Leaks and darts
Have you ever had a slow leak in a tire? The tire will require frequent air added, or it will completely deflate. Or, when it rains, water finds its way to your basement and you can’t find out where it is seeping from. Something breached your tire or basement wall, causing something unwanted to come in or your goods to go out. Breaches occur in our material world, but also in our emotional and spiritual world. In our emotional world, a breach would come as a thought or an influence. The bible tells us that Satan throws at us fiery darts (Eph. 6:16), and these darts, if they are not blocked, can breach our souls. Satan put the thought in Judas to betray Jesus after the last supper ended (Jh. 13:2). The heart of Judas was gradually breached until his fall. Breaches in our physical world are easier to repair than those done to our emotional and spiritual world.
Isaiah 58:12
12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
It takes one individual to take an interest in starting the repair of the breach. Ezekiel tells us that God is looking for one person to stand in the breach (Ez. 22:30). Because the people were in sin and would be destroyed by God, Moses had to stand in the breach. Isaiah gives us insight on how the breach is repaired, and that is through fasting. Fasting is the weapon we use when repairing the emotional and spiritual breaches. For example, a father brought his little boy to the disciples so that they could heal him of a demon, but they could not. When Jesus came down from the mountain after being transfigured, he cast the demon out. The disciples asked him why they could not cast him out, and Jesus told them that the demon could only come out through prayer and fasting (Mr. 9:28-29). The religious people of Israel made it a ritual to fast. They afflicted their souls, but did not change how they treated their neighbors (Is. 58:3-4).
God outlines the purpose of fasting in the prophet’s writings. He said that fasting is for breaking the chains of injustice, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the homeless. In other words, fasting repairs the breaches in other people’s lives as well as in ours. When we fast, though, our souls get grieved, and our bodies and spirits are benefited. For example, when we fast, Isaiah says that our light will break out like the dawn; we shine God’s goodness, our healing will appear more quickly, the Lord will guard your rear (v8), he will hear your prayers (v9), God will strengthen you (v11), and you will be like a well watered garden (11).
Ephesians 6:16
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
John 13:2
2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;
Ezekiel 22:30
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Mark 9:28-29
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Isaiah 58:3-4
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.