Welcome to the 51st week of Nigeria’s year. This week is also the 38th week of the year. Among other things, the mercy of God will stand out this week.
THE 51ST WEEK
There are 52 weeks in a year. We are very close to a new year in Nigeria. This is a time of reckoning and reflection. It is a time to think about what happened, what did not happen, and what could (or should) have happened, in the year. Did we make progress or retrogress in the year? What should we have done differently? What are we going to do differently in the coming year. A time to give thanks for things God did in the past 50 weeks of our year. A time to repent and seek mercy for our sins and failures.
As we reflect on the journey through our current year, how should we live or pray in this 51st week of our year when we are approaching the end of our current year? The Bible indicates three major things about the 51st season:he 51st season is a time to lean on the power of God’s mercy where we failed or are weak. The 51st psalm is a plea for mercy. Read the entire 19 verses. In a season when judgment is deserved, it is only mercy that can protect people. When there is no merit, mercy is all we require and are qualified to ask. The 51st book of the Bible says we have redemption in Christ – even the forgiveness of sins. In our 51st year (2011), mercy made Goodluck EBELEJonathan, a man from a minority group, an elected President. This is a week to ask mercy for Nigeria – especially because of things we have not done right.
The 51st season is a time to give focused attention to the Voice of God. Three times in Isaiah 51, the Lord says ”Listen to me” (verses 1, 4, and 7). In verse 21, He says, “Please, hear this…” This week, we must stay focused on the word of God and on our root in God and refuse to be distracted by the many voices of hopelessness and discouragement seeking attention. Whom we listen to, or look to, in this season is important. The 51st book of the Bible (Colossians) calls us to turn away from vain philosophies and focus on Christ our Life in whom we are complete. Isaiah 51: 1-2 says,
“… Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. [2] Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him.”
We must look away from ourselves and focus on our root in God. Our strength is in God and not on ourselves.
The 51st season is when the destroyer is destroyed and the plunderer is plundered. It is a season of judgment against the enemies of God’s people and God’s purposes. The 51st chapters of Isaiah and Jeremiah bear witness to this.
Isaiah 51:22-23 says, “Thus says your Lord, The LORD and your God, Who pleads the cause of His people: “See, I have taken out of your hand The cup of trembling, The dregs of the cup of My fury; You shall no longer drink it. [23] But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, Who have said to you, ‘Lie down, that we may walk over you.’ And you have laid your body like the ground, And as the street, for those who walk over.”
Jeremiah 51 is about the destruction of Babylon.
In Jeremiah 51:24-26, God said, “And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight,” says the LORD. [25] “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth,” says the LORD. “And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain. [26] They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the LORD”.
THE 38TH WEEK OF THE YEAR
The 38th week is a turning-point week in the year; as the book of Zechariah (the 38th book of the Bible) meant to the Jews returning from captivity.
How should we live and pray in this 38th week? What’s in the heart of God for the 38th week?
Here are eight things the Bible reveals concerning the 38th season:
- It is a season of desperate cry for mercy from God. Psalm 38: 1-22 is a cry for mercy. It will be good to read the entire chapter. Mercy bypassed death and helped Judah and his family in Genesis 38. Mercy delivered Hezekiah from death in Isaiah 38. Mercy saved Joshua the High Priest in the third chapter of the 38th book of the Bible. Mercy saved the 38th President of the United States (Gerald Ford) from two assassination attempts in September 1975. Mercy saved Nigerians from the Abacha regime in the 38th year of the nation (1998) when the killer-Head of State died suddenly.
2. It is a season of gracious intervention against death. God intervened to reverse the pronouncement of death against Hezekiah in Isaiah 38. He also intervened in the family of Judah (Genesis 38); through Ebed-melech to save Jeremiah’s life (Jeremiah 38); for His people against Gog (Ezekiel 38).
3. It is a season when men and powers who are like towering Cedars and Oaks may fall (Zechariah 11: 1-2). Not only did Gen. Sani Abacha fall in 1998, Archbishop Benson Idahosa died earlier in the year.
4. It is a season of revelation. It is a time learn and receive knowledge. It is a season to uncover things covered up. God teaches in the 38th season. He took over to question His servant in Job 38. He taught Zechariah the prophet in the 38th book of the Bible.
5. It is a season of recovery and vengeance when God rises against those who rise up against his people (Ezekiel 38; Zechariah).
6. It is a season of construction and reconstruction in the House of God. The Tabernacle was in the making in Exodus 38.
7. It is a season of divine visitation. God began the restoration of His servant Job in the 38th chapter of the. Book of Job. The servant of God did not hear the Voice of God until the 38th chapter.
8. It is a season of battle to dethrone self because it seeks to get in the way of God’s purpose in this season. The Bible mentions two self-centered people who emerged kings in Israel in 38th seasons. The first was Ahab – who became king in the 38th year of Asa (1 Kings 16:29). The second was Zechariah the son of Jeroboam – who became king in the 38th year of Azariah (2 Kings 15:8). There are 60 first-person pronouns (me, my and I) in the 22-verse Psalm 38. Judah and his sons exhibited selfishness in Genesis 38. Exodus 38 opens with the making of the altar of burnt offering where lives are laid down by sacrifice; and the making of the Bronze Laver for washing. In the 41-verse 38th chapter of Job, God asked His servant 38 questions to pull self out him. Isaiah 38:10-17 has 33 first-person pronouns (me, my and I). The Book of Zechariah (the 38th book of the Bible) is about God’s determination “to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it” (Zechariah 1:21). The British -America War of 1812 ended in 1814 (the 38th year of the United States). It was a victory against the selfishness of the Colonial Master.
B. PRAYER POINTS
1. Pray that God will be merciful to Nigerians and turn things around in this nation as the psalmist prayed in Psalm 38 and in Psalm 51; as God had mercy on Hezekiah in Isaiah 38, and the man who suffered 38 years in John 5. Families have failed. Schools have failed. The Church has failed. Courts have failed. Government and law enforcement agents have failed. This is a week to raise a cry for God’s mercy!
2. Pray that God will raise an intervention-force for Nigeria as He used Ebed-melech to help Jeremiah in Jeremiah 38.
3. Pray that the Lord will bring down hindering oaks and cedars in our nation as He did to Babylon in Jeremiah 51 and Gog In Ezekiel 38; and as He did with the Abacha regime in our 38th year.
4. Pray that we would see, hear, and understand what the Lord will be showing us in this season as it was with Zechariah in the 38th book of the Bible. O Lord, lead us to pay attention to You this week as Isaiah 51 demands.
5. Pray that the Lord will raise His craftsmen to terrify the horns scattering Nigeria as He did for Judah in the 38th book of the Bible.
6. Pray that this will be a week of reconstruction and restoration in the House of God in Nigeria as in the 38th book of the Bible. Pray that Heaven will break silence this week as in Job 38.
7. O Lord, purge my heart of selfishness in this week and season. Dethrone Selfishness and take down the selfish in the nations this week.
C. THE PROMISE
Isaiah 51:3: “For the LORD will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody”.
Have a happy 51st Nigeria-week and a greatly blessed 38th week of the year!
