Abstinence from appetites including food and temporal pleasures dates back to the furthest ideas of antiquity. (cf., Eager) The practice has varied in its application and cultures alike. It is found in pagan cultic worship as well as in the worship of the Jewish and Christian traditions. It may include fasting, celibacy, poverty, bathing and other things.
Eager said,
[A]bstinence may be either public or private, partial or entire. In its most extreme forms, it bids men to stifle and suppress their physical wants, rather than to subordinate them in the interest of a higher end or purpose, the underlying idea being that the body is the foe of the spirit … .(Eager)
Fasting’s proof texts are mostly found in the OT.
Smith saw fasting as “merely a mode of preparation for the tribal meal in which sacrifice originated.” (Lewis)
Lewis argued that such explanations don’t satisfy the “wearing of sackcloth,” [and] the “putting of ashes on the head,”
The Jewish Encyclopedia cited other varied reasons for fasting:
Conclusion: biblical examples may be quoted to make a case for all of these beliefs.
“Whoever undergoes fasting or other penances for no special reason commits a wrong.” “Man in the life to come will have to account for every enjoyment offered him that was refused without sufficient cause” (Rabh, in Yer. Kid., 4). In Maimonides (Ha-Yadh ha-Chazaqah, De`oth 3 1) the monastic principle of abstinence in regard to marriage, eating meat, or drinking wine, or in regard to any other personal enjoyment or comfort, is condemned as “contrary to the spirit of Judaism,” and “the golden middle-way of moderation” is advocated. (Eager)
But, on the other hand, abstinence is often considered by the rabbis meritorious and praiseworthy as a voluntary means of self-discipline. (Eager)
God gives freedom, we make divisions.
Hard opinions seem to fade as the circumstances change.
Only one such fast is spoken of as having been instituted and commanded by the Law of Moses, that of the Day of Atonement. (Eager; cf., Leviticus 16:29, JewishEncyclopedia.com)
Zechariah 8:18-19
18 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 19 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Four other annual fasts were later observed by the Jews in commemoration of the dark days of Jerusalem–the day of the
- beginning of Nebuchadrezzar’s siege in the tenth month,
- the day of the capture of the city in the fourth month,
- the day of [the city’s] destruction in the fifth month
- and the day of [the murder of Israel’s Goveror Ga-dall-yah] in the seventh month. These are all referred to in Zec 8:19. (Eager; numbering added) (see note for a more through treatment)
Occasional public fasts were proclaimed in Israel, as among other peoples, in seasons of drought or public calamity. (Eager)
It appears according to Jewish accounts, that it was customary to hold them on the second and fifth days of the week, for the reason that Moses was believed to have gone up to Mt. Sinai on the fifth day of the week (Thursday) and to have come down on the second (Monday) (compare Didache, 8; Apostolical Constitutions,VIII , 23). (Eager)
In addition to these public solemnities, individuals were in the habit of imposing extra fasts upon themselves (e.g. Judith 8:6; Lu 2:37); and there were some among the Pharisees who fasted on the second and fifth days of the week all the year round (Lu 18:12; see Lightfoot, at the place). (Eager)
In the first century we see three pilgrimage festivals mandatory for of age males:
Jesus has even been accounted “the Founder and Example of the ascetic life” (Clem. Alex., Strom, III, 6). By questionable emphasis upon His “forty days’” fast, His abstinence from marriage and His voluntary poverty, some have reached the conclusion that complete renunciation of the things of the present was “the way of perfection according to the Saviour.” … Certainly Jesus’ mode of life is sharply differentiated in the Gospels, not only from that of the Pharisees, but also from that of John the Baptist [regarding self-denial …]. Jesus did not flee from the world, or eschew the amenities of social life. He contributed to the joyousness of a marriage feast, accepted the hospitality of rich and poor, permitted a vase of very precious ointment to be broken and poured upon His feet … . There is no evidence that He imposed upon Himself any unnecessary austerities. … His mode of life was, indeed, so non-ascetic as to bring upon Him the reproach of being “a gluttonous man and a winebibber” Mt 11:19; Lu 7:34. (Eager)
“Asceticism,” as Harnack says, “has no place in the gospel at all; what it asks is that we should struggle against Mammon, against care, against selfishness; what it demands and disengages is love–the love that serves and is self-sacrificing, and whoever encumbers Jesus’ message with any other kind of asceticism fails to understand it” (What is Christianity? 88). (Eager)
To the form of fasting [Jesus] attaches little importance, as is seen in the succeeding parables of the Old Garment and the Old Wine-skins. It will not do, He says, to graft the new liberty of the gospel on the body of old observances, and, yet more, to try to force the new system of life into the ancient molds. The new piety must manifest itself in new forms of its own making (Mt 9:16-17; Mr 2:21-22; Lu 5:36,38). Yet Jesus shows sympathy with the prejudices of the conservatives who cling to the customs of their fathers: “No man having drunk old vane desireth new; for he saith, The old is good.” But to the question, Was Jesus an ascetic? we are bound to reply, No. (Eager)
On the whole, unquestionably, the practice and teachings of the apostles and early Christians were in harmony with the example and teaching of the Master. But a tendency, partly innate, partly transmitted from Jewish legalism, and partly pagan, showed itself among their successors and gave rise to the Dominican order with its vows of povery [Eager: “Vita Religiosa” see note] and Dualism [emphasis on spirit against flesh theology] which found their fullest expression in Monasticism. (Eager)
In Mt 9:14-17 (parallel Mr 2:18-22; Lu 5:33-39) in reply to the question of the disciples of John and of the Pharisees, Jesus refuses to enjoin fasting. He says fasting, as a recognized sign of mourning, would be inconsistent with the joy which “the sons of the bride chamber” naturally feel while “the bridegroom is with them.” But, he adds, suggesting the true reason for fasting, that the days of bereavement will come, and then the outward expression of sorrow will be appropriate. Here, as in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sanctions fasting, without enjoining it, as a form through which emotion may spontaneously seek expression. His teaching on the subject may be summarized in the one word, subordination (DCG). (Eager)
Matthew 6:17-18
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Before the Lord’s ministry started
Matthew 4:2
And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
In worship before the Lord chose leaders; before their commission
Luke 2:37
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
The early church practices what we know to be Spiritual Disciplines.
Dallas Willard lists seven [8th added] spiritual disciplines that involve abstinence that have been practiced throughout the centuries:
^(Dallas Willard, from the chart of Timothy Ralston, with some slight editing; #8 added)^
Judges 20:26
Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
In confession also (possible from water too)
1 Samuel 7:6
So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.
To seek the Lord’s advice and help
2 Chronicles 20:3
Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
2 Samuel 1:12
And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
Jezebel’s evil plan
1 Kings 21:9
And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.
1 Kings 21:12
they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Ahab repented
1 Kings 21:27
And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
For safety from Babylon to Jerusalem
Ezra 8:21
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.
Esther going before the kind which was unlawful to the death
Esther 4:16
“Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Jonah 3:5
And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
Joel 2:12
Return to the Lord “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Jerusalem’s walls broken down
Nehemiah 1:4
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
it is not clear whether fasting is used in its religious significance or simply as a natural expression of sorrow. (Lewis)
The start of Purim: Festival of Lots (still celebrated)
Esther 9:31
that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting.
Psalm 35:13
But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
Isaiah illustrates how soon even the most outraged feelings of piety or patriotism may grow cold and formal. ‘Wherefore have we fasted and thou seest not?’ the exiled Jews cry in their captivity. We have humbled our souls, and thou takest no notice.’ Yahweh’s swift answer follows: `Because your fasting is a mere form! Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and oppress all your laborers’ (compare Isa 58:3; Expositor’s Bible, at the place). That is to say, so formal has your fasting grown that your ordinary selfish, cruel life goes on just the same. (Eager))
Isaiah 58:3-6
Zechariah 7:5
“Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted?
To be seen
Matthew 6:16
Fasting “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But we may readily assume that originally fasting was not based on the salutary influence which it exercised on the health of the subject. (Lewis)
It is in the discomfort that we experience closeness with God.
Three of these five fasts commemorate events leading to the downfall of the first commonwealth and the destruction of the first Temple, which is commemorated by the major fast of Tisha B’Av. …
The Fast of Gedaliah, Tishri 3, commemorates the killing of the Jewish governor of Judah, a critical event in the downfall of the first commonwealth.
The Fast of Tevet, Tevet 10, is the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem. It has also been proclaimed a memorial day for the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust.
The Fast of Esther, Adar 13, commemorates the three days that Esther fasted before approaching King Ahasuerus on behalf of the Jewish people. The fast is connected with Purim. …
The Fast of the Firstborn, Nissan 14, is a fast observed only by firstborn males, commemorating the fact that they were saved from the plague of the firstborn in Egypt. It is observed on the day preceding Passover.
The Fast of Tammuz, Tammuz 17, is the date when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, another major event leading up to the destruction of the First Temple." (Rich)
Eager, George B. “Abstinence.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Online ed., ed. James Orr, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1939, https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/A/abstinence.html.
Executive Committee of the Editorial Board, Julius H. Greenstone, et al. “FASTING AND FAST-DAYS.” Jewish Encyclopedia, https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6033-fasting-and-fast-days.
Isaacs, Ella Davis. “Feasts and Fasts.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia*, Online ed., ed. James Orr, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1939, https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/F/feasts-and-fasts.html.
Lewis, T. “Fast; Fasting.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Online ed., ed. James Orr, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1939, https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/F/fast-fasting.html.
OU Staff. “The Fast of Esther (13th of Adar).” Orthodox Union, February 13, 2014, https://www.ou.org/holidays/fast-esther-13th-adar/.
Rich, Tracey R. “Minor Fasts.” Judaism 101, https://www.jewfaq.org/holidaye.htm.
Robinson, Rich. “The Jewish Roots of the Feast of Pentecost.” Jews for Jesus, April 27 2021, https://jewsforjesus.org/blog/the-jewish-roots-of-the-feast-of-pentecost/.
Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines. Harper and Row, 1988, 156-192. as charted by Timothy Ralston. PM101 Spiritual Life. Class Notes, Dallas Theological Seminary, 62.
“Yom Kippur: History & Overview.” Jewish Virtual Library. September 30, 2014, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yom-kippur-history-and-overview