.

2

Chronicles 20:3 “And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to

seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.”

Samuel and Joel used fasting to help the Jews to repent and

return to Jehovah (1 Samuel 7:6, Joel 2:12-15). Jesus Christ

fasted 40 days and nights at the beginning of His public ministry

(Matthew 4:1-11). He experienced what a man experiences in

a fast. God sees the true fast and He rewards as He chooses.

The fast is unto God. "...when ye fasted and mourned in the

fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all

fast unto me, even unto me?" (Zechariah 7:5). During the fast

the Holy Spirit places upon the faster’s heart praise and worship

and the Father’s prayer requests. God the Father is pleased as

a believer prays for His prayer requests. God is pleased when

His child fasts a proper fast.

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Isaiah 58:1

ry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and

C

_{shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob}

their sins.” Cry aloud is literally “cry in throat.” Fasting is

thinking of and praying for others. To help the Jews one must

speak to them of their sins. A similar message is found in

(Isaiah 40:1-2, Micah 3:8). Sin must be recognized then dealt

with. In Isaiah chapter one, the prophet deals with the sins of

the Jews, and Isaiah did that first thing in his long book of 66

chapters! These were practicing Jews who were faithful doing

the required religious acts, such as animal sacrifices, and

praying, and keeping the seven feasts of the Law of Moses, even

going beyond the required by fasting. “Come now and let us

reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,

they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

Fasting Is A Time Of Worship And Praise Unto God.

Sin today can only be forgiven through personal faith in Jesus

the Messiah. The Gentiles have the same need as the Jews, the

forgiveness of their sins. Isaiah 57 ends with “There is no

peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” The Jews mentioned here

in chapter 58 did not have the peace of God, because they did

not have a spiritual fast, only a physical fast. Not only was their

fasting was rejected by Jehovah, but all their other spiritual

activities were rejected because of their heart attitude. Isaiah

one clearly explains this.

Some thoughts here given came from the Keil and Delitzsch

commentary on Isaiah. I will note it by (K&D) from here on

out. Sin must be declared that it might be known and dealt with.

Sin must be exposed so that the sinner can realize his sin and

then repent. This is one of the purposes of the Law of Moses

(Romans 7:7). Sin in the life of believers must also be exposed.

Sin must first be confessed then pardoned, and then there is the

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possibility of acceptable service. "Lift up your voice like a

trumpet". In Hebrew, the trumpet is shofar (bugle). Loud and

clear! with all the strength of the voice. (K&D) With the full

force of the throat, a loud and clear voice with conviction and

assurance the message must be proclaimed and then it can be

heard, heeded, believed, and obeyed. Perhaps Yom Kippur

2017 just before the Day of Atonement started, I was handing

out tracks in Paris. I saw the Orthodox Jew coming and I

continued distributing. Suddenly the Jew was opposite me. I

knew not what to do. I tried to speak to him, but he stopped.

His son was with him of about 13 years old. Immediately we

were in spiritual talk. I had asked him a question. He asked me

if the Jews will go to heaven! I asked how he could ask of me

such a question. He said you asked me a question. I said the

Jews will not go to heaven because they have no sacrifice for

their sins. I said I have a sacrifice for my sins. He was not

angry, but he left. A Christian minister helped his young

relative. His parents first sent him to a secular psychological

counselor. The young relative did not get the help he needed

from the counseling. Then the minister gave him Biblical

counseling from God’s word dealing with his sins and only then

he was greatly helped. Sin must be dealt with. Then the young

relative got the help he needed.

In Paul’s instructions for the Lord’s Supper, 1 Corinthians

11:31 believers are instructed to judge themselves because of

their sins before God is moved to judge. God wants His people

to see their sins and to repent, then change their attitudes and

actions. Here in Isaiah 58 His people are the Jews. Today the

Jews are still His chosen people and there has been added to

God's family those who have found salvation in Jesus Christ.

Most of the Jewish people are not part of the remnant of Israel,

who are those who are in a spiritual relation with Jehovah.

“Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant

according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). God is

concerned about the sins of born-again believers. The born-

again believer in Jesus Christ must confess his sins (1 John

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1:9). The Jews are God's chosen people but that does not

include the salvation of their souls. They must be saved by

personal faith in Jesus Christ the only Savoir and the true

Messiah of Israel. Jesus Christ is the Kinsman Redeemer, Goel-

ל

גוא

All people must come the same way, only through the

LORD Jesus Christ (John 14:6). He is the only Mediator

between man and God (1 Timothy 2:5).

Isaiah 58:2

fter being expelled from Israel on May 1, 1988, I went to

the Island of Crete, Greece, for a 30 day and night fast,

A

drinking only water, eating no food. I camped on a mountain in

a tent that Billy Watson gave me. I was in the olive orchard of

Elias Tubbeh, who was born in Jerusalem. I visited Elias in

March 2017, and 2018, and in January 2020.

Elias Tubbeh

Walking outside his village in

Boodamies Pothiathios, Crete

Neil Freund

Why did I decide to fast for 30 days? Apparently the Holy

Spirit was leading me into a new ministry of fasting. Up to this

time, as I recall, I had fasted 27 days while a student at

Tennessee Temple Schools-Tennessee Temple University, I

assume, in 1966. I believe this Crete fast was a time of

separating myself from being physically present in Israel. It

was a time of healing from the loss of Israel. It was preparation

for the new ministry that was ahead for me. During the fast of

May 1988, I went through Isaiah 58. I turned the negative

points of verses 2-5 into positive goals.

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The fasting Jews listed six spiritual acts in verse 2 that they were

practicing and accomplishing. They believed they were

accomplishing these goals, or at least, claimed they were

accomplishing them. Why did I choose the Island of Crete for

fasting? I was expelled from Israel on May 1, 1988. Before I

left Israel it was decided that there would be a 30 day and night

fast. My friend Neil Freund was a faster and he knew the

Mediterranean Sea area. He suggested the place to go fast is

the Island of Crete.

God did not accept “1 of the 6”

1) “Yet they seek me daily.” - The word daily here is the

translation of day –

יום

, yom used twice for emphasis on

their consistency and regularity of their seeking after Jehovah.

These Jews who were fasting were hypocrites. They knew from

the prophets, the priests, the Word and the scribes what was

right for a believer to do. What they claimed they were

accomplishing, they were not. They were doing daily religious

duties, but Jehovah did not accept their devotion and sacrifice.

The “Yet” ties verse two in with verse one (K&D). Here are

their sins. In spite of their sins they were daily practicing

spiritual exercises.

A backslidden Christian should make an effort to return to Jesus

Christ. If his attitude is one of repentance, going to church can

help him, as well as reading the Bible, praying, and being with

believers who are serving Jesus Christ. Do we seek Him daily

with the right attitude? Are we earnest in our seeking His face?

Solomon Ostrovsky of Israel had his devotions from 2 AM to 6

AM. He was a pastor in Jaffa, Israel, from about 1930 to 1995.

George Wald was a missionary in Egypt for 25 years and 25

years in Israel. He raised four children. He got up each

morning at 5 AM for his devotions. When he was about 85 he

told me he could not remember a day he did not get up at 5 AM

to have his devotions. Let us seek Him daily, let us read the

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Bible daily and pray daily. May our seeking Him be real and

not fake, may our devotion and service to Christ be accepted.

May Christ find pleasure in our seeking Him. May we practice

the chosen fast.

2) “And delight to know my ways.” - The same Hebrew word

for delight appears in the second spiritual act and at the end of

this verse in the sixth act.

יחפצון

yechpatzun This is typical of

Isaiah. (K&D) They were delighting in their own ways, not in

Jehovah’s ways. Are Christ’s ways our delight? May God

search our hearts. From Psalm 40:8 we understand that the

Messiah delights to do the Father’s will. “I delight to do thy

will, O my God, thy law is within my heart.” The same Hebrew

word is used in Psalm 40:8.

חפץ

- chafetz May Jesus Christ be

our joy. JOY = Jesus Our Yearning.

Irene Levy had Bible Clubs for Youth in New York City in 1946

titled “JOY.” Jesus first, Others next, Yourself last. Irene’s

biography is “From McComb to Jerusalem.” Macom in

Hebrew is place, McComb is the name of the city in USA where

Irene was born. Irene was still alive in January 2020, at 100

years old. I visited her in January 2018, the end of 2019, and

was blessed fellowshipping with her. She came to Israel in

1948. She fasted in her service for Christ. We desire to reach

the spiritual state where God’s will for our lives becomes our

will. I confess that has not always been my spiritual state.

Many things I did in my life for Christ I did because I knew it

was God's will in spite of the fact I did not want to do it. I have

been since 1963. Many of my decisions about what to do were

made during a fast. Once I knew God's will I sought His grace

to accomplish it. A saying which helped me is "Never doubt in

the dark what God has shown you in the light." For me, a

decision made during a fast is made in the light. Ezra 8:21-23

(See my commentary of Isaiah 58:11). Ezra was not sure what

to do as he was planning with Jews to return to Jerusalem, so he

called the Jews and proclaimed a fast to know Jehovah’s will.

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Jehovah responded favorably so that Ezra knew what to do. Not

all things related to my personal life decided in a fast came to

pass. But many of them did happen. I am talking about

decisions for events in my life. Part of the problem was my

failure to do what I was led to do. I was faced with changing

the time of my five-year furlough to USA of 2019. During a

fast day, the decision was made to change it to 2018. Looking

back I am satisfied with the change I made.

3) “As a nation that did righteousness.” - These fasting Jews

were righteous in their own eyes, but not in Jehovah’s eyes.

Isaiah was thinking of the nation of Israel, but I want to bring it

down to the personal level. Do we do right? Is that our aim in

life? Do we want to do right in all areas of our lives? Is what

we understand to be right, right in God’s eyes? God forgive us

and God help us! Is this the goal of our family, or our church?

Bob Jones Sr. said, “Do right, though the stars fall, do right.”

Are we familiar enough with the Bible to know what is right?

If your attitude and actions are just, it will help your fast. If you

are a backslidden Christian, fasting will help you to return to

Christ, verse 6 of Isaiah 58 teaches this.

Isaiah 58:1 clearly shows the sins of religious Jews. They were

trying to establish their own righteousness by their religious

observances. Paul said concerning the Jew: “For I bear them

record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to

knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness,

and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not

submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans

10:2-3). In the Old Testament period there were Jews who were

of the remnant of Israel who were honestly seeking Jehovah.

Isaiah is an example.

4) “And forsook not the ordinance of their God.” - These

Jews forsook the ordinances of God by not doing the ordinances

in the right spirit. “The end does not justify the means.” It is

God who decides if a spiritual act is done in the right spirit.

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In the introduction I mentioned Saul’s false fast before fighting

the Philistines. He apparently wanted to do a religious act to

impress God. Do we forsake God’s ways and His commands?

We should remember Isaiah’s statement “For my thoughts are

not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the

LORD” (Isaiah 55:8-9). When the Messiah Jesus-Yeshua was

stricken, the disciples fled. Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword,

against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow,

saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall

be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.”

Matthew 26:31 “Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be

offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite

the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered

abroad.” Peter denied Christ. And what of us? Are we doing

Christ’s commandments with the accompanying spiritual

attitude Christ expects? Let us not forsake our Christ nor

Biblical principles. Christ will not leave nor forsake His own

(Hebrews 13:5). Paul said, “for I am not ashamed of the gospel

of Christ.” (Romans 1:16). Am I ashamed of the gospel of

Christ? Sometimes, too often.

Keeping the commandments of God includes doing them is

an attitude that God approves of.

5) “They ask of me the ordinances of justice.” - These Jews

were asking for Jehovah’s ordinances of justice, but they were

not able to receive His ordinances of justice because of their

hearts’ attitude. They had their own ideas about Jehovah’s

justice (Psalm 50:21). The Jews created a god who was like

themselves. In Isaiah 29:13-14 Jehovah exposes the hypocrisy

of the religious Jews and that all their wisdom as found in their

religious books shall perish. “Wherefore the Lord (Adonai not

Jehovah) said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with

their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed

their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by

the precept of men” (verse 13). What are we asking of God?

Are we asking according to the lust of our flesh or as the Holy

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Spirit leads and as the Scriptures teach? Is God’s Truth our

Truth? His righteousness our righteousness? Are we in

agreement with God’s decisions for our lives? Do we seek to

live our lives according to His rules, principles, and justice and

according to His will? Isaiah 57:15 tells us we need a contrite

and holy spirit. Is our spirit contrite and holy? In March 1988 I

was before the Supreme Court of Israel. I was fighting for the

right to remain in Israel. I was told by the court to leave Israel.

On the wall of the courthouse I read Isaiah 1:27 “Zion shall be

redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.”

I left Israel on May 1, 1988.

6) “They take delight in approaching God.” -

יחפצון

–

yechpatzun. This is the same form as in the delight used in the

second spiritual act of this verse. This was a false claim by

these Jews. What they believed we do not know, but we know

Jehovah’s reaction to their self-proclaimed delight. Do we look

forward to our moments with God? Do we enjoy our time in

God’s presence? How precious are our moments with Christ?

What are we excited about? Is our joy real, sincere? We cannot

fool Jesus Christ, but we can fool ourselves. Do we enjoy

reading the Bible? Do we read the Bible?

These hypocritical Jews did this in their own flesh and

initiative, expecting much in return. Let the Holy Spirit lead

you to regularly approach our God and Savoir Jesus Christ. He

awaits our presence before Him. Let God choose what you are

to receive. They expected and desired God to come close to

them to deliver them, save them, help them, and give them what

they wanted (K&D). Reading the Bible can lead to worship and

praise. Psalm 35:13 David: "I humbled my soul with fasting;

and my prayer returned into my own bosom." We express our

burdens in prayer, and they are constantly upon our hearts. Not

in the sense that we are not trusting God with the request, but

we are concerned about the gravity of the situation as it weighs

upon our hearts.

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Jesus’ parable of the Unjust Judge, also called of the

Importunate, or Persistent Widow, in Luke 18:1-8 was to teach

that “men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” Paul had "...

great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart" for the lost

Jews (Romans 9:2). Paul prayed for them; his heart was right

(See also Romans 10:1). May Christ’s burdens lay heavy upon

our hearts. Paul: “I will therefore that men pray every where,

lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” 1 Timothy

2:8. Holy hands speak of the right attitude of the worshiper. In

the song “God, Our Father, We Adore Thee” it reads “For the

riches we inherit, Heart and voice to Thee we raise!” If our

heart is right in our worship then our voice will be pleasing to

Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 58:3

ere those who believe their works are righteous, hold up

their fasting before God, complaining to God for lack of

H

recognition. (K&D) They have two questions to present to

God. In verse five these two questions will be followed by six

from God. “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest

not?” They realize that He does not see their sacrifices, which

is in the sense of accepting them. Jehovah saw their fasts, but

He did not approve of them. They should have had a deep heart

searching when they realized that God took no knowledge of

their afflicting themselves by fasting. It is wonderful that they

understood that God took no knowledge of their religious acts.

Interesting that these hypocrites were able to understand

Jehovah’s attitude. At that moment they should have earnestly

sought Jehovah with the intention to understand their sin and to

repent. In verse 2 they clearly spoke their willingness to know,

to seek and to approach Jehovah. There was no spiritual

blessing in their fast. In their seeking Him they knew Jehovah

was not responding positively to their prayers. It is similar to

the question in 1 Samuel 4:3, after Israel lost 4000 soldiers in

the battle at Aphek against the Philistines. “And when the

people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said,

Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us today before the

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Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD

out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may

save us out of the hand of our enemies.” They did not take the

time or effort to find out why God smote them but tried a

religious ‘trick’ or superstition hoping the holy ark of the

covenant would bring God’s deliverance. They were not

willing to deal with sin, the sin of the elders, and of the people.

The ark did not save them, it did the opposite, it brought

judgment from God on them. They were not looking to God,

but to something physical from the Tabernacle. Hophni and

Phineas were the two of the sons of Eli the high priest. They

were evil men. It may have been their idea to bring the arc. The

elders and Hophni and Phineas treated the arc as a “good luck

piece,” a talisman, an amulet. Hophni and Phineas were killed

in the battle. It was not the time to fight a war, but to seek

Jehovah, and deal with their sins.

Fasting Will Help You To Approach God And His Son.

Fasting Will Help Your Spirit To Be Contrite And Holy.

Fasting Will Humble Your Soul.

God seeks true repentance, followed by a desire to forsake the

sin. In Judges, there is the history of a battle the tribes of Israel

had against Benjamin. They lost two times against Benjamin.

They stopped to find out Jehovah’s will. They fasted and got

an answer from Jehovah (Judges 20:26). They sought Jehovah

in the right, spiritual manner and they were guided by Jehovah.

The third attack was successful. The fasting Jews of Isaiah 58

continue “Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest

no knowledge?” These fasters are hypocrites and liars. It is

true that they fasted, but the affliction of the soul or its humbling

did not occur. They made their bodies to suffer, but no work of

grace was done in their soul. True fasting is designed to humble

the soul. These Jews knew what fasting is because the prophets

had told them, and I assume showed them by fasting

themselves. They knew of Moses’ 40 day and night fast

(Deuteronomy 9:9).

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The verb used in verse 3 ‘we afflicted’

ענינו

ininu and verse 5

‘afflict’

ענות

anot, is the verb often used with fasting in the Old

Testament. It is the soul that is to be afflicted. If the heart’s

attitude is right, the suffering of the body can help lead to the

affliction of the soul. The suffering of the body can facilitate

the affliction of the soul. During the fast God ministers to the

faster. We can afflict our soul by fasting. The Jews understand

this verb to mean fast. The word fasting is not used in the

descriptions about the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16.

“Afflict your souls” is in verses 29 and 31.

תענו

– teenu – ye

shall afflict, in verse 29,

ועניתם

– veinitem- and ye shall afflict

in verse 31. The Jews fast on the Day of Atonements. I used

the plural because in Leviticus 23:27, Yom Hakippurim “day of

atonements” is plural. The KJV translated the verb in Psalm

35:13 with; I humbled

עניתי

. David: “I humbled my soul

with fasting.” The verb is used in Ezra 8:21. “Then I

proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might

afflict

להתענות

lehitanot ourselves before our God, to seek of

him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our

substance.” The verb is here found in the reflexive mode.

True fasting does humble the soul. The fasting of the

hypocritical Jews in the time of Isaiah was a heartless, dead

work, which was worthless in God’s sight. Their false fasts did

not produce true humility, nor impress Jehovah. It actually

produced pride in the fact that they were able to fast. I imagine

at this time there were Jews like Isaiah who fasted with the

proper attitude. Jews who were of the believing remnant of

Israel were able to do a proper fast, an accepted fast. Soul is

mentioned five times in Isaiah 58. When a believer is in a true

fast, God can reach his soul. This is one of the main purposes

of the fast, to afflict the soul. Fasting facilitates God's desire

and ability to deal with our souls, to touch or access our souls.

The soul can be afflicted without fasting but fasting is designed

by God to afflict the soul of a believer.The hypocritical fasters

were not careful with their fast days. “Behold, in the day of

your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.” They

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were finding pleasure and were involved in their businesses.

(K&D) A similar warning is given in verse 13 about the

Sabbath. “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from

doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a

delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour

him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure,

nor speaking thine own words:.”

If the Christian faster has to work during the fast, God

understands. I have offended in doing my own pleasure in

many fasts. In a one day fast August 15, 2016, I was not careful

once again. I have been too occupied with correspondence,

phone calls, emails, and internet. May the Holy Spirit give me

understanding in this. It has been a fight for many years. In

2020 it was still a struggle. I wrote the first draft of this message

during a 15 day fast in Ellerslie, Maryland in September 2006

and it was also true with that fast. I am not saying it is wrong

while a believer is fasting to carry on his daily duties, as going

to work or a housewife caring for her house and family. There

are times when a believer is led to fast and cannot stop his or

her daily duties. In 1965 or 1966 I had a 27 day and night fast

when I had a fulltime job and was a fulltime student in

Tennessee Temple University. When I am busy while fasting,

I try to stop at mealtime, read the Bible, and pray. J. Harold

Smith says in his book on fasting that in a 40 day fast he

continued his strenuous schedule of preaching and radio work.

The name of his book is “Fast Your Way to Health.” It is

available on Amazon. I highly recommend it.I gave two

messages on fasting in Bucharest, Romania, on the same

Sunday in two churches. I mentioned J. Harold Smith in my

two messages. In each service, I was told of a man who was

saved under the preaching of J. Harold Smith. That is two

different men. In the morning, my translator was an American

and he said his grandfather was saved when J. Harold Smith

preached. In the evening meeting an American was in the

audience and he said he was saved when J. Harold Smith was

preaching. Since I had two strokes in 2008 my ability to stay

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concentrated has greatly decreased. The longest fast I have

done since then is eight days and nights.

Dr. Paul Freed, founder of Trans World Radio in ‘Towers to

Eternity’ spoke of the fasting and prayer of his parents when

they were in the Middle East as missionaries. “One of my

happiest memories of childhood has to do with Mother and

Father’s belief in prayer and fasting. Friday, late afternoon and

evening, was set aside in their week for this purpose. But I

suppose that the thing that impressed me most as a child was

that Ruth (my sister) and I never felt that we had to fast with

them. In fact, Mother would go out of her way on prayer and

fast night, to prepare for us the most wonderful meal of all. She

often let us decide what we would like most for Friday supper.

It must have been a real temptation for her as she prepared hot

breads or cinnamon rice, and as the kitchen was filled with

delicious smells in the evenings when she ate nothing. This

evidence of love, plus their allowing us, rather than forcing us

to do as they did, stimulated our growth in grace, our desire to

learn to walk with the One whom our parents followed closely.

To this day I associate prayer and fasting with an unforgettable

time of enjoyment.” Please note: (Zechariah 8:19).

Once in Bulgaria, in the city of Russe, a sister prepared a nice

meal for her sister Valichka, and I. She was in the midst of a

30 day fast, but still made the meal for us. The ideal situation as

I see it is to be quiet and alone before God, free from other

responsibilities. That’s what Moses did on Mount Horeb two

times for 40 days and nights and what Jesus did in His 40 day

and night fast in the wilderness, just after being baptized by

John the Baptist (Deuteronomy 9:8-20, Matthew 4:1-11). I

wonder if John the Baptist visited Jesus Christ when He was

fasting in the wilderness? My situation of being in full time

service for Christ enabled me to schedule as much as two

months, consecrated to a fast of 30 or 40 days and nights. My

being single also makes fasting easier (1 Corinthians 7:5). KJV

has fasting, but some Bibles do not have fasting. The NIV and

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Darby do not have fasting, neither does the Nestle-Aland Greek

New Testament, KJV has fasting. The Textus Receptus, also

called Received Text, has nestia-fasting. The KJV was

translated from the Received Text. “Defraud ye not one the

other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give

yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that

Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” [Incontinency -

wanting in self-restraint especially in regard to sexual appetite.

Oxford Dictionary.] After a long fast, it takes two weeks to

regain strength and get the body used to normal eating habits. I

tried in the long fasts after breaking the fast to remain 15 days

where I was before I started traveling. “And exact all your

labours.” They deny themselves in fasting and they deny others

who are worthy, as workers who work for them. In verse seven

“Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry…” they do not give

their workers their due wages. The word “labours”

עצביכם

-

atzveichem is found in Psalm 127:2 and it is translated “the

bread of sorrows” referring to his hard labour, haahtzavim -

ם

העצבי

. The laborers were being denied their due. They were

exploiting their workers or oppressing them. Their fast day was

a day of self-pleasing to the disadvantage of others (Smart-pg.

480). K&D explain that the root word from which fast comes

means to press, to tie up, to constrain. God, through fasting,

puts pressure on the faster. He ties up their time and constrains

them to make things right between God and the faster. He

constrains them to pray about special requests which calls the

believer to have unique fasting fellowship with God and His

Christ. K&D say that the ancient church called a fast, “statio”,

because he who fasted had to wait in prayer day and night like

a soldier at his post.

צום

- Tzom is the Hebrew for fast. It has

as primary idea the mouth being shut. That is a good time to be

quiet! K&D in their comments on verses 3 and 4 say that

fasting is voluntary. Let us be volunteers for Jesus Christ, let

us follow in His footsteps. If it was necessary for Jesus Christ,

is it necessary for His followers? I believe so if he or she is

able. But the believer must be willing.

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Isaiah 58:4

ehold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the

fist of wickedness:” These fasters ended up in strife and

B

debate, instead of in a contrite and humble spirit. Obviously,

there was a bad spirit. They went so far as to clench their fists,

and strike out with their evil fists at others. This reminds me of

Jezebel’s fast to kill Naboth in 1 Kings 21. Ahab was sad

because Naboth would not sell him his vineyard which was near

Ahab’s palace in the city Jezreel in the valley of Jezreel. Ahab’s

main residence was in Samaria. Jezebel devised a plan to kill

Naboth so Ahab could have his vineyard. She proclaimed a fast

(a false fast because of the purpose) to get the people in an

attitude which would help her direct them to kill Naboth. The

spirit of Jezebel was anti Jehovah, and the Jews were not in a

living relationship with Jehovah at this time. The Jews were as

their king and queen. Jezebel was able to inflame them with a

spirit of killing a godly Jew. In verses 9 and 12 the fast is

proclaimed. Proclaiming a fast was a serious decision and is

done normally when there is a threatening circumstance. Her

purpose was evil, not spiritual.

Naboth was falsely accused by evil men, children of Belial

(verse 13). The godly, Law honoring Naboth was killed.

Jehovah was not pleased with the killing of Naboth, so He sent

Elijah who lived nearby on Mount Carmel to pronounce

judgment on Ahab. Note Ahab’s fast, after the announcement

of judgment by Elijah (1 Kings 21:27-29). Jezebel’s fast was a

false fast, but Ahab’s was a true fast recognized by God. God

acknowledged that Ahab humbled himself (not the normal

Hebrew verb used with fasting but

נכנע

nicnah) before God.

The Hebrew verb is used today to express surrender. God

changed the time of the judgement on Ahab’s posterity. It

would be after Ahab’s death. Jehu who became King of Israel

after Joram or Jehoram would be the avenger of Ahab, his wife

Jezebel and his sons (2 Chronicles 22:7). The confusion of

Joram’s name lies in part, because Ahaziah King of Judah, was

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the son of Jehoram, and Ahab King of Israel had a son named

Jehoram (2 Kings 8:28-29, 2 Chronicles 22:5-6). Joram the son

of Ahab was also called Jehoram.

We are not to hurt people in fasting, we are to help people. That

is a general statement thinking of what Jezebel’s fast was. We

may fast to stop an evil work. The 11 tribes in Judges 20:26

fasted to know if they should attack again the tribe of Benjamin

for the third time. The eleven tribes were defeated in the first

two attacks. Jehovah led them to attack and this time they

destroyed Benjamin. Jehoshaphat of Jerusalem fasted before

the battle with the three armies attacking him (2 Chronicles

20:1-3). The three armies were destroyed (verse 22).

Rees Howells of Swansea Bible College in Wales fasted often

during WW II for the defeat of Germany. His book, Intercessor,

is an encouragement to prayer. You Tube has an audio book of

his biography by Norman Grubb. In 1936 they were already

fasting and praying about the danger of Nazi Germany. One of

the purposes of fasting is given in verse 4. An improper fast will

not accomplish this, but a chosen fast, an acceptable fast, will

cause your voice to be heard by God. Jehovah designed the

human body in such a way, that fasting would help the believer

to reach his soul, and to enter into the spiritual state Christ wants

him to be in. Fasting can increase faith.

A testimony of Isaiah 56:7: Rachmiel Frydland was a young

Orthodox Jew in Warsaw, Poland just before the Germans

entered Poland in 1939. He saw written on a church “For Mine

House shall be called a house of Prayer for all People” (Isaiah

56:7). He was fascinated that a Christian church would use an

Old Testament verse on its building. Rachmiel met Hebrew

Christians witnessing on the streets of Warsaw. One of them

was Jacob Goren, who I knew in Israel. Rachmiel accepted

Jesus Christ as his Messiah and lived through the Holocaust.

His book about this experience is titled “When Being Jewish

Was a Crime.” I had the privilege to know Rachmiel and his

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family personally. We visited Jews together in Chattanooga,

Tennessee.

When God begins to ask you questions, take it very seriously.

It maybe He is trying to point out to you your sin. And He may

ask you more than you ask Him! I see six questions in verse

five that God asked the Jews. The number of questions depends

on how you divide them up.

Isaiah 58:5

his verse starts with a question. God’s questions are trying

to get the hypocrites to see the real nature of their false fasts

T

and to expose their hypocrisy and lead them to repentance. “Is

it such a fast that I have chosen?” K&D translate chosen as

pleasure. There is a fast, which God chooses and takes pleasure

in. May we believers do those things that please God if we can.

The fast described here was not accepted, it was not pleasing to

Jehovah. It was not “a day for a man to afflict his soul?” Here

is the verb that is often joined with fasting “to afflict” his soul.

ת

ענו

– anot Fasting is difficult, and it weakens the body. This

is part of the purpose of a fast. Though your body weakens, you

have the possibility of becoming stronger in spirit (2

Corinthians 12:9). Jesus said to Paul who wanted to be healed:

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect

in weakness.”

There is a physical benefit to fasting.

I would like to know more about this.

These hypocritical Jews were only afflicting their bodies, but

not their souls, by their fasting. Probably the year was 2010, I

came back to Jacksonville, Florida, Friday evening very sick. I

cancelled two meetings on Sunday. On Monday or Tuesday I

tried also to cancel on Wednesday, but Pastor John Kager asked

me to come on Wednesday. I was not sure I was able to drive.

I preached and I was mightily blessed with deep crying for most

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of the sermon. I believe it was because I realized my weakness

and therefore Christ empowered me with His strength for I did

not have power in myself. If your heart attitude is not right,

fasting is a waste of time for spiritual benefit. A false fast will

not afflict the soul, but a true fast will. A false fast will afflict

the body but there will be no spiritual growth. Obviously, true

fasting increases faith. The purpose of the fast is not to suffer

hunger but to arrive at a spiritual state that better enables you to

communicate with God, and to pray. Fasting facilitates the

access of the believer to his soul and to Christ Himself. There

is a physical benefit to fasting. I would like to know more about

this.

J. Harold Smith talks about this in his book on fasting (Fast

Your Way to Health). He studied to be a brain surgeon. When

his studies were finished, Jesus called him into the ministry. As

the body weakens the head goes down Isaiah 58:5b, “is it to

bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and

ashes under him?” Often in a fast I realize my head is down,

then I try to walk straight to not appear as if I am weak. David

experienced weakness when he fasted. “My knees are weak

through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness” (Psalm

109:24). The purpose of the fast is not to bow your head down,

or weaken your knees, or to impress others with your fasting,

but to afflict your soul. Sometimes when I am walking on a

long fast, my knees will buckle. Believers do well to strive after

a fast in which God is pleased. The use of sackcloth and ashes

by fasters was for further recognition of their fasting and their

consequent suffering because of denying themselves necessary

food. Obviously, sackcloth could be used to show their

suffering rather than being an expression of their deep internal

feelings. Sackcloth in its origin was an expression of their deep

internal suffering. God can use the physical suffering of

fasting; with the weakness it creates to humble a soul. In Psalm

35:13 David said, “I humbled my soul with fasting”. The KJV

in verse 13 translated aniti

עניתי

with humbled rather than

afflicted. The humbling or afflicting depends on the faster’s

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attitude. “Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the

LORD?” The Jewish fasters called it an acceptable fast, but not

God. In verse 3 “Wherefore have we fasted” they said to

Jehovah. If a faster shares his fasting experience, he needs to

do it in the attitude of giving glory to Christ and not to himself.

One of the reasons I share my fasting is to encourage Christians

and churches to fast. The fasting of the Old Testament and New

Testament is to be carried on today by followers of Jesus Christ.

In February 2017, I led a three day fasting conference in a

church in Romania. This three day fasting conference was

inspired by Matthew 15:32. Jesus met with people on a

mountain, by the Sea of Galilee, for three days of healing with

no food. Jesus said to His disciples at the end of the three days

of ministry “I have compassion on the multitude, because they

continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and

I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.”

The ministry was so intense that JESUS and the disciples could

not stop to eat, and neither could the people. They did not want

to have a break in the meeting. No one in the Romanian church

had fasted more than one day. The church in Romania where I

had the three day conference was blessed and a seven day

fasting conference was asked for and then planned for February

6-12, 2018. I am satisfied with that fasting conference as well.

One of the elders of the church fasted seven days and nights.

He always has a headache each night at 3 AM and never sleeps

good at night. After the first or second day of the seven day fast

he had no headache at night, and he slept through each night.

He did not want to stop the fast! The main request of this week

of fasting was for a couple who were having family problems.

They separated. Work was done by concerned Christians and

today they are together. And later they had another child. A

seven day fast was also held in June 2019 and February 2020 in

the same church. There was also a three day fast with this

church August 1-3, 2019. The end of verse 5 says “an

acceptable day of the Lord.” The Hebrew word for acceptable

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is retzon.

רצון

. Today in modern Hebrew the verb means want,

desire.

What price are we willing to pay to be heard on high? And to

be accepted by God Almighty? Are we willing to fast if we are

physically able? “Acceptable” in the positive sense is seen in

Isaiah 56:7, “Shall be accepted” le-retzon, and 61:2 shnat

retzon = acceptable year. Isaiah 56:3 tells us of even strangers,

none Jews, who have joined themselves to Jehovah will be

accepted by Jehovah. God’s House shall be called a house of

prayer for all people, and their sacrifices will be accepted after

they come to know Jehovah’s Messiah, Jesus Christ (Isaiah

56:7). Isaiah 61:1-2a Jesus quoted these two verses and said

these verses refer to Him. Luke 4:16-21 “To proclaim the

acceptable year of the LORD.” Isaiah 61:2a. In Isaiah 58:6 the

chosen fast is acceptable. The verb used in 58:6 is bochaer, to

choose. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen.” When God

begins to ask you questions, take it very seriously. It maybe He

is trying to point out to you your sin. And He may ask you more

than you ask Him!

I see six questions in verse five that God asked the Jews. The

number of questions depends on how you divide them up.

Anna’s service: “…served God with fastings and prayers night

and day” Luke 2:37. Why do we serve Jesus Christ? May our

service to our Messiah, Saviour, Master, Mediator, and

Example be acceptable in His sight. Not just our fasting but all

our service done unto Him (1 Timothy 2:5, Psalm 19:14).

AMEN!

Isaiah 58:6

his verse starts out with a question by God. “Is not this the

fast that I have chosen?” The first word of the Hebrew text

T

of this verse is

הלוא

– halo, meaning “is it not so?.” Halo

introduces a question. After the questions of verse five that led

to rebukes, now there will follow a clear statement of what a

true fast is and what it accomplishes. This verse expresses a

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force that cannot be measured or imagined. This fast is pleasing

to God because of what it accomplishes in the life of the faster

and in the things the faster prays for. Jesus Christ is blessed

when His children seek Him with the right attitude, when they

are obedient to Christ, when they humble themselves before

Christ. God tells us what He expects to be accomplished by a

true fast. A false fast will not accomplish these goals. This

verse is a jewel, a classic, glistening as a diamond. It is a verse

to be remembered, memorized, and practiced. This verse more

than any other in the Bible tells the power and purpose of

fasting. A key that can unlock the unlimited resources of God

is here given. Let us never forget it. “To loose the bands of

wickedness”. We note at the time of the Transfiguration in

(Matthew 17:21, KJV). “This kind goeth not out but by prayer

and fasting.” The Darby Bible also has fasting in this verse.

NIV does not have it. The Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament

does not have it. The Textus Receptus from which the KJV was

translated has it. 1 Corinthians 7:5 is a similar case. The

disciples at the time of the Transfiguration could not cast out

the devil (demon) from the lunatic son but Jesus did. Therefore

the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast out the demon

(verse19). Matthew 17:20-21 And Jesus said unto them,

Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have

faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall unto this mountain,

Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing

shall be impossible unto you.

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by

prayer and fasting…Matthew 17:21

Verse 20, I cannot grasp. It is beyond my experience. Verse

21, I find easier to understand. Verse 21 sheds further light on

what Jesus taught in verse 20. Anna knew this truth; therefore

she fasted night and day (Luke 2:36-38). From this explanation

of Jesus in Matthew 17, I sense that fasting increases faith. The

fast is helpful in freeing others from addictions to sin, alcohol

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and drugs and from demon possession. Fasting will help

believers who are oppressed by demons and non-believers who

are possessed by demons. The ability of the non-believers to

help themselves is very limited, almost nonexistent. Fasting

can help believers who are overcome by sin. Fasting can bring

the backslider back to Christ. This is the mountain that needs

to be moved! The disciples could not cast out the demon and

they asked Jesus why they could not. These two verses, 20 and

21, are Jesus’ response to the disciples' question. Elmer L.

Towns calls this, The Disciple’s Fast. Evil has taken hold of

many. They are bound, they are slaves to sin. They are

powerless to help themselves. We through our ministry have

the possibility to deliver them. We have power through giving

them the Word of God and praying for them. All things being

equal, fasting and prayer is better, and more powerful and

effective, than prayer alone. Persons involved in sexual sins

need our fasting prayers. Do you know a prostitute? or a man

who has sex with prostitutes? People involved in human

trafficking. Fast and pray for them. K & D translate ‘bands’ as

coils. The coils remind me of a rattle snake coiled to strike its

victim. This same Hebrew word and in the same form for

'bands' is used in Psalm 73:4. The wicked who prosper appear

to have no “bands” and their strength is firm but in reality they

are in chains, Psalm 73: 4-6, because of their pride. They can

be freed as Isaiah 58:6 says (See Luke 4:18-19).

Here in Luke 4, we have the ministry Jesus was called to fulfill

as written in Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the LORD GOD is upon

me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings

unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to

proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison

to them that are bound.” The Hebrew word for bound here in

Isaiah 61:1 is not the word used in Isaiah 58:6. These types of

ministries can be accomplished through prayer and fasting as it

is explained in Isaiah 58:6. Luke adds “the recovering of sight

to the blind”. Jesus continues His ministry through the lives of

believers. Jesus has given us fasting to accomplish His work.

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In November 2006, I was in Manitoba, Canada. I saw many

drunken Aboriginal people. The drunkards need the Word,

Prayer, and the fasting prayer of believers. I was in Thompson,

Manitoba, in November 2014, where I met Johnny Miles and

his wife Marie. Johnny is on YouTube: Johnny Miles Cree

Hymns. He sang Christian Hymns, but in November 2014 he

and Marie were drinking alcohol. Johnny and Marie need

prayer, fasting prayer, and I have been praying for them since I

met them (now October 2020). For around three and a half

years I prayed for Johnny, often with tears. During this drinking

period in his life he posted no new songs. In 2018 Johnny

posted a Christian song!!! He also posted new songs in 2019.

To me this was a sign that he has returned to Christ. I saw in

Odessa, Ukraine, drunk men sleeping near the sidewalk of the

street with wild dogs. Sometimes in a restaurant in Ukraine,

you can see a man passed out from alcohol at his table or on the

floor next to his table. Christian, when we see a drunkard we

should pray for them. But for the grace of God, there go I. Let

me say something about tears and fasting. They often go

together as a glove upon the hand. In 1 Samuel 1 we meet

Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Her husband, Elkanah, had a

second wife, Penninah, who had children, but Hannah was

barren. Each year they went to the house of God in Shilo.

Penninah provoked Hannah because she had no child. So while

at the house of God in Shiloh Hannah wept and did not eat

(verses 7-8). “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed

unto the LORD, and wept sore” (verse10). Then she made her

vow that if Jehovah gave her a son she would give him to

Jehovah (verse 11). In 2 Samuel 12:10 David is under the

judgment of Jehovah because of his sin with Bathsheba the wife

of Uriah. Jehovah struck the child as punishment and David

began fasting for the life of his son. David fasted for seven days

because the child lived seven more days. Those seven days

were for David to return to Jehovah. Read Psalm 51 to

experience David’s repentance and forgiveness. In 2 Samuel

12:21 and 22 David fasted and wept for the child. Jehovah did

not heal the child, but He did a mighty work in David’s life.

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In Joel 2:12-15 Jehovah commands sinful Israel “Therefore also

now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart,

and with fasting, and with weeping, and mourning.” Fasting,

confession, mourning and weeping run together. Mourning in

Hebrew is

מספד

. This noun with its verb appears in Zechariah

12:10. It is in the context of the moment the Jewish Remnant

will look upon Him whom they pierced. As Joseph revealed

himself to his brethren in Egypt, so shall The Messiah Yeshua

reveal Himself to the Jewish Remnant left after the Battle of

Armageddon. “And I will pour upon the house of David, and

upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of

supplication: and they shall look upon me whom they have

pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his

only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in

bitterness for his firstborn.” Mourning is to feel sorrow or

regret over a person who has died, or something lost, or a

misfortune. In Joel 2:12 the Jews were to be sorrowful about

their sins. When Yeshua The Messiah reveals Himself to His

people, the Jews shall realize the sin of their forefathers who

rejected Yeshua as the Messiah. The son of the Jewish people

is the Son of God, The Messiah. “To undo the heavy burdens.”

A literal translation of ‘burdens’

עגדות

—agudot is yoke. The

word ‘heavy’ can be related to the heavy piece of wood that was

used years ago for the yoke on the oxen. Fasting can help to

solve problems, and to invite the Holy Spirit’s aid in lifting

loads and overcoming barriers that keep us and our loved ones

from walking joyfully with the Lord. (Elmer Towns) Let us be

burden bearers for others. Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s

burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Your fasting and

praying can lift burdens. If you are overburdened, fast for

release. Are you fearful? Then fast for yourself in order to be

free and fearless, wholly trusting Christ.

During the

Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, many were fearful, myself

included. “To let the oppressed go free.” The word ‘oppressed’

can refer to those persons unjustly and forcibly oppressed even

with cruelty, as the human traffickers who oppress their

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victims. It can refer to those oppressed by sin, virtual prisoners

of evil, and of themselves.

Fasting for persecuted Christians is strategic.

ISIS has slaughtered Christians in the Syrian conflict from 2011

to 2016. News in January 2016 said 10,000 or more children

who were registered in a country after fleeing the Middle East

disappeared. By the end of March 2016 President Bashar Assad

started to defeat ISIS, with the help of Russia, USA, and France.

The refugee problem during this time was a serious matter for

prayer and action. In June 2020 it is still a massive undertaking.

I try during my fasts to remember abortion. Proverbs 24:11-12

“If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and

those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest , Behold, we

knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?

and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not

he render to every man according to his works?” In 2019-20 I

prayed for President Donald Trump’s efforts to limit abortion

in USA.

1 Samuel 7:6 “And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew

water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that

day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And

Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh.” Samuel used

fasting to help the repenting Jews to come back to Jehovah. In

the book of Joel it is recorded that the LORD called sinning

Israel back to Himself, and He told them to fast. Fasting would

help them to repent. Joel 2:12-17 “Therefore also now, saith the

LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting,

and with weeping, and with mourning” verse 12 “turn ye”,

שבו

– shuvu is a command as “sanctify ye a fast”

צום

קדשו

– kadshu

tzom in verse 15 is also a command. In Daniel 9:1-3 Daniel

fasted to understand what Jeremiah wrote concerning

Jerusalem. After Daniel started fasting he was led to

confession. His confession is in verses 3-20! Israel needed

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deliverance from their sins. In 1 Samuel 7:6 Israel had a

repentant attitude at this time, so they naturally began fasting

and confessing, endeavoring to return to Jehovah. Elmer L.

Towns calls the fast of 1 Samuel 7:6, “the Samuel Fast”.

Samuel as their leader, the prophet-priest I assume led them to

fast. February to December 2020 the world was threatened by

the Coronavirus, COVID-19. That was a strategic time to fast

and pray. There are so many who are oppressed and therefore

are prisoners. Their suffering can be indescribable. How much

better for them to be free! For this, God has given fasting to the

church of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 14:17 it is said of Satan

"opened not the house of his prisoners." Satan does not want

his prisoners set free. Fasting will help believers to set free

some of Satan's prisoners.

Will we take advantage of this spiritual tool of deliverance?

This source of unlimited power? May Jesus Christ help us, He

who fasted 40 days and nights. Matthew 4:1-11 “But rejoice,

in as much as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when

his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding

joy” (1 Peter 4:13). I count fasting as part of Christ’s sufferings.

There are hindrances to a person being able to fast, diabetes is

an example. Those who are on medicine also face a problem.

A German born again Christian doctor, Dr. Fois, who I met

around 2013, and who has several patients of his who fast, said

I should take my medicine when I fast. I did not take my

medicine when I fast. Fortunately, I am on only three

medicines, one for blood thinning and two for blood pressure as

of December 12, 2023. In a seven day fast with a Mioveni,

Romania church, I had trouble with my blood pressure. I took

my medicine during the fast in February 2020, and after this I

have been taking my medicine during the fast.

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The command to the faster:

“that ye break every yoke…Isaiah 58:4” From this statement I

got the title of this message, Break Every Yoke. You can do it

by fasting. We are encouraged by the word ‘every.’ God is

able to help anybody, no matter to what extent they have entered

into sin. That is if they have not sinned away their day of grace

(Romans 1:24). 1 John 5:16 “there is a sin unto death”. We are

the link between them and Christ and their freedom. We can

have a part in their deliverance. In Christian rehabilitation

homes there is success as the work is Bible based and because

the work is based around the work of Christ in an individual’s

life. I would encourage those working with drug addicts or

alcoholics or prostitutes to use fasting in their ministry with the

addicts. This is the fast that God has chosen, the fast in which

He finds pleasure. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that

his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his

yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because

of the anointing” (Isaiah 10:27).

The Hebrew word for yoke in (verse 27) is not the same as in

Isaiah 58:6. There are believers who are given a unique

anointing for the ministry of deliverance. However, all

believers who are spiritually right, can help in delivering.

Deliverance is a delicate, dangerous ministry. My roommate

Horatio Guy in Bible School (1960s) was from the Philippines,

and he had experience in dealing with demons. He said when

you deal with demons you should be fasting. Isaiah 58:6

promises the faster help for deliverance. Fasting was used in

the Old Testament for the grief produced by the death of

someone close. The men of Jabesh-gilead fasted for seven days

after the death of Saul. 1 Samuel 31:13 David and his men

fasted until sundown when they heard Saul died, and David

fasted until sundown for Abner as well (2 Samuel 1:12, 2

Samuel 3:35).

Here in verse six we see one of the main purposes for fasting:

to break the evil yoke that binds people. When a believer breaks

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the evil yoke from people God is pleased and this is one of the

purposes of fasting and one of the purposes of believers and it

is God’s pleasure to set prisoners free. “He brought them out

of darkness and the shadow of death, and break their bands in

sunder” (Psalm 107:14). The Hebrew verb for break in this

verse is the same as in Isaiah 58:6 “that ye break every yoke”.

God (Elohim) “he bringeth out those which are bound….”

Psalm 68:6. The Hebrew word for bound is different than Isaiah

58:6. It seems evident to me that I received a calling to fasting.

I was saved in 1960, at the age of 18, and by 1963 I was fasting.

Lester Roloff came to my Bible School, Tennessee Temple

University, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and encouraged us to

fast one day a week. I soon began to go beyond one day fasts,

to three days, then a week, then 15 days. I did not have friends

that I can recall that practiced fasting as I did. The call came

from within me. As I recall in 1966, I did 27 days. I do not

remember exactly the number of days. I was a fulltime student

in Tennessee Temple University, and I had a fulltime job. I

returned to the long fasts in 1988, when I fasted 30 days and

nights, with only water on the Island of Crete, Greece

In January 1990, in Lakeland, Florida, I conducted the first of

three 40 day and night fasts with only water, no food. I did many

fasts of 30 and 35 days and nights. In 2001 I tried 40 days for

the fourth time but stopped after the 37th day as I recall. That

was the only fast I had in which I had physical problems. In my

long fasts to the best of my knowledge I never had a headache.

I have experienced headaches on short fasts. In the beginning

of my fasting, I found if I ate something the headache went

away. I soon stopped eating during a fast. I have found in my

life that fasting is necessary. Wickedness is in me, and it comes

out very easily and far too often. Remnants of the old nature

seek to surface to tempt me. The believers’ enemies are the

world, the flesh, and the devil. In 1 John 2:16 the world is the

lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. I

believe fasting helps me to control my thoughts and actions. A

weekly one day fast is helpful for this problem. “For if ye live

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after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do

mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” Romans 8:13.

The faster can become the “key person” in deliverance.

Isaiah 58:7

ere are some more questions to reveal some of the

purposes of fasting. Fasting is often for others. The faster

H

is fasting for the needs of others. During the fast you do not

need to buy food for yourself. But buy some and give it away!

I suggest giving food to the needy as a life principle. I learned

it from Mal Rabern (died 2014) and Glenn Fogel while in the

Tennessee Temple University in the 1960's. In November

1991, on the Island of Crete, I sought a secluded place where I

could be alone to fast for 40 days and nights, drinking only

water. I stayed near Lefkogia on or near PisoMoni Preveil,

Greek Monastery land. I had agreed to speak in a church in

Iraklio, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) away for one meeting

during the fast. That was my only scheduled event. Outside of

that trip I did not want to see anybody during those 40 days. I

was sleeping in a Volkswagon Passat station wagon. It was

winter. The first morning a man came walking by about 7 AM.

After seeing him two mornings or so I finally said hello. He

stopped. He is Enzo from France. Many times Enzo stopped to

talk. We drove together in the car more than once during the

fast. Enzo said he found peace when he sat in my car during

the fast. Early in the fast came a Greek woman to ask my help.

She was living in a cave about 100 meters from me! She was

living off the land. She said there were many living in the wild

in this area and they are poor. I did not know it was Monastery

Land. I later learned the proper thing to do is to ask the owner

of the property if you can stay on his land. She had friends, who

had orange groves, who offered her all the oranges she wanted.

She did not have a car and because I did she came to me for

help. I said I was on a 40 day and night fast and I did not want

to see food. She begged me to help. I said I would pray about

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it and tomorrow I will give the answer. I read Isaiah 58:7 “Is it

not to deal thy bread to the hungry?” I understood that I must

help this woman. I met those living in the area and it was for

the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians 1:12). Later when I

went into Heraklion to speak I bought food in the market and

took it to some of them. I found myself going to another city,

Rethimno, which is closer than Heraklion to buy for them. I

went there also to buy for breaking the fast. I drove during my

long fasts though I do not recommend it. I believe the long fast

is for praying and not traveling around. J. Harold Smith kept

active during his fasts. He did a 40 day and night fast drinking

only water before he started evangelism. Brother Smith kept up

his evangelistic meetings and his radio ministry during his fasts.

He said his best meetings were when he fasted from the time he

got on the plane to go to the meeting until he got back on the

plane to return home. The faster is also taking risks by driving

while on a long fast. I remember an Israeli believer, Yoram,

originally from Libya, was staying at my house on the Mount

of Olives, around 1973 or 1974. He was fasting and we just

climbed Tel Beit Shean in the Jezreel Valley. It is a steep climb.

We went from there to a gas station. He collapsed in the station.

Pastor Sotiris and Mary Karalis

The door on left was my room.

George Siskos Roma (Gypsy)

Evangelist To the right

During the long fasts I often stayed at the home (see image

above) of Sotiris Karalis and drove out of the city to be alone

in the hills and vineyards amongst the many olive groves.

Precious times never to be forgotten by Jehovah, as long as they

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were done in the Holy Spirit. There are joys unspeakable and

full of glory to be had in fasting fellowship with Christ.

“Fullness of joy” found in Psalm 16:11. In Hebrew the

expression is “seven joys-sheva smachot” –

שמחות

שבע

. Fasting

is a heavy price to pay, but the blessings are worth it. Fasting

is one of the means that God has to accomplish His work on

earth. “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the

man that trusteth in him” Psalm 34:8. Once God’s grace, His

presence and power are experienced, the believer has been

charged-up and ready to serve, ready to give.

I have noticed that some Christian missions that are involved in

humanitarian efforts use the verses 7-11 as encouragement to

distribute to the needy. That is what these verses teach. But I

like to point out that these acts of compassion are a result of

fasting done under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I am not

saying you have to fast in order to give, but I am trying to keep

tract of the context in which verses 7-11 were given. “And that

thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?” Willie

Mullan was from Ireland. I guess he was born in 1911 (he died

in 1980). Missionary Miss Olwen Jones (died 2011) from

Wales knew him. I heard his testimony on a tape he made. He

was the youngest of 17 children. By fifteen he was an alcoholic.

He was his mother’s favorite. Every night she lined up all the

children in order of their age and prayed for them. Each night

when she came to the last one she prayed for Willie that he

would be a preacher. When Willie was 16 or 17 she died.

Willie had become an alcoholic by this time. The father was

already dead. Not one of the 15 boys or the one girl would take

him in. He never slept in a house from that night on for three

and a half years. It does get cold in the winter in North Ireland!

He was saved in his early 20’s. Before he was saved a friend of

his mother's let him stay in a house. His drinking buddies came

to live with him there. They were thieves. Willie would often

draw the plans of the robbery. When Willie got saved he asked

all his drinking buddies to leave the house. They respectfully

left. One of his buddies on the way out of the house said to

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Willie that he had made the right decision. Another testimony

is from the USA. There was a black youth living underneath a

bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, my hometown. A white

Christian saw him and took him into his house. He raised him,

got him through high school and sent him to university. He was

sent to theological training. I heard the brother speak by way

of a tape. He gave his testimony and a wonderful message on

Jesus Christ. A Christian should have an open house. While a

student in Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga I was

eating with a married couple, also students. The year is not

clear to me. Probably early near the beginning of my studies,

perhaps 1964-65. Some food item was needed for the meal, so

I offered to go to a grocery store nearby run by a Jew. While in

the store there was a poor man there. I asked to use the store

phone and called the family to ask if he could eat with us. They

agreed. The poor man had an epileptic fit while eating. Some

months later I went into a Jewish store to offer a tract. The Jew

said I will take the tract because I believe in a religion that helps

others. He said to me, I was in the store when you invited the

poor man to supper. I recall during Bible school days in 1960’s

I was working and a man from work asked for money. As I

recall it was for a family need. I gave him some and soon he

was back drunk! It was obvious he used the money to buy

alcohol. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance as to whom we

should help and how much, and for how long. “When thou seest

the naked, that thou cover him.” When fasting the hunger pains

that many experience in this world are experienced by the

faster. It helps the faster to better understand how a large

portion of this world lives, going to bed hungry with hunger

pangs. On December 12, 2016, the news said there are many

children in Israel who have one meal a day. A believer is to

have compassion for others. I have been providing clothes for

others for many years. During the 1990's I took many clothes

to Romania. I went to Romania the summer of 2012 and I

bought many new clothes and shoes in France for Romania and

Ukraine. I bought clothes again in January 2018. I buy when

there are sales. Sister Irmgard of Germany for many years gives

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me new clothes and food she has bought to distribute in

Romania, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. She gave in 2019, but I did

not go in 2020 because of Coronavirus. Sometimes I was given

clothes in Romania and in Bulgaria to distribute. For many

years I have bought potatoes mainly from a Christian farmer in

Romania and distributed them to Christians in Romania. I

distributed 1000 kilograms (2204.62 lbs.) in the summer of

2015 and again 2016 and 2017. In several winters I distributed

more than 1000 kilograms in Romania. “And that thou hide not

thyself from thine own flesh.” The family of the Jew is found

in Genesis 29:14. (Laban to Jacob) "Surely thou art my bone

and my flesh." We are all sons of Adam. A believer is not

better than other believers or than non-believers. Philippians

2:4 says, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man

also on the things of others.” A Christian is to have a genuine

concern for others even for his enemies. That is a Christian

characteristic. Fast for the needy. Who is your neighbor? Luke

10:27-37 says ”And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord

thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy

strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself”

(verse 27).

Isaiah 58:8

he 1st Promise - Isaiah 58:8 “Then (

עז

-az ) shall thy light

break forth as the morning,” This follows the true fast

T

and after the one who has fasted cares for the needy. The

obedient Christian shines. I have slept many times in my car or

utility van in the cold, sometimes in below freezing

temperatures. I looked forward to the morning sun to warm me

up. When the morning light breaks forth it is time to begin the

day. During the years 1979 and 1988 I had a Peugeot 504

station wagon in Israel The spark plugs were at the end of a

cylinder that was long. When there was dew I would sometimes

wait until the sun was hot to dry up the water that accumulated

on the spark plugs. I remember that sometimes Jesus arose

before daylight. In Luke 1:35 we see Jesus up a great while

before day to pray. The disciples followed Him. Shaving in the

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morning is difficult in freezing weather. An electric shaver will

not work, and the water is too cold to shave with a blade razor.

Once in Austria in the dead of winter I was distributing tracts,

and I came to a building that was open. I found a rest room and

there I was able to shave with warm water. Distributing tracts

in cold weather is also difficult, especially for the hands. For a

few years I flew from Paris to Israel with Czech Airlines (CSA)

and it was permitted to stop in Prague for some days. I would

stay three days in Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia).

But when I did it on my way back to France that meant it would

be in January and it was cold distributing tracts for my hands. I

then started to visit Czech Republic on my way to Israel in

October. I am thankful for the contact with Jewish people in

Prague, mostly tourists from Israel. Proverbs 4:18 “But the path

of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more

unto the perfect day.” Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine

before men, that they may see your good works , and glorify

your father which is in heaven.” When a believer fasts the grace

of God is imparted to the faster, and afterwards as he or she

serves Christ, Christ continues to work grace in his or her life.

Christ shines in the life of a ministering Christian. “Let us

therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may

obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews

4:16 Christ shines in and through us. Let us shine for Jesus

Christ. When others see our good works done by the inspiration

of the Holy Spirit they give glory to God, especially fellow

believers in Christ. In September 2016, in Slovenia, I witnessed

to a man who was heavy into Indian Hindu ideas. But at the

end he was impressed, and he gave me 20 euros. Earlier in the

summer of 2016 while distributing literature people in

Bucharest, Romania would give me money. One woman after

reading the tract retuned to give me money. That evening at a

Bible study Theophil Smilovitch said the amount of money I

received that day was equal to a day’s salary in Romania!

Distributing in Bucharest in early March 2020 a woman read

my tract, and she returned with a March 1st flower lapel pin for

me. On the card of the pin was written, “Have a nice Spring.”

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In France on March first the muguet flower is given. In English

it is the lily of the valley, and sometimes called snow drops,

convallaria majalis. They come in early spring and sometimes

are seen in the melting snow. God reaches out to those to whom

we minister and for whom we fast. Our fast and prayer and

service is a means by which God administers grace to others

and to the faster.

The 2nd Promise - Isaiah 58:8 “And thine health shall spring

forth speedily.” I am convinced fasting is good for the health.

It cleans out your body. One day is helpful, but more days are

needed to clean it fully. As I write this sentence I have been 13

days and 14 nights without food, drinking only water. There is

still a deep yellow in my urine. I assume by this that the body

is still cleaning itself. There are toxic poisons stored by the

body that need to be eliminated by the body. The body

eliminates best when it does not have to digest food. I have

heard from David Olsen that it takes three consecutive twenty

four hour days of fasting to clean the blood. That is 72 hours

without food. David Olsen lived some years in Israel having a

fasting schedule of eating one day and fasting the next, and this

was while he was working a job. He would fast three days a

week. At age 79 in 2017 living in Finland he was fasting three

days a week though not consecutive days. Proper fasting draws

the believer closer to Christ. When we are close to Christ,

serving Him, in His will, then we are blessed. K&D point out

that in the origin of the word for health there is the idea of

restoration

וארכתך

-vearuchatcah. The word is used in Jeremiah

8:22 “the health.” God is ready to restore the backslider to

spiritual health. Those in bad health can look to Christ for

healing. God can, through His love, bring a man from darkness

and lead him into light and thereby give him spiritual health.

Most drug addicts or alcoholics who come to Christ and

succeed to change their lifestyle stop using drugs and stop

excessive drinking or some stop drinking alcohol altogether.

This is good for their health. Two years after I got saved I quit

drinking alcohol and smoking, which was in 1963. I was saved

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in the winter of 1960. From the verb for “spring forth” comes

the noun for plant.

תצמח

- titzmach = spring forth - Tzemach

ח

צמ

= plant. There can be a speedy restoration to health or there

may be a gradual caring for and improving of one’s health. All

sickness in believers will not be healed, but some will be healed.

All believers must die. Those believers left alive at the rapture

of the body of Christ will be transformed into a heavenly body.

They will be “caught up together” with the believers who have

already died. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says, “The dead in Christ

shall rise first.” The terrestrial body will become celestial (1

Corinthians 15:40-54). But faith in Jesus Christ gives hope,

comfort, assurance, and can give healing. During a fast I pray

for the sick. My list for October 2020 was 10 typed pages long.

I take their names off when they die. I believe our prayers for

the sick will help them. God can give healing, but He can also

give comfort, courage, and grace. He can send help such as a

doctor and provide needed finances. I often prayed for finances

during my fasts. The people of Israel in the wilderness

wanderings mocking God asked: “Can God furnish a table in

the wilderness?” Psalm 78:19 Jehovah did provide for them in

spite of their sin and rebellion. God can provide what we need

in all circumstances, as He did for the Jews in the wilderness

wanderings. The fasting prayer helps to obtain that which God

is willing, able and ready to give. “But my God shall supply all

your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”

(Philippians 4:19). I note that in the preceding verses, 13-18,

Paul spoke of their financial support of his ministry.

The 3rd Promise - Isaiah 58:8 “…and thy righteousness shall

go before thee;” is now given. This is a result of conforming to

the principles found in this chapter. You do not gain

righteousness simply by doing what God asks. These Jews

were following acts that Jehovah expected and required, but

Jehovah rejected their religious exercises, not because He did

not require them but because their heart attitude was wrong.

Their body actions that were in conformance to accepted and

required acts were rejected. Isaiah chapter 1 brings this out very

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clearly. The Jews were observing religious actions which

Jehovah required, but all their services to Jehovah were

rejected. He wanted none of their actions (See Isaiah 1:12-15).

Their blood sacrifices given according to the law of Moses were

rejected by Jehovah, even though Jehovah required the Jews to

offer them.

Your dedication, consecration, sanctification, service and

seriousness toward God and His work and ways and word will

be seen by God and man. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light

so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and

glorify your Father which is in heaven.” God will see our works

that are done in the right spirit. Matthew 6:18 says, “That thou

appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in

secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee

openly.”

Pastor Dimitris and Crisanti-Asi Torakis

friends from the church in Garipa, Crete.

Pastor Dimitris and Crisanti-Asi Torakis friends from the

church in Garipa, Crete. Through the years, 1988 to 2007, I

have seen in Crete that the Greek Orthodox Christians are

deeply impressed when they realize a Christian is fasting. One

said to me that I (me) hear from God during the fast and then I

share what He has given me to the people. I shared God’s word

and spoke of fasting to Nicos in Katerini, Germany in August

2016. He was encouraged by our conversation. In March 2017

again in Crete I sensed the Greeks’ appreciation for a fasting

Christian.

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For the good, the grace, the power, and the wisdom that the

Holy Spirit produces in our lives, we must give the glory to

Jesus Christ alone. God shares His glory with no man. Do not

touch the glory of God (Isaiah 42:8, Daniel 4:30-37, 5:20). This

phrase "And thy righteousness shall go before thee" I saw

written in Hebrew on a wall of the synagogue at the large Jewish

cemetery in Chernovtsy, Ukraine.

יאספך

יהוה

כבוד

– kavod

yehovah yaasphekah. This cemetery is no longer normally used,

though in 2017 I saw new tombs. I suspect what they were

saying “And thy righteousness shall go before thee” was that

the good you have done will help you in the judgment.

Salvation is based on faith, not on works, in both the Old

Testament and the New Testament. I have just pointed out that

the religious acts of the fasting Jews were not recognized as

good works by Jehovah. A person is saved by the redemptive

work of Jesus Christ, not by his proper works of righteousness.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of

yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man

boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The believer's righteous acts will be

remembered in the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12-

15, 2 Corinthians 5:10). “…the glory of the LORD shall be thy

rereward…” (Isaiah 58:8). God’s glory shall be upon the one

who fasts, and it shall be the faster’s protection and blessing.

Christ will go before the faster and behind. As in the wilderness

wanderings when the cloud guided the Jews by day and the

pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:22, 14:19-20, Deuteronomy

1:33). Isaiah 52:12 “For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go

by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of

Israel [will be] your rereward”. Jesus Christ will not forsake

those who know Him (Hebrews 13:5).

In Exodus 33:18-23 Moses asks to see the glory of God. All

Moses was permitted to see was God’s back parts. Moses, after

fasting 40 days and nights without food or water, glowed. In

Exodus 24:18 Moses goes to the Mount Sinai for 40 days and

nights. The time on Mount Sinai is picked up again in Exodus

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34:27-30. This is the second time Moses fasted 40 days and

nights. After the 40 day and night fast the skin of Moses' face

shone (verses 29-30). Aaron and the people were afraid to come

near to Moses. His face shone because Moses met face to face

with God. God talked to Moses during the fast. In Exodus

34:33 Moses put a vail on his face. In 2 Corinthians 3:13-18

Paul speaks of this vail (verse 13) “And not as Moses, which

put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not

stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished.” Dear

Christian friend, the vail is taken away in Christ and He is

waiting for you to come to Him, and if you can, come to Him

in fasting fellowship. When you come to Him, He will talk to

you, bless you, anoint you, and sup with you (Revelation 3:20).

Halleluiah!

Isaiah 58:9

he 4th promise - Isaiah 58:9 “Then shalt thou call, and

the LORD will answer” is found here. What an

T

encouragement to fasting, praying and an accompanying

Biblical lifestyle. In the 15 day and night fast of September

2006 I was praying for a digital projector for my Power Point

Presentations. They cost about $1000. On the last two days of

the fast $980 was given! God hears prayer offered in the name

of His Son Jesus Christ. I got one for $900. Fasting will greatly

enhance your prayers. In May 2016 I had been two years

without a digital projector. I was praying regularly for one. In

May 2016 I finally was able to buy one. How we need to

strengthen our prayers. In Luke 17 Jesus taught on faith. "And

the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the

Lord said if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might

say unto this sycamore tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and

be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you" Luke 17:5-

6 “Thou shalt cry” (

תשוע

- teshava) and he shall say, Here I am.”

The Hebrew word for “Here I am” is hineni - .

הנני

. The

connotation is “Behold, here I am, what do you want?!” What

a privilege to be in such a close responsive relationship with the

Almighty. For a moment meditate on the lifestyle of Anna as

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described in Luke 2:36-38. She for many years “served God

with fastings and prayers night and day.” She had this lifestyle

perhaps since she became a widow. When she saw the baby

Jesus, The Lord’s Christ, she recognized Him. Simeon also

recognized Him (Luke 2:25-35). Fasting will help us to be in

such a relationship with Jesus Christ that when we call God will

respond “Here I am.” Let us pray, let us fast, let us live in the

fullness of the Holy Spirit, in honesty, and righteousness in

harmony with God’s will for our lives. For those who can fast,

let us fast and be encouraged by the testimony of Anna. There

are conditions that God honors, and attitudes as well. After she

saw Jesus Christ “And she coming in that instant gave thanks

likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked

for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Anna knew those in

Jerusalem who were seeking redemption. “Birds of a feather

flock together.” Being filled with the Holy Spirit will lead to

witnessing (Acts 4:29-31). While witnessing you will meet

some who are searching for God or who already know God

through Jesus Christ. In Acts, Peter and John had healed the

lame man before the temple in Jerusalem. Then Peter preached

to the crowd that gathered. In Acts 4, Peter and John were

arrested then in the morning were called to come to the religious

leaders. They were forbidden to preach in Jesus’ name. When

Peter and John returned to the believers and reported to them

what happened the believers prayed for boldness to proclaim

God’s word. The building was shaken, and they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with

boldness (verse 31). The Holy spirit will lead believers to those

who are looking for redemption. Jesus after His 40 day and

night fast was ready to begin His public ministry. Luke tells us

the Spirit led Jesus to fast and after the fast the Holy Spirit led

Him into Galilee (Luke 4:1-14).

These hypocritical Jews in Isaiah 58 had wrong attitudes. God

through the prophet Isaiah is trying to point them out. Fasting

is designed to break every yoke, as written in verse 6. The

Hebrew word here for yoke is the same as in verse six where it

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appears twice: mota –

מותה

, “to undo the heavy burdens” and

“and that ye break every yoke.” Believers have yokes that are

choking them. Non-believers have yokes that are enslaving

them. The believer who is fasting is in a very serious time and

he should not speak vanities. Believers should always be

careful of speaking vanities. I am reminded of the seriousness

of the Nazarite vow. Samson was to be a Nazarite from his birth

(Judges 13:5). Numbers 6 describes the Nazarite vow. He or

she was to drink no wine, not cut the hair and touch no dead

body. It was normally for a set period, but Samson was from

his birth. Samson was not careful with this vow. The one

fasting should be careful what he or she does during the fast.

Jesus Christ came to set men free through His Word and the

power of the Holy Spirit. John 8:32 says “And ye shall know

the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” In Daniel 9 as

Daniel began to fast for understanding of Jeremiah's discussion

of 70 years for the desolations of Jerusalem, Daniel was first led

to confess his sins and the sins of Israel (Daniel 9:1-21). Fasting

will help the faster to realize his sins and to confess them.

Probably in 2009 I sensed I needed to go to Israel, but I was so

busy I did not see how I could possibly take the time to go to

Israel. For some weeks I would not surrender to God's will and

call. On a regular Monday fast-prayer day in the midst of prayer

I received the faith, the grace to submit to God's will. I said yes

to His call to visit Israel. I had a blessed visit in Israel, and I

returned to France to prepare for my ministry in East Europe

just after.

I wish to note Jesus’ meeting and healing in (Matthew 15:29-

39). The multitude was with Him three days and they had eaten

nothing. Matthew 15:32 “Then Jesus called his disciples [unto

him], and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because

they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat:

and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the

way” fasting-neisteis in Greek. The KJV translates the Greek

word as fasting, Delitsch translated it in his Hebrew translation

hungry. The English Revised Standard version translated it as

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hungry. The Greek word has the sense hungry because you

have eaten nothing. It comes from the same Greek root word

for fast. Jesus had healed many and I imagine that He taught

them as well. Jesus miraculously fed 4,000 men and there were

women and children with them. During the three days of

ministry there was no time for eating. Here is a fast because of

a real interest in being with Jesus. I call this fast “The Fast of

Intense Ministry.”

During my summer camp in Romania in 2016 with Mioveni

church I considered these three days of meeting with no food.

I taught Isaiah 58 that summer. I asked the church leadership if

they wanted a conference of three days with no food in February

2017. They said yes. It happened and God blessed those three

days without food and after it they asked for seven days without

food in February 2018. That was a blessed time as well. “If

thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth

of the finger, and speaking vanity.”

The hypocritical Jews were pointing the finger at others in

criticism, or mockery or superiority. Proverbs 6:12-13 “A

naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth

with his fingers.” Let us be careful what we say with our body

expressions, our body language. Let us speak the truth in love

not lies or vain things. We need to put a guard on our mouth

(and mind, and body). It is even better to nip it in the bud by

getting it in the thinking before it comes out of the mouth or is

expressed by the body or in writing or some other action. It was

said of Samuel “And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with

him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel

3:19). May we be challenged by Samuel’s testimony of his care

of his speech.

Isaiah 58:10

nd if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry.” The original

meaning of the verb ‘draw out’ is to distribute. The verb

A

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for ‘draw out’ used with soul gives a sense of being bowed

down. (

ותפק

- vetahfeek ) The bowed down soul delivers to the

hungry. The soul is bowed down because of proper fasting,

with the fruits of the Holy Spirit flowing through the believer

that fasted. In a proper spiritual fast as the body weakens the

soul strengthens. The false claim of verse 3 “we afflicted our

souls” can now be attained. Jehovah’s door to manifold

blessings can now be opened. The faster is free to enter “come

boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and

find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

David said, “My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh

faileth of fatness” Psalm 109:24. I have experienced in long

fasts my knees are weak and sometimes while walking my

knees buckle. The fat disappears from my arms and fanny and

when I rest my arm I feel the bone, or when I sit I feel the bone

through my buttocks. The verb is found in Psalm 140:8 in the

sense used here, “Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked:

further (

תפק

– tefek ) not his wicked device; lest they exalt

themselves. Selah.” ‘Further’ is the verb. Psalm 35:13 has

already been mentioned in explanation of verse 3 showing that

David humbled his soul with fasting. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

“…And he (Jesus) said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee:

for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (Paul) Most gladly

therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of

Christ may rest upon me. …for when I am weak, then am I

strong .” The believer living under the power of the Holy Spirit

wants to give himself to a needy person in order to help him and

to minister spiritually to him. Fasting will help you to have this

compassion and power. Those who fasted in verses 2 to 5 did

not have this compassion or spiritual anointing. Compassion is

a fruit of the Spirit that will be evident after the accepted fast.

Fasting imparts power which is helpful in ministry especially in

deliverance, sanctification, and in the face of temptation.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us prayer stores up grace for the time of

need. When one is weak from fasting, he is better able to have

compassion on others who are in trouble, and are suffering and

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they are weak. Many people in this world go to bed hungry and

the faster experiences the hunger pangs, day and night. The

verb is also found in Psalm 144:13 “That our garners may be

full, affording (

מפיקים

– mefikim ) all manner of store: that our

sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our

streets:” ‘Affording’ is the verb. The Christian who is faithful

will have what is needed to offer to others. In Acts 3 Peter and

John at the entrance to the Temple had compassion on a lame

man who was born lame. “Then Peter said, Silver and gold

have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus

Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” Acts 3:6. Fasting will help

the believer to reach the state of spirituality he needs, and there

will also be grace to stay there. He that is of a contrite and

humble spirit can minister to others (Isaiah 57:15). The

principal is to get spiritually right with God before going out to

minister. I use fasting as a time to check my spiritual state. I

confess my sins and I ask God to search me and know my heart,

to try me and to know my thoughts. Is there some wicked way

in me, and may God lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm

139:23-24). Isaiah 58:10 says, “and satisfy the afflicted soul”.

The humble believer can bring satisfaction and comfort to the

suffering. A believer does not have to fast to satisfy the

afflicted soul, but it helps. Though we may not be able to

relieve the pain through healing, or through answered prayer,

we can give comfort, courage, grace, and hope. Our prayers for

the sick avail much (James 5:16). On March 29, 2020, in the

evening by phone I tried to give comfort to a brother in Christ

who has excruciating constant pain. I prayed for his healing

quietly in my heart and gave him spiritual thoughts to comfort

him. I pray for the miraculous healing of sick people. We can

and should pray for those to whom we minister, especially

efficacious is praying for them while you are fasting. Then the

ministering believer shall shine. “Then shall thy light rise in

obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.” “And they that

be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they

that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever”

(Daniel 12:3). I recall I think in 2002 visiting in Russe, Bulgaia

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Israelis who were in a serious car accident. A brother, Juli from

Russe, Bulgaria, came with me. At the end of the visit I asked

if I could pray. They permitted me to pray. I later visited them

in Israel. One of the women who was there in the hospital room

said she remembered my visit and she believed the prayer

helped. I saw Juli in 2015. He was deep into yoga before his

salvation. The Hebrew word in this verse for ‘afflicted’

נענה

-

naanah is from the verb often used with fasting in the Old

Testament (

ענה

- anah ) It is found in (Isaiah 58:3, 5,10, Psalm

35:13, Ezra 8:21, Leviticus 16:29-31, Daniel 10:12). In Ezra

8:21 to afflict and Daniel 10:12 - to chasten it is

להתענות

–

lehitanot; [It is reflexive]. The faster has the promise that

obscure things will become clear. Darkness is caused by

trouble in one’s life but the faster has the promise that his

darkness will become as the noonday. The noun here for

noonday (

כצהריים

-ka tzohoraim ) is from the verb to shine (

ר

צה

- tzohar). The noun as in this verse is literally double light,

which is most splendid light. Midday is when the sun is most

high in the day. Fasting will help you to have a double light, a

double shining! My practice has been “Never doubt in the dark

what God has shown you in the Light.” I consider fasting as a

time of light. I have tried through the years to accomplish the

guidance Christ showed me during a fast.

Isaiah 58:11

nd the LORD shall guide thee continually.” The faster

receives guidance from God continually. Ezra turned to

A

fasting for guidance (Ezra 8:21-23). “So we fasted and

besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us” verse

23. Daniel did not understand the 70 years in the desolation of

Jerusalem spoken by Jeremiah (Daniel 9:1-3, note verse 2, in 2

Chronicles 36:21, and Jeremiah 25:1-11 note verse 11 Jeremiah

29:1-10, especially verse 10, and Zechariah 7:5). Therefore he

fasted and what an understanding he received (Daniel 9:24-27)!

For many of my trips especially those into Eastern Europe

during the years 1988 to 2008 I fasted seeking God’s guidance

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as to where, when, and why and for how long I should go to

each place, and for His blessing on the work I would do. The

faster’s soul will be satisfied. The satisfaction experience makes

it worth the discomfort. Verse 11b “…and satisfy thy soul in

drought,” Satisfy -

השביע

hisbiah. Today this Hebrew verb is

used to express the satisfaction one has after eating a meal‘

ת

בצחצחו

betzachtzachot’- in drought. With the use of this

statement I sense that something very special is about to be

introduced. The faster’s soul shall be satisfied, it will not be in

want. The climax comes in verse 14. The faster is about to

enter into the heavenlies, the presence of Jehovah. It begins

with “Then…” in verse 14. The faster will find satisfaction in

his soul in times of drought. In difficult times there will be

encouragement. The faster loses weight, but the faster’s bones

shall be made fat. J. Darby translated as “and strengthen thy

bones,” and he offered also “make agile.”

I do not know exactly what is meant but it sure sounds good.

My bones are big. In the 1957-58 football season I broke my

leg in preseason practice time. The doctor said my bones were

unusually large for my age. I am for helping my bones. As it

was true in Old Testament times that the faster’s bones shall be

fat, so I believe it is true in New Testament times. Perhaps it is

literal, and the bones are helped by fasting. And now the water

flows to the garden. KJV has “watered garden.” The word for

'watered' (

רוה

- raveh ) is used in Psalm 23:5 translated

'runneth over', “my cup runneth over..” What a phrase: “and

thou shalt be as a watered garden, and like a spring of water

whose waters fail not.” I think the year was 1965, probably

January as the college semester was about to end with its

examinations, that I went seven days and nights without food or

water because of the immediate need of finances to pay my

school bill. If I did not pay ahead of time I could not take the

exams and I would lose the whole semester of study. I told

Jesus Christ on Sunday night one week before the exams that I

would not eat or drink until He gives me the money or until the

bill is paid. I drank from verse 11 many times during the seven

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day fast as the thirst was great, and my lips were cracked. I

would read the verse often upon my knees and grace would be

imparted and I was enabled to continue the day’s activities. I

wondered if my lips would heal. On the seventh day I taught

Sunday school but could only speak for about 20 minutes as my

throat was too dry. God did answer that fasting prayer for

finances and then I broke the fast Sunday late afternoon or

evening. Halleluiah! I sense I had a similar experience to

David in 2 Samuel 12. After David’s son from Bathsheba died,

David broke his seven day and night fast for the life of his son.

He returned to his house and cleaned himself, changed clothes

then went into the temple to worship. Only after the worship

did he return to his house for food. When I got the receipt that

my bill had been paid, it was late Sunday. My first thought was

to get alone with Christ and rejoice in His provision and grace

to me. Only after worship did I seek water and food. After the

bill was paid I was then permitted to take the exams. I never

did that again and I never advised a Christian to try this. In most

of my many fasts I have prayed for the supply of finances. In

the eight day and night fast of October 2015 with the Mioveni

church it was so. At the time of this fast $4,000 of dental work

was much needed. The dental work was supplied and completed

January 2018 by a church in Israel. A much needed answer to

this prayer.

Do you or someone you know, or some organization, have a

financial need? Tell it to Jesus. Men as George Muller, Hudson

Taylor, WEC (Worldwide Evangelization for Christ) Mission,

Rees Howells of Swansea Bible College in Wales, Great

Britain, and Cameron Thompson from USA who was founder

of Pan American Testament League, trusted God alone to

supply their needs. Cameron Thompson’s widow Dell was still

alive in 2015 and she continued the work of distributing

gospels, New Testament and Bibles by faith. By 2017 Dell had

passed away. Cameron T. wrote, “Master Secrets of Prayer.” I

heard a WEC missionary speak in Romania in 2013 (?) and he

said WEC still has the practice of not sharing financial needs.

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Fast for your needs and the needs of others. You may not have

the money to help someone else, but you can fast and pray for

the need, and Christ may give you money to give toward the

project, and He can lead others to support the project. A believer

in Jesus Christ should be very, very careful about sharing a

financial need to other believers or churches or organizations. I

am reminded of Jesus’ instructions about inviting friends to

your house for a meal (Luke 14:13-14). Invite those who cannot

recompense thee. It has been my practice since 1964 not to tell

of my financial needs to anyone but God. I learned that from

Operation Mobilization (OM) in 1964 and have never forgotten

this teaching and have endeavored to practice it ever since, up

to now, October 2020. On occasion I do as George Muller did

and I tell after God has supplied the need. He also did not share

financial needs to others, even to the children in his orphanages.

Lillian Trasher an American missionary had an orphanage in

Asyut, Egypt. She was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1887.

She died in Asyut in December 1961. I was born in

Jacksonville, Florida in 1942. She started her orphanage in

1911. She was famed as the “Nile Mother” of Egypt. Her

orphanage was the first American orphanage in Egypt. When

there was a financial need she stopped the school and told the

girls the need and they all prayed and as I remember from her

book, they all fasted. There is a recent book of 2020 “Nile

Mother: the Story of Lillian Thrasher” by Lucindda Yong.

Hudson Taylor of China Inland Mission practiced the same

principle, not sharing financial needs. George Muller sent

donations to Hudson Taylor. George Muller had orphanages.

When he needed finances, he did not tell the children there was

no money nor did he tell anybody else. The address on my

prayer card is where the finances can be sent. On November

29, 2011, I was in Tiberius, Israel at the end of my weekly fast

day I cried out to Christ for finances. By 10 AM I was given

$108 and found $162 in my room on my bed which I do not

know where it came from.

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Plymouth Brethren Assembly - Mioveni, RO

A fast of seven days was called by the Mioveni, Romania

church in 2020 as we started the meetings. Not all fast, but

some do. A brother from a sister church attended with his

family. He did not eat or drink during the seven days and

nights. “In that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood

and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me, and

drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out

of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he

of the Holy Spirit….” (John 7:37-39). I like to compare this

living water spoken of in John 7 with “and thou shalt be like a

watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail

not.” This source will fail not.

The choice is yours and mine. “And be not drunk with wine,

wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to

yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing

and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks

always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-20). We are getting closer

to the reality and splendor of verse 14.

Isaiah 58:12

nd they that be of thee shall build the old waste places:.”

Grace will be given to the faster and he shall be able to

A

rebuild the work of God which has fallen down. The faster is

the builder. And those whom you the faster train shall also

rebuild. “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many

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generations;.” This can be the work of restoration. For many

generations, the gospel ministry has deteriorated. There is less

Bible and more emotion and more men’s ideas. Prosperity and

health are overemphasized. The emphasis on the Word of God

in Evangelical churches is in decline. Surveys show that a large

percentage of evangelicals in USA do not believe that Jesus is

God. Some spiritual leaders are idolized. Paul in Galatians 3:1

said the Galatians believers were bewitched, and they did not

obey the truth. There exists always the need to return to the

fundamentals of the Biblical Christian faith. Those who are

properly trained will carry on the right work of God which will

last for generations. The fasting of the Jews mentioned in Isaiah

58 was rejected by Jehovah. Isaiah preached and taught to

create a change in the religious Jew’s attitude. There needed to

be a change in their hypocritical approach to Jehovah. The

faster is the raiser up of foundations. I note the Protestant

Reformation. Men like Calvin 1509-1564 who fled France for

Switzerland because of Catholic persecution. Calvin was

invited by William Farel to pastor the city church of Geneva.

Ulrich Zwingli a leader of the reformation in Switzerland 1484-

1531, Martin Luther of Germany 1483-1546, Jan (John) Hus in

Prague, Czechoslovakia, excommunicated in 1410 by the

Roman Catholic Church and burned in Council of Constance in

July of 1415. Hus’ partner, Jerome of Prague, was a theologian

from Prague. He heard John Wycliff in London in 1402.

Jerome was burned alive in Constance in May of 1416. There

is a bronze statue of these two in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Also,

John Knox 1513-1572 in Scotland, Charles Wesley, and his

brother John Wesley, 1703-1791, in England turned many to

Jesus Christ and the Bible. In John Wesley’s journal he tells of

his fasting. In his journal of August 1739, he advocated Friday

fasting for the Methodist. Friday fasting was the discipline of

the Anglicans. Wesley required that all ministers ordained to

the Methodist ministry were required to fast Wednesday and

Friday.

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A contemporary of John Wesley was George Whitfield (1714-

1770). He was an Anglican, but had no church and began his

ministry of Evangelism in the open air. Whitfield turned his

ministry over to John Wesley when he left England and went to

the American Colonies. Brother Whitfield was part of The

Great Awakening in the American colonies. Whitfield first

came to the colonies in 1734. Johnathan Edwards began the

revival and George Whitfield came from England to further the

Revival. Jonathan Edwards fasted. His famous sermon

‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’ was preached on the

third day of a fast. His contemporary David Brainerd who

labored among the American Indians in his journal recorded

his fast days. Most of the people of New England, the American

Colonies, heard him or heard of George Whitfield. There were

then three million in the Colonies. John Knox, (1514-1572) of

Scotland, met with Calvin.

John Knox organized the

Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Christian involved in

repairing shall be called the repairer of the breech (

גדר

פרץ

goder peretz). There is a hole in the wall, and it must be

repaired. Nehemiah heard of the walls of Jerusalem were fallen

down. “And it came to pass when I heard these words, that I

sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and

prayed before the God (Elohei hashamayim ) of heaven”

(Nehemiah 1:4). In Nehemiah 4:6 we learn that they built the

wall because the people had a mind to work. After the wall was

rebuilt and the Law was read by Ezra the scribe in chapter 8 the

Jews there in Jerusalem were convicted of their sin and they

fasted in their repentance. Nehemiah 9:1. The Feast of

Tabernacles was restored. “restorer (

משובב

- meshoveiv) of

paths (

נתיבות

– Netivot-paths ) to dwell in.” There is a town in

Southwest Israel called Netivot, near the Gaza Strip. Restore in

the Oxford dictionary, “attempt to bring back to original state

by rebuilding, repairing….”

“My Christian friend, be a restorer.”

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I was saved in 1960 and received my Christian education in the

1960’s at Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and at

Tennessee Temple Schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Tennessee Temple University was an Independent Baptist

school. I believe that training was good, and it gave me a

foundation upon which I could build my beliefs. Many

Christians have strayed away from the fundamentals of the

faith. They need prayer, teaching, to see a good example, and

repentance. I believe fasting would help them to be restored.

They need to return to the Bible and to the God of the Bible. In

Psalm 50:21 Jehovah says that the Jews had made a god that

was like themselves. The believer in Jesus Christ is to know

the God of the Bible, not some other Christ who is not the Christ

of the Bible. The repairer of the breach must live a good

example, have a good testimony and pray for restoration for

those in error. Fasting will also help if the believer is willing

and able. The foundation is Biblical principles and teachings

and to these we must return and remain true. (

חרבות

עולם

-

charvot olam -"old waste places”) Those are the works of God

which have fallen from Biblical principles and practices and

these works need to be restored. One example is Replacement

Theology. Israel has not been replaced by the Church. The

Church of Jesus Christ does not replace the Jews. For a time,

the Jews have been set aside that Gentiles might come into the

Family of God (Luke 21:24, Romans 11:13-36). Romans 11:25

is similar to Luke 21:24. Individual Jews have been saved from

the beginning of the church in the first century. The salvation

of individual Jews continues. God will keep His promises that

He made to the Jews. Many of these promises to the Jews will

be fulfilled during the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the

earth. Christ’s center and throne will be in Jerusalem where He

will be with His people the Jews for a thousand years. Romans

11:18 “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast , thou

bearest not the root, but the root thee.” The natural branches

are the Jews, the Gentile believers are a wild olive tree grafted

into the natural olive tree which is Israel (Romans 11:15-25).

The 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ will come to this earth (

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Revelation 20:1-7). He will reign in Jerusalem, and the Jewish

people according to their tribes will be in Israel with Him in

peace and unity and faith and action (Zechariah 14:16-17). [See

Zechariah 14:11 for peace in Jerusalem]. Ezekiel 48 gives the

division of the land of Israel according to the tribes during the

1000-year reign of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). The prophecies

of Israel’s future restoration and glory will be fulfilled during

the 1000-year reign of Jesus Christ. Daniel 9:24 describes their

future redemption.

John F. Walvrood, Louis Sperry Shaefer, Charles C. Ryrie-his

book on Dispensationalism, Tim Lahaye, and Renald Showers

taught this. They are often called Premillennialists. After them

came Amir Tzarfati of Israel, also J. D. Farag of Calvary

Chapel, Barry Stagner and Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel, Dr.

David Jeremiah founder of Turning Point Radio and TV

Ministries. They believe Jesus Christ will return first to take

His church in the Rapture, after which will be the seven year

Tribulation before the Millennium. Jesus Christ upon His

return to the earth will judge the nations gathered in Israel

(Zechariah 12:4-9, Joel 3:2) and judge Israel (Ezekiel 20:31-44)

then to reign on earth for a 1000-years. In Daniel 9:24-27 The

future of the Jewish people in their land Israel is given. The

prophecy is given in 70 weeks of years. There is a break

between the 69th week and the 70th week. The world has been

in this in between time period since the finished work of

redemption of Jesus Christ. The 70th week is called in Jeremiah

“the time of Jacob’s trouble, and he shall be saved out of it.”

(Jeremiah 30:7).

In the New Testament it is called the Tribulation. The last three

and a half years of the Tribulation are called the Great

Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-24, Revelation 7:14). The

Tribulation has been designed with the Nation of Israel, the

Jew, in mind. For this reason it is called the time of Jacob’s

trouble. Daniel got this understanding from Daniel 9:24-27

while fasting (Daniel 9:1-3). The New Testament informs the

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believers of the troublesome times before the Rapture of the true

believers before the beginning of the 70th week. In 2020 there

are troubles-Coronavirus, delusion-good is evil, earthquakes-

Turkey in October, wars-still in Syria then Azerbaijan and

Armenia and rumors of wars, and many signs of the coming

antichrist. The USA elections in November were also

troublesome. It is now an important, strategic time for believers

to pray-any time is strategic to pray. Praying with fasting is

needed today. In Daniel 9:24 the Jews’ final restoration

including the Holy City Jerusalem, and pardon of their sins and

the anointing of their temple is prophesied. The preaching of

the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to all, Jews included. Jews and

Gentiles are saved in the same way. Revival from God will

greatly help to rebuild the old waste places in our present time.

Many revivals were preceded by fasting and praying. The

foundations of many generations need to be raised and restored.

Many Christians need to return to the true Biblical paths to

dwell in. The religious Jews are following the precepts of men

(Isaiah 29:13-14, also Psalm 50:21). Many Christians are

following traditions and not the Bible. How I need God’s help

to read the Bible. Reading and studying the Bible is helpful to

bring on revival and needed change. Am I a builder, a raiser

up, a repairer of the breach, a restorer of paths to dwell in? Or

am I a breaker down of the wall? In May of 2020 as The

National Day of Prayer for USA was as always the first

Thursday of May, I found this verse, Isaiah 58:12 helpful in my

prayer and fasting for USA on May 7, 2020.

Isaiah 58:13

saiah is Old Testament, and the Sabbath was still in that

context when Isaiah wrote. God blessed those Jews who kept

I

it holy in the Biblical sense of the word holy. Those who were

abusing it needed to change. The first two statements of this

verse are negative uses of the Sabbath. We are at the end of

Jehovah’s plea to the fasting Jews. In spite of their sinful use

of their fasting Jehovah gives them the opportunity to change

and be blessed. If their attitude towards the Sabbath is right

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then their attitude towards fasting will also be right. “If thou

turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure

on my holy day;.” The Sabbath is Jehovah’s holy day, and He

expected His people the Jews to observe it accordingly. If a

Jew sought his own pleasure, not the pleasure of Jehovah, he

was turning his foot away from the sabbath. Verse 3 already

presented the Jews’ wrong attitude toward the fast day.

“Behold. in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all

your labours.”

The exile to Babylon for 70 years was because the Sabbath was

not observed by the Jews. God intended that His Land would

rest one day in a week with the Jews resting with the Land (2

Chronicles 36:20-21, Leviticus 26:32-39). Jehovah called for a

70-year expulsion of the Jews from their and His Land so the

Land could enjoy its Sabbaths. It was the one day in the week

when God’s pleasure was kept not the believer’s personal

preference and weekly activities. If the Shabbat keeping Jew

was in a spiritual attitude, the Sabbath was a joy to him or her.

The pressing need to work on the Land was to be put aside for

1 day. The observant Jew was to be careful about what he or

she did or said on the Sabbath. In Amos 8:5 the Jews were

wanting the sabbath to be finished so they could sell. In their

selling they cheated on the weight of the product and increased

the price. There was also the Sabbatical year when the Land of

Israel was not to be farmed for a year, every seventh year.

Jehovah’s thoughts were on the Land, as well as upon the

people of the Land of Israel, both belonging to Him. The

seventh year was also for the poor and the strangers to eat, and

animals were to eat what the poor and strangers left. This

reminds me of verse seven. The fast is for giving your bread to

the hungry, and bringing the poor into your house, and to clothe

the naked and to help your own flesh, your fellow mankind. If

the Land rested then the people, the Hebrews, in the Land would

also rest. Leviticus 25:2-7, (verse 4) “sabbath of rest” -

שבת

ן

שבתו

, (verse 5) shenat shabaton –

״

–

שבתון

שנת

year of rest”. It

is also mentioned about the Sabbatical year in (Exodus 23:10-

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12). In Exodus 23:11 we see the verb from which is taken the

Hebrew name for the Sabbatical Year, the year of Smitah,

tishmetena-

תשמטנה

. In verse 11

Jehovah wants the Land to rest and lie still.

ונתשתה

-venetashta.

-lie still, abandoned. And He wants His People to be still. “Be

still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the

heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). The earth

refers to Israel. These verses about the Sabbath show the mercy

of God on His Land and His People, the poor and the strangers

and animals in the Land.

May we Christians be mindful of the need of rest for man, beast,

and land, and what we do during a fast. The principle is to be

applied to the whole life of followers of Jesus Christ. Believers

are to enter into this rest. Hebrews chapter four speaks of the

Sabbath Rest. Jehovah finished His creation in six days and on

the seventh the Sabbath He rested (verse 4). The Jews in the

wilderness wanderings did not enter into Jehovah’s rest:

because they had not faith verse two. They were in unbelief

(verse 6). The believer is to cease from his own proper works

as Jehovah did from His (verses 9-10). Believers are to enter

into this rest. The distance they were allowed to walk was

limited. In Exodus 16:29 the Jews were told to stay at home for

the Sabbath. In Acts 1:12 a Sabbath day’s journey is

mentioned. The disciples walked from the Mount of Olives to

Jerusalem after seeing Jesus depart to return to heaven. The

Scofield note says about 4854 feet = 1,480 meters. Under

rabbinic law it was permitted to walk 2000 cubits (2/3 of a

mile). The 2000 cubits may come from Numbers 35:5. This was

the 2000 cubits allotted to the Levitical cities of refuge. This

was 2000 cubits on each of the four sides of the city, space for

the suburbs. Jehovah did not want his people to be busy on the

Sabbath, but to rest and be refreshed Exodus 31:17. The faster

should be mindful how far he travels on a fast day. It is better

to concentrate on the reason for the fast rather than

concentrating on traveling on the fast day. On the seventh day

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Jehovah rested and was refreshed, and He sanctified the

Sabbath (Genesis 2:3). Even necessities were waivered for the

sanctity of the day. No fires were permitted (Exodus 35:3). I

want to insert here God’s concern for His Land Israel. In Joel

3:2, in some Bibles it is 4:2, as it is in the Hebrew text, God says

He will gather all nations to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (Jehovah

judges) to judge them because of their treatment of His People

the Jew and His Land which is Israel. The Valley of

Jehoshaphat is considered by some as the Valley of Jezreel

where is located the Hill Megiddo. From Har (Hill) Megido

comes Armageddon. Some believe the Valley of Jehoshaphat

is the Kidron Valley in between the Temple Mount and the

Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Atif Himadeh who pastored the

First Bible Baptist church in East Jerusalem for over 50 years

believed this. Pastor Himadeh passed away in 2019. Those to

be judged scattered the Jews and divided up His Land. When

Jews are persecuted some escape by fleeing. This was their sin,

those who scattered the Jews. On November 29, 1947, the

United Nations proposed the Partition Plan for Palestine. In

June and July, 2020, the United Nations and Europe was against

the annexation of the Jordan Valley and parts of Samaria by

Israel. The Land of Israel is for the Jews only. This fact is true

of all time, not only limited to the Old Testament. The Land of

Israel was promised by Jehovah to the Jews before the Law

received by Moses (Genesis 15:18-21). Today as in the Old

Testament time and as the past 2000 years since Jesus Christ

came God is still judging those who scatter the Jews and divide

His Land Israel (Genesis 12:1-3). God judges the Jews and the

non-Jews the Gentiles for their dealing with the Land of Israel.

This is a national judgment mentioned in Joel 3:2. Individuals

are also judged according to their treatment toward the Jewish

people and their Land Israel. The Sabbath was to be a delight.

ג

ענ

– oneg [pleasant] On Friday night as the evening service

finishes the Jews have a fellowship called ‘Oneg Sabbath’.

Zechariah speaks of joy and gladness in fasting. “Thus saith the

LORD of hosts, the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the

fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall

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be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts;

therefore love the truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:19). Oneg is

not used here in Zechariah. Feasts in this verse refers to the

days chosen to remember significant events. What are the fasts

mentioned in Zechariah 8:19?

From the internet: Unlike the divinely appointed Day of

Atonement (Yom Kippur), the fasts mentioned in this verse

were of human origin. They were instituted to serve as

reminders of four sorrowful events that befell the Jewish nation

during the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The "fast of the fourth

month," observed during the month of Tammuz,

commemorated the time the city of Jerusalem was broken up

(Jeremiah 52:5-7). The "fast of the fifth" was observed on the

tenth of Ab, when the Temple and the houses were burned

(Jeremiah 52: 12-13). The "fast of the seventh" refers to the

third of Tishri, when Gedaliah was slain by Ishmael. Jeremiah

40:8, 41:1-3, 15-18 The "fast of the tenth" was kept on the

tenth of Tebeth, when the king of Babylon turned against

Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24:1-2). This information can be verified in

the Jewish Talmud. As this verse shows, Zechariah 8:19 these

humanly appointed fasts will be turned into feasts or occasions

of gladness when Jehovah restores all Israel to His way of life.

At last, the people will seek Jehovah and will be greatly blessed.

They will no longer wish to perpetuate the memory of tragic

events (Daniel 9:24).

I understand verses 13 and 14 of Isaiah 58 as part of Isaiah’s

discussion on fasting. May our Christian life and service and

worship and fasting be a delight. Another occasion of fasting

leading to joy and gladness is in Esther’s three day fast. She

called the fast in Esther 3:16 to save the lives of the Jews of her

day from India to Ethiopia. Jehovah responded to her fasting

prayer and delivered the Jews from the hands of Haman the

Agagite. In Esther 9:18-19 the Jews chose the 13 and 14 of

Adar for the holyday called Purim which would be for feasting

and gladness. The sin dealt with here in this verse 13 of Isaiah

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58 is the wrong practices and attitudes done on the Sabbath.

The Sabbath was to be kept holy and to be honored. (

וכיבדתו

–

vekibadto ) The KJV translates it by "and shalt honour him".

It is not clear to me who the ‘him’ is., The sabbath or Jehovah.

Sabbath is feminine, this is masculine. In Isaiah 56:2 “that

keepeth the sabbath from polluting it” the “it” is masculine.

K&D see the “him” as referring to the Sabbath. This is called

a masculine personification of the Sabbath. God was to be

honored, and the Jew who honored Jehovah also honored the

Sabbath. It would have been natural. Honoring the Sabbath

was honoring God if it was done in the right spirit. It was not a

time for doing one’s own ways or own pleasures nor speaking

one’s own words, nor doing one’s business. “speaking thine

own words” uses devar-

דבר

twice. A similar use is found in

Hosea 10:4. “They have spoken words, swearing falsely in

making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in

the furrows of the field.”

דברים

דברו

- dibru devarim, “They

have spoken words”.

דבר

– devar is again used twice. Hemlock

is a poisonous plant. (K&D) speak of words of vain useless

character and needless multitude. It was God’s Holy Day.

This is a guiding principle for every moment of a believer’s life.

Each day is holy for the believer in the New Testament. Every

act, word and thought will be judged. I have been troubled

through all my years of fasting about the things I do on a fast

day. I try to be careful about correspondence such as email,

letters, phone calls, and traveling. There are times when I must

do things and there are times when I am involved in evangelism

during a fast. I tend to emphasize prayer over Bible reading and

evangelism in a fast. I seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance for each

fast. I do more praying when I walk with the pages of my Israel

list outside of my apartment. I get too distracted when I stay in

my apartment. It became worse after my two strokes in 2008.

I sometimes sing songs from a hymnbook during a fast. Fasting

is for praying. The faster is to be careful about what he does

and says during the fast. This teaching is also good for the

whole lifetime of a believer, which I believe is the New

Testament attitude and fulfillment.

Every moment of a

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Christian's life is observed by God and should be consecrated

to Him. The life of the believer will be judged at the judgment

seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9-10). May Jesus Christ’s will

for us become our will. Amen. Believers in Jesus Christ who

live in a country where Sunday is a holiday I would encourage

them to go to church on Sunday. In Israel, the Israeli churches

meet on the Sabbath as Sunday is a normal workday and school

day. We should find joy in giving Jesus Christ one day of the

week. And let us go further, give every day to Jesus Christ.

May every day of the believer's life be consecrated to Jesus

Christ. Amen. Believers are admonished to gather together

(Hebrews 10:25). A believer is to be fully persuaded about his

decisions (Romans 14:4-5, 10-14, 23). Isaiah 58:13 ends with

instruction about what we speak. I often make jokes or funny

comments flowing out of a conversation. My father did and so

I do. Before we tell a joke or make a comment during a

conversation turning it into a joke we as Christians should be

mindful of what we are about to say. I sometimes catch myself

before I give my joke thinking I should not say it. This is

especially true if the comment is in the area of the Bible and

faith in the God of the Bible.

I find it interesting that the attitude for the Sabbath is dealt with

in this Fasting Chapter. I sense Jehovah wants the same

carefulness exercised during the fast as during the Sabbath.

Obviously, I am not referring to restrictions as making a fire or

a certain distance to walk. I am not advising Christians to keep

the Jewish Sabbath. During a fast the faster would not normally

prepare meals. A mother who is fasting may have to prepare

meals for her family. The rule of Jehovah that there are to be

no fires would prevent food from being prepared by fire.

Isaiah 58:14

hen shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD....” Obedience

to the Holy Spirit’s leading brings delight in the Lord.

T

“Then”- az-

עז

refers to once being obedient to what Isaiah 58

teaches, then the benedictions of verse 14 will be experienced.

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‘Delight’ is from the verb ‘oneg -

ענג

’ seen in verse 13, “and

call the Sabbath a delight”. Full surrender brings joy.

Assurance brings delight. It may lead to trouble and difficulty,

but the joy and delight will be there. “and I will cause thee to

ride upon the high places of the earth,.” There are high places

of fellowship and blessing that are given to those who wholly

follow Christ. “He maketh my feet like hind’s feet, and setteth

me upon my high places” (Psalm 18:33). “My high places” is

the same Hebrew letters as in (Isaiah 58:14). In Isaiah 58:14

there are no vowel points on the Hebrew word, but in Psalm

18:34 there are. In Isaiah 58:14 the high places are in construct

with the next word earth. David had his own high places, and

so could we!

Now to the last verse of Habakkuk 3:19 “The LORD God

(Jehovah Adonai) is my strength, and he will make my feet like

hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” “mine high

places” is as Psalm 18:33. In Hebrew it is verse 4. Those of the

Jewish remnant of the Old Testament could reach these heights

and born-again believers of the New Testament can reach these

heights. These are high places, and the normal Christian does

not reach such heights. One is transported by Christ Himself

through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Christ will feed with

Biblical truth those who follow Him. It is worth surrendering

to have Christ’s blessing. Fasting will help you to reach these

high places, though fasting is not necessary in order to reach

them. The context of the chapter is fasting, and this is the state

that can be reached as a result of the proper, accepted fast. I am

reminded of a testimony by Tom Williams who was my pastor

in 1964. He was reading the Bible and was so blessed that he

had to stop reading and take a walk. Psalm 84:11 "For the Lord

is a sun and a shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no

good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."

Brother Tom said God gives light, here the sun, but also protects

when it is too glorious with His shield. “And feed thee with the

heritage of Jacob, thy father:” Here in the Old Testament it is

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the heritage of Jacob, for those in the New Testament there is

the heritage of Messiah Yeshua. From Jacob came the 12 tribes.

David came from Judah and so did Jesus Christ. And from the

12 tribes came Moses and the prophets and through them the

Old Testament was written. This was a great heritage. New

Testament believers share in the heritage of the Old Testament.

The Jews also wrote the New Testament. Psalm 91:1 Tells us

of dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. The Hebrews

word used here is elyon-

עליון

. In Genesis 14:18-19 el elyon is

mentioned twice. El is God, elyon is Most High. Melchizedek

was the priest of the Most High God. He said Abram was of

the Most High God. We of the New Testament can dwell in the

Heights of the Most High God. In the New Testament we have

the heritage of Christ, and that heritage will take you all the way

to heaven for eternity. In 1 Peter 1:3-4 we are told that God the

Father of our LORD Jesus Christ has begotten us through the

resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead “To an inheritance

incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved

in heaven for us.” In Ephesians 1:13-14 after believing we were

sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise “Which is the earnest of

our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased

possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Christians should be

eating and drinking and living in high places. We are invited to

sup with Jesus Christ (Revelation 3:20). Have a taste of 1

Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear

heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things

which God hath prepared for them that love him." This verse

is from Isaiah 64:4. The next verse, 1 Corinthians 2:10 tells us

these things are revealed unto us by the Spirit. Also “O taste

and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth

in Him” (Psalm 34:8). This is riding upon the high places of

the earth. While a believer is still on the earth he or she can

experience the reality and nature of The God and Savior Jesus

Christ. In Ephesians 1:3 "heavenly places" are mentioned,

these are the heavenlies. The word ‘places’ was added in the

KJV. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

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who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly

places in Christ.”

The Scofield Bible note on Ephesians 1:3 “The believer’s place

as a member of the body of Christ, vitally united to Him by the

baptism with the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) The

baptism of the Holy Spirit is received at moment of salvation.

1. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are

above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

3. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

4. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also

appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4 These high places are a spiritual state of the

soul. All believers are positioned or seated in the heavenlies.

The born-again believer is to accept this, believe it and live in

that exalted state. Isaiah 58 has shown us that fasting will get

you to the higher places. Fasting will help you to enter into the

courts of the Lord. Psalm 84:1-2 "How amiable are thy

tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even

fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh

crieth out for the living God." What a joy and privilege to be in

His presence. “…praise and honour and glory at the appearing

of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; though now

you see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable

and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:7-8). Fasting is not the only way

to have such blessings, but God has given us this lesson on

fasting.

During the fast, not only are there precious times of fellowship

with Christ and great pleasure in being with Christ in the

heavenlies, but there is great power to accomplish the work of

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God, especially through prayer. You will be able to break the

yoke of sin, for the true fast breaks the yoke of sin. That is the

message of (verse 6). Fasting is for restoring the old waste

places. Fasting can help you to understand difficult verses in

the Bible. Daniel was troubled by Jeremiah’s 70 years. He

fasted to get the understanding (Daniel 9:2-4). See the

understanding Daniel got in verses 24-27.

In this study I have not dealt much with praying for the sick in

body and mind. Fasting is an excellent time to pray for the sick.

I have endeavored in all my fasts to pray for the sick. Fasting

proves love. Do you love those who are bound by sin or mental

strife, or those who are sick or those who have financial needs

or those in serious situations like martial problems? Then fast

for them if your body permits fasting. Fasting is to God, for

fellowship with God and for people in need, and for needs in

general. The chapter ends "for the mouth of the LORD hath

spoken it." What more do you want or need to be convinced

that fasting is for today and for you? On May 15, 2012, in

Saone, France I woke up in the morning thinking of where is

the power of God, that is, the power of God upon us. His power

is in the Holy Spirit. To have the power of God you must be

filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:23-34). In verse 29 and 30

the persecuted believers asked, “and grant unto Thy servants,

that with all boldness they may speak Thy word.” In verse 30

they asked for the visible manifestation of the power of God. In

verse 31 they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and then they

spoke the word of God with boldness. They had been filled

with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and there was a necessity of

another filling. I think the power comes from: first reading and

studying and memorizing the Bible, second praying, third a

consistent testimony, with living in the will of God, coupled

with evangelism, fourth ministering the word of God and fifth

fasting which is helpful though not necessary. In the area of a

consistent testimony I include Christian service. A believer

should be ministering to others, which we saw in Isaiah 58:7-

11. The Christian needs the power of the Holy Spirit to minister

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especially in witnessing, but also in praying, and in teaching or

preaching or sharing the Word of God, counseling and putting

into practice his faith. The power of the Holy Spirit helps in

overcoming sin in a believer's life. The power can be gained by

the first four, but I believe fasting will advance and facilitate the

process of being filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe it was so

in my life. Due to health reasons there are believers who cannot

fast. Jesus Christ understands that. Jesus Christ found fasting

necessary and He taught on fasting when He lived on the earth.

I wonder why He needed to fast? Perhaps because He was a

man, a human being. He left us an example of what a man

needed to do to approach God. Matthew 4 and Luke 4 tell us

the Holy Spirit led Him to the wilderness for a 40 day and night

fast. If Jesus Christ needed to fast, I believe His followers need

to fast as well, if they are physically able and if the Holy Spirit

leads. Prayer and fasting had an important, strategic part in the

most difficult USA Presidential election in November 2020.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against

principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness

of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

(Ephesians 6:12). “And Jesus said unto them, Can the children

of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with

them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be

taken from them, and then shall they fast.” (Matthew 9:15).

When Jesus was at Jacob’s well in Samaria talking to the

Samaritan woman, His disciples went to find food. When they

returned and offered food to Him He said: “But he said unto

them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of” (John 4:32).

“…that He might make thee know that man does not live by

bread only, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth

of the LORD doth man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3b).

111

Pastor Lee Picket was pastor for many years in Thompson,

Manitoba, Canada at my supporting church, Burntwood Baptist

Church. He now pastors in Watertown, NY at Fellowship

Baptist Church.

He has heard my teaching on fasting for years. The roof on the

church was damaged by a storm. The insurance will not pay.

Pastor Picket told his board and church he does not want to go

to a bank for a loan. They instituted a Church Wide Fast three

times per year. It is widely untaught and unpracticed. I really

believe that when we instituted a fast for what we cannot do

ourselves the Lord immediately provided a portion. He said we

will believe Jesus Christ will supply. He set up 3 fasts for a

year. One fast in spring, one in the summer and one in the

winter. The spring fast would be in 5 weeks. This fast will be

for the $110,000 for the roof. People started giving and in 3

weeks they had $110,000! Therefore, the spring fast will be for

thanksgiving of Christ’s provision!

Ghimbav, Romania, farmer and

Pastor, John Dragushin where I have

preached many times and taught

fasting. Delivery of 1,000 pounds of

potatoes to families and churches

over my 30 years of ministry in

Romania.

112

Mioveni, Romania - Church Camp

Living Hope Independent Baptist Church

Independent Baptist Church Beius, Romania

In 2023 IBCB bought

land to build a church

building. They have

not yet started the

building.

The pastor is Peter Beltechi with his wife Gabriela. I have taught fasting in

his church several times. A sister church is Living Hope Independent Baptist

Church in Hunedoara, RO. Peter heard the messages on fasting I gave in

2023 in IBCH. IBCB has set aside Wednesday for fasting.

113

References

Gen. 24:33 Abraham’s servant seeking a bride for Isaac

Exod. 34:28 Moses’ first period of forty days on Sinai

Lev. 16:29,31 On the Day of Atonement

Lev. 23:14 Until the sheaf of the wave offering was offered

Lev. 23:27,32 On the Day of Atonement

Num. 6:3-4 The law of the Nazirite

Num. 29:7 On the Day of Atonement

Deut. 9:9, 18 Moses’ two periods of forty days on Sinai

Judg. 20:26 By Israel after their defeat by Benjamin

1 Sam. 1: 7-8 Hannah’s prayer for a child

1 Sam. 7:6 At Mizpah under Samuel

1 Sam. 14:24-30 Saul’s curse uttered in battle

1 Sam. 20:34 Jonathan grieved at Saul’s hatred of David

1 Sam. 30:11-12 Egyptian servant David found in the field

1 Sam. 31:13 By those that buried Saul and his sons

2 Sam. 1:12 By David and his men at news of Saul’s death

2 Sam. 3:35 By David at Abner’s death

2 Sam. 11:11 Uriah’s self-discipline in time of battle

2 Sam. 12:16-23 By David for the child of Bathsheba

1 Kings 13:8-24 By prophet who cried against altar at Bethel

1 Kings 17:6, 14-16 Elijah’s restricted diet at Cherith and Zarephath

1 Kings 19:8 By Elijah on his journey to Horeb

1 Kings 21:4-5 By Ahab after Naboth’s refusal

1 Kings 21:9,12 Naboth was set on high at Jezebel’s Instigation

1 Kings 21:27 By Ahab in self-humiliation

1 Chron. 10:12 By those who buried Saul and his sons

2 Chron. 20:3 Proclaimed by Jehoshaphat before battle

Ezra 8:21–23 Proclaimed by Ezra at the river Ahava

Ezra 9:5 Ezra mourning for the faithlessness of the exiles

Ezra 10:6 Ezra mourning for the faithlessness of the exiles

Neh. 1:4 By Nehemiah for the restoration of Jerusalem

Neh. 9:1 By people of Jerusalem, confessing their sins

Esther 4:3 By the Jews following Haman’s decree

Esther 4:16 Called by Esther before audience with the king

Esther 9:31 In connection with the feast of Purim

Job 33:19-20 As a result of pain or sickness

Ps. 35:13 David on behalf of others who were sick

Ps. 42:3 When the Psalmist’s tears became his food

Ps. 69:10 The cause of David being reproached

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Ps. 102:4 The Psalmist forgets food in his affliction

Ps. 107:17,18 As a result of sickness

Ps. 109:24 The cause of David’s physical weakness

Isa. 58 The kind of fasting which pleases God

Jer. 14:12 That which is unacceptable to God

Jer. 36:6,9 Baruch reading Jeremiah’s scroll on a fast day

Dan. 1:12-16 Daniel and his companions refuse the king’s food

Dan. 6:18 Darius when Daniel was in the lions’ den

Dan. 9:3 Daniel praying for Jerusalem

Dan. 10:2-3 Daniel’s three weeks’ partial fast

Joel 1:14 In view of the Day of the Lord

Joel 2:12 When returning to God with all the heart

Joel 2:15 Proclaimed by blowing a trumpet in Zion

Jon. 3:5-9 Proclaimed by the people and king of Nineveh

Zech. 7:3-5 With mourning in the fifth and seventh months

Zech. 8:19 Kept in the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months

Matt. 4:2 By our Lord for forty days

Matt. 6:16-18 Not to be practiced as the hypocrites do

Matt. 9:14-15 By John’s disciples and the Pharisees

Matt. 9:15 By the guests when the bridegroom has departed

Matt. 11:18 The abstemious character of John the Baptist,

Matt. 15:32 State of the four thousand before our Lord fed them

Matt. 17:21 This kind can only come forth by it

Mark 2:18 By John’s disciples and the Pharisees

Mark 2:19-20 By the guests when the bridegroom has departed

Mark 8:3 State of the four thousand when our Lord fed them

Mark 9:29 This kind can only come forth by it

Luke 2:37 By Anna worshipping in the temple

Luke 4:2 By our Lord for forty days

Luke 5:33 By John’s disciples and the Pharisees

Luke 5:34-35, Luke 7:33 The abstemious character of John the Baptist

Luke 18:12 By the boastful Pharisee, twice a week

Acts 9:9 Saul of Tarsus after his encounter with Christ

Acts 10:30 By Cornelius when an angel appeared to him

Acts 13:2-3 By prophets and teachers in Antioch

Acts 14:23 At the appointment of elders in the churches

Acts 23:12-21 By Jews under an oath to kill Paul

Acts 27:9 Allusion to the annual Day of Atonement

Acts 27:21,33 By those with Paul before the shipwreck

Rom. 14:21 Abstaining for the sake of a weaker brother

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1 Cor. 7:5 In the marriage relationship

1 Cor. 8:13 Abstaining for the sake of a weaker brother

2 Cor. 6:5 An ingredient of the apostolic ministry

2 Cor. 11:27 In the list of Paul’s sufferings

1 Tim. 4:3 False teachers commanding abstinence

God’s Chosen Fast – Author Wallis

Published by CLC Publications

116

Bibliography

1. In the first centuries of the Christian church Wednesdays and

Fridays were fast days. (The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of

Religious Knowledge, vol IV, pg. 283.) The Pharisees fasted 2 days

a week, Mondays and Thursdays. Luke 18:12. Fasting in the early

church fell into many abuses. (J. Harold Smith, Fast Your Way to

Health, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1979. pg. 85.) In the early church

the practice was fasting before feasting. There were fasts before

Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost.

2. In Leviticus 16 for the Day of Atonement the Jews were to afflict

their souls. John Wesley said from this: “Christians who take heed

unto their ways, and desire to walk humbly and closely with God, will

find frequent occasion for private seasons of afflicting their souls

before their Father which is in secret.” (David R. Smith, Fasting, A

Neglected Discipline-DRS) Wesley was a fervent faster. Throughout

his lifetime he preached in favor of fasting. In a crisis on Feb. 6,

1756, J. Wesley called for a fast. He had a famous message on

fasting. (Arthur Wallis, God’s Chosen Fast. pg. 34-35. Available

from CLC Fort Washington, PA)

3. Reformers as Martin Luther (1482-1546) of Germany, Calvin

(1509-1564) of France and later Switzerland and John Knox (1514-

1572) of Scotland fasted. Luther fasted as he translated the German

Bible. He encouraged the restoration of proper fasting. Calvin

encouraged fasting. The Westminster Confession says that “solemn

fastings” are “in their times and seasons” to be used in a holy and

religious manner.

4. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) an American Colonist preached his

sermon ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God’ while he was weak

from fasting for 3 days. From a biographical sketch of Jonathan

Edwards: ‘Mr. Edwards was in the habit of setting apart special days

for prayer, self-examination, and fasting. His fasting at such times

was not spiritual, but literal, and he “considered literal abstinence

from food, either entire or partial, according to the state of his health

and other circumstance, as essentially included in his duty.”

5. David Brainerd 1718-1747 missionary to the American Indians

fasted. His ministry was in the 1740’s. From his diary: April 20,1743

“Set apart this day for fasting and prayer, to bow my soul before God

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for the bestowment of divine grace; especially that all my spiritual

afflictions, and inward distresses, might be sanctified to my soul.

And endeavored also to remember the goodness of God to me the

year past, this day being my birthday.” David Brainard was a friend

of Jonathan Edwards.

6. Charles Finney, 1792-1875 fasted. He was an evangelist who had

a part in the Second Great Awakening or Revival in USA. It was

from 1790 to 1840. Finney had a keen sense of the Holy Spirit’s

fullness. When he lost that fullness, he stopped eating until it came

back. John Wesley said when he felt his power diminishing and a

coldness coming over his heart, he fasted and prayed a few days and

God heard and answered. I heard that John and Charles Wesley fasted

each Thursday and Friday until teatime.

7. J. Harold Smith an American who was born in 1910 and died in

2001 practiced fasting. After leaving the pastorate he entered

evangelism. He soon found that he did not have the power to win the

lost in his meetings. He understood that he would have to fast 40

days and nights to get that power. He drank only water, eating no

food for those 40 days and received the power to win the lost. He

wrote a book on fasting. He said his best evangelistic meetings were

those in which he fasted from the time he got on the airplane to go to

the meeting, to the time he got back on the plane to return home. Br.

Smith in his book gives suggested food to eat when breaking a long

fast. His book is out of print. I have found it on Amazon. ‘Fasting

Your Way to Health J H Smith founded Radio Bible Hour which still

existed in 2015 celebrating its 80th year on the radio.

8. Lester Roloff encouraged fasting. He encouraged the students at

Tennessee Temple Schools in the 1960’s to fast one day a week. I

first heard him in 1963 or 1964. I have followed the practice of one

fast day a week since the 1960s. It is still my practice in 2022. Br.

Roloff wrote a booklet on fasting. It is titled ‘Food, Fasting and Faith

He spoke of the value of a juice fast. In a fast with no food, he

encouraged drinking much water. A complete fast is going without

any sort of food or liquid. I understand Bill Bright suggested a juice

fast as well. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ wrote a book

on fasting.

118

9. Christian Literature Crusade-CLC in Fort Washington, PA 19034,

sells at least 2 books on fasting. One is ‘GOD’S CHOSEN FAST’

by Arthur Wallis. The other is ‘FASTING. A NEGLECTED

DISCIPLINE’ by David R. Smith. CLC prints these 2 books. CLC

P O Box 1449 FORT WASHINGTON, PA 19034 USA. CLC

INTERNATIONAL (UK) Unit 5. Glendale Avenue Sandycroft,

Flinshine, CH5 2QP UNITED KINGDOM. www.clcusa.org

a. Fasting: A Neglected Discipline has a good bibliography.

b. God’s Chosen Fast has an exhaustive list of fasting in the Bible in

his Biblical Index. This INDEX is included in this booklet. This book

also gives Herbert McGolfin Shelton, Fasting Can Save Your Life. It

has been reprinted. Shelton also wrote The Science and Fine Art of

Fasting

10 . Paul E. Freed of TWR (Trans World Radio) His book ‘Towers

to Eternity’ written in 1968, page 35 “One of my happiest memories

of childhood has to do with Mother and Father’s belief in prayer and

fasting. Friday, late afternoon and evening, was set aside in their

week for this purpose. But I suppose the thing that impressed me

most as a child was that Ruth and I never felt we had to fast with

them. In fact, Mother would go out of her way on pray-and fast night

to prepare for us the most wonderful meal of all. She often let us

decide what we would like most for Friday supper. It must have been

a real temptation for her as she prepared hot breads or cinnamon rice,

and as the kitchen was filled with delicious smells on the evenings

when she ate nothing. This is evidence of love, plus their allowing us

rather than forcing us to do as they did, stimulated our growth in

grace, our desire to learn to walk with the One whom our parents

followed closely. To this day I associate prayer and fasting with an

unforgettable time of enjoyment.”

11. Website Bible.org has an extensive article Chapter 3: Fasting

Through The Patristic Era.

12. After Matthew 9:14-15 Gentle Reformation in THE

EXPECTATION OF FASTING wrote: The Lord wants you to

experience communion with him in a way only prayer and fasting can

bring. Fasting is not presented by him as something to bind you up

in legalism, like the Pharisees practiced it. Rather, Jesus encouraged

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what John Piper captures simply with the title of his book on this

subject - _Hunger for God. In another of his writings, Piper quotes

Jonathan Edwards who wrote, Our hungering’s and thirsting’s after

God and Jesus Christ and after holiness can’t be too great for the value

of these things, for they are things of infinite value… [Therefore]

endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way

of allurement… There is no such thing as excess in our taking of this

spiritual food. There is no such virtue as temperance in spiritual

feasting." (John Piper, What Jesus Demands from the World, p. 90).

In THE EXPECTATION OF FASTING. But listen to this. If you fast

and pray for him, Jesus will come to you. As God has said, “You will

seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart” (Jer.

29:13). Jesus told his church, “Behold, I stand and the door and

knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into

him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). That’s a promise!

Fasting puts the heart and hunger needed in our praying. After giving

advice for beginning fasting in THE EXPECTATION OF FASTING

the article said: Finally, expect God’s visitation! As stated above, if

you fast as Jesus instructs, your Father will see and reward you with

the great gift of his fuller presence through the Holy Spirit who dwells

in you. The experience of others can encourage us in this regard.

David Brainerd was a missionary to the Native Americans in New

Jersey during the first half of the eighteenth century. His short life (he

lived to be only 29) has inspired many other missionaries, for he

persevered despite great illness and discouragement. He was a man

who sought after God. He wrote the following in his journal. Monday

April 19, 1742. I set apart this day for fasting and prayer to God for

His grace… In the forenoon, I felt the power of intercession for

precious, immortal souls; for the advancement of the kingdom of my

dear Lord and Saviour in the word; and withal, a most sweet

resignation, and even consolation and joy in the thoughts of suffering

hardships, distresses, and even death itself… I enjoyed great

sweetness in communion with my dear Saviour. I think I never in my

life felt such an entire weanedness from this world, and so much

resigned to God in everything. O that I may always live to and upon

my blessed God! Amen, Amen. You see, as Brainerd makes clear, the

expectation of fasting goes both ways. Jesus expects you to do it. And

you can expect Him to visit with you when you do.

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How to KNOW I will go to Heaven

Here is what the Bible says:

RECOGNIZE – The First R

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while

we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

REPENT – The Second R

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may

be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the

presence of the Lord; Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God

winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

RECEIVE – The Third R

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is

eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 10:13 For

whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 1 John

5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of

the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that

ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Recognize – do you?

Repent – will you?

Receive – Heaven or Hell?

Repent of your sin, and Receive Jesus Christ as your God and Savior.

By faith speak to God, Repent of your sin, and ask Him to forgive

you and Receive His Son Jesus Christ as your only way to Heaven.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten

Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have

everlasting life.

Ask God to forgive you, Confess your sin. Trust Christ as your

Saviour.

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On my website there is teaching on fasting.

michaeldbentley7@gmail.com

www.To-The-Jew-First.org

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael David Bentley was born January

2, 1942, in Jacksonville, Florida, to US

Navy officer, Captain James A. and

Nancy Louise Bentley, CEC. He has a

brother, James A. Bentley, and a sister

Lauri Ann Rice. He graduated from

Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in

Bethesda, Maryland. He received Christ

as Savior at age 18 in 1960 in Portsmouth,

Virginia.

Michael graduated Bible College in 1966

and Seminary in 1971 with BA, BDiv., degrees at Tennessee Temple

University founded in 1946 by Dr. Lee Roberson in Chattanooga,

Tennessee.

Living in Israel a total of 20 years, five of those years were traveling. In

1988 his time in Israel was finished. He then left for the Island of Crete for

a 30 day and night fast to determine God’s will for his life. France has been

his home since 1992, the last 20 years in Athis-Mons, France where he lives

today. His ministry is to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. (Romans

1:16)

Biblical fasting has been his practice since 1963. From 1988 to 2008 regular

long fasts were practiced from 15 to 40 days. A fast day for him is 24 hours,

usually with water.

“It is my desire to share my experiences and understanding of Christian

fasting in written form. In this book I review fasting by Biblical Characters

and my Commentary on Isaiah 58, the fasting chapter of the Bible.”

Michael D. Bentley

E-mail Author

To-The-Jew-First