Welcome to a new day!
FIVE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DAY
Today Is
- 1. June 9 (in a Clear year); June 8 (in a Leap year).
2. The sixth day of the 23rd Week (June 4 –10 in a Clear year/ June 3 – 10 in a Leap year).
3. The 13th day in fourth 7 Weeks of the year. (May 28 July 15).
4. The 160th day of the year (from January 1). In this article, this day will be called Day 160
5. A sixth-season day because it is the sixth day of the 23rd week of the year.
FOUR BIBLICAL PATTERNS FOR THE DAY
There are four basic biblical patterns for this day:
1. The sixth day of creation (Genesis 1: 24-31)
2. Isaiah 49-57
3. The 13th book of the Bible (First Chronicles)
4. The second 9 books of the New Testament.
Day 160 is a sixth day of creation day. Day 160 is a sixth-season day. On the sixth day of creation, God made man in His image and likeness after He created the land animals. No other creature was made in the image and likeness of God. This made man different. He gave man authority to rule and dominate the creatures of the fifth day, and the other creatures of the sixth day. God gave vegetation to man and animals for food. Day 160 is the day of God’s image, likeness, and representative.
Day 160 is Isaiah 49-57 day in the 23rd week of the year. The 9 chapters in the sixth division of the 23rd book of the Bible are applicable to the sixth day of the 23rd week. The sixth division cheaters are chapters of comfort, consolation, and hope. They are full of revelation, direction, and instruction. They reveal that this is a day of transformation through divine direction.
Day 160 is Ephesians – Philemon day in 23rd week of the year. Like a journey through the Bible, every week has an Old Testament side and a New Testament side. The first four days of the week is the Old Testament side. The remaining three days of the week is the New Testament side. The second nine books of the New Testament are applicable to the second day on the New Testament side of the week. The 9 books (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, First Timothy, Second Timothy, Titus, and Philemon). Those 9 books are books of instructions. They are mentoring epistles. The pastoral epistles of Paul are in this group. Day 160 is a day to win through instruction. It is a day to wage and win war through counsel.
Day 160 is a 13th chapters of the Bible day. On this day in 2018, the 13th day in the fourth 49 days of the year, I took time to reflect on taking a stand in life – for what you know and believe – ‘standing up for something’ as opposed to indifference or ‘sitting on the fence’ on issues that matter. This also seems to be what ‘the 13th’ is for. I found it’s about standing up and standing out – especially for what is right! It’s not just about being different; but more about being different for the right thing – the God-thing. This is true in the Bible as in contemporary history.
Here’s what I found out about ‘the 13th’ from the Bible: In Genesis 13, Lot separated from Abraham. Abraham took a stand for peace and Lot took a stand for the convenience of Sodom. In Exodus 13, Israel separated from, and moved out of, Egypt. They took an irreversible stand for freedom. In Numbers 13, Joshua and Caleb separated themselves from those who spoke evil of the Promised Land they claimed to love and wanted to live in. In Judges 13, Samson, a Nazirite, separated from his mother’s womb, was born. He was born to be different and to take a stand against the oppression of Israel by the Philistines. He died for refusing to stand out. In First Samuel 13, Saul began to lose ground and the throne for refusing to separate himself to the word of the Lord. He could not stand for God because of pressure from the people. In Second Samuel 13, Absalom fled, and separated from, his father’s house. He chose vengeance and exile above love and forgiveness. In First Kings 13, a man of God died for refusing to separate himself from an ‘old prophet’ who tempted him to reject the word of the Lord. In Second Kings 13, two kings of Israel lost out for refusing to separate from the idolatrous ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. In the same chapter, a dead man returned to life, and was separated from the dead, when his body touched the bones of a separated man, Elisha. The 13th book of the Bible, First Chronicles, records the separation of humanity, Israel especially, into families. The focus is the family of David. In Second Chronicles 13, Abijah, the king of Judah confronted and defeated Jeroboam, king of Israel, who had separated from the House of David. In the 13th season, ‘the separated’ should have power over ‘the unseparated’. Nehemiah 13 is a call to Jewish returnees to separate themselves from foreigners. Matthew 13 is separated to ‘separation-parables’ of the kingdom. Mark 13 is about God gathering His elect “from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven”. Luke 13 is about “repent or perish”. It is about separating from the crowd to follow ‘the narrow way’. In John 13, the betrayer stood out among the twelve disciples; and Jesus told His disciples that LOVE would distinguish them as His disciples. In Acts 13, the Holy Spirit demanded the separation of Paul and Barnabas to their calling and purpose. ‘Saul of Tarsus’ became ‘Paul’ in this chapter also. In Romans 13 and First Corinthians 13, Paul took a stand for LOVE as the greatest. In Revelation 13, God’s people are warned to stand separate, and stay away, from the Anti-Christ’s ‘mark of the Beast’.
Here’s what contemporary history shows about ‘the 13th’: In the 13th century, Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, divided and assigned Bible passages and narratives into chapter-families. The Waldensians became separate from the Catholic Church in the 13th century. They were a pre-Protestant Christian movement that shaped the beliefs of reformers like Bullinger and Calvin. Rhode Island, the 13th state of the United States, has a history and tradition of dissent and independence. “Rhode Island was the first of the thirteen colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown on May 4, 1776. The state boycotted the 1787 convention which drew up the United States Constitution and initially refused to ratify it. It was also the last of the thirteen colonies to ratify the United States Constitution on May 29, 1790”. Roger Williams, founder of the Colony, was a man banished for his Puritanism and unconventional religious beliefs. He was an advocate of separation of church and state; and the abolition of slavery. The 13th president of the United States, Millard Fillmore, was the last president not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties. He was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. He joined the ‘Know Nothing, American, Party’. He chose ‘the compromise’ instead of taking a definite stand in the slavery controversy. He did not believe in slavery but he could not take a stand for what he believed. On becoming president, when the 12 president died, he separated himself from the policy of President Taylor’s administration that he was part of; and even sacked the Cabinet. In the 13th seven years of the United States, and by the 13th Amendment, President Abraham Lincoln and Congress led the United States to take a clear and definite stand on slavery. The 13th Amendment drew a line between the United States and slavery or the love of slavery. In 2013, the 13th year of the 21st century, the nations of the world came under pressure to take a stand on gender issues. Great western nations and their allies took a stand for same sex marriage and gay relationships. The same year, the US Supreme Court (in United States vs Windsor) struck down the 1996 ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ (DOMA).
This is the 13th day of the fourth 49 days. Seems like a good day to take a stand. This may be a good day to reflect about where you stand on issues that matter to God, your person, and the people around you. This may be a good day to ask if you’re airing out for just causes or just relaxing in a comfortable hide-out. Are you standing and speaking for what is right; are you standing on the popular side, standing with the crowd, for fear of being alone? I think it’s a good day to reflect on where you’re standing; and what you’re standing for. Could this be the day to encourage yourself to stand up (or keep standing up) for principles rather than just preferences and prejudices. I think it might be a good day to also strengthen others who have taken a just stand but seem to be standing alone. Taking a stand for what is just and right is hardly easy. It often means, in some cases, the loss of everything men cling to – from reputation to recognition to relationships and even resources. My heart goes out to you – if for a just cause you stand alone today. Be strong and calm. You’re standing with an invisible (often silent) majority. This is a day to stand with the persecuted and unjustly imprisoned – as Hebrews 13 exhorts. This is a day to stand up for LOVE instead of SELF. You cannot go wrong with love. Standing for love is standing for God and with God.
DECREE AND DECLARE: Job 38 reveals that God places demand on seasons to produce certain results. He made man in His image to do the same in His name. Command this day to separate people and things that should not be together. Command the day to reveal people and put them where they belong. Let all things take their places and positions on earth as it is in heaven. Happy 160th day!
Learn more about this day in history: http://timelines.ws/days/06_09.HTML
