Psalm 119: 105: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.
God’s Word is light for all seasons. God’s Word helps us to understand the nature of seasons – to know what we ought to do and how we should pray. What does the Bible indicate concerning the third week? The third day of creation is the key to understanding the mystery of the third season. Every other ‘third’ in the Bible agrees with the third day of creation narrative:
Genesis 1:9-13: “Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. [10] And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. [11] Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. [12] And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [13] So the evening and the morning were the third day” (NKJV).
SEVEN APPLICATIONS FROM THE THIRD DAY OF CREATION:
1. The third week should be a season of unhindered communion between heaven and earth. The first thing God did on the third day of creation was to redirect “the water under heaven” that blocked the earth from seeing, hearing or feeling heaven. God cleared the obstruction between heaven (firmament) and dry land (earth) by relocating the water under heaven. Communion between God and man was the first thing Satan attacked and blocked in Genesis 3. It is to demonstrate the communion that should exist between Heaven and earth in the third season that the priestly book of Leviticus is placed third in the Bible. The third chapters of the Bible illustrate the same. Moses heard the Voice from heaven in Exodus 3 and responded. Samuel heard the Voice of God in First Samuel 3. Solomon heard the Voice of God in First Kings 3 and responded. The Voice from heaven came to Jesus in the third chapters of Matthew and Luke. Adam heard the Voice of God in Genesis 3 and hid himself. Communion with heaven was under attack.
PRAYER: Pray that this is a week of open heaven and a week of unhindered access to heaven. Pray against distractions, interruptions and obstructions to communion with Heaven.
2. The third week is a time to battle and contain forces hindering and limiting the manifestation of God’s purposes. On the third day of creation, God contained and gave limited space to the waters hindering the manifestation of the dry land (earth) and vegetation and all in them. The enemy engineers opposition against God’s purposes in the third season. He labors to frustrate the people and work of God this season. The promotion of Haman in Esther 3 and decree of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 were weights on God’s people and God’s purposes.
PRAYER: Let this third week of the year be a season of containment for ‘dysfunctional waters’ hindering or limiting the manifestation of God’s purposes in the nations – as it happened on the third day of creation. Pray against evil weights that fall on people in this season.
3. The third week is for unveiling, manifestation and emergence. On the third day of creation, God spoke to the day land to appear. This season is for the manifestation of hidden people and platforms. Moses emerged in Exodus 3. In Joshua 3: 7, God told Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you”. Boaz emerged in Ruth 3 to inherit Ruth and birth the line of David. Samuel emerged a prophet in First Samuel 3. Solomon manifested as a wise king in First Kings 3. Mordecai began to stand out in Esther 3. Shedrack, Meshach and Abednego emerged in Daniel 3. John the Baptist and Jesus manifested in the third chapters of Matthew and Luke. Jesus manifested His glory on ‘the third day’ in John 2. The Apostles (Peter and John) manifested in Acts 3 following the healing of the lame man.
PRAYER: Pray that this third week will be a season for the unveiling, emergence and manifestation of hidden possibilities, platforms and people in the nations. Pray for the manifestation of helpful systems, platforms and sacrificial servant leaders.as with the Levites and Priests in the third book of the Bible.
4. The third week is for coming ‘out of the water‘. On the third day of creation, the dry land (earth) came out of the water and stood out. Israel crossed Jordan and came out of the water in Joshua 3. Jesus came out of the water in the third chapters of Matthew and Luke. Jonah came out of the water and the belly of the fish in Jonah 3. The Gentile believers came out of the water of religious restrictions into the liberty of the sons of God in the third seven chapters (15-21) of Acts.
PRAYER: Pray that this is a week of stepping out of the water and into the will of God. Pray it for yourself and for people you know. Pray it for God’s people and agents in the nations.
5. The third is a season to defy dryness and work against it. On the third day of creation, God commanded the dry land to bring forth vegetation. That is difficult and unnatural. Dry ground dries vegetation. However, the dry ground obeyed God and fruit trees and grasses appeared on earth. In Second Kings 3: 17, Elisha told the king of Israel, “For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink”. In Mark 3, Jesus told told the man with a withered hand to stretch forth his hand. He did and was healed. In Acts 3, Peter and John healed the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. Within the third seven chapters (15-21) of Genesis, dry Abraham and Sarah brought forth Isaac.
PRAYER: Pray the blessings of life and fruitfulness into the bodies and labors of God’s people in the nations. Let there be no room for dryness and unproductivity this week.
6. The third week is a season to watch against the spirit of death and its agents. The spirit of death rises in the third season. God knew that when He created food and medicine (natural life sustainers) on the third day of creation. There was no death in the world until Genesis 3. Haman plotted to kill Mordecai and all Jews in Esther 3. Nebuchadnezzar prepared a fiery furnace to roast God’s people in Daniel 3. The spirit of death visited the world within the third seven years of the 20th century through the First World War and the Flu. The evil spirit visited the world again within the third seven years of the 21st century with COVID-19. In 1966, the week of January 15-21 was a dark week in Nigeria. The bloody coup that reset Nigeria happened January 15, 1966. Mohammed Abacha died in a plane crash this week in 1996 (January 17). John 3 is about Jesus, the Answer to death. John 3:14-16 says, ” And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. [16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. Jesus also rose from the dead on the third day.
PRAYER: Pray against the seeming evil partnership between the third season and the spirit of death. This week, decree that life will triumph over death as dry ground brought forth life on the third day of creation and as Jesus rose from the dead on the third day.
7. The third season is a turning point. The work of God on the third day of creation changed the course of things. The third chapters of the Bible are turning-point chapters (Genesis 3 and the Fall of man; Exodus 3 and the call of Moses; Joshua 3 and the crossing of the Jordan; First Samuel 3 and the call of Samuel; First Kings 3 and the wisdom of Solomon; Esther 3 and the promotion of Haman; the Baptism of Jesus in the third chapters of Matthew and Luke….). It is the same with the third seven books of the Bible (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) and third seven chapters (15-21) of the Bible. The season of the third king of Israel, Solomon, was a game-changing season in Israel. The third week of the year is one of the major game-changing seasons in the year.
PRAYER: Pray and decree a reset in your life, family, nation and in the nations. Decree a reset in the Body of Christ and in the congregations and communities of God’s people around the world.
BIBLE READING SUGGESTIONS FOR THE WEEK
I will suggest the following passages for this week:
- Genesis 1: 9-13 (Third day of creation narrative)
- The third chapters of the Bible. There are 60 of them.
- The 3rd book of the Bible (Leviticus).
- The third 7 psalms (Psalm 15-21)
- You can read as follows or as the Spirit directs you:
January 15: Leviticus 1-4; Psalm 15.
January 16: Leviticus 5-8; Psalm 16
January 17: Leviticus 9-12; Psalm 17.
January 18: Leviticus 13-16; Psalm 18.
January 19: Leviticus 17-20; Psalm 19
January 20: Leviticus 21-24; Psalm 20
January 21: Leviticus 25-27; Psalm 21
You will learn from the third book of the Bible (Leviticus) how Israel under the Old Covenant ensured an open heaven through the offering and sacrifices and ordinances. We are under the New Covenant and the blood of Jesus has a stronger voice. The wisdom of God in the book of Leviticus is very instructive.
SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK
Exodus 3:7-8: “And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. [8] So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites” (NKJV).
Happy third week of the year!!!
