Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” Jonah 3:1-5
“There is blameworthy fasting, and there is praiseworthy fasting. Many, even though they fast, commit murders; and many, even though they fast, consume and devour others.
The Ninevites fasted and were saved, and by fasting they changed the wrath of God. And their fasting put an end to the judgment that had been decreed against them. For the prophet said, Yet three days and Nineveh will be overthrown. He did not say, “After three days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” If he had said “after three days,” it would have been destroyed. But yet three days indicates that “I will suffer you for this amount of time without repentance. I suffer you for three days yet, and, if you do not repent in these three days, then the city will be destroyed.” And they would not have repented in this amount of time if not ‘through the three days,’ that is through the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, the Jews fasted and took counsel that they might kill the apostle Paul. Jezebel declared a fast and killed Naboth and took the vineyard of the poor man. Fasting with murder—what kind of fast is this!”
Hesychios of Jerusalem (d. 450) in Fasting.
I have been having some difficulties with my website and yesterday’s post did not go out. To read it, scroll to the bottom. It’s worth the effort.
Today’s post continues our Lenten exploration of fasting and gives biblical examples of good and bad fasting.
On the one hand, it served as a praiseworthy and powerful tool to “overthrow” a great city. While Hesychios seems to have his numbers off (it took 3 days to go through the city but the word from the Lord was that they would be overthrown in 40 days), he brings out a very important point as a keen observer.
The oracle from God was not that Ninevah would be destroyed in so many days but that it would be overthrown.
That’s what good and praiseworthy fasting does. It overthrows the forces of evil that dominate our lives, the fleshly desires that seek to consume and destroy us. It causes us to let go of our plans and agendas and embrace God’s will. In that light, it leads to repentance.
Sadly, that neither happened with the Jews nor with Jezebel.
These two groups exhibit blameworthy fasting as they used the fast to unify the people around a corrupt agenda. There’s the lesson for us. Don’t bring an agenda to fasting. Make fasting a time of letting go of your agenda and taking hold of God’s agenda for your life.