Third Day

  • They Didn’t Want To Hear

    “And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day, and put themselves in array against Gibeah, as at other times” (Judges 20:28).

    In the closing pages of Judges you find reports of wife abuse, blatant homosexuality, gang rape leading to murder, injustice, brother killing brother, and kidnapping.  When David Jeremiah said, “I never thought I’d see the day,” you and I have never encountered a day as the day we live in. It is bad. Violence, vice, immorality, idolatry, and blasphemy are rampant.

    This is the daily food people enjoy. TV and film violence is habitual and routinely accepted. It has become the fodder of unredeemed America. What is happening on the screen is being duplicated in the streets. When a nation is entertained by acts of violence, is there much hope for that nation?

    Brother went against brother in Israel because evil was not properly dealt with punitive action. The Word of God tells us that “brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death” (Matthew 10:21).

    Sin in the city will infect those in it and around and it will lead to war. The center cannot hold with stability. The home, the ministry, and society are disintegrating before our very eyes, and it seems as if people disdain the truth! But whether people want truth or not, the world must be told that Jesus Christ died for lost sinners, and that the power of Christ can transform homes, hearts, churches, and society if people will only trust Him.

    “Christ beats His drum, but He does not press men,” said English preacher and poet John Donne in 1631; “Christ is served with voluntaries.”

  • Making Mistakes Work

    “And the children of Israel journeyed, and came into their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Bibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim” (Joshua 9:17).

    Of all liars religious liars are the worst. Many have come to churches as seekers and after wards to learn they are sneakers. They “love God” and then proceed to tell you of their sad tales of woe, hoping to break hearts and then pick pockets.

    This scenario took place in Joshua and Israel’s life. Joshua and the princes of Israel did not ask God for instruction concerning the strangers before them (Josh. 9:14). They were duped and deceived by the enemies of God. They traveled to them as people who sought after their God because they were afraid Israel would kill and destroy them, so they lied.

    Though deceived the lies were there, but the people of God stood by their vow of protection and took the cities in but made them servers of the people of God. When we do something wrong by not taking heed to God’s Word and follow our own intuition, we still can go to God and do what is right.

    God is able to make even those things which were not in wisdom and work them out for our good. Since we fail we must not stay down but get back up and follow God. We are to take the ploy and reinstall our lives to His benefit. That is the power of the third day. Because of the resurrection of Christ, the Lord is able to make all things abound!

  • Fighting the Battles of Life

    “And do you abide outside the camp seven days; whosoever has killed any person, and whosoever has touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day” (Numbers 31:19).

    We have an enemy that is against us in every way. The people of Israel knew that and they were forced to right their wrongs. They had been enticed by a nation which led to a plague and death. God said stay outside the camp and purify yourselves and those who are your prisoners. Let them know there is a difference between clean and unclean.

    God is serious about His people staying clean and maintaining a holy relationship with Himself. No compromise is expected. We can win the battle and lose the victory if we are not careful.  We are to be separated from all that offends our holy and righteous God we serve. Sin is a horrible pit to fall into.

    We have many battles as Christians. Not a day goes by that we do not face temptations, trials, and battles. We are to maintain a constant relationship with the Lord so that we will see His power to overcome. The battles prepare us for the last battle and the last enemy which is death. Live in the fullness of Christ daily and may we see the power of a cleansed and consecrated life in the sight of our God.

  • The Feast of Tabernacles

    “And on the third day eleven bullocks, two Rams, fourteen lambs of the first year without blemish” (Numbers 29:20).

    There is coming a day of remarkable position for the nation of Israel. The Feast of Tabernacles prophesy to the day when the Kingdom promises and the beautiful bountiful land of Israel will be fully restored and enlarged.

    All promises and prophecies of Scripture are fulfilled in Christ. God’s blood accomplished what the animal sacrifices could not. All sin is forgiven and God is able to move in and make a way.

    You and I cannot live without the intercession and ministry of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus. He represents us before the Father. He is our advocate, mediator, and intercessor. As the day approaches to the coming of the King we need to spend much time in His presence depending upon Him for His work in us and through us.

    The sacrifices given during the Feast of Tabernacles were expensive. The grace of God is given to us because of the great value and expense of God’s sacrifice of His only Son. We should be thankful and offer all we are and have up to Him.

    May we not give to the Lord that which costs us nothing (2 Samuel 24:24; Malachi 1:6-11). What great joy to know the Lord of lords and the God of glory is going to return to set up His Kingdom forever!

  • Identification and Participation in His Death

    “And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons who were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave” (Numbers 19:19).

    You and I live around death, decay, and indifference. As long as we are living for ourselves and the cross of Christ remains a distant thought from an even more distant past, you and I will not fully maximize the life we were to live.

     

    We are dead in Christ. We are not to bring our self-centered thinking, fears, actions, anxieties, and desires into the new relationship. They have been crucified, the old self-life. We are all one in Christ. He is perfect, sinless Deity. A separation happens when we try to live apart from Him. We transfer our allegiance and identity to Christ.

     

    As long as we live by rules and intellectualism and not by an ongoing participation in the death of Christ we will not see victory. It happens only through love that both honors and trusts in Jesus’ belief in Himself and what He has done for us on the cross.

    Why is it that so few seem to have intimacy and fellowship with God? Many know about God but few really know God. We know His acts but very few of us know His ways. He’s in the vicinity, somewhere over there, but not intimately working here.

     

    God is not free to flow His power through you and me unless we are identified with the death we experienced in Christ when we were born again. Until we realize and make the decision that we will die to ourself daily, and live to Him, we will continue to simply exist rather than maximize God’s good plan for us. We can not bring our old life into union with His life whereas we were made one.

     

    God has given us the power of His resurrection through a brand-new reference point. How we view our self, others, our circumstances, and life must be all in Him. His life in me–my thinking, my acting, and believing must be His or there will be conflict and severance from His life. To be crucified with Jesus Christ establishes a brand-new reference for life–His life! This is the power of the third day, His resurrection life living in us and through us.