Second 40 day fast
During this SECOND – 40 Day Fasting we are coming together in Unity and Oneness. He’s calling us as a Body of Christ for the Nation coming together as One Voice and Hearing Voice of the Lord. We are so excited that you have decided to join us as we hear from the Lord, and cry out as one body of our Lord Jesus Christ. Each day we will be posting a prayer focus. We would love to hear your comments on what God is speaking to you, in your season and in your nation. What we will begin to see, is that there will be one voice and one sound heard going forth across the nations.
Mark 1:11 - 13
2nd 40 Day Fast – In the Wilderness – Tested by the Wild beast – Tempted by Satan
And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth into the wilderness.
JESUS TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12,13; Luke 4:1-13
The Number 3 & 40
The number 3 biblically represents divine wholeness, completeness and perfection. If there ever was a desire to highlight an idea, thought, event or noteworthy figure in the Bible for their prominence, the number 3 was used to put a divine stamp of completion or fulfillment on the subject.
Mentioning 146 times in Scripture, the number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation. During Moses' life he lived forty years in Egypt and forty years in the desert before God selected him to lead his people out of slavery.
Moses was also on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights, on two separate occasions (Exodus 24:18, 34:1 - 28), receiving God's laws. He also sent spies, for forty days, to investigate the land God promised the Israelites as an inheritance (Numbers 13:25, 14:34).
The prophet Jonah powerfully warned ancient Nineveh, for forty days, that its destruction would come because of its many sins. The prophet Ezekiel laid on His right side for 40 days to symbolize Judah's sins (Ezekiel 4:6).
Jesus was tempted in every way known to man in these three trials. The Apostle John placed all sins in three categories when he wrote his epistle to the early New Testament Church. He wrote,
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:14-18)
All sins fall into these three categories, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Here is how the temptation of Jesus and the teachings of John go together.
Being obedient to God is not easy.
Many things in life can pull us away from following the Lord. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ obedience to His Father. This faithfulness was founded upon his knowledge and use of the scripture.
2nd 40 Day Fast – In the Wilderness – Tested by the Wild beast – Tempted by Satan
And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth into the wilderness.
JESUS TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12,13; Luke 4:1-13
- And straightway. Just after his baptism, with the glow of the descended Spirit still upon him, and the commending voice of the Father still ringing in his ears, Jesus is rushed into the suffering of temptation. Thus abrupt and violent are the charges of life. The spiritually exalted may expect these sharp contrasts. After being in the third heaven, Paul had a messenger of Satan to buffet him (2 Corinthians 12:7).
- The Spirit driveth him forth. The two expressions "driveth" and "led" (Matthew 4:1; Luke 4:1) show that Jesus was drawn to the wilderness by an irresistible impulse, and did not go hither of his own volition (Ezekiel 40:2). He was brought into temptation, but did not seek it. He was led of God into temptation, but he was not tempted of God. God may bring us into temptation (Matthew 6:13; Matthew 26:41; Job 1:12; Job 2:6), and may make temptation a blessing unto us, tempering it to our strength, and making us stronger by the victory over it (1 Corinthians 10:13; James 1:2,12), but God himself never tempts us (James 1:13).
- Into the wilderness. The wilderness sets in back of Jericho and extends thence along the whole western shore of the Dead Sea. The northern end of this region is in full view from the Jordan as one looks westward, and a more desolate and forbidding landscape it would be hard to find. It is vain to locate the temptation in any particular part of it. Jesus may have wandered about over nearly all of it
The Number 3 & 40
The number 3 biblically represents divine wholeness, completeness and perfection. If there ever was a desire to highlight an idea, thought, event or noteworthy figure in the Bible for their prominence, the number 3 was used to put a divine stamp of completion or fulfillment on the subject.
Mentioning 146 times in Scripture, the number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation. During Moses' life he lived forty years in Egypt and forty years in the desert before God selected him to lead his people out of slavery.
Moses was also on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights, on two separate occasions (Exodus 24:18, 34:1 - 28), receiving God's laws. He also sent spies, for forty days, to investigate the land God promised the Israelites as an inheritance (Numbers 13:25, 14:34).
The prophet Jonah powerfully warned ancient Nineveh, for forty days, that its destruction would come because of its many sins. The prophet Ezekiel laid on His right side for 40 days to symbolize Judah's sins (Ezekiel 4:6).
Jesus was tempted in every way known to man in these three trials. The Apostle John placed all sins in three categories when he wrote his epistle to the early New Testament Church. He wrote,
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:14-18)
All sins fall into these three categories, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Here is how the temptation of Jesus and the teachings of John go together.
- Lust of the flesh – “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
- Lust of the eyes – “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
- Pride of life – “Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down.’
Being obedient to God is not easy.
Many things in life can pull us away from following the Lord. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ obedience to His Father. This faithfulness was founded upon his knowledge and use of the scripture.
| Three 40 Day Fasts |
