“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
– 2 Chronicles 7:14
In the Old Testament, the act of
humbling yourself was outward as much as it was inward. They would strip themselves of their clothes
and put on sackcloth. Sackcloth was
typically worn in association with humility and mourning for that which was
lost. Totally opposite to dyed fabric or
ordinary day garments, which would have been pleasant to the eyes or hold
practical value. Furthermore, the
sackcloth would raise awareness among the Jews as to the wearer’s purpose; they
were praying and seeking God. That
purpose was birthed out of humility because you do not lay sackcloth on your
shoulders without first taking off that which YOU would have decided to strut
around in. In addition to the sackcloth,
the process of humbling yourself would sometimes include ashes. The two were often performed in tandem whilst
praying. So in total, you would have the
renting of your own clothes and the wearing of sackcloth and ashes. The idea being that you are willing to show,
publically, that you were abased and God was exalted. The goal was to humble thyself and pray.
We now live in the new dispensation, which is
a way of saying that we live under the gospel that Jesus brought. It in no way removes the Old Testament, in
fact it fulfills it. It fulfills it in
the Spirit. If you were to seek and find
God today, sackcloth and ashes would not be required (thank the Lord). However, you would need the spirit of it
all. Jesus was concerned with the
heart. The Pharisees fasted, they
prayed, they went to church; but Christ rejected them. He rejected them because their heart was not
right even though they “performed” all the “deeds” of the law. Jesus does not want a show of humility he
wants humility itself. He doesn’t want a
show of repentance, he wants repentance itself.
The heart is the point of concern and the head can learn from the deed
of removing of your day clothes and wearing sackcloth and ashes. For example, the Jews would first rent their
clothes. One of the first things you
learn as a young person, the beginning of your identity, is the choosing of what
you are going to wear. When the Jews of
old began to humble themselves and seek God, they torn off their clothes. They rejected the notion of their identity
and turned to cleave to God’s idea of it.
Next, they placed on themselves this sackcloth, an uncomfortable, ugly
thing; when you kneel in repentance, your sins are bare before God. You and the Spirit dredge up all the ugliness
of your past and say God please forgive me.
The process of this (though at times may be just minutes) is ugly and
uncomfortable. There is no pride here,
no trophies; it is the turning away of your old life and the beginning of
embracing your new life in Christ. This
is all done while you’re kneeling in ashes, representing all your: plans,
ambitions, past and future. Everything
that you are, in ashes, before the throne.
This symbolizing to God that you want more than anything to be as he
would have you to be, your life, a blank canvas and the whole of your being
prepared for His purpose.
God
hears this prayer; he forgives this soul, and heals. He changes the heart of the humble. If you have it in your mind that you want God
and want your own way, this is fruitless; but to want God above any way is the
path to forgiveness and everlasting life.
It begins with humility and prayer.
