The Mystery of the 30th Week

Welcome to the 30th week of the year! The 30th week of the year is the second week in the fifth 49 days of the year. The second season is a season of conflicts and battles. 

The 30th week is a second day of creation week. On the second day of creation, God made the firmament and set it against the waters – to divide the waters above from the waters beneath. The second season is a monopoly-breaking season. God thwarts the proud and rebellious in the second season. He also shows mercy to the humble. In second seasons, God makes a way where there is no way. This 30th week, as always, pray with expectation. The Way-Maker is on duty!!!

The 30th week is a book-of-Amos week. Amos is the 30th book of the Bible and is applicable to 30th day, week, year, years, and so on. On one hand Amos was a confrontational prophet of doom. He spoke of God roaring from Zion, sending fire to devour palaces, and punishing people with famine, pestilence, and other death-causing disasters. 

Amos 1:2 says, “The LORD roars from Zion, And utters His voice from Jerusalem; The pastures of the shepherds mourn, And the top of Carmel withers.” Amos 2:4-5 says, “…For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because they have despised the law of the LORD, And have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray, Lies which their fathers followed.. I will send a fire upon Judah, And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.” Amos 3:15 says, “I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; The houses of ivory shall perish, And the great houses shall have an end,” Says the LORD”. Amos 4:6-12 says, “I also gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, And lack of bread in all your places…I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. [8] So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied;…I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them…I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils…I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. “Therefore…Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” The Book of Amos is a call to seek God and return to Him. Amos 5:14-15: Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Amos 6:1,3,7 says, “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes! Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near; Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed”. Amos was not only a prophet of doom, He was also an intercessor. When the Lord gave him visions of impending destruction. he prayed to the Lord to forgive. Amos 7:4-6 says, “Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, the Lord GOD called for conflict by fire, and it consumed the great deep and devoured the territory. Then I said: “O Lord GOD, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, For he is small!” So the LORD relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” said the Lord GOD. Amos 8:2-3,9-14 says, “…Then the LORD said to me: “The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple Shall be wailing in that day…Many dead bodies everywhere, They shall be thrown out in silence…I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;  I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist, And baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, And its end like a bitter day….I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find it. In that day the fair virgins And strong young men Shall faint from thirst. Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, Who say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan!’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’ They shall fall and never rise again.”

The 30th book of the Bible also shows that the 30th season is a season of mercy for those who hope in God. In Amos 9:11-15 God said, “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old; That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the LORD who does this thing. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the LORD your God.

As a book of Amos week, each of the first six days of the 30th week will express one chapter of the book. The seventh day will express the last three chapters (7-9) of the book. 

The 30th week is a 30th chapters of the Bible week. 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 pain to gladness. The 30th week is a season of going from pain to joy.

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.

In First Samuel 30, Amalekites raided David’s camp at Ziklag and abducted the families of David and his men; but David sought God and received grace to recover all. He went from pain to joy.

Second Chronicles 30 is about Hezekiah’s landmark celebration of the Passover. There had been nothing like that since the days of Solomon. The 30th season is a season of recovery and restoration.

Job 30 tells half the story. It shows only the dark side of the 30th season. Without God’s intervention, the 30th season is a season of doom and gloom.

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.

Proverbs 30 teaches that wisdom will find a way where there is no way. Proverbs 30:18-19,24-28 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”.

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. 

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. 

Ezekiel 30 is the word of the Lord against Egypt and Ethiopia in the days of the captivity.

Disasters of the 30th seasons are warning bells to the proud and arrogant. Is there a relationship between the contents of the 30th book and chapters of the Bible and things happening in 30th seasons in our world and day? Certainly! The 9/11 terrorist attack took place in the 30th year of America’s fifth 49 years. That was a Book of Amos year in the United States. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 happened in the season of the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge. The year 1930 was a book of Amos year in the 20th century. The Great Depression was part of the experience in that year. The same year, fire broke out in Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus and claimed 320 lives. A 7.1 M Salmas Earthquake killed about 3000 people between Northwestern Iran and Southeastern Turkey. Another earthquake (7.3M) killed 272 and destroyed 650 houses in North Izu, Japan. The British airship, R101, crashed in France on its maiden flight, on its way to India – killed 48 people.  In the 30th week of 1930, in Italy, the Irpinia earthquake occurred and killed more than 1400 people. In January 1986, in the last year of America’s 30th seven years, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster happened killing all seven on board. On July 27, 1990, the 30th week in Nigeria’s 30th year, Gideon Gwaza Orkar, and 41 other military officers were executed by firing squad; for attempting to overthrow the government of Ibrahim Babangida on April 22, 1990.

The 30th season is a season to battle the proud and arrogant. But it is not only about disasters. It is also about making a way for the humble and desperate. As God made a way for Rachael to give birth to Joseph in Genesis 30, that is how He made way for Mahatma Ghandi and his followers to break the salt laws of British India following the 200 mile Protest March from March 12-April 5, 1930.

The 30th week is a Deuteronomy 6-10 week. The second five chapters of the fifth book of the Bible is applicable to the second week in the fifth 49 days of the year. In Deuteronomy 6-10 Moses reviewed Israel’s election and uniqueness to her. In the sixth chapter, he commanded Israel to prioritize the teaching and doing of the law. In the seventh chapter, he showed Israel how God’s grace made them a chosen people; in the eighth chapter, Israel is commanded to remember the Lord (and His goodness) and not forget Him when they enter the Promised Land. In the ninth chapter, Moses reviewed Israel’s rebellion and magnified the goodness of God. In the tenth chapter, Moses received the second pair of the tablets of the Law. In the second five chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses wanted to secure commitment to God and His Word. He wanted to help the people stay glued to God. Cleaving to God is the key to blessings in the 30th season.

What is the word of the Lord concerning the week?

This is a week of warning against contention and disasters. The enemy wants the 30th week to be a week of disasters and contentions. God wants it to be a week of release from oppression and answers to prayers. In this week, dialogue is better than war.

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 misguided Gideon Orka coup to overthrow Ibrahim Babangida government on April 22 was a disaster. It happened in the 30th year of Nigeria. The 30th season does support contentions and revolutions. It is a season of accords and treaties. 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. 

This week, stay glued to God. Cry out to Him to make a way for you where there is no way. Then, follow His leading. Follow peace with all men. Happy 30th week!