Fasting for the Bridegroom (Mark 2:18-22)

In His engagements with the hypocritical scribes of the Pharisees, who were ostensibly of the portion Solomon would have described as pure in their own lofty eyes yet not washed from their filthiness (Proverbs 30:12-14), we saw Christ describe Himself as a physician healing the sick. These concepts appear often in the prophets as a picture of sin and repentance, and Christ elucidated on the familiar parable when He said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but wrongdoers!” (Mark 2:17)

We will now see Christ confronted with yet another challenge, but this time He will answer with a pair of more obscure parables which He markedly does not elaborate on.

Our Prince would regularly teach with parables, so that His people would not repent before His crucifixion, so that His enemies would remain perpetually confused, and so that His wisdom and power would be glorified in the appointed times. Even today, the brief parables recorded in this passage of Mark remain largely misunderstood or ignored, with themes which encompass the re-betrothal of Israel, and the fasting for Yahweh’s Word until that time.

Continuing with Mark:

2:18 And the students of Iohannes and the Pharisees were fasting. And they come and say to Him: "For what reason do the students of Iohannes and the students of the Pharisees fast, but Your students do not fast?"

Earlier, the scribes of the Pharisees murmured to Yahshua’s students instead of addressing their Teacher Himself, ostensibly because they were attempting to sow seeds of doubt and division among His following, or they were at least unconsciously doing so. They now rally their attack against Christ directly after having been openly rebuked, and even the students of John the Baptist are pulled into the fray.

The scribes of the Pharisees from before who murmured concerning the tax collectors, and these Pharisees which now confront Yahshua, are of course part of the same group. This is evident in Luke’s account where he writes “And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured of them [the tax-collectors and wrongdoers] to His students" and later “Then they [the scribes and the Pharisees] said to Him: "The students of Iohannes fast frequently and make supplications, and in like manner those of the Pharisees" (Luke 5:30, 33). 

We could presume that Mark (or Peter) made a distinction in singling out the scribes of the Pharisees earlier because they were interpreters of the law. There is, of course, nothing in the law prohibiting someone from exhorting their brethren to repent, as Yahshua did to the tax-collectors and wrongdoers. And so the failings of the scribes was demonstrated. 

But now, as the challenges shift to fasting, it becomes a matter of tradition rather than law, since, apart from the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 23:27), nothing in the law actually demands fasting. The Pharisees would often conflate law and tradition, and so do the Pharisaical churches today when they condemn men for not following in their useless traditions, or even proclaim authority on account of them.

Fasting was a common attribute of ancient culture, and it was customary to do so as a display of mourning or grief, such as when the nation fasted after suffering a devastating defeat from Benjamin (Judges 20:26), or when David and his men fasted after hearing of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths and those of the house of Israel with them (2 Samuel 1:12). It is also evident that there was an unwritten tradition during the seventy year exile to fast during the fifth month, in remembrance of Jerusalem’s destruction, but in this case the fasts were not altogether sincere, and for that reason Yahweh instructed Zechariah: “Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” (Zechariah 7:5) [The fifth month would have been the anniversary of Jerusalem’s destruction and the seventh month would have been the Day of Atonement]

Zechariah is not the only prophet where it is evident that fasting was abused as a pretense for righteousness. Such hypocrisy was prevalent during the days of Isaiah as well, and because Yahweh desires mercy over sacrifice, He gave the prophet a detailed exposition on the merciful fast which He desires:

Isaiah 58:3-8 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. 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. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. 

If the Pharisees were righteous, then they would have given their food to the widows and the fatherless, and having deprived themselves of food would have fasted for the sake of their brethren whom they helped. But they did the exact opposite of what was exhorted, and were upbraided by Christ for devouring the houses of widows and filling themselves from rapine (Luke 20:47, Matthew 23:25). Having devoured the needy, they somehow had the audacity to think that their theatrical fasting would be accounted to them as righteousness by God, but Christ denounced such hypocrisy during His sermon on the mount:

Matthew 6:16 And when you should fast, do not be like the sullen-faced hypocrites, for they obscure their faces that they may appear to be fasting to men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

So the fasting which the Pharisees and their students practiced was not the fast which Yahweh prescribed, rather it was a ritual fasting which is no different from what certain Pharisaical churches practice today, most notably "Catholic" and "Orthodox" so-called Christians. It is possible that a hint of the vain tradition of the Pharisees’ survives in a parable of Christ recorded in Luke:

Luke 18:9-14 Then He also spoke to some of those who are persuaded by themselves, that they are righteous and are despisers of everyone else, this parable: "Two men were going up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood praying these things to himself: 'Yahweh, I give thanks to you that I am not as the rest of men, robbers, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax-collector. I fast twice each week, I give a tenth of all of whatever I should gain.' But the tax-collector stood afar off not having desire to nor raising his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying 'Yahweh, make propitiation for me, a wrongdoer!' I say to you, he going down to his house is justified beyond the other, because everyone who is exalting himself shall be humbled, and he humbling himself shall be exalted."

Where Christ depicts the Pharisee as boasting that he fasts “twice each week”, this may potentially be an indication as to how the “students of the Pharisees” fasted. Another witness may survive in the heretical apocryphal literature known as the Didache, where it says to “Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but do you fast on Wednesdays and Fridays” (Didache 8:1, trans. Kirsopp Lake). These hypocrites being described in the Didache are most likely the Pharisees, who are often called such in the Gospel, but the Didache is no less hypocritical than they were, as the text does not encourage the reader to dismiss ritual biweekly fasting, but only to pointlessly edit its boundaries!

Whatever cringeworthy form the Pharisees’ ritual fasting may have taken, it almost certainly fell under the “tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:5) that Christ lambasted them for following, and which endures to this day in the accursed Talmud. Criticizing Yahshua’s students for not following in their useless tradition here in Mark 2:18 is exactly what they do later in the gospel as well, where they are recorded as having said “For what reason do Your students not walk according to the tradition of the elders but with profane hands they eat bread?” (Mark 7:5)

But neither washing up to the elbows nor fasting is a matter of law, and so in criticizing Yahshua and His students they were condemning the guiltless.

It would have been better for the Pharisees to have kept the law of God instead of their tradition, but their priorities were reversed. And so Christ said to them that “you reject the commandment of Yahweh, that you may keep your tradition!” (Mark 7:9) The fasting of the Pharisees and their students which is referenced here is no doubt exemplary of the hypocrisy which they are known for throughout the Gospel.

Moving forward, there is no surviving information that I am aware of as to why the students of John the Baptist fasted. The fact that Yahshua will shortly group the fasting of both parties into the same category of “old wineskins” leads me to believe that their customs had a mutual origin or shared objective. It was the culture of the time. It is also very possible that some of the students of Iohannes were similarly compelled to follow the traditions of the elders, and such agreement between them and the Pharisees would explain why they confronted Christ together.

It is also possible that John the Baptist’s students were trying to follow in their teacher’s footsteps, given that he lived a very austere life in the wilderness, subsisting on locusts and wild honey. As Christ said, “For Iohannes had come neither eating nor drinking” (Matthew 11:18). But John did not deprive himself because of societal customs, rather he was inspired for the express purpose of fulfilling the prophecies concerning himself as the Second Elijah Ministry. The austere lifestyle of John could also foreshadow the Third Elijah Ministry, that is Christian Identity, which may very possibly proclaim to their brethren in the wilderness (like John) after the economic collapse of Mystery Babylon leaves most people without readily available food. Following John the Baptist’s example, we may well face a similar fiery trial as he did, all for the purpose of glorifying Yahweh God (Isaiah 24:15-16).

Until then, if it is indeed fulfilled in that manner, as students of Christ we should not engage in ritual fasting nor fast in pretense as the hypocrites do. The fasts we make should be for the sake of our brethren, as we give them our own food, and we should keep our charity a secret from everyone else, so that our Father will reward us in secret (Matthew 6:1-4, Matthew 6:16-18). It is also beneficial to fast whenever earnestly seeking spiritual discernment, and we will elaborate on that later in this commentary.

Christ will now answer the inquiry both literally and metaphorically:

2:19 And Yahshua said to them: "Are the sons of the bridechamber able to fast while the bridegroom is with them? For as long a time as they have the bridegroom with them they are not able to fast.

There is no doubt that Yahshua Christ is Yahweh God. This statement is one of the most profound witnesses of that, and it is also a testimony that the promises of God were being kept. To understand why Christ called Himself the bridegroom requires a proper understanding of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh their God, of which we will proceed to elaborate.

The Old Covenant that Yahweh established with the children of Israel at Sinai was a peculiar marriage covenant between Himself and the nation. It was symbolized as a marriage, as this was the perfect model for Israel’s unique covenant relationship: Israel as the wife agreed to be obedient to the law of her Husband and to love and serve Him as His peculiar treasure, while He would fulfill His duties of protection and nourishment. 

In any household there may be many children, but ideally there is only one wife, and Yahweh chose Israel to be that wife within His wider Adamic household. As Yahweh retrospectively said in Ezekiel, “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” (Ezekiel 16:8) Essentially, Israel as the wife became the peculiar possession of Yahweh God. She was His, and this was something Yahweh already expressed beforehand in Leviticus, where He said “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.” (Leviticus 20:26) Yahweh made the nature of their covenant relationship explicitly clear in several places, such as where He said through the prophet Jeremiah, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you” (Jeremiah 3:14)

Like any other marriage, it was conditional on the wife’s obedience to her Husband, and in this case the Husband’s wishes were outlined in the law of Moses. In being the sole wife of Yahweh God, more was going to be expected from Israel than the other Adamic nations. As Yahweh said concerning their marriage, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3) Israel pre-nupitially accepted the conditions of the law before marrying Yahweh on the mountain, when they said “All that the LORD hath spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8)

Sin is transgression of the law (1 John 3:4), and no punishment is executed without law (Romans 5:13). Only the children of Israel were married to Yahweh their God at Sinai, and therefore only they received the law of the Husband. Because only Israel was given the law, only they would be punished for transgressing it. Therefore, Yahweh said to them through the prophet Amos, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:2) In Scripture, “to know” often refers to marital relations.

Israel failed to keep her marital obligations, even though Yahweh was a perfect and loving Husband to her. Yahweh expressed His faithfulness to the marriage covenant in Jeremiah, where He said, “my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 31:32 ESV) The most grievous transgression which irreparably broke the marriage covenant was Israel’s brazen race-mixing fornication with the bastard races, which was adultery, and it corrupted much of her seed, and Yahweh did not marry a bastard people. With the seed of Abraham being defiled, Yahweh lamented much earlier in Jeremiah, saying “What hath my beloved [wife] to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee?” (Jeremiah 11:15)

The holy flesh passes away when an Israelite fornicates with the non-Adamic races and rears up strange plant children with “different flesh” (Jude 1:7), and so Yahweh also exposed Israel elsewhere in the prophets, calling her “a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!” (Ezekiel 16:32), and saying “I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms.” (Hosea 2:4) This was the principle sin of both the metaphorical sisters of Israel, Ephraim and Judah, and so they received similar condemnations at diverse times and through diverse prophets.

The children of Israel were divorced for their whorish adultery, and the decree was first announced to the twin sister of Ephraim through the prophet Hosea, where Yahweh said “Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts” (Hosea 2:2) Divorce is literally to put away out of your house (Deuteronomy 24:3), which is why Yahweh later bemoaned to Ephraim's twin sister Judah, “What hath my beloved to do in mine house” (Jeremiah 11:15). A lewd and corrupt wife has no right to remain in the house of her Husband. Yahweh put away Ephraim through the Assyrian deportations, and He would later divorce Judah and put her away through the Babylonian deportations. 

Some may argue that Judah was not divorced, which is not true, because as Yahweh said in Ezekiel, “So she discovered her whoredoms, and discovered her nakedness: then my mind was alienated from her [Judah], like as my mind was alienated from her sister [Ephraim]” (Ezekiel 23:18 cf. Zechariah 10:6) Consider also that Judah had the mercy seat taken away from them, which is similar to how Ephraim had whatever remnant of instruments left in their apostasy taken from them (Hosea 3:4). If Judah was not divorced, then Yahweh was not fulfilling His obligations of the marriage agreement in taking the mercy seat away from them, when the Ark of the Covenant was removed and the temple destroyed.

Yahweh could not cast Israel off forever. He would never do such a thing, because He had made unconditional promises to her father, Abraham. For this reason, Yahweh vowed to remarry Israel in the very prophet where He announced her divorce, shining that beacon of hope and declaring: “And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” (Hosea 2:19-20)

But the light of this hope was obscure and impossible to discern, because it would have been a transgression of Yahweh’s own law to remarry Israel. As it is written, “Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” (Deuteronomy 24:4) Yahweh cannot break His own law! This is why Paul of Tarsus expressed that these promises of remarriage and reconciliation were a mystery before being uncovered in Christ (Ephesians 1:9). Even Yahweh illustrated the paradox but still exhorted Israel to return in spite of it, when He said to all the families of the house of Israel (Jeremiah 2:5), “They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 3:1)

Was Yahweh suggesting that He was going to break His law and commit an abomination? Certainly not! He is perfect and without any blemish or shade of change. He is God. He knew Israel would backslide before He married her. There was a greater purpose to all of these things. Every step of this story was laid out from the beginning for His glory and for our benefit. But it had to be executed lawfully. So how did the Almighty overcome the paradox of salvation?

A marriage covenant is not completely nullified through divorce, it actually remains in effect for as long as any party of the marriage should live. That is why Christ said “Whoever would put away his wife and marry another commits adultery against her” (Mark 10:11) Death ends a marriage. Israel was liable to death on account of her adultery, but Yahweh could not destroy Israel on the account of the unconditional promises made to Abraham and his offspring. It was therefore necessary that Yahweh Himself die, so that Israel would be released from the punishments of her adultery. Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans, “For a woman married to a living husband is bound by law; but if the husband should die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.” (Romans 7:2) Then shortly later, Paul wrote, “Consequently, my brethren, you also are put to death in the law through the body of Christ.” (Romans 7:4) 

This sacrifice of Yahweh God on the cross was prophesied of in Zechariah, where Yahweh said that He would break the marriage covenant of Beauty at the price of thirty pieces of silver, the unrighteous bounty which Judas procured for handing over the tabernacle of Yahweh God to be smitten (Zechariah 11:10-12). The sacrifice of Christ would release Israel from the marriage covenant, because the death of the Husband accomplishes a nullification of the marriage, and it would also make Israel viable for remarriage in the future.

The death of the Husband on the cross would also release Israel from the law of the Husband, which they received upon being married to Him at Sinai. This liberty in the Husband’s death was not given so that Israel could dismiss the law, but so they could now follow those commandments in newness of life. This was evidently another ultimate plan of Yahweh God, to first give Israel the law at Sinai as a perpetual witness, which they failed to keep as a lesson on consequence, but then to provide a road in the future for them to establish that law without being subject to its necessary punishments, having learned the importance of abiding in the commandments. Therefore, Paul wrote, “Do we then nullify the law by faith? Certainly not! Rather we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31)

Yahweh being God always knew that He would reconcile and ultimately remarry Israel to Himself in a perpetual covenant through His sacrifice, and thus it is written in Revelation that the lamb was “slaughtered from the foundation of Society” (Revelation 13:8). There are other things which were accomplished on the cross, but we will not discuss them here.

With all this being said, if the death of Christ released Israel from the law of the Husband, then that must mean that the man who died on the cross was Yahweh incarnate in the flesh, the same Yahweh who married Israel at Sinai. Otherwise, His death would mean nothing. There is no mechanism in the law which allows you to end a marriage with your wife by killing your child, and Yahweh God despises child sacrifice. Yahweh coming as a perfect element of His own Creation always gave credit to the Father for His deeds, as an example of how every son of God should live, but Christ was also one with the Father, being Yahweh God tabernacled in one of His own sons.

So the fact that the Husband died on the cross proves that Yahshua Christ is God. And so also does His declaration of being the bridegroom here, because it demands that He is the same Yahweh God who promised to re-betroth Israel in the prophet Hosea, and elsewhere. If Christ is not Yahweh God, then He is a sinner who is transgressing the law where it is written, “A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.” (Deuteronomy 22:30) Another place where Christ described Himself as the bridegroom is in the parable of the ten virgins found at Matthew 25. 

Furthermore, John the Baptist inspired by the Spirit understood his role as the friend preparing the way of the bridegroom, saying “He having the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices in joy because of the voice of the bridegroom! Therefore this, my joy, is fulfilled.” (John 3:29) Those of us in Christian Identity also hope to be friends of the bridegroom, if we keep His commandments and prepare His way among our people.

Yahweh coming as a Bridegroom was also prophesied of in the 19th Psalm, with prophetic wordplay which only works in the English language, and it says “Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun [Son], which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber [John 3:13], and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race [Hebrews 12:1-2].” (Psalm 19:4-5) The first sentence was quoted by Paul of Tarsus as being prophetic of the Gospel at Romans 10:18.

Paul understood the testimony of these prophecies and the fulfillment of them in Christ, where he wrote to the Corinthians “For I admire you with zeal of Yahweh; for I have joined you to one Husband, to present a chaste virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2) Through the blood of Christ we are perpetual virgins awaiting that remarriage, even when we are acting as an abominable whore, which is why Paul wrote to the Romans that “she is not an adulteress being found with another man.” (Romans 7:3, cf. to Isaiah 47:1)

But as Paul also wrote to the Corinthians: this reconciliation is only a presentation and not the marriage itself. The reason why the parable of the ten virgins takes place at the time of the Second Coming, is because the marriage itself is actually consummated, along with the New Covenant, after Christ’s return. This is why Christ did not read the clauses from the Isaiah scroll when He announced His ministry in Nazareth, where it is written that the Messiah will “appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3, cf. Luke 4:17-19)

Yahweh God as Christ was the bridegroom extending the marriage invitation in His First Advent, and at His Second He will marry Israel anew in a perpetual marriage which will never be broken, after He first exterminates all of her former lovers in fulfillment of the law. The beauty and wedding garments are related to the Second Coming. 

Indeed, these matters concerning the Marriage Covenant are the milk of the Bible, and absolutely imperative for understanding its context from Genesis to Revelation.

One last quick note on the bridegroom: earlier in this commentary we discussed how Christ was the Comforter dwelling in Capernaum, the village of comfort. Since it is possible that this discourse with the Pharisees recorded at Mark 2:16-22 was in or near Capernaum, we can note this prophecy of the remarriage found in Isaiah, “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.” (Isaiah 54:11-12)

Moving forward in our examination of this verse: Israel is the bride, and therefore, Yahshua acknowledges His students to be Israelites when He calls them “sons of the bridechamber”. All the children of Israel are metaphorical sons or daughters of the nation, being a product of that racial line. This language is evident in the prophets, such as in Hosea where it is written “Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife” (Hosea 2:2), or later in Isaiah, “Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?” (Isaiah 50:1), or even later in Ezekiel concerning the twin sisters of Ephraim and Judah, “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother” (Ezekiel 23:2). 

You can only be a son or daughter of the mother of Israel if you are of the twelve tribes, and if you are not of Israel, then you could never be considered a son of the bridechamber, as the nation of Israel is the bride!

The word translated as bridechamber here in Mark 2:19 is νυμφών (#G3567), and is derived from νύμφη (#G3565), which is literally bride. Νύμφη is the same word used in Revelation to describe the nation of Israel being remarried to Yahweh, where it is written “And I saw a new holy city Jerusalem descending from out of heaven from Yahweh, having been prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2) 

The symbolic designation of the woman of Israel as Jerusalem is extant in the prophets, and is why Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother.” (Galatians 4:26) In the Revelation, Jerusalem's twelve gates represent the twelve tribes, and its twelve manners of stones represent the gems upon Aaron’s breastplate, which themselves again represented the tribes. Therefore, with Jerusalem being married to Christ, to be a descendant of one of these tribes is what it means to be a son “of the bridechamber”, and it is how Yahweh makes up His “jewels” (Malachi 3:17) - a reference to the gems on Aaron's breastplate. 
No one else can be included in the New Covenant expressly promised to Israel and Judah alone, which is consummated with the remarriage which is also expressly promised to Israel and Judah alone (Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:8). Yahweh “knows” His Israelite sheep, (to know is often a reference to marriage), but He does not “know” bastard dogs which vainly try to force their way in.

The unclean bastard races aside, it is also forbidden in the law for a King to multiply wives, and the ideal divine will of God is for a man to have one wife, so even the other Adamic nations will be resurrected but not married to Yahweh God (Deuteronomy 17:17, Mark 10:6, Ephesians 5:25-32). This is how Yahweh has chosen to organize His household, and the children of Israel are His peculiar treasure upon the earth.

Lastly, we already wrote on how the Husband has a duty to nourish the wife, and this can extend into the concept of how “as long a time as they have the bridegroom with them they are not able to fast”, as Christ is recorded as having said here in Mark. 

While Yahweh always provides for His children even as a Father (Matthew 6:32), there is a deeper parable behind the words of Christ here, which is relevant to the prophecy from Ezekiel which we cited in our previous commentary, titled Changes and Transitions:

Ezekiel 34:15-16 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: […] 23-24 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. 

In our previous commentary, we cited this passage to explain how Christ was the Physician who came to heal the sickly sinners (Mark 2:17), and the medicine which He gave them was the exhortation to repent and return to obedience in the law. So medicine comes from feeding, as to feed is often used to describe education in the word of God. It is written in the Proverbs, “The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.” (Proverbs 10:21) And then in Jeremiah, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15) The psalmist of the 119th Psalm painfully longed for such wisdom, when he wrote, “I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.” (Psalm 119:131)

But when Christ was in the Society, no one had to pant. No one had to thirst. No one had to long. Any child of Israel could come to Christ and be fed wisdom, which is why He told the Samaritan woman at the well, "If you knew the gift of Yahweh and who it is saying to you 'Give Me to drink', you would have asked Him and He would have given to you living water." (John 4:10) And then shortly later it is written in that gospel, “In the meantime His students asked Him saying: "Rabbi, eat!" But He said to them: "I have food to eat which you do not know." (John 4:31-32) As it is written, “Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word going out through the mouth of Yahweh.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) This is the true food which men should long for, and the material foods of sustenance will follow after. As Christ said, “But you seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [literal food and water and other sustenance] shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) The literal food will not fall on your lap, but opportunities for effort will be presented.

With Christ having said such things to the Samaritan woman, and elsewhere, it is evident that anyone could come and access the living water when Christ was in the Society, which is why there was no reason for the sons of the bridechamber to fast while the Bridegroom was with them! The Pharisees, who were only immersed in the traditions of their elders, left the people starving and thirsty, but it was different with Christ. Therefore it is written in John, “Then on the great last day of the feast Yahshua stood and cried out saying "If one thirsts he must come to Me and drink!” (John 7:37) This purpose of the Christ was prophesied of in Isaiah where it is written:

Isaiah 49:8-10 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee [quoted by Paul at 2 Corinthians 6:2]: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 

You can drink freely before Christ, as He teaches you and guides you in righteousness. We will be able to drink freely again in the Kingdom.

Until He returns, we are fasting:

2:20 But the days shall come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then shall they fast in that day!

The word for taken is ἀπαίρω, which is literally lift off (#G522). It is in the aorist subjunctive form, and it is often said that the aorist subjunctive relies on the main verb of a statement for its sense of time. Here that would be the days which shall come (future indicative). 

Therefore, the parable continues in this statement. After the bridegroom was lifted off (ascended into heaven) the children of Israel would no longer be able to come to Him and drink freely, Luke described His ascension as “the days of His being taken up”, and so the “days” “when the bridegroom is taken from them” are “the days of His being taken up” (Luke 9:51). We have been fasting ever since.

But for the majority of the people of Judaea, the fasting for the bridegroom after Yahshua's lifting up into heaven was only a continuation of a fasting which began when He was taken on the eve of His Passion. Our Prince quoted the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7 on the night of His arrest, and we read in Mark’s account “And Yahshua says to them that "All shall be made to stumble, because it is written: 'I shall smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered'!” (Mark 14:27) 

While Yahshua appeared to many of His students over 40 days after His resurrection, and fed them the Word, He no longer walked openly for Israel to come and drink freely. The sheep were scattered, and no longer able to directly access the Shepherd promised in Ezekiel, and in short time they were given over to wicked wolves who would devour the flock. Therefore, even though the Gospel remained available for Israel, their perception of its message was quickly became distorted after the apostles died, and the people were left lean and parched with thirst as a result. As Paul said in his farewell to the assembly in Ephesus, an assembly which he founded, “I know that after my departure oppressive wolves shall come in to you, not being sparing of the sheep!” (Acts 20:29) This indeed happened, because in His Revelation, Yahshua said to the assembly in Ephesus “But I hold against you that you have left your first love. (Revelation 2:4)

The people conquerors (Nikolaitans) who infiltrated Christian assemblies unprovoked after the deaths of the apostles introduced all sorts of vain philosophies and rituals in order to control others, such as magical fairy dust crackers, elaborate synchronized dancing before clouds of perfume and incense, or even tap water which allows you to be “born again” after being dunked into it. This severe corruption of Christianity was already warned of by the apostles through the Spirit, such as at 1 Timothy 4:1–5. Therefore, the sheep who were scattered after the smiting of the Shepherd were not gathered in any lasting sense. The Judaized churches sought to gather them with heresies, but as Christ said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and He not gathering with Me scatters!" (Matthew 12:30)

The apostle John felt the sting of this turn to corruption late in his life, at a time when the other apostles were ostensibly already passed, as he writes in his third surviving epistle that he was forbidden from entering the assembly of Diotrephes, despite being the beloved student who leaned on the breast of Christ. Almost all of the so-called churches today would reject John much how Diotrephes did, and perhaps even kill him for “racism” or some other imagined evil which is actually righteous. (3 John 1:9)

These developments may appear to have been unfortunate, but the apostles knew full well that such apostasy was necessary for the fulfillment of the prophets. The punishment of blindness cast over Israel was to continue even after the First Advent of Christ, and this made a distortion of Christianity necessary. Furthermore, the seven times punishment of beast governments was not yet complete, and it was only natural then that the apostasy was quickly effected through a tyrannical and wicked organized church system, namely the so-called Catholic Church, whose doctrines, in turn, shaped the Protestant churches, which are barely any better. Lastly, if Israel wasn’t destined to become a blind whore in her end, then why would a final restoration be promised by Christ and His prophets? Today, we combat the lies of the blind churches just as John the Baptist combated and freed the people from the lies of the blind Pharisees, and we will continue to do so as much as Yahweh allows us. This is the restoration of the Gospel message in preparation for Christ’s return.

The corruption of Christianity with the Catholic Church was apparently even foretold of in Zechariah, where after the promised breaking of the “staff of beauty” with the crucifixion, there remained a tyrannical government still to come:

Zechariah 11:15-16 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. 

But even this shepherd is only a collective type for all of the false shepherds which have ruled over Israel since Christ, the true Shepherd, was struck, and the sheep scattered. Notice that the foolish shepherd does not heal the broken nor feed the flock. Again, the sheep have been fasting for nearly 2,000 years. But Yahweh will gradually use the third ministry of Elijah to bring them back to the manger.

The Song of Solomon describes Yahweh’s marital relationship with Israel over the ages, and perhaps the following passage is reminiscent of the bride being abused by foolish shepherds after the departure of the Bridegroom, Yahshua Christ:

Song of Solomon 5:6-8 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself [bridegroom is taken], and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 

The watchmen of the ancient world were defenders of the city, and in prophecy they often represent teachers or prophets. Here the watchmen would be expected to protect the woman, but they instead attack and take her veil away. This is what Judaized churches do everyday, whenever they spite Yahweh’s racial covenant and take the veil away from Israel His bride, saying that Christ came to marry all the beasts of the earth instead.

And so we should read a prophecy of the Judaized Christians who invite beasts to their congregations:

Isaiah 56:9-11 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 

Foolish shepherds and wicked watchmen have taken many forms throughout our history, and most recently it has been through world-jewry, which countless Judaeo-Christians choose to worship, uniting themselves to it like an idolatrous queen who refuses to be called a widow. Yet they have no idea how much they are starving. Because of the foolish shepherd and his dumb dog lackeys, the people are left so famished that even those who claim to be learned cannot grasp even the simplest truths of Scripture. The fast which Israel has had for the Word has been severe, and so, in Isaiah it is written:

Isaiah 29:10-12 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. 

[It is evident later in that chapter of Isaiah that the veil will be fully lifted upon the Second Coming, and until then there is a gradual lifting through the third ministry of Elijah. Interestingly enough, Isaiah 29 is largely prophetic of the extinction of the non-White bastard races, but how many are given yet to see that? Everything is in Yahweh God’s timing. He chooses whose eyes are opened. Praise Yahweh that He has gifted us mere men to see certain things beforehand in spite of our failures.]

This fast of the Word is a judgement which has left many of the children of Israel unable to interpret Scripture, and if we want to go back even further, it is in fact a continuation of the fast which Yahweh announced in Amos. The ministry of Christ and the short-lived apostolic message was a brief, temporary reprieve from the fast declared in Amos. Dispersed Israel’s return to Yahweh God and the millennium Kingdom in Europe certainly lifted our people out of complete paganism, and nourished them in that way, but their understanding of the Word remained distorted, and until the Reformation, most men were not even permitted to read the Scripture. Now we are able to freely read it, but most have no interest.

Amos 8:11-13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. 

And so where Christ is recorded as having said here in Mark, “the days shall come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then shall they fast in that day”, it was only a return back to “the days” which began in the time of Amos, who was contemporary to Hosea and the divorce decree. It is evident in the prophets, that the famine of the word of Yahweh followed our divorce and persists until Christ returns and remarries us, allowing us to drink freely from the fountain of the water of life once more. Perhaps the “fair virgins” fainting from thirst in the prophecy of Amos, also points towards redeemed Israel fasting for the bridegroom post-Gospel.

As the third ministry of Elijah continues its prophetic work of restoration, it will give the woman food and drink to strengthen her for the days ahead, so that she may repent and cry out to her God after Babylon falls. It is evident that in those coming days, the situation will flip for the woman of Israel. Right now, she lives in luxury and complacency, fasting from the Word rather than from literal food. But the economy will collapse, and with it all of its trade and commerce. When that happens, her fast of material food will tighten, and the many afflictions will drive her to seek her God early which will in turn relieve her fast of the Word.

Numerous prophecies attest to this, such as the second chapter of Hosea, and another example is found in Joel, whose far-reaching vision speaks of the times after the fall of Mystery Babylon, a time in which the abundance of food is gone and the people are greatly afflicted:

Joel 2:15-17 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber [a call for the Second Coming], and the bride out of her closet [a call for the Gathering]. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, [a type for the third ministry of Elijah, although all of the children of Israel are priests of their own households] weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 

After the people cry out, Yahweh will hear them from heaven and heal their land, as He promised to Solomon at 2 Chronicles 7:14:

Joel 2:18-19 Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 

To summarize, a famine of the land sometime after Babylon’s fall, when “the field is wasted” and “the land mourneth” (Joel 1:10), will be one aspect of much affliction (the other is the violence of their enemies), which will bring the people to repentance as they weep and cry out, saying “Spare your people, O Yahweh”. At this time, Yahweh will hear them from heaven and heal their land, and the woman will no longer fast in Word or in food, but she will be fully fed when her Shepherd treads upon the earth with His flock. 

As the children of Israel are depicted as crying out after the fall of Babylon,  in the far vision of the prophet Micah, “Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.” (Micah 7:14)

Now, it can also be noted that the prophetic aspects which we have thus far described also mirror the two parties and their fasting which is mentioned in this chapter of Mark, where Christ was asked “"For what reason do the students of Iohannes and the students of the Pharisees fast, but Your students do not fast?" (Mark 2:18)

First, the literal fasting of the people after the fall of Babylon mirrors the fasting of the second Elijah ministry, as John the Baptist afflicted himself in the wilderness while preparing the people for the arrival of Yahshua Christ. The third Elijah ministry will do the same, when they bring those coming out of the cities and dwelling in the proverbial wilderness to repentance, after the economic collapse. Second, the fasting of the students of the Pharisees mirrors the metaphorical fasting of the Word which the children of Israel have experienced these past two thousand years, under the subjection of their foolish shepherds and wicked watchmen. 

It is certainly difficult to do justice in demonstrating how all these prophecies interweave and compound with one another. Praise be to Yahweh our God.

It is necessary to note that Luke records two instances in Acts where Christian assemblies fasted, so there is also a literal and immediate fulfillment to the words of Christ here. In both cases, fasting is mentioned alongside prayer, specifically when important decisions had to be made by the community:

Acts 13:2-3 And upon their performing services for the Prince and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke: "Now set apart for Me Barnabas and Saulos for the work which I have called them." Then fasting and praying and laying the hands upon them they released them.

Acts 14:20-23 […] And the next day he [Paul] went out with Barnabas into Derbe. And announcing the good message in that city and many becoming students, they returned to Lustra and to Ikonion and to Antiocheia reinforcing the spirits of the students, encouraging them to abide in the faith and that it is necessary through many tribulations for us to enter into the Kingdom of Yahweh. And elders being elected by them in each assembly, praying with fasting they presented them in whom they had confidence with the authority.

(The mention of fasting at 1 Corinthians 7:5 is a very late interpolation, and so we will not discuss it.)

Both of these instances in Acts, where fasting transpired, involved election, one with Barnabas and Paul for the work which Yahweh called them for, and the other with the election of elders in the assemblies of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. It is evidently beneficial to fast whenever we must make an important decision for the sake of our brethren and communities, or even the direction of our own lives, because setting aside our fleshly needs helps us focus more fully on the spiritual matters. Ritual fasting, however, is a Pharisaical practice that should not be emulated by Christians.

Returning to Mark, Yahshua Christ will now provide a complimentary parable as He continues His response:

2:21 No one sews a patch of uncarded cloth upon an old garment, but if it is, the new lifts its borders away from the old and the tear becomes worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old skins, but if it is, the wine breaks the skins and the wine and the skins are lost. Rather, new wine is for new skins."

In this parable, the uncarded cloth and new wine symbolize new revelations or understanding, while the old garment and old wineskins represent former misconceptions. Whenever someone tries to patch the uncarded cloth onto the old garment, the tear, representing heresy, only worsens, and whenever someone pours new wine into an old wineskin, representing an old framework, both end up ruined.

Christ is making an important illustration which is so critical to understand: that new understanding cannot be forced to fit in with old errors, but that the whole of doctrine should be approached with a clean slate after having received correction. Paul of Tarsus understood this, and that is why he took solitary time to study the scriptures anew after having received his revelation on the road to Damascus. In the case of the students of John and the students of the Pharisees here, their old wineskins in question were their flawed perspectives on fasting.

Furthermore, in this parable, Yahshua shows precisely how the foolish shepherds distorted the Gospel. It is because of the fact that Christianity has been forced into old pagan wineskins for two thousand years that the fasting has endured. Catholics shamelessly admit that much of their doctrine derives from Plato and Aristotle, and their Protestant offspring have clung to the same delusions, such as Trinitarianism, a pagan concept.

It is fitting then that this is one of the earliest recorded parables in the Gospel, because anyone who reads the Gospel must keep this parable firmly in mind. Far too often, people in Christian Identity stumble and fall away because they refuse to surrender their old Catholic and Protestant wineskins. It is a shame, because although they have been offered a chance to see the Truth, they slide back into foolishness and heresy in an even worse way, in their attempt to mix truth with lies, ultimately failing to heed the lesson of this parable. There are many examples.

All too often do you see people given the racial covenant truths of Christianity, which they then try to force into the old wineskins of salvation by works - thus denying the racial truth they claim to uphold by insisting that not all of the seed of Israel is saved.

All too often do you see people given the truth of Yahweh’s marriage relationship with Israel, which they then try to force into the old wineskin of Trinitarianism - making Yahshua Christ a sinner and denying the mechanism of Israel’s salvation.

All too often do you see people given the truth of the coming Kingdom of Yahweh, which they then try to force into the pagan dichotomy of heaven and hell, which blinds them to the true destiny of Israel and the entire Adamic race upon the earth which was made to be inhabited.

All too often do you see people given the truth of Christian Identity, which they then try to force into old wineskins of disparate conspiracy theories and rabbit holes, which often leads them to utter madness and ruin as they refuse to conform their worldview to the Bible alone.

All too often do you see people given additional truths of Christian Identity, which they then try to force into the old wineskins of former interpretations which have since been debunked or refined, and thus they cling to heresies such as a so-called "8th day creation", dominion theology, British Israelism, and more.

And there are many other old wineskins which lead to stumbling and wandering, such as the fantasies of the so-called “rapture”, or the ridiculous notion of “being born again” (which is a blatant mistranslation of John 3:3 which violates the plain word of Scripture), and many other old wineskins, such as water baptism, communion rituals, a global flood, a literal seven day creation, organized priesthoods, and more.

Those who cling to these old wineskins ruin the new wine which they have been offered. Drinking the ruined wine makes them drunk with folly, and in their foolishness they make the whole faith look bad. If only they knew to pour the new wine into new skins, then they would have been fed the Word without adulteration. Pride and stubbornness are often the reasons why people hold onto their old wineskins, since many are unwilling to humble themselves and start over, denying everything they once believed. 

But it is necessary to have humility, because we all had to receive realizations at one point, and the willingness to change your perspective on all things is what it truly means to conform yourself to God. And conforming yourself to God is love. As Solomon wrote concerning the pursuit of Wisdom:

Wisdom 6:16-20 Because she goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, and appears to them graciously in the paths, and meets them in every thought. For the truest beginning of her is the desire of education, and the thought of education is love. But love is the keeping of her laws, and observance of the laws is a confirmation of incorruption. And incorruption makes one to be near to God. Therefore the desire of Wisdom leads to a kingdom.

It is by testing every doctrine against all of Scripture that we discern whether something is an old wineskin or not, following the example of the men of Berea, “who accepted the Word with all eagerness, each day examining the writings, if these things would hold thusly.” (Acts 17:11) In exercising such discipline, they were able to confirm that Paul was indeed giving them new wine, and they identified which of their former ideas were old wineskins. Scripture has to be understood in harmony. No one verse contradicts another. Therefore, if all of Israel is saved (Isaiah 45:25) then every passage of Scripture must be interpreted within that framework. Only one approach to the Bible maintains total consistency throughout, and that is how we arrive at the truth of Christian Identity.

Those who truly want to quench their thirst must begin with a clean slate after receiving their first drops of new wine. It is the only way to drink the new wine without it being ruined, and those who drink the new wine will not fast for the Bridegroom to the same degree as others fast, but they will instead have more rest and guidance in their life.

It is no accident that Christ used new wine as a symbol for new teachings, because wine is one of many foods in the prophets which can be used to represent the Word of God. A significant example is found in Joel, where several such symbols of food intertwine in a prophecy near the end of the book, and it compliments the recurring theme of fasting which permeates throughout the entire prophet, and we even quoted from it earlier for that reason.

Joel 3:17-18 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 

This prophecy of Joel concerns the time after the Kingdom is established and the bastard races exterminated. In that day “the mountains shall drop down new wine”, which is symbolic of new teachings and understanding, because as it says in the prophet Isaiah, “They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.” (Isaiah 29:24)

The milk represents the spiritual nourishment which the wisdom of the Word of God provides, which is why Paul wrote “I have given you milk to drink, not food” (1 Corinthians 3:2), and Peter that “as a newborn infant you must yearn for the pure rational milk” (1 Peter 2:2). Therefore, in the Kingdom, when we are all guided in the way of righteousness, the word will come to pass where it is written “That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” (Isaiah 66:11)

Finally, the fountain of water represents the living waters which Christ offered to the Samaritan woman, and to all of Israel when He said "If one thirsts he must come to Me and drink!”, and these living waters include teachings which have been obscured ever since the Shepherd was smitten. But once the Kingdom is established, we will all be able to drink freely again. As it is written in the Revelation, in reference to the same time of this prophecy of Joel:

Revelation 21:5-6 And He sitting upon the throne said: "Behold! I shall make all new things!" And He says: "Write! Because these words are trustworthy and true!" And He said to me: "They are made! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end! To he who thirsts I shall give freely from out of the fountain of the water of life. (And perhaps even the “new things” can be taken to refer to new wine, at least partly, though it is apparently ambiguous.)

Only when the children of Israel give up all of their old wineskins will their fast for the bridegroom finally end. No one will faint for thirst ever again.

Thank you for reading, and praise Yahweh, the God of Israel.