Samuel famously told king Saul to obey God is better than sacrifice, but history tells us God's people struggled with the concept. People tend towards embracing penance than repentance. Better to repent before God and put the sin away than beating up yourself over it--as if personal punishment could provide atonement and cleansing. Once sin is repented of instead of wallowing in guilt we ought to be intentional to be obey what God has already said. A vast majority of the time we were conscious of sin before we chose to commit it.
When the temple in Jerusalem was halfway through the rebuilding process Zechariah 7:1-4 says, "Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, 2 when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the LORD, 3 and to ask the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?" During the period of captivity in Babylon--for 70 years--the children of Israel mourned and fasted during the fifth month (AND the seventh, as we will see). It seems during their exile away from the land of Israel they punished themselves with a self-imposed fast.
See God's response in Zechariah 7:5-7: "Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me--for Me? 6 When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?'" God rejected this self-imposed sacrifice made by the people because when they ate and drank they did so unto themselves. Therefore these months of self-imposed fasting and mourning were self-serving, for the people did not obey word of the LORD by prophets He previously sent them! Fasting in obedience to the LORD is good, and sacrifice according to His leading is righteous. But instead of fasting God preferred repentance for sin and simple obedience.
It was fitting they do good every day in Zechariah 7:9-10: "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.'" Refusing to eat what God graciously provided did nothing to right the wrongs which persisted for 70 years of captivity. The problem was not when or what the people ate but the sin in their hearts. There is nothing wrong with spiritual discipline and fasting, but it is of no benefit if when we eat and drink we do so with only ourselves in mind. Paul sums up well the approach believers should take in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33: "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."
People came to inquire at the temple if the fasts they had traditionally done for so long were necessary likely because some didn't want to keep fasting and some would be offended if they stopped. They spoke of giving up the fifth month fast but didn't mention the seventh--they would keep that fast going. God turned their question around: instead of wondering if you should keep fasting, how about you start obeying Me? Rather than thinking you are doing me a favour by denying yourself food, why not do yourselves and everyone a favour and deny yourself sin and do right? Paul said in Romans 14:23 that whatsoever is not of faith in God is sin. So whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, let us do it all to the glory of God. We are to fast from sin and to do good instead.
When the temple in Jerusalem was halfway through the rebuilding process Zechariah 7:1-4 says, "Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, 2 when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the LORD, 3 and to ask the priests who were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and the prophets, saying, "Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?" During the period of captivity in Babylon--for 70 years--the children of Israel mourned and fasted during the fifth month (AND the seventh, as we will see). It seems during their exile away from the land of Israel they punished themselves with a self-imposed fast.
See God's response in Zechariah 7:5-7: "Say to all the people of the land, and to the priests: 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me--for Me? 6 When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the LORD proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?'" God rejected this self-imposed sacrifice made by the people because when they ate and drank they did so unto themselves. Therefore these months of self-imposed fasting and mourning were self-serving, for the people did not obey word of the LORD by prophets He previously sent them! Fasting in obedience to the LORD is good, and sacrifice according to His leading is righteous. But instead of fasting God preferred repentance for sin and simple obedience.
It was fitting they do good every day in Zechariah 7:9-10: "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart against his brother.'" Refusing to eat what God graciously provided did nothing to right the wrongs which persisted for 70 years of captivity. The problem was not when or what the people ate but the sin in their hearts. There is nothing wrong with spiritual discipline and fasting, but it is of no benefit if when we eat and drink we do so with only ourselves in mind. Paul sums up well the approach believers should take in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33: "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."
People came to inquire at the temple if the fasts they had traditionally done for so long were necessary likely because some didn't want to keep fasting and some would be offended if they stopped. They spoke of giving up the fifth month fast but didn't mention the seventh--they would keep that fast going. God turned their question around: instead of wondering if you should keep fasting, how about you start obeying Me? Rather than thinking you are doing me a favour by denying yourself food, why not do yourselves and everyone a favour and deny yourself sin and do right? Paul said in Romans 14:23 that whatsoever is not of faith in God is sin. So whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, let us do it all to the glory of God. We are to fast from sin and to do good instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment
To uphold the integrity of this site, no comments with links for advertising will be posted. No ads here! :)