Every week of the year is a gate of time for different heavenly purposes. The kingdom of darkness also seeks access to this gate of time with her evil agenda. Watchmen and Gate-keepers should therefore watch over gates of time diligently. The 30th week of the year is the second week in the 5th seven weeks of the year. It is also the second week of ‘Bein ha-Metzarim’ (‘The Three Weeks’ of the ‘Straits of Tammuz’ in 2022 – ” a period of mourning commemorating the destruction of first and second Jewish temples”.
What does the Bible reveal concerning the 30th?
1. The 30th is a season of making or finding a way where there is no way through wisdom. Proverbs 30:18-19, 24-28 shows that wisdom will find a way where there is no way. It says, “There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yes, four which I do not understand: [19] The way of an eagle in the air, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the midst of the sea, And the way of a man with a virgin. [24] There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: [25] The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; [26] The rock badgers are a feeble folk, Yet they make their homes in the crags; [27] The locusts have no king, Yet they all advance in ranks; [28] The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings’ palaces”.
2. The 30th is a season of making or finding a way where there is no way through desperate search for answers. It is a time to contend for desires. In Genesis 30, there was crisis in Jacob’s family. Rachael wanted a child desperately. She gave her maid, Bilhah, to her husband and she gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Leah also gave her maid, Zilpah, to Jacob; and she gave birth to Gad and Asher. Leah eventually gave birth to her last two sons – Issachar and Zebulun. She also gave birth to her only daughter, Dinah. At last, Rachael gave birth to Joseph. Jacob had seven sons and one daughter in this chapter. Jacob also made a deal with Laban that made him wealthy; after he had thought of leaving his father in-law with his family. In Genesis 30, Jacob’s family went from desperation to celebration.
3. The 30th week is a season of battling barriers with God’s power; not a season of striving with men in fleshly pride. The 30th season is a time of struggles and battles to find a way where there is no way. It is a time of finding answers by engaging the wisdom and power of God. The enemy wants the 30th week to be a week of dysfunctional contentions and disasters. God wants it to be a week of overcoming barriers.
In Genesis 30, God opened the womb of Rachel and she gave birth to Joseph. The contentions did not open her womb but seeking God did. Jacob also found a way to prosper under Laban without contention. Thanks to dialogue. In First Samuel 30, David’s men contended with him over the raid of their Ziklagl camp and the abduction of their families. David sought God and found a way to recover all the enemy took from them. India sought independence from Britain in 1930 through non-violent civil disobedience. They averted disasters. Negotiations began. It is not a season to seek independence from God. It is a time to agree with God. The 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge signed, into law, the Native American Citizenship Act – thus granting citizenship rights to native Americans born within the United States territory. In the opening months of the 30th seven years of United States, under President Jimmy Carter administration, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accord in 1978. The 1983 Beirut bombing that cost America the lives of 241 officers was reaction to America’s role in Lebanese Civil War. The 1983 invasion of Grenada cost America so much too. The misguided Gideon Orka coup to overthrow Ibrahim Babangida government on April 22 was a disaster. It happened in the 30th year of Nigeria. The coup plotters were executed July 27, 1990; the 30th week of the year that was also Nigeria’s 30th year.
The 30th season does not support contentions and revolutions. It is a season of accords and treaties. It is a season to make peace with God. In the fifth chapter of the 30th book of the Bible, Prophet Amos said, “Seek the LORD and live, Lest He break out like fire in the house of Joseph, And devour it, With no one to quench it in Bethel” (Amos 5:6)
4. The 30th week is a season of going from pain to joy. Psalms 30 reveals that the 30th season is a turnaround season when morning takes the place of night, when joy takes the place of weeping, when dancing takes the place of mourning, and gladness takes the place of sackcloth. In First Samuel 30, Amalekites raided David’s camp at Ziklag and abducted the families of David and his men. They wept until they had no more strength to weep. David sought God and received grace to recover all. He went from pain to joy.
5. The 30th season is a season of recovery from losses. Second Chronicles 30 is about Hezekiah’s landmark celebration of the Passover. There had been nothing like that sinckzcmqQQAe the days of Solomon. The 30th season is a season of recovery and restoration. Jeremiah 30 is the promise of the restoration of Judah. Jeremiah 30:18-22 says, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city shall be built upon its own mound, And the palace shall remain according to its own plan. [19] Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. [20] Their children also shall be as before, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all who oppress them. [21] Their nobles shall be from among them, And their governor shall come from their midst; Then I will cause him to draw near, And he shall approach Me; For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?’ says the LORD. [22] ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’” Jeremiah 30 shows that the 30th season is a season of restoration.
6. The 30th season is a time of judgment. The book of Amos is the 30th book of the Bible; and in that book, the prophet declares the judgment of God against nations for their transgressions. Deuteronomy 30 is about curses following rebellion against God and blessings following repentance and obedience. It about choosing between death and life or blessing and cursing. The 30th week is for making decision to stay up or down; to go up or come down. Isaiah 30 is the hopelessness of rebellion against God; as in Israel trusting in Egypt against the counsel of God. It is also about the graciousness of God promising restoration to Zion, and about the judgment of Assyria. In the 30th season, the pain of those who trust in God is turned to joy. Ezekiel 30 is the word of the Lord against Egypt and Ethiopia in the days of the captivity.
This week may begin with frustration and discomfort, but the Lord will make, and show, a way where there is no way; and the week will end with joy. This week, stay glued to God. Turn away from things that are offensive to Him. Cry out to Him for a way where there is no way. Then, follow His leading. Follow peace with all men.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Give thanks to God for taking us through the 29th week of the year.
2. Pray against envy and strife in nations, organizations, the churches, and families – as was seen in Jacob’s family in Genesis 30 or with David and his men in First Samuel 30.
3. Pray that this week is marked by holy desperation that will yield positive results in the church and in the nations. Let this be a week of breakthroughs; a week of finding a way where there is no way – as it happened for Rachel in the birth of Joseph; and as Jacob found the way and deal to wealth in Genesis 30.
4. Pray that our world will experience mercy rather judgments in this week; and that we shall not be visited with the woes of the book of Amos (the 30th book of the Bible). Pray for an outpour of the spirit of repentance in nations.
5. Pray that our families, homes, businesses and churches are shielded from abductions and fire disasters in this 30th week. Pray against the kind of mishap that came against David and his men in First Samuel 30. Pray that this is not a week of tears of sorrow in families, churches, businesses and nations.
6. Pray that this is a week of recovery from losses as David and His men recovered all in First Samuel 30. Let this week be that morning when weeping ceases and joy begins as in Psalm 30.
7. Pray that this will be a week of revival in the lives of individuals, families, churches, businesses and nations as Hezekiah led Judah to a revival of the Passover in Second Chronicles 30.
8. This 30th week, pray for the release of the wisdom and force that will make a way where there is none (as in Proverbs 30) and move us from desperation to celebration. Let this be a week when joy overtakes weeping; and mourning turns into dancing.
MORE PRAYERS
“”O Lord, keep us, this week, from blaming the wrong people for our problems as Rachel blamed Leah and Jacob. Deliver us from looking for help and answers in the wrong places as Rachel sought the answer to her barrenness in her maid. Keep us from celebrating half-measures as full answers; and from seeing fruits of compromise as fulfillment of the promise. May we never see Dan and Naphthali that came from Bilhah as the ALL, or the Joseph, that should come from Rachel. Deliver us, this week, from the kind of strife and unnecessary contention that existed between Rachel and Leah in Genesis 30. Guide us to pursue cooperation instead of competition. Give us wisdom and patience for growth and triumph as you gave to Jacob to multiply his livestock..
SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK
Jeremiah 30:18-22: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city shall be built upon its own mound, And the palace shall remain according to its own plan. [19] Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving And the voice of those who make merry; I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. [20] Their children also shall be as before, And their congregation shall be established before Me; And I will punish all who oppress them. [21] Their nobles shall be from among them, And their governor shall come from their midst; Then I will cause him to draw near, And he shall approach Me; For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?’ says the LORD. [22] ‘You shall be My people, And I will be your God.’”
Happy 30th week of the year!
