This painting, called Ministering Angel, has to do with the account in the Book of Matthew of the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and being tempted by Satan. Today, some people observe Lent, a forty day period which begins around Ash Wednesday and ends before or after Good Friday, depending on various traditions. During this period, some people give up certain foods, drinks (soda, alcohol), etc. While Lent is not mentioned in the Bible, and was a tradition created by the Church to encourage people’s remembrance of this time in the life of Jesus, it is based on the biblical practice of fasting, which comes out of ancient Jewish law and tradition. There are many accounts of people fasting in the Bible, anywhere from one day to forty days (Moses on three separate occasions while he was receiving the Law, Jesus preceding the commencement of his ministry, and the Prophet Elijah).
People fast today for a variety of reasons: before a medical procedure, to cleanse and heal their bodies, to lose weight, clear their mind, slow the aging process, and for spiritual reasons. On the spiritual, fasting brings a person closer to God and allows for revelation more clearly than in a non-fasting state. Many Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Rastafarian, Baha’i and Mormon adherents practice fasting. A biblical fast can be a full fast (liquids only) or what is referred to as the Daniel Fast from the Old Testament Book of Daniel (no meat, sweets, or bread, drink only water and juice and eat only fruits and vegetables). While working on this series of paintings, I have done three and seven-day full fasts and a forty-day Daniel fast, which I hope to return to now that I’ve had my fill of bread, cheese, eggs and fish, which I love.
Other proponents of fasting include:
Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, who believed fasting enabled the body to heal itself stating: “Everyone has a doctor in him; we just have to help him in his work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. …to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness.”
Paracelsus, another founder of modern medicine, wrote 500 years ago that “fasting is the greatest remedy, the physician within.”
According to Benjamin Franklin, “The best of all medicines is resting and fasting.”
Reference for painting – Matthew 4:1-11
“Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If you be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, And said to him, If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning you: and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And said to him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Then the devil left him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”
E.J. Lefavour
http://www.hobbithousestudio.com
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