The book of Jonah chapter three, verses three through five tells us that, “Jonah arose, and went to Nineveh, according to the word of Yahweh [that is, God]… Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried out, and said, “In forty days, Nineveh will be overthrown!” The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least”
It says that the Ninevites “believed God.” But what does it mean to believe? According to the Bible, belief is far more than merely acknowledging some facts. True belief always compels a person to act in harmony with what he is acknowledging. James 2:14-19 says: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled;” and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder”
The Ninevites demonstrated true belief by their actions. Notice also that it was more than just a few people who believed. “…and [they] put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.” (Jonah 3:5)
Verses 6-8 say, “The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water; but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God…”
Perhaps you are wondering about this fast that the Ninevites declared. In some religions a certain month or time of year is set aside as a time of fasting. But what does it mean to fast? What is the purpose of fasting? There are many examples of fasting recorded in the Bible. By looking at some of these examples we learn that fasting is practiced for a variety of reasons:
1) There are a number of times in our lives when fasting is the natural consequence of the situation we are in. We are so worried or so burdened with sorrow that food is forgotten. An example of this is recorded when king Saul and his sons were killed in battle. Scripture says, “Then David took hold on his clothes, and tore them; and likewise all the men who were with him. They mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Yahweh, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.” (2 Samuel 1:11-12)
2) A second reason to fast is that it is a way we can present a petition before God on someone else’s behalf. This type of fast is also associated with mourning. In Psalm 35:13-14 king David says, “…But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting. My prayer returned into my own bosom. I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother…”
3) Another purpose for fasting is to seek direction from God during a time of crisis. Such a time is described in 2 Chronicles 20:2-4: “Then some came who told Jehoshaphat, saying, “A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea from Syria. Behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). Jehoshaphat was alarmed, and set himself to seek to Yahweh [that is, God]. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help from Yahweh. They came out of all the cities of Judah to seek Yahweh.”
4) Fasting is an appropriate response when we are faced with major decisions or changes in life’s direction. Ezra the priest wrote these words concerning the time when the people returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon.: “Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.” So we fasted and begged our God for this: and he was entreated of us.” (Ezra 8:21-23) Another example of this kind of fast is the fast Jesus kept just before beginning His public ministry.
5) One of the more important reasons to fast is to confess our sin and demonstrate repentance. There are several example of this in the Bible. One of them is found in Nehemiah 9:1-2: “Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them… and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.” To “confess” actually means to say the same thing as God. To “repent” means to change our thinking about God which causes us to turn away from our present course of action and to go the other way.
But how does God regard our fasting? What is important to him? Earlier in this program we saw that faith is demonstrated by action. In the same way a true fast is far more than just abstaining from food. The prophet Isaiah has preserved God’s words for us: “…Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and to strike with the fist of wickedness: you don’t fast this day so as to make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Yahweh [that is, God]? “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and Yahweh will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly; and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light shall rise in darkness, and your obscurity be as the noonday;” (Isaiah 58:3-10)
The Ninevites responded to God’s message in a way that was pleasing to God. The king proclaimed, “…let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?” (Jonah 3:8-9)
The Ninevites confessed their wickedness and repented by turning away from evil. Because the Ninevites’s fast was a true one, and not just for show, God honored it.
“God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.” (Jonah 2:10) We all need to ask ourselves whether our fasting in the kind that God will honor, or whether we are just going through a meaningless ritual.