Commandment #3; Acts 23-25

May the mumbling commence!

It is terrible when our covenantal relationship with God is abused.  It is awful when we misuse spiritual practices.  In the prophets, God tells us, for example, what kind of fast He calls for.  We can look to Isaiah chapter fifty-eight:

“Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” (Verses 6-7 NIV)

I am fairly sure that the fast that some of the men of Judah made in Acts twenty-three does not fall under the scope of God’s Word as found in Isaiah.  Read the passage below:

Early in the morning the Jews made a conspiracy and bound themselves by a solemn oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. Over forty of them were involved in the plot, and they approached the chief priests and elders, and said, "We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath to let nothing pass our lips until we have killed Paul. Now you and the council must make it plain to the colonel that you want him to bring Paul down to you, suggesting that you want to examine his case more closely. We shall be standing by ready to kill him before he gets here." (Verses 12-15)

Yes, complacency in our worship (which is one of the problems addressed in Isaiah chapter fifty-eight) is wrong, but so is misplaced fervor.  This misuse of God’s Words is an old time practice. 

The sons of Jacob misused God’s covenant of circumcision when they attacked the men of Shechem after the rape of their sister Dinah.  They feigned allegiance to the city only if the men were circumcised; then they attacked them while they were still recovering from their circumcision (Genesis 34).

Fasting should never be associated with the human emotion of hatred or the act of murder.  Fasting is meant to empty people so that they might connect more easily with the ways of God – to undo injustice, to let oppressed people free, to share bread with the hungry, to house the homeless, and to cover the naked.

Fasting means opening ourselves up so that we are able to do what God is calling us to do – focus more on God, our relationship with our Creator AND our relationship with all of creation.  Anything less is misusing the Name of God.

O Holy Spirit, keep us in step with the ways of our Lord.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out