Jewish Hypocrisy, Chapter 2
CAP. II.
1. The ſeventh of Zachary opened, with many other Scriptures which ſhew the grounds of their appointing Faſts. 2. Gods ſlighting of them. 3. Which diſcovers this was one of the ineffectual courſes they took to appeaſe him, though they were very ceremonious in this performance. 4. Under which miſtake the world ſtill labours. 5. The true ends and uſes of Faſting are diſcourſed of, in regard to the time paſt. 6. And to the time to come. 7. And to the time preſent. 8. Which we ought ſeriouſly to mind.
1. AND you ſhall find both the one and the other of theſe inſiſted upon in the ſeventh Chapter of the Prophet Zachary, out of which I will take the foundation and groundwork of my enſuing diſcourſe. For the underſtanding of which, you muſt remember how God for their ſins had forſaken his houſe, and left his heritage, and given the dearly beloved of his ſoul into the hand of their enemies, as Jeremiah ſpeaks, cap. 12.7. Theſe enemies were the Chaldeans, whoſe Prince Nebuchadnezzar God had raiſed up for to deſtroy many Nations, and among the reſt Judea; the people of which he carried captive unto Babylon, after he had burnt their chief City and the Temple of the Lord with fire. In conſideration of which calamities, thoſe Captives appointed certain Faſts to be kept at ſome ſet times in the year, both as ſad commemorations of the ruine that God had brought by ſundry ſteps upon them, and as a means to atone him, and procure his return to them. In the Law of Moſes we read but of one Faſt commanded by God to his people, which was in the ſame monethmonth with one of theſe that I am going to mention; viz. on the tenth day of the ſeventh monethmonth, as you may find, Lev. 16.29, 31. Lev. 23.27, &c. This is the time mentioned by Saint Luke, Act. 27.9. when he ſaith the Faſt was paſt, and ſo ſailing was become dangerous, i.e. it was about that time that we call Michaelmas, when great flaws uſe to be upon the Seas, which makes them rough and tempeſtuous. It is called by Philo foreign,L. de Sept. & feſtis. the Feaſt of the Faſt, and the Sabbath of Sabboths. The neglect, or rather hypocritical obſervance of which Sabbath, or day of reſt, is reproved very ſharply in the 58. of Iſaiah through the whole Chapter. Where by Sabbath, verſ. 13. is to be underſtood this faſting day, on the tenth day of the ſeventh monethmonth, and not the ſeventh day of the week, as will appear to him that will take the pains to compare that Chapter, with thoſe places in Leviticus juſt now cited. But as there were many occaſional Faſts which private men kept as they had need; and as there was no monethmonth in the year (if we may believe the Hebrew Calendar) wherein they did not obſerve ſome ſtated Faſts in remembrance of ſome ſad things that had befaln that Nation in former times; and as the ſecond and fifth dayes of every week were Faſting dayes for Religious perſons (which the Phariſee boaſts that he obſerved, Luke 18.12.) So in conformity to this uſual practice, their Rulers did appoint four Faſts to be ſolemnly obſerved every year, which are all mentioned together, Zach. 8.19. and were in remembrance (as both antient and modern, Chriſtian and Jewiſh Interpreters conjecture) of ſo many ſeveral remarkables in their ruine. The Faſt of the fourth monethmonth was in memory of the firſt breach made in the wall of Jeruſalem by the Chaldeans, of which we read, Jer. 52.6, &c. The Faſt of the fifth in memory of the burning of the Temple, which in that monethmonth happened, (Jer. 52.12.) as the burning of the ſecond Temple by Titus did alſo. That of the ſeventh was in memory of the ſlaughter of Gedaliah by Iſmael, of which we read, Jer. 41. And that of the tenth was either in memory of the beginning of the ſiege, which proved to be ſo fatal to them, which fell out to be in that monethmonth, 2 King. 25.1. Jer. 52.3. Ezek. 24.1, 2. or elſe becauſe in that monethmonth Ezekiel and they of the firſt captivity had the news brought to them that Jeruſalem was taken, Ezek. 33.21. For I take it to be very frivolous which ſome of the Jews ſay, that the Faſt of the fourth monethmonth was kept, becauſe in it Moſes broke the Tables of ſtone; and the Faſt of the fifth, becauſe in it they were prohibited to go from Kadeſh-Barnea, which was the ſhorteſt way to the Land of Canaan, &c. There being no reaſon then for to be given, why they ſhould not have been ſtill obſerved, after they came out of captivity; whereas the people were in doubt (as we ſhall ſee preſently) whether they ſhould keep theſe Faſts any longer. But before I paſs any further, it will not be amiſs to take notice on what places in the Law they built this practice. And you read in Numb. 10.9. that if they were going to war with an enemy that oppreſſed them, they are bid to blow an alarm with Trumpets, and God would remember to ſave them. This they underſtand to be a command for proclaiming a Faſt, and calling Aſſemblies (See Joel 2.15.) that they might humble themſelves when they were in diſtreſs, and turn Gods wrath away from them. And then becauſe it is ſaid, Levit. 26.40. that in the Land of their captivity they ſhould confeſs their ſins, and the ſins of their forefathers, they concluded (as Ainſworth there obſerves out of Maimony) that they ought to humble themſelves on certain dayes of the year, for the ſins and miſeries of their fore-fathers, as well as their own; and ſo they appointed theſe Faſts which are here mentioned in Zachary for that purpoſe.
2. Now the people being returned out of that captivity after ſeventy years humiliation, they ſent their meſſengers to the Prieſts, to enquire whether they ſhould keep the Faſt of the fifth monethmonth any longer,Zach. 7. ver. 2, 3. And they not being able, it ſeems, to reſolve the Queſtion, came to this Prophet, as you may gather from ver. 5. where he ſpeaks not only to all the people, but the Prieſts alſo, in Anſwer to this enquiry. The reaſon why they make mention of that Faſt only among all the four, was this; becauſe the building of the Temple was now in hand, in memory of whoſe deſtruction, this Faſt (as hath been ſaid) was obſerved; and ſo they might well think that the cauſe of that mourning was ceaſed, and they had reaſon rather to rejoyce. But before the Prophet comes to determine the caſe, and to tell them, that the dayes ſhould ſtill be obſerved, only with a change of them from Faſts into Feaſts (as it is chap. 8.19.) he gives them to underſtand what a true Faſt is, leſt afterwards their dayes of mirth ſhould be to no better purpoſe then their dayes of ſorrow; and leſt they ſhould think that ſuch humbling of themſelves had purchaſed their deliverance. And he tells them plainly, that they were much miſtaken, if they imagined that God had been ſerved by them in the fifth or ſeventh monethmonth either, any better then by their fore-fathers, whoſe Faſting is in the fore-mentioned place (Iſa. 58.) undervalued and ſlighted, as unworthy of his leaſt regard. And this he doth in the fifth verſe, and thoſe that follow, wherein he grants, that they had indeed obſerved many dayes of humiliation, but yet abſolutely denies that they had in the leaſt done him any pleaſure, or ſatisfied any of his deſires. When ye faſted and mourned in the fifth and ſeventh monethmonth, even thoſe ſeventy years, did ye at all faſt unto me, even unto me? or as it is in the Hebrew foreign did you faſt your faſt to me, I ſay to me? which is a phraſe like that in Hag. 1.4. foreign is it a time for you, I ſay for you (who are newly delivered by me) to dwell in your ſeiled houſes, and this houſe lie waſte? So here, did you faſt to me, I ſay to me, who have often declared to you, that I care not for theſe outward performances, unleſs they be accompanyed with the hearty forſaking of ſin? Sure you cannot think it was foreign or foreign (as Aben-Ezra interprets it) becauſe of me, for my ſake, for my glory, or to do any thing really pleaſing unto me. Did I command any ſuch Faſt as this unto you? (for ſo it may be rendred, by putting foreign before foreign) who bid you faſt on this faſhion? When you did eat and drink (as it is ver. 6.) did you any thing elſe but ſatisfie your ſelves therein? The ſame kind of action is your faſting, and I am no more pleaſed with it, then with your eating and drinking. If you had beſtowed your time the quite contrary way, it had been as gratefull to me, as all your faſting dayes. This is the ſenſe of the Prophets ſharp anſwer, which being propoſed by way of queſtion, is a moſt peremptory and undenyable aſſertion, that they had not pleaſed him but themſelves, with all their labour; for he appeals to their own conſciences, and makes them Judges in the caſe. Do you your ſelves now tell me (ſaith God) in your own ſober thoughts, whether you can believe that not eating, weeping, howling, and ſuch like things, are faſting unto me? No, you have been told often enough of this, and it is not the firſt time that you have been informed of your duty in this particular. Nunquid non ſunt verba quae locutus eſt Dominus, &c. (as the vulgar renders thoſe words, ver. 7. out of the Hebrew) Are not theſe the words which the Lord hath cryed by the former Prophets, when Jeruſalem was inhabited, and in her proſperity? Have not I told your Fathers by all my ſervants, while you were in this Land, before your captivity, that ſuch kind of ſervice is not acceptable to me? And yet you their children are in the ſame miſtake, and come confidently to me, telling me of your performing that, which I alwayes upbraided them withall. Methinks your own hearts ſhould reprove you, and ſpare me a labour of giving you any further anſwer.
3. By which you clearly ſee, that this was one of the ineffectual courſes that their ſick Nation took for their recovery, viz. outward faſting and abſtinence from food, whereby they much afflicted themſelves. Very ſevere and rigorous they were in this thing, ſo that they refrained not only from the delicacies, but all the ordinary refreſhments of nature. And ſo punctual and nice they were in theſe auſterities, that they tell us, to the afflicting of the ſoul (by which phraſe the great Faſt is deſcribed, Lev. 16.) there were four things required beſide forbearing all their food, viz. abſtaining from and laying aſide their bathes, their ointments, their wives, and their ſhooes; i. e. every thing which might be a pleaſure and delight to their bodies. And theſe may ſeem to be included in that phraſe, ver. 3. of the 7. of Zach. Shall I weep in the fifth monethmonth (foreign) ſeparating my ſelf as I have done theſe many years? So ſerious they were, and ſcrupulous in this matter, that they thought they could not in conſcience leave off theſe exerciſes, till they knew Gods mind about it. Would not we have taken them for very pious folks? Would they not have paſſed among us for perſons of a very tender conſcience? And yet the Lord tells them, that if they had taken their repaſt, followed their callings, annointed their heads, done as they uſed at other times, they had equally given him content, and found as much acceptance with him, who looked for other kind of faſting, as the Prophet tells us, in the 9, 10, 11. ver. of the ſame Chapter. As a Phyſitian keeps his patient to a thin diet, and takes his ordinary food from his table, that he may ſtarve the ill humors; ſo did they think to work a cure upon their ſouls, and by meer faſting from corporal food, to make them well; Not conſidering that the faſt of the ſoul conſiſts in an abſtinence from thoſe things that are hurtfull to it, as the faſt of the body is the forbearance of ſuch meats as feed its diſeaſes.foreign. in cap. 58. Iſa. When their enemies were upon them (ſaith Procopius) they thought by bodily faſting to pacifie God, and make him favourable to them; abſtaining from meat, but not from ſpiritual wickedneſs. And ſo all their ſeverities amounted to a labour about nothing, becauſe whileſt they would not for a world touch a bit of bread, they ſwallowed any unlawful gains, they tore the fleſh, and gnawed the very bones of the poor, as ſhall be manifeſted, before I leave their ſtory. While they would not moiſten their mouthes with a ſip of drink, they drunk in iniquity like water, and were filled with it to a ſtrange exceſs, and it broke out like a ſore diſeaſe. While they pined their bodies, they ſuffered their luſts, the body of ſin, to be fat and wellliking. While they took down their fleſh, and made their faces look thin; that which the Scripture calls fleſh, was luſty and ſtrong, pampered and high fed. Their Pride was not ſtarved, their big and ambitious thoughts were not taken down; their inordinate, covetous deſires were not impaired; their luxurious appetites were not retrenched; nothing that was unreaſonable in them was paired off, moderated or abated: No, all ſorts of ſins were never more nouriſhed and made more hungry and ravenous, then when faſting and its concomitants could in groſs the name and reputation of Religion to themſelves. And ſo their Faſts were to no more purpoſe (not being thus deſigned) then if they had been feeding their corps with a plenty of more then ordinary cheer.
4. I need not tell you that the world hath ever ſince made uſe of the ſame remedy, as a cure for all their ſurfets of ſin and wickedneſs. As the Maſter many times ſins, and his Man ſuffers for it; ſo do men uſe their bodies, beating them with faſting and hunger, as if they were in the fault, and not their ſouls. This preſent generation hath been ſo laborious and zealous in their publick and private, their weekly and monethly humiliations; that few ages can parallel them, either in ſins, or ſuch kind of ſorrows. We have blown the trumpet ſo loudly, and proclaimed Faſts ſo frequently, that we have made the world ring of them, and heaven (I fear) deaf with them. Seeing we intended no more by them, then what the Jews performed, they have proved but like the vulgar medicines which people take from their neighbours in bodily diſeaſes, that leave them as ſick as they were before, if not in a far worſe condition. Men ſin ſtill at ſuch an height, and grow ſo confident in it, that any judicious perſon may diſcern, they are grown more ſick by their remedies, and like to die by their Religion. They could not be more licentious and intemperate in their deſires then they are, if they had done all this pennance on purpoſe to purchaſe a licence to live as they liſt. And having their hearts ſo leavened with Jewiſh ſuperſtition, they had as good have gone and made a feaſt, invited their neighbours, and paſſed that time away merrily, which they ſpent only upon a ſad ceremony. For if we conſider the meer ſimple act either of the one, or the other of theſe things, they have no goodneſs in them: but as they are deſigned by us to certain purpoſes which are good, ſo they become acts of Religion.
5. And then faſting from food is good and profitable, when it works upon our ſouls, as Phyſick doth upon our bodies, purging out the foul humours, making us clean, and rendring us fit for action and employment. And firſt in reſpect of the time paſt, it is to be uſed as an act of ſorrow and grief for our ingratitude; and our emptineſs ſhould make us feel, that all our mercies come from Gods fulneſs. It ſhould teſtifie our anger and diſpleaſure againſt our ſelves, and be an act of revenge upon our ſelves for the abuſe of thoſe good things which God hath given us leave to feed on to our refreſhment, but which we have fatted our ſelves withall to an exceſſive fulneſs and wantonneſs. We ſhould make it an expreſſion of our repentance, and diſclaiming of our former courſes; an acknowledgement that we deſerve not a mouth full of meat, but rather to have our daily bread taken from our tables, and not ſo much as the ſcraps and fragments of that plenteous proviſion left behind, which God bleſſes our Tables withall. And when it looks back with ſuch an auſtere countenance upon our inordinate enjoyments; when it confeſſes our unworthineſs, chides our unthankfulneſs, afflicts and chaſtiſes us for our former follies; then there is ſome good in it, and this ſoure ſauce may make us hereafter reliſh all divine bleſſings better. But this is not all the good it muſt do us; for if we return again to our former courſe, it is but a mock-repentance, and a gluttonous abſtinence. For it is nothing but fulneſs, that makes ſome men faſt; and their faſting doth but prepare them for the greater fulneſs.
6. And therefore ſecondly, in regard of the time to come, it is to be an act of mortification, deſigned to the ſtarving and pining of our luſts; to the cutting off their proviſion, and withdrawing of their nouriſhment; to the learning of ſobriety and temperate living; to the practiſing of ſelf-denyal in our appetites, and croſſing our own deſires; and in ſhort, to the bringing the body into ſubjection, by taking away its provender, if it be an unruly beaſt that will not be governed. And ſo it is not a buſineſs of a day, or whoſe efficacy reaches but till night; but it hath a deſign upon the whole life, wherein we are to abſtain as carefully from all exceſs in pleaſures, yea from all ſin, as we do on that day from all our food. To this, that of the Father's doth moſt truly accord, who calls faſting foreign, a ſymbol of death; it being that which tends to the deſtruction of the body, and the taking away of its life. It ſhould not only ſignifie that we are dying to all earthly things, but it ought to be an inſtrument of death, to take away the life of our luſts. And when it is ſo uſed, as not to be a whet-ſtone to ſharpen our ſtomacks againſt the next meal; but to be a knife to cut and ſlaſh off all the immoderation of our appetites, to wound and kill all our ſins; it is a thing very acceptable to God, and hugely ſerviceable to our ſouls. But let us here note two things, Firſt, that it is to be uſed, not only to the mortifying of ſome, but of all our luſts and carnal affections. If we would faſt holily and purely, we muſt foreign,In Iſa. 58.3. as Cyril of Alexandria ſpeaks; relinquiſh and depart from our own wills, to chuſe that which is pleaſing to God, and to yield a neck moſt gentle, tractable and eaſily reined by his commands. We muſt withdraw the food of our appetites after vain glory and the praiſe of men, as well as after pleaſures and fleſhly entertainments. The ſwoln deſires of honours and great heaps of worldly wealth muſt be diminiſhed, no leſs then the intemperate cravings of the ſtomack, and the lower belly. We muſt make it an inſtrument to dull and blunt the edge of all our inordinate longings, and to fix ſuch deadning conſiderations in us, as may take us quite off from pleaſing our ſelves. So Clemens Alex. obſerves, that a Chriſtian knows very well the ſecret meaning and enigmatical ſenſe of faſting upon the fourth and ſixth dayes of the week, viz. Wedneſday and Friday, which are called after the names of Mercury and Venus, (the Heathen Governors of Merchants and Lovers) foreign.L. 7. Strom. He thereupon learns to faſt through his whole life, from covetouſneſs and voluptuouſneſs. The choice of thoſe dayes, was to give him this ſecret document and remembrance, that he ſhould pine and waſte away his greedy deſires of riches and pleaſures, from whence ſpring all manner of evils. And indeed it is one excellent end of a Faſt, if we intend thereby to enable our ſelves to exerciſe charity to the poor, and to give in Alms to them, what we deny to our ſelves. It is a ſad thing if the Divine nature cannot teach us Chriſtians ſo much tenderneſs, as good nature taught ſome Heathens. The people of Rhegium, Aelian. L. 5. var. hiſt. cap. 20.when their neighbours of Tarentum were beſieged by the Romans, faſted every tenth day, and ſent thoſe victuals to them, which they ſhould have eaten themſelves; in memory of which a Feaſt called foreign, or, the Faſt, was ever after celebrated by them when their Town was relieved. A rare example of kindneſs, ſcarce now to be matched, which made me think good here to inſert it. But beſide, a Chriſtian (as Clemens alſo obſerves) faſts not only according to the Law, foreign, from all evil actions; but according to the perfection of the Goſpel, foreign, from all wicked thoughts and imaginations. Theſe dayes give him notice, what he is to do every day of his life; and the Goſpel faſt is ſo ſtrict, that it will not let an evil thought or affection have its daily food, though they never grow ſo ſtrong as to beget any evil actions: But it ſubſtracts their nouriſhment, and intends their mortification, and puts the ſoul upon cutting off all thoſe luxuriances and excreſcencies, of which a ſprouting fancy is apt to be guilty, which no body obſerves. In ſhort,foreign. Orat. 2. de jeju. it is as Saint Baſil hath defined it, an alienation and eſtrangement of the ſoul from all evil. But then (ſecondly) you muſt further note, that the uſe of it is to learn our appetites to feed upon ſpiritual things, upon God and all his holy truths. When the ſoul is at liberty from its attendance upon the neceſſities of the body, it ſhould ſtir up its own hunger, and ſatisfie it ſelf with its own proper nutriment. When it is not the palates Taſter, it ſhould labour ſo to taſte and reliſh the ſweetneſs of its own food, that ever after it may have a longing for it, and obſerve ſet times for its own repaſt. And ſo the bodies faſt, ſhould be the ſouls feſtival, wherein it not only relieves and refreſhes it ſelf for that preſent, but affects its palate alſo with ſuch a delicious ſavour of Gods holy commands, that they ſeem ſweeter then the honey and the honey-comb, and make the ſoul break for the longing that it hath unto thoſe judgements at all times.
7. Thirdly, In reſpect of the time preſent, faſting is an help to ſelf-examination, prayer, and holy meditation, and ſo it is to be uſed. It frees the mind from clouds and obſcure vapors, it ſets it at liberty from bodily mixtures and interpoſals, that it may altogether attend upon its own buſineſs and concernments, foreign,In Eclog. ſaith the forementioned Clemens. Faſting voids and diſcharges the ſoul of that matter which clogs its ſpirits, and renders it pure and clear, light and cheerful, together with the body in heavenly employments. We cannot at the ſame time eats, and drink, and taſte pleaſant things,Porphyr. l. 1. foreign. foreign, and be conſervant with things ſeparate from all matter, and that are within the knowledge of the mind only, as a Philoſopher could determine. And therefore it may be to very good purpoſe to abſtain from our daily food, that thereby our ſouls being lightened and exonerated of that dull heavy matter which oppreſſes them, they more freely and clearly mind their own moſt proper objects, which are perfectly ſpiritual. When there is this univerſal intendment in our faſting, it becomes of excellent uſe and ſingular advantage to us, and it may deſerve all thoſe great names which Ephraim Syrus beſtows upon it, The chariot to heaven, the raiſer of Prophets, the teacher of Laws and Wiſdom, the cuſtody of the ſoul, the ſecure companion of the body, with many more too long to be recited. But when we underſtand no more by it then the Phariſees did, who faſted indeed twice every week, but were ſtill full of covetouſneſs, rapine and exceſs, we ſhall be ſo far from being able by it foreign, (as Baſil ſpeaks) to make our excuſe to God, that we ſhall the more accuſe our ſelves, and become very loathſom things to him, with all this kind of Religion. For this is not the Faſt which God hath choſen, to pinch and uſe our bodies unkindly for a day.
8. And yet alas! who is there that makes his faſting ſerve for any other matters, but the ends of his reputation, or ſilence of conſcience.Orat. 1. de jejun. I may take up the complaint of Saint Baſil in one of his Sermons. Thou eateſt no fleſh, but thou devoureſt thy brother; thou abſtaineſt from wine, but thou art full of violence and wrong. Wo to them that are drunk, but not with wine. Anger is a drunkenneſs of the ſoul, and makes it beſide it ſelf: And ſo is ſorrow, which drowns and drinks up the underſtanding: And ſo is fear, which quite takes away the ſpirits: And ſo is every other paſſion, which is foreign, and puts the ſoul out of its truly natural temper. Faſt therefore from all theſe; for if thou ſtill retaineſt thy ſins, thou doſt but pour thy tears into a tub with holes (as Ephraim Syrus ſpeaks in this caſe) and loſeſt all thy labour, as well as thy reward.