THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN (DEVOTIONALS)
Fasting as Repentance
One of the most common forms of fasting found in the message of scripture is seen in times of repentance of sin and rebellion against God. This kind of fasting belays a deep sense of grief and sadness over the committal of sin.
In the following passage, we can see an example of a time when the Lord used the prophet Joel to call his people into a time of national repentance. Notice the two different forms of fasting as signs of repentance, and as evidence given to God that the hearts of those involved in the time of rebellion had changed and are now open to the work of the Lord:
““Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing — grain offerings and drink offerings for the LORD your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly.”
Who Knows?
The people of Judah and Israel had been living in open rebellion to the Lord for generations. As a group, they had turned to idol worship, and had given up on the law of the Lord. Many prophets, signs, and warnings were given to the people by the Lord to get them to see the error of their ways, and to entice them to turn back to the Lord.
Even Joel, one of the last of these God sent a messengers, made it clear that if the people would gather as one before the Lord in a time of repentance, as seen in their fasting, weeping, and mourning over their sin, that even in that late hour, the Lord would relent.
But it never happened. The people were stubborn and unrepentant. And so, the exile and period of discipline came upon them as the Lord had warned over and over.
Unlikely
One of the most unlikely groups of people to hear a similar call from God to turn from their evil and repent, turn from their sinful ways, was that of the Ninevites. The people of Nineveh (from whom the agent of exile, Sennacherib, king of Assyria came) were the enemies of Israel, and were a hard, warlike, idolatrous people.
And yet, the Lord sent a messenger to this people with a message of warning. This messenger was named Jonah, and though he was unhappy to give this message to the enemies of the people of Israel, their response was used as a counter balance to the stubbornness of God’s people.
We can hear how the people of Nineveh responded to the call of repentance in the following passage:
“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. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.”
A Witness to Israel
The real purpose for the Lord sending one of his Prophets to the nation of Assyria in this way had more to do with exposing the hard hearts of the people who bore the name of the Lord than it did with leading the Assyrians into a long-lasting faith in the Lord.
This in fact is the exact thing that the Lord Jesus said concerning his own situation. We can hear what he said in the following passage:
“As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.”
Challenge
If the unbelieving peoples of the earth can hear the call of God to step away from evil and turn toward faithfulness to the call of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then why is it that the people of faith, who bear the name of the Lord, seem so reluctant to hear the truth from the Lord and allow it to change their hearts and minds?
This is not a message for the people of the past, it is for you and I today.
Reflection
· Is the Lord calling you away from an area of sin or rebellion?
· Are you listening to his voice?
· Are you ready and willing to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before you, and respond to the call of God with real action?
· Are you ready to come before the Lord with fasting, weeping, and mourning over your own sin and addiction to evil?
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I come humbly before you, holding out my dirty and empty hands. I confess that I have hear your call to leave this sin behind me and follow you into a new day of freedom and victory. I no longer laugh at the evil of this world, and the evil that is in my heart. I am turning away from all that is not of you today. Thank you for going before me, and leading me into your victory over all things.
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
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