Day 964: Fast or farce? - Zechariah Chapter 7

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2-3 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favour of the Lord, saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” 4-6 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities round her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?”

8-10 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgements, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11-12 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13-14 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.” Zechariah Chapter 7 English Standard Version.

We see from this chapter that when the Israelites were in exile many of them had continued times of fasting, so as to call on God for His help. Now that the exile was over, did they need to keep doing that? But God's response through Zechariah was to remind them of what prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, had said to them about their fasting even before they went into exile.

Here’s an example of what God told Isaiah about the fasts the people held.: “Day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and hasn’t forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions, and seem eager for God to come near them. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’” “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit your workers! Your fasting ends in quarrelling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?”

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” (Isaiah 58:1-9)

Fasting isn't a substitute for living as God wants us to live. It isn't a ritual to impress God, or even people. Jesus said “When you fast, don't look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18)

Occasional religious rituals or ceremonies will always be a farce - if they are not accompanied with daily righteous living. To do good is better than to look good, or to feel good.