Mat 6:16 "When any of you fast, never assume gloomy looks as the hypocrites do; for they disfigure their faces in order that it may be evident to men that they are fasting. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward.
Mat 6:17 But, whenever you fast, pour perfume on your hair and wash your face,
Mat 6:18 that it may not be apparent to men that you are fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.
INTRODUCTION
The word “fast” literally signifies to abstain from food and drink, whether from necessity or as a religious observance. It is, however, commonly applied in the Bible to the latter. It is, then, an expression of grief or sorrow. Such is the constitution of the body, that in a time of grief or sorrow we are not disposed to eat; or, we have no appetite. The grief of the “soul” is so absorbing as to destroy the natural appetites of the “body.” People in deep affliction eat little, and often pine away and fall into sickness, because the body refuses, on account of the deep sorrow of the mind, to discharge the functions of health. “Fasting, then, is the natural expression of grief.” It is not arbitrary; it is what every person in sorrow naturally does. This is the foundation of its being applied to religion as a sacred rite. It is because the soul, when oppressed and burdened by a sense of sin, is so filled with grief that the body refuses food. It is, therefore, appropriate to scenes of penitence, of godly sorrow, of suffering, and to those facts connected with religion which are suited to produce grief, as the prevalence of iniquity, or some dark impending calamity, or storm, or tempest, pestilence, plague, or famine. It is also useful to humble us, to bring us to reflection, to direct the thoughts away from the allurements of this world to the bliss of a better. It is not acceptable except it be the “real expression,” of sorrow; the natural effect of the feeling that we are burdened with crime. Barnes Notes
What not to do when Fasting. v.16
Mat 6:16 "When any of you fast, never assume gloomy looks as the hypocrites do; for they disfigure their faces in order that it may be evident to men that they are fasting. I solemnly tell you that they already have their reward. WNT
"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
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| gloomy faces |
Notes:
never assume gloomy looks as the hypocrites do..WNT [stop looking sad like hypocrites.]
sad countenance G4659 σκυθρωπός skuthrōpos Thayer Definition: 1) of a sad and gloomy countenance.
OT private fasting:
Neh 1:4 When I heard this, I sat down and cried. I mourned for days. I continued to fast and pray to the God of heaven.
From the month Chisleu to the month Nisan; about four months from the time he received the above information, till the time that Artaxerxes noticed his grief, Neh_2:1. All this time he probably spent in supplication to God; waiting for a favorable opening in the Divine providence. Every good work is not to be undertaken hastily; prayer and watchfulness are necessary to its completion. Many good works have been ruined by making haste.Adam Clark
Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from the Scriptures the number of years that Jerusalem would remain in ruins. The LORD had told the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem would remain in ruins for 70 years.
Dan 9:3 So I turned to the Lord God and looked to him for help. I prayed, pleaded, and fasted in sackcloth and ashes.
Dan 9:4 I prayed to the LORD my God. I confessed and said, "Lord, you are great and deserve respect as the only God. You keep your promise and show mercy to those who love you and obey your commandments.
I prayed, pleaded, and fasted in sackcloth and ashes.
He found that the time of the promised deliverance could not be at any great distance; and as he saw nothing that indicated a speedy termination of their oppressive captivity, he was very much afflicted, and earnestly besought God to put a speedy end to it; and how earnestly he seeks, his own words show. He prayed, he supplicated, he fasted, he put sackcloth upon his body, and he put ashes upon his head. He uses that kind of prayer prescribed by Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the temple. See 1Ki_8:47, 1Ki_8:48.
But When You Fast...
Mat 6:17 But, whenever you fast, pour perfume on your hair and wash your face,
Notes:
Anoint thine head and wash thy face - These were forbidden in the Jewish canon on days of fasting and humiliation; and hypocrites availed themselves of this ordinance, that they might appear to fast. Our Lord, therefore, cautions us against this: as if he had said, Affect nothing - dress in thy ordinary manner, and let the whole of thy deportment prove that thou desirest to recommend my soul to God, and not thy face to men. That factitious mourning, which consists in putting on black clothes, crapes, etc., is utterly inconsistent with the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ; and if practised in reference to spiritual matters, is certainly forbidden here: but sin is so common, and so boldly persisted in, that not even a crape is put on, as an evidence of deploring its influence, or of sorrow for having committed it.
Mat 6:18 that it may not be apparent to men that you are fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father--He who sees in secret--will recompense you.
Notes:
that it may not be apparent to men that you are fasting,
There should be no outward show of fasting or holiness or spirituality. This is Hypocrisy.
Fasting is to our Father who is in secret..
God who is all knowing and before whom everything is open night and day, He sees in secret.
God knows what you are fasting and afflicting your soul for.
He will reward or recompense you. Sometimes when we are serious about prayer or burdened in our souls then fasting and prayer allows us to get closer to the Lord. It is not as if we need to twist God’s arm up His back but we get closer to God and more sensitive to what he is saying and what He wants. You will be rewarded.
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