1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian The Sabbath | Page 3

Monday
Isaiah 58:13-14
Leviticus 17:26-32
The second aspect of the “True Fast” we cover is that of the Sabbath. In order to
appreciate what the Lord is saying to us through this passage of Scripture, I believe that it
will be helpful to understand God’s attitude to fasting in general.
The Hebrew word for fast is tsom and literally means “to cover the mouth.” This word is
not used in the first five books of the Bible at all. As these books constitute the “Law” God
never commanded His people to fast – not once. The only “fast” the Jews had before the
Babylonian Captivity was on the Day of Atonement (referred to as “the Fast” in Acts 27:9).
The instruction that God gave on this occasion was for His people to rest and to “deny
themselves.” All the pagan nations surrounding Israel had developed sophisticated rituals
of abasing themselves. This aesthetic element was supposed to please their gods, and it
even included the sacrifice of children. In Greek mythology the gods are portrayed as
being jealous of human happiness. Therefore, people were expected to refrain from
anything that brought joy or pleasure when the thought it necessary to appease the gods.
This notion has always been abhorrent to our God because He has never focused on the
flesh. His focus has always been on the heart. And God has always wanted us to have life
to the full (John 10:10). We are told that the “joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah
8:10) and that we are to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4). It is interesting to
note that there was no culture of fasting among Jesus and His disciples. In Luke 5:33 we
read, “They said to him, ‘John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the
Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.’” Jesus also made the following comment
on another occasion: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a
demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a
drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners’” (Matthew 11:18-19). During His earthly
ministry neither Jesus nor His disciples were known for their fasting.
This, however, does not mean that Jesus was against fasting. He said that His Disciples
would fast in times of grief (Luke 5:34-35) and when they did, they were not to make a
show of it. It must always be a matter between the disciple and our heavenly Father
(Matthew 6:16-18). We also need to remember that Jesus calls all His followers to live a
life of self-denial (Matthew 16:24). Whatever type of self-denial we may implement is
never to please men, to please God but rather to purify our hearts. We do need to deal
with the preoccupation of our liveswith daily cares and anxieties, greed and materialism