Jesus the Christ,
the Son of God,
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***The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal details about fasting among the Israelites, the descendants of Adam and Eve, their son Seth, Seth's great-great-great-grandson Enoch, Enoch's great-grandson Noah the ark builder, Noah's son Shem, Shem's son Arphaxad, Arphaxad's great-great-great-great-great-grandson Terah, Terah's children Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and Isaac and Rebekah's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel):
-Joshua was an Israelite from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Jacob (Israel) and his 2nd wife Rachel, their firstborn son Joseph and his wife Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. The Israelites in the tribe of Benjamin descended from Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin. At least 30 years after Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land, men from the tribe of Benjamin raped a concubine from Bethlehem. The Israelites in the other tribes cried, fasted, and offered sacrifices to the Lord God, and sought an answer from the Lord God before battling the Benjamites a 3rd time.
-Noah's son Ham, Ham's son Mizraim, and Mizraim's son Casluhim were the forefathers of the Philistines. After the Philistines returned the ark of the covenant of the Lord to the Israelites, and the Israelites placed the ark in the home of Abinadab, the Israelites poured out water before the Lord God, and fasted.
-Samuel the priest, prophet and judge was from the tribe of Levi, descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah and their 3rd born son Levi. King Nahash, ruler of the Ammonites, was descended from Abraham and Sarah's nephew Lot and Lot's youngest daughter and Ben-ammi, the son born to Lot and his daughter. The Moabites descended from Lot and Lot's oldest daughter and their son Moab. When Samuel was elderly, and his sons Joel (Vashni) and Abiah (Abijah) were not obeying the commands of the Lord God, and Nahash and his army were preparing to attack, the Israelite elders demanded that Samuel appoint a king to lead them, and Samuel anointed Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to reign, according to the command of the Lord God. At Gibeah of God (the hill of God), the Spirit of God came upon Saul. At least twice, Saul did not obey the commands of the Lord God. Samuel told Saul that the Lord God rejected Saul from being king and had torn the kingdom from Saul. David was from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah, and lived in Bethlehem, and was a man after God's own heart. While Saul reigned, the Lord God sent Samuel to anoint David to reign as king, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, and the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. Amid the Valley of Elah, David killed and beheaded Goliath the gigantic Philistine. David and Jonathan, Saul's son, made a covenant. The Israelite women sang of David higher than they sang of Saul, and Saul was angry. Saul wanted to kill David, and became afraid of David, and sent David on missions to get killed, and commanded others, including Jonathan, to kill David. Saul's daughter Michal was married to David and helped David escape from their home. After the Philistines killed Jonathan and his brothers Malchishua and Abinadab (Ishui?), and Saul's self-inflicted death on the same battlefield, the Philistines took the bodies of Saul and Saul's sons to their kingdom. Israelite men from Jabesh-gilead retrieved the bones of Saul and his sons, and buried the bones, and fasted. David and his mourned, cried and fasted when they learned about the deaths. In Hebron, men from the tribe of Judah anointed 30-year-old David, and David began to reign only over the tribe of Judah. Saul's son Ishbosheth (Eshbaal) ruled over the other Israelite tribes. Sometime after Ishbosheth was murdered, the Israelite elders went to David, and David made a covenant with them. The elders anointed 37-year-old David, and David began to rule all of the Israelites.
-Uriah was a warrior who fought for David, and with David's men and army, and was a Hittite descended from Ham's son Canaan and Canaan's son Heth. Bathsheba was Uriah's wife. While Uriah was on the battlefield, David was intimate with Bathsheba, and Bathsheba became pregnant, and David plotted against Uriah, and arranged for Uriah to get killed, and David became Bathsheba's husband. After the Lord God struck the 1st child born to David and Bathsheba, and the child became ill, David fasted and pleaded with the Lord God and stretched himself on the ground. David arose from the ground and ended the fast when he learned that the child was dead.
-Ahab was an Israelite and the 7th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel in the Promised Land. Ahab's wife Jezebel was a Sidonian (Zidonian) princess descended from Canaan's son Sidon. When Jezebel wanted to steal land from Naboth, an Israelite, so that Ahab could have Naboth's land, she wrote letters to the Israelite elders and nobles in Jezreel, and told them to proclaim a fast, and commanded them to tell 2 specific lies about Naboth, and stone Naboth to death. After Naboth was killed, and possibly Naboth's sons were killed, the Lord God sent Elijah the prophet to Ahab with a message, and Ahab fasted.
-David and Bathsheba's great-great-great-grandson Jehoshaphat was the 4th king to rule Judah, the southern nation in the Promised Land. When the Moabites, Ammonites and their allies came to attack, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. The Israelites gathered in the royal city, Jerusalem, at the temple of the Lord, and Jehoshaphat prayed to the Lord God.
-Jehoshaphat's great-great-grandson Amaziah was the 8th king to rule Judah. During Amaziah's 29-year reign, the Lord God sent Jonah the prophet to Nineveh, Assyria. When the king of Assyria learned about the words being spoken by Jonah, he proclaimed a fast throughout Nineveh.
-Amaziah's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Lord God gave Jeremiah the prophet a command, and Jeremiah gave Baruch the scribe a command. Baruch wrote down the words that Jeremiah heard from the Lord God, and Baruch read the words to the Israelites in the temple, and a fast was proclaimed.
-Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. In Babylon, after Daniel, an Israelite captive, was put into the den of lions, according to the command of King Darius, ruler of Babylon, Darius spent the night fasting. When Daniel was studying the divinely inspired words written by Jeremiah the prophet, Daniel set his face towards the Lord God, and prayed, made supplications, fasted, and confessed his sin and the sin of his fellow Israelites.
-Jehoiakim's brother Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was the 19th king to rule Judah. During the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. The Babylonians looted and burned the temple, captured Zedekiah and Zedekiah's sons, killed Zedekiah's sons, removed Zedekiah's eyesight, and took Zedekiah and more Israelites to Babylon. Less than 70 years thereafter, King Cyrus, ruler of the Persian Empire, allowed Israelites to return to Judah and Jerusalem and build a temple, according to the will of the Lord God. Ezra the priest and scribe was from the tribe of Levi. When Ezra was preparing to return to Judah, he proclaimed a fast among the Israelites journeying with him, and Ezra and his fellow Israelites sought the Lord God.
-Nehemiah the prophet was an Israelite and the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes, ruler of the Persian Empire. When Nehemiah learned about the condition of the Israelites in Jerusalem and the state of the wall and gates, Nehemiah cried and fasted, prayed before the Lord God. Nehemiah answered Artaxerxes, and prayed to the Lord God, and sought permission and assistance from Artaxerxes, and was allowed to go to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, after Nehemiah and his fellow Israelites observed the Feast of Tabernacles, they fasted.
-Mordecai was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, and was living in Shushan, Persia, with Esther (Hadassah), the orphaned cousin he was raising as his own child. After King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), ruler of the Persian Empire, chose Esther to be his wife, Esther became the queen. When Mordecai learned that the Israelites throughout the empire were scheduled to be killed, he put on sackcloth and ashes, and loudly and bitterly cried, and the Israelites began mourning, fasting, crying, and wailing. Esther sent Hatach the eunuch to Mordecai, and Mordecai told Hatach about the upcoming fate of the Israelites. Esther sent Hatach with a message for Mordecai, and Mordecai sent a message to Esther, and Esther sent Mordecai a message that called for a fast of 3 days and nights among the Israelites in Shushan, the same length of time that Esther and her maidens would be fasting.
Over 400 years after Mordecai and Esther worked to keep the Israelites from being killed, the angel Gabriel appeared to elderly, childless Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and told Zechariah that his prayer was heard, and told him about the conception, birth and purpose of the son who would be born to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). The angel Gabriel told Zechariah to name the child John, and said the birth of John was going to cause rejoicing and gladness, and John would be great in the eyes of the Lord, and would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) while in Elizabeth's womb, and would bring many Israelites back to the Lord, and prepare people for the Lord. During the 6th month that elderly Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist in her womb, the Lord God sent the angel Gabriel to Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin. The angel Gabriel said Mary was favored with grace, and the Lord was with Mary, and Mary was blessed among women. The angel Gabriel told Mary not to fear, and said Mary had favor with the Lord God, and Mary would give birth to a Son, and Mary was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus, the Son of the Highest (the Most High) would be conceived of the Holy Spirit while in Elizabeth's womb. Joseph was the craftsman pledged to wed Mary. After Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb when Mary was a virgin, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph when Joseph was asleep and told Joseph, in a dream, not to be afraid to receive Mary as his wife, and explained that the child in Mary's womb was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and Joseph was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus will save his people from their sins. Months after John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah and Elizabeth, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. On the 8th day after John the Baptist was born, he was circumcised, and on the 8th day after Jesus the Christ was born, Jesus was circumcised, according to the covenant of circumcision that the Lord God gave Abraham. During the 12th year after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord, listening, asking, understanding, and answering. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. In Galilee, Jesus spoke to a group of Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist, about the disciples of Jesus and fasting. When Jesus was speaking to a group of despisers who thought themselves to be righteous, Jesus told a parable that involved a Pharisee and fasting.-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Jeremiah 36:1-32, 39:1-18, 52:1-34, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, Galatians 1:1-2:21, Jude
Click the link below to read more posts in this category: