Welcome to the first 49 days (seven weeks) of the year. The God of Israel is the God of ‘sevens’. His signature is ‘seven’!. He created time and gave the first seven days to the work of creation. That became the pattern and foundation for all things that happen on earth. The Bible is full of the sevens of God: seven days, seven years, seven priests, seven trumpets, seven spirits, seven lamp stands, seven churches, seven seals, seven bowls, and so on. There are seven 7 weeks (7×49 days) and a remainder of 22 days in a (clear) year; or 23 days in a (leap) year. These seven seasons in the year are patterned after the seven days of creation. This means each day of creation is light and pattern for each 49 day (seven-week) season. The seven-week seasons of the year also have their patterns in the books of the Bible.
1st 49 Days (Genesis – Second Samuel)
2nd 49 Days (First Kings – Ecclesiastes)
3rd 49 Days (Song of Songs – Amos)
4th 49 Days (Obadiah – Malachi)
5th 49 Days (Matthew – Second Corinthians)
6th 49 Days (Galatians -Second Timothy)
7th 49 Days (Titus – Second John)
Last 22/23 Days (Third John – Revelation)
The major Bible patterns for understanding the first 49 days of the year are the first day of creation narrative, the first book of the Bible (Genesis), and the first seven books of the Bible, and the first ten books of the Bible.
The first 49 days of the year is a first day of creation season. when God said, “Let there be light”. It is the season to release light into the new year. Light helps us to see. It is the time to see the year without uncertainty. It is the season to begin to shape the year with the word and presence of God. God is Light and His Word is also light. God is first; and the first belongs to Him. The battle of life is First a battle of Light and darkness. God is Light and there is no darkness in Him. So, God, with His Word, is the light of the year; and should dominate the first 49 days of the year. The presence of God drives darkness away. The first 49 days of the year is for battling spiritual darkness, mental darkness, environmental or social darkness. It is a time to get clarifications concerning the year ahead. It is a time you need light to make decisions that would matter in the year and even beyond.
The first 49 days of the year is a book of Genesis season. Each week of this 49 days is an expression of seven chapters of Genesis: first week (Genesis 1-7); second week (Genesis 8-14); third week (Genesis 15-21); fourth week (Genesis 22-28); fifth week (Genesis 29-35); sixth week (Genesis 36-42); seventh week (Genesis 43-50). The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible and is the foundation of the entire Bible. This book helps us to understand the rest of the Bible, the earth, and human existence. The Bible and human existence would not make sense without the book of Genesis. The first 49 days of the year is the time to lay foundation for the year. That is the time to give your year its form and shape. The first seven weeks of the year is the key to understanding the 7 seven weeks of the year.
In the book of Genesis, God told man how to live but man chose to go a different way; and that was the reason for the disasters of Eden, the flood, Babel, Sodom, and the Amorites. The first 49 days of the year is the time to receive God’s Word and instructions for the year; which we must also run with. It is a time to receive God’s word and do it. This is a time to honor God with devotion. The first 49 days of the year is the first-fruit of your 365/366 days in the year; and should be given to God – in worship, prayer, meditation and study, or some special service.
The first 49 days of the year is a first-seven-books-of-the-Bible season. The first seven books of the Bible are Genesis, Ezodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges; and they are applicable to the first seven weeks of year – each week expressing one book of the Bible. The first week of the year is a book of Genesis week. The second week is a book of Exodus week. The third week is a book of Leviticus week; and so on. The first seven books of the Bible show how all things began. The books show how man began and failed God. The books show, especially, the origin of God’s election of Israel. It shows how Israel began, how they were enslaved by Egypt, how God delivered Israel from bondage, how she became a nation, journeyed through the wilderness and inherited the vast land God promised their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The seventh book shows how Israel began to fail God in the Promised Land, began to suffer at the hands of her enemies, and how God showed mercy to Israel by raising the Judges to deliver her from her enemies. The first seven books of the Bible indicate that the key to peace and goodness is alignment with, and submission to, God’s will. Failure or success, in any year, does not happen in the middle of the year, or at the end of the year. It begins in the first 49 days of the year. The entire year is in the first 49 days of the year. The other seasons of the year will be built on the foundation you lay in the first 49 days, or first seven weeks of the year. Often, what happens s that people spend the year trying to undo, correct, or save themselves from the misdeeds of the first 49 days.
The first 49 days of the year is a Genesis – Second Samuel season. I asked the Lord to speak to me about His agenda for the beginning of the year. He told me the beginning of the year is when He recruits people after His heart who will run with His purposes in the year. He said He considers those who are positioning their hearts to go the direction He is going. He would partner with them and give them every grace necessary for fulfilling His purposes in the year. He led me to see there is a pattern for this in the Bible. Every year has an Old Testament side and a New Testament side. The first 4 seven weeks of the year (196 days) constitute the Old Testament side of the year. The following 3 seven weeks and the remaining 22/23 days constitute the New Testament side of the year.
The first 10 books of the Bible are the pattern and guiding light for the first 49 days of the year. In the first ten books of the Bible, God began to search a man and a people. He wanted a representative people through whom He could work and touch the entire world. He wanted people who could represent His interests on earth. He wanted a people who are hungry for Him, a people who will seek Him, who will Hear Him, trust Him, obey Him, love Him, and be holy, clean, and separate for Him.
He searched from Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph, Moses/Aaron/Bezaleel, Joshua, Samson, Samuel, and Saul; until He came to David – the man after His heart. In David, He laid a new foundation for Israel. He also searched among women – Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachael and Leah, Tamar, Jechobed, Miriam, Rahab, Deborah, Samson’s mother, Naomi, Ruth, Hannah, Bathsheba.
God is looking for people after His heart who will war in the spirit, in the place of prayer and intercession, to birth His purposes for the year. He needs people to win souls and disciple them. He needs people to care for the needy. He needs messengers who will receive word from His mouth and declare the same where it is meant. He is looking for people who are willing to give resources for kingdom work in the year. He is looking for those who will give themselves to serve where they are needed. Some people will never be ready for God, or wake up to His call, until the middle of the year; or even the last quarter. Sadly, some may never go God’s direction this year. They may be waking up next year.
Will you be a vessel in God’s hand in the year? Now is the time to position and align your heart with His agenda for the year. Happy first 49 days.
Hymn of the first 49 days:
When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His word
What a glory He sheds on our way
When we do His good will
He abides with us still
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
But to trust and obey.
How to spend the first 49 days of the year.
1. Thank God for the grace of a new year. The gift of life is the gift of gifts. It is the greatest.
2. Give attention to God’s word. Hear it. Read it. Study it.
3. Believe God’s word and trust His wisdom
4. Obey God’s voice and submit totally to His will. Follow His direction for the year. Seek the help of God concerning this.
