Duel in the Sinai

Matthew 4:1-11 “Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them: and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

The most well-known fast of the Bible is, of course, the fasting of Jesus for forty days and forty nights in the desert. It was a “duel” between Jesus and Satan, which began AFTER Jesus had fasted for forty days and forty nights. But there was a preparation necessary before He began this trek into the wilderness.

Matthew 3:15 “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 1:12-13 “And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered unto him.”

The Father Himself prepared Jesus for this journey into the wilderness, as He has also done for us, if we will only avail ourselves of this provision. ** [See Footnote at end of posting.]

But why was the fast necessary in the first place?

I believe there were two or three possible reasons:

I think it was a testing ground for one thing. Jesus was tested in all things as we are. We are often allowed small testings by the Father, before we are tested in greater things, all in preparation for ministry.

Jesus Himself, had an intense ministry ahead of him, compacted into three and ½ short years. His first testing was a large one right off the bat, necessarily so, in light of the short span of time allowed for his ministry. The Father’s plan to provide a spotless Lamb for one final and everlasting sacrifice to atone for the sins of His creation (us!), could have been easily thwarted if Jesus had yielded to the tempter here in the desert. If Jesus could be turned away from the work of the Father in this very vulnerable time of hunger, weakness, and isolation, He could certainly be turned away from the greater work to be done on the cross.

I think there was also a second purpose, and that is that the fast in itself was a time set aside by God (since it what the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness in the first place) in order to cause the flesh of Jesus to be quieted or subdued, for a purpose. Jesus was, after all, human as we are. His flesh cried out to be satisfied as often as our does. But when we fast, we take our eyes off the distractions of the world, especially the clamoring of our own flesh, in order to see and hear more clearly from God.

In a fast, we force our body to be humbled and deprived of the things that it clamors for all the time, allowing our spiritual “body” to grow in strength. When, through fasting, we draw nearer to God (more easily done through a fast), God promises to draw near to us in return, thereby renewing us and strengthening us: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Cor. 4:16

And finally, I believe the purpose for the fast of Jesus or the quieting of His flesh (quieting – because after the first three days of a fast hunger goes away to return only at a much later date, the flesh then is “quiet” until the later return of "loud and screaming" hunger), was in order for Jesus to receive direction from the Father regarding His ministry, in order to clearly hear all that the Father had to say to Him.

The Word from God through Isaiah rebuked those who fasted for the wrong purposes or for show only, and spoke of the things to be accomplished through the fast when done properly, which was direction for ministry that would increase the kingdom of God:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter…when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” Isaiah 58:6-7 [Note: recall also that Paul went away for three years to hear from God before beginning his ministry.]

And what is our reward for fasting according to the manner that God has prescribed?

Isaiah 58:8-9 “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then shall you call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.”

Just as Jesus did not take that journey into the wilderness alone, neither are we to go it alone. For even though He appeared to be isolated, cut off from civilization, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit was with Him, sustaining Him, providing the strength that allowed Jesus in such a weakened state to push through to victory, even under the duress of 40 days and 40 nights of fasting. That is what makes this victory so amazing! He didn’t go into battle on his own strength, in fact, he had very little strength at all by the time the battle began. We see that He was not hungry for 40 days; it was only AFTER the 40 days that He became hungry, and THEN the enemy came against Him to tempt Him. But we know He had to be weak physically, and therefore, in a vulnerable state….the favorite hunting ground of the enemy….vulnerability.

Jesus allowed Himself to be weak, weaker than the enemy, in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but He knew better than us, that His own strength would not be necessary.

He proved for us what can be done by the Word of God AND the power of the Holy Spirit.

We sometimes go forth both in prayer and in deed to do battle for the Lord, but without the Lord! The enemy then tempts us, and we are led astray into sin, all because we have allowed ourselves to become vulnerable without the protection of the Lord.

This is a good thing to remember before we attempt a fasting prayer. We must not go into that state of vulnerability, even if we are vulnerable only for a day or one meal, without the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to sustain us, or else it will not only be for nothing, as there will be no gain, but we are vulnerable to be tempted into sin, as Jesus was tempted, but did not sin.

James tells us to “Resist the devil, and he will flee.” Most of us remember that scripture well, but most of us also forget the first and most extremely important part of that same scripture. (Partial scripture is a well-used ply of the enemy!) Here is the entire scripture:

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

If we have not submitted ourselves to God (which I call repenting of sin, being filled with the Holy Spirit, and then walking in obedience) then we might attempt to resist the enemy in our own strength, but we are guaranteed to fail, if not in the battle, then in the war.

The lesson to be learned from the fast of Jesus Christ?

WE CAN DO NOTHING WITHOUT GOD...NOT WITHOUT HIS WORD AND NOT WITHOUT HIS SPIRIT!

** Footnote: See Acts 2:1-4. The Holy Spirit “appeared like” a dove above the head of Jesus, and as tongues of fire above the heads of the 120 followers of Christ prayerfully and expectantly gathered together in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. It would be interesting to know why it was the dove over the head of Jesus and the tongues of fire over the disciples, although the tongues of fire must also in some way be significant of the actual “foreign languages” the disciples spoke on the Day of Pentecost and beyond. Still, why the dove over Jesus and not the same tongues of fire? Why didn’t the disciples have a dove instead of fire? It seems to imply that they were different. This is something to prayerfully consider, asking the Holy Spirit to help in our understanding.