Ash Wednesday Feast
The first day of Lent, when ashes are marked on the forehead. Joel 2:13 gives the day its words - rend your heart and not your garments - and the forty days that follow count Jesus' forty in the wilderness.
When it falls
Wednesday
The verses for the day
- And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he {is} gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.Joel 2:13
- Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. {right: or, constant}Psalms 51:10
- {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? {the heavy...: Heb. the bundles of the yoke} {oppressed: Heb. broken}Isaiah 58:6
The place
The Wilderness
The wilderness refers to the desert regions of Sinai and Judea. Israel wandered here for 40 years after the Exodus. John the Baptist preached in the wilderness of Judea, and Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days. It represents testing, preparation, and encounter with God.
