Humbling Yourself in Fear Before the Almighty God

Sackcloth and Ashes

What is this Sackcloth and Ashes what does it mean to us those that pray and fast with the hope of seeing a move of God in our lives? What can we learn from what the Bible has to say about these Sackcloth and Ashes?

We have all heard the expression the clothes make a man. In ancient times and even today the clothes that a man wears says a lot  about him. In ancient times if a man wore purple or blue, scarlet or crimson, he was thought to be a man of high degree, royal or a governor or ruler of some type If he wore silk or any other fine material he was assumed to be even the  greater.

The Humble Self
However, when a man wore sackcloth, which was the lowest quality of clothes there was, he was saying to the world “I humble myself before the Almighty God” Being publicly naked was the most humiliating state a man could achieve and wearing sackcloth was the next level up from there. This is why the accusers of Jesus Christ took his clothes from him when they hung him on the cross naked. This was the high priest’s way of saying to everyone Jesus is not the King of Jews.

1 Kings 21:25-29 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in

sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Humility, submissiveness, and even the intent of repentance were all expressed with the wearing of sackcloth. However this was not just an outward expression of humility but a mental state in which the individual truly fears the Works of God toward him.

There are too many Christians, and people in general that think they deserve God’s forgiveness for their sin. Most who continually do that which they know is evil and contend that God is a forgiving god and He will forgive them for whatever offense they commit. Some who think that saying “I’m sorry” is repentance and have let the evil one fool them into thinking they have remission for their sins on “I’m sorry” alone. This is the modern gospel that teaches a loving and forgiving God, but forgets the cross.

Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

When we come to the realization that we have sinned against God and are not worthy of His forgiveness When come to the realization that fair punishment for our sins, is eternally burning in hell, and that there is nothing that we can do to earn our own remission. When the fear of God becomes greater than the love of this world, then we can truly humble ourselves before God, even if it means the public ridicule of friends, family and enemies. Then when all our offenses are open, and we have stripped ourselves naked of all the clothing of this world, (lust, greed, wrath, envy, pride, slothfulness and gluttony) then we can willingly gird ourselves in sackcloth and ashes and humble ourselves before the Almighty God

Esther 4:1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;

Mourning for OthersThe other reason an individual would wear sackcloth is mourning. Mourning because of the lost of a loved one, or even mourning because of the fear that a loved one would die before giving his life to Christ. A person may go into mourning as we make our petition to Christ for the salvation of a loved one, a friend or even ourselves. A man would spiritually gird himself in sackcloth as he makes his request to God for salvation from the oppressive thumb of a worldly king, tyrant ruler, or president. It is then that our request is made with such intensity that we are driven to tears, motivated by the fact that our best friends can’t save us, parents and family can’t save us, armies and leaders can’t save us; faced with the realization that unless God saves us, from our oppression we won’t be saved.

Fasting on the promises of God
After we have learned to humble ourselves then we learn to fast. We learn to put our bodies under submission, with the hope that in giving up something of the natural, we might attain something of the spiritual. But is this what we really do? Is the fasting of today the same as the fasting of ancient times?

Today we fast for all the wrong reasons, we fast for a new job, a healing, so God can give us this or that or the other, our fast are no longer a period of humbling ourselves before the Almighty God, but a type of forcing the hand of God to do our bidding.  Our fast testify of our inordinate order of affections, when we are desiring the gift (God's blessings) greater than the giver. 

There is no spiritual growth in fasting because those that fast, desire not to fast; they hear the growl of their bellies more often  than the voice of their God.  They can't wait until sundown to eat, because  they love the food which they should do without, greater than the Savior which they can't live without.

They fast but can’t see the reward of a deeper relationship with God, they can’t comprehend the importance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, they live in an "I" world which has only one letter, and no part of is includes Jesus.Because we fast for the wrong reason we can’t see God’s glory through Christ Jesus, they can only see the things of this world that we think we are without.

 Oh if we could realize that God’s Grace is sufficient in our lives. That as James said we should count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations, that we might be perfected in the things of God.

However we desire not the things of God but the things of this world. We say “I am trusting God for a new car, or a home,  or a Job” but we can see the value of trusting God only for a glory that is to come through faith in Jesus Christ.

" Oh God give me things, but I won't pray for the homeless, neither have I any compassion for my brother's suffering, nor have I brought an orphan into my house. I have stocked my  closet with 20, 30 even 100 pairs of shoes but have never bought one outfit for a victim of a tornado, or gave to a charity without using it as a tax advantage. We think we are God’s children but we are just as lustful and gluttonous as those we call wicked and unsaved. However, on our actions alone  who can tell us apart?

Just as the wicked King Ahab rent his clothes in the realization of his sin and the fear of eternally burning in hell, and we must also rent our bodies of our worldly sin and desires , taking into account nothing of value greater than God who gave us all that we have. We must stand spiritually naked before the world without those things which we have clothed ourselves in. Naked and exposed by our pride, ego, intellect, and worldly knowledge; naked to our jobs, bank account, wife, husband, children, car, or anything that may bring us up haughty in the natural things of this world. We must rent ourselves of our prideful earthly ways and fully subject ourselves under submission to the Will of God.

Sackcloth represents not the clothes on our bodies but the state of mind when we can come before God with a sorrowful and contrite heart, and beg with tears in our eyes, and snot running down our face, with trembling hands and fear that God may not exact His just and righteous will on our disobedient and sinful soul. Sackcloth represents an utter state of unmatched gratitude from a truly contrite heart toward God. A heart that knows what it’s like to fear the wrath of God, a heart that can cry for salvation, wet the pillows in intercession for a perfect stranger, and cultivate the expectation of a healing in someone you just met. 

This is where we need to be before we can fast on the promises of God. Our fast should never be about forcing the hand of God, but rather about presenting  ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable which is our reasonable service. 

Your Brother in Christ
T. Charves FireSpeaks