Is Lent in the Bible? If yes then
which exact biblical story it was inspired from? What are its origins?
The Bible does not mention the custom of Lent, however, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.
2 Samuel 13:19
So what does 2 Samuel 13:19 says for understanding we need to have some background knowledge of it i.e. 2 Samuel 9:19. Shall we:
9 Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.
“Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”
12 “No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing.13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.
15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”
16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”
But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” 18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate[a] robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 19Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.
Esther 4:1
Esther 4:1 says, 1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
But by above people will not get it. The reason and tradition for fasting comes when you read Esther 4:15-16 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.
So In nutshell it comes from fasting FOR A MAN.
The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus The Messiah Son of Mary - his alleged suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. But the fact is apparent from earlier christian writings which is e.g.
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth:
And I did not die in reality but in appearance, lest I be put to shame by them because these are my kinsfolk… For my death which they think happened, (happened) to them in their error and blindness, since they nailed their man unto their death… for they were deaf and blind… Yes, they saw me, they punished me. It was another, their father, who drank the gall of the vinegar, it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon whom they placed the crown of thorns… And I was laughing at their ignorance… For I was altering my shapes, changing from form to form.The message is clear, it was not Jesus rather it was Simon the Cyrene who was crucified. (http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/
The Acts of John 99 …Jesus continues…… neither am I he that is on the cross, whom now thou seest not, but only hearest his (or a) voice. I was reckoned to be that which I am not, not being what I was unto many others: but they will call me (say of me) something else which is vile and not worthy of me. … (Jesus Continues): 101 Nothing, therefore, of the things which they will say of me have I suffered: nay, that suffering also which I showed unto thee and the rest in the dance, I will that it be called a mystery. For what thou art, thou seest, for I showed it thee; but what I am I alone know, and no man else. Suffer me then to keep that which is mine, and that which is thine behold thou through me, and behold me in truth, that I am, not what I said, but what thou art able to know, because thou art akin thereto. Thou hearest that I suffered, yet did I not suffer; that I suffered not, yet did I suffer; that I was pierced, yet I was not smitten; hanged, and I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me, and it flowed not; and, in a word, what they say of me, that befell me not, but what they say not, that did I suffer. The above suggests the illusionary crucifixion of Jesus. That he was on the cross but actually he wasn’t and that he was not suffering. His suffering was in what would be said about him after this event.
The Apocalypse (Unveiling of secrets) of Peter
"Come therefore, let us go on with the completion of the will of the incorruptible Father. For behold, those who will bring them judgment are coming, and they will be put to shame. But me they cannot touch. And you, O Peter, shall stand in their midst. Do not be afraid because of your cowardice. Their minds shall be closed, for the invisible one has opposed them."
When he said those things, I saw him seemingly being seized by them. And I said "What do I see, O Lord, that it is you yourself whom they take, and that you are grasping me? Or who is this one, glad and laughing on the tree? And is it another one whose feet and hands they are striking?"
The Savior said to me, "He whom you saw on the tree, glad and laughing, this is the living Jesus. But this one into whose hands and feet they drive the nails is his fleshly part, which is thesubstitute being put to shame, the one who came into being in his likeness. But look at him and me."But I, when I had looked, said "Lord, no one is looking at you. Let us flee this place." But he said to me, "I have told you, "Leave the blind alone!" And you, see how they do not know what they are saying. For the son of their glory instead of my servant, they have put to shame."
And I saw someone about to approach us resembling him, even him who was laughing on the tree. And he was filled with a Holy Spirit, and he is the Savior. And there was a great, ineffable light around them, and the multitude of ineffable and invisible angels blessing them. And when I looked at him, the one who gives praise was revealed. And he said to me, "Be strong, for you are the one to whom these mysteries have been given, ……. "These things, then, which you saw you shall present to those of another race who are not of this age (i.e., the Arabs who then became Muslims).
Job 2:8
Job 2:8 says, 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
To understand how fasting comes from it go further read Job 2:11 When Job’s three friends,……. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.
Daniel 9:3
Daniel 9:3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
Matthew 11:21
Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
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However proper fasting is indeed there in the bible:
Matthew 6:14-20New International Version (NIV)
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Fasting
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
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The hoor/houris/virgins in the heaven is in the bible
Mathew 25
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their
lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and
trimmed their lamps.10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the
bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding
banquet. And the door was shut.
Song of Solomon 6:8 Sixty queens there may be,
and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number;
Exodus
22:17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay
the bride-price for virgins.
Lamentations 5:11 Women have
been violated in Zion, and virgins in the towns of Judah.
Harems are
also mentioned in the bible its all from
http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=harem so you know they
can't runaway
Esther 2:3
Let the king appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all
these beautiful young women into the harem at the citadel of Susa. Let them be
placed under the care of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the
women; and let beauty treatments be given to them.Esther 2:9 She pleased him
and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and
special food. He assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the
king’s palace and moved her and her attendants into the best place in the
harem.
60 virgins promised to the Jews in Talmud Yalkut Shimoni, Bereshit 20 : Garden on Eden has two gates of ruby, by which stand SIXTY varieties of pure servants. The luster of the face of each of them glistens like the splendor of the firmament. When a righteous man arrives, they remove his clothes in which he had been buried.
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