6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6
The beatitudes began with the spiritually poor who longed for a place in God’s Kingdom. Next, those who mourn were promised comfort. Then meekness, the outward actions of a humble heart, built upon the previous beatitudes, promising the inheritance of the earth. Now, there is a deep longing for righteousness that drives the Kingdom seeker to set aside basic needs of food and water to beg God for His intervention.
Fasting was well-known in Bible times, especially when the nation faced calamity. The account of Esther comes to mind when Haman designed plans to wipe the Jews off the face of the planet once and for all. Esther sent word to her guardian, Mordecai, to call a fast of food and water for three days, so that God’s justice might intervene to save His people.
Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. 14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. 17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him. Esther 4:13-17
Miraculously, God did intervene. Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. The King permitted the Jews to fight back against their enemies, and Mordecai replaced Haman as the King’s right-hand man. The Jews still celebrate this victory with the Feast of Purim every year.
Aside from Esther’s account, the book of Jonah demonstrates God’s mercy on a notoriously wicked nation after the king of Ninevah called for a fast for even the animals. Their fast also asked God to intervene, not for what they rightfully deserved, but to spare them from the judgment they deserved.
So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. 6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. Jonah 3:5-10
Much to the prophet Jonah’s disappointment, God did intervene with mercy upon the Ninevites. He spared them from the destruction He had promised for a few more generations. Jonah’s account reminds us that God’s mercy falls on anyone who will ask Him for it, whether Jew or Gentile, whether righteous or wicked.
From both of these accounts, those who set aside their body’s needs in a fast to seek God’s intervention found fulfillment of their greatest needs. God answered their requests beyond what they could have even known to ask. In God’s Kingdom, Jesus teaches that His people do not find satisfaction in seeking to fulfill their own bodily needs. It is by setting aside earthly needs to seek Him alone that God supplies the need. Strong’s Concordance notes that “shall be filled” does not mean just enough to satisfy. Rather, it means “to gorge.” God will supply more than one can enjoy in one sitting. It means an abundant supply.
Whether one is in desperate need of God’s mercy and forgiveness or in need of God’s intervention in crisis, laying aside earthly desires to seek Him alone is key to the abundant supply God has promised. Those who desire Him above anything this world has to offer will find fulfillment beyond anything they could ever have thought to ask for. Once again, Jesus’s Kingdom inverts human ideas of power and prestige. Give up your “rights” to gain His abundance.
Below, find the pdf for this week’s study questions. Also, the video link for last week’s answers will be posted, as well. Blessings, my friends!
His Song in the Night 