Genesis 1:9-13
Divine Life – Part ii
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. (Genesis 1:9)
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:10)
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)
And the evening and the morning were the third day. (Genesis 1:13)
The Third Day
The phrase ‘the third day’ in Scripture is connected to various biblical principles; it is, however, primarily connected to resurrection and new life. Remember: the fullness of God is symbolized in the number three (3). Throughout the entire Scriptures, the Holy Spirit of God uses this particular number to unveil the Godhead to man. Even though this article is not an exhaustive study of the phrase ‘the third day;’ for some readers, however, it may become exhausting. My aim is to pull out the many threads of colors in the weaving of our main phrase.
Now for some baby math, this phrase ‘the third day’ occurs thirty-four (34) times in the Old Testament, and sixteen (16) times in the New Testament, and 34 + 16 = 50, the year of jubilee. Do you not find that extremely interesting? If not, it maybe you do not understand the significance of what the year of jubilee meant to Israel, or how this applies to the Christian; or why should the entire scope of the Bible be drawn to this connection of the number three and jubilee? In this article you will see two different spelling, jubile and jubilee: The first is the Old Testament spelling, and the second is our contemporary spelling. Now don’t rush me: hopefully, you will see the connection between the third day and the year of jubile.
The Year of Jubilee (jubile) in The Old Testament
Jubilee was a year of redemption, a year in which Israel celebrated and honored freedom from being physically and economically in bondage and slavery. Imagine all debits were null and void, all properties, lands and possessions that had been mortgaged or sold were returned to the original owners, or to the descendants of the original owners. (Exodus 21:2) A year of liberty for all the land and for all the inhabitants. This liberty began at the end of forty nine years and thus, the beginning of the fiftieth year, or seven Sabbaths of years. In Leviticus God deals with the wonder of numbers in seven times seven years. Of course, this is all a coincidence, God the Holy Spirit just threw out some numbers as an exercise in confusion without any reason or meaning, do you think? At this point, I suggest that you read Chapter 25 of the Book of Leviticus. I have selected the following verses to give you a basic understanding of what the year of jubile meant to Israel, but to get the full implication it is best to read the entire 25th Chapter of Leviticus which is the third book in the canon of Scripture.
And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. (Leviticus 25:8)
Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. (Leviticus 25:9)
And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.(Leviticus 25:10)
A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. (Leviticus 25:11)
For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. (Leviticus 25:12)
In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.(Leviticus 25:13)
The word ‘jubile’ is mentioned twenty one times (7+7+7) in Leviticus and a total of twenty two times in the Old Testament. I will not dwell any longer here with these numbers and their spiritual implications or we will never get on with our further study of ‘the third day.’ In ‘the third day’ we see by numerical reckoning in the Old Testament the partial connection and meaning of what ‘the third day’ implied to the nation of Israel.
The Day of Jubilee in the New Testament
Surprise . . . surprise, there is no year of jubilee mentioned in the New Testament. What? No, the year of jubile was specifically titled that by the Spirit of God for God’s people and God’s nation, Israel. In the New Testament, we see the principle of being set at liberty and the realization of redemption given to the Christian through the number fifty (50) — Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, thus it is the day of jubilee. I do not at this point want to delve into the difference between the Sabbath and Sunday, for this most surely will be addressed in future articles.
Pentecost is mentioned three times in the New Testament, why am I not surprised? It is called ‘the day of Pentecost,’ the fiftieth day, the fiftieth day after the resurrection of the Christ of God, the anointed of God, the Lamb of God, and the Redeemer of God. In the New Testament, it is ‘the day,’ the day that those who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ received the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ.
The Spirit of God in the Old Testament
Let’s just take a side tour at this point in this article. Many Christians assume that the Spirit of God either did not exist in the Old Testament, or He was not active or that He even dwelled within man. Let’s look at some references: First, the Holy Spirit of God is seen in the very beginning of Scripture in Genesis, Chapter 1, verse 2 in His active role in creation. The totality of the Godhead is encompassed in the very first verse of Scripture as ‘elohiym; then in the second verse the Holy Spirit is the very first Person of the Godhead mentioned in Scripture. Next, we have the Holy Spirit given to men to fulfill the purposes of God; such as Joseph, Joshua, Bezaleel, David, Job, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Daniel. Fourteen times (14) in the Old Testament there are references to the Spirit of God given to men for the glory of God. The witness of God in the number 2 times the number 7, the completeness and perfection of God: all witnessing to us of God the Holy Spirit active in the creation, in the actions of men, and directing the words of men. This cannot be denied: the Holy Spirit has always been the active agent of God’s will throughout the history of mankind.
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:1)
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. (1 Samuel 16:13)
Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, (2 Samuel 23:1)　
The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word [was] in my tongue. (2 Samuel 23:2)
And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, [every one of] them. (Ezekiel 11:5)
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. (Matthew 10:19)
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. (Matthew 10:20)
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. (Matthew 22:42)
He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,(Matthew 22:43)
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? (Matthew 22:44)
Why all these references here in the middle of an article about, ‘the third day’ and the day of Pentecost? God’s word is a message permeated by an interlocking, energizing, active agent revealed to us as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of Christ. He did not suddenly become active at Pentecost: He was always active in creation and in the affairs of man. God never changes, God is always the same, He changes not. How He has dealt with man, and how He deals with man today has changed in His methods of outreach and approach in judgment and grace, but God changed not! His work can be documented as before the cross and after the cross. The cross is the dividing point in time, it is the meeting of prophecy stated and prophecy fulfilled. To think that the Holy Spirit of God is only active in the age of the Church is error as the Lord Jesus Christ said in the Book of Matthew, Chapter 22, verse 29, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
Jubile and the Land
In the Old Testament the year of jubilee was given to be celebrated every 7 times 7 years; however, Israel was not faithful to God’s plan of liberty and the resting of the land. The resting of the land and Israel’s 70 years in captivity in Babylonian is a book in itself; therefore, I will only key in on a very basic thought. Upon the destruction of Jerusalem when Nebuchadnezzar took what was left of the people of Judah and Israel into captivity, it was for their years of sin, and rebellion against Jehovah that they destroyed themselves. God also added to their sin and rebellion their refusal to honor and respect His decree of the year of jubile. I suggest that you read Leviticus, Chapter 26 to get a further understanding of the importance of the land in it’s rest and in it’s Sabbaths. Not only was man to enjoy complete liberty, freedom and rest in the year of jubile, but the land was also to enjoy a time of rest and refreshing every 7th year. God took His Sabbaths in Sabbath of days, Sabbath of weeks, and Sabbaths of year quite seriously. God looked on the year of jubilee — the year of liberty as a shadow, a type, a picture of Israel’s future rest. God looked on the year of jubilee as the earnest (the binding contract) of His future redemption and liberty to those who were in debt to Him. God looked on the year of jubilee as setting His people at liberty from their sins, and their transgressions against Him. (Isaiah 54:5-8) Yes, it was also much more than this. The year of jubilee was His gift to His people, and all they had to do was to honor Him and obey Him — and what should have been a time of joy in their liberty became a time to enslave their brothers and their own people more and more.
This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; (Jeremiah 34:8)
That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. (Jeremiah 34:9)
Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. (Jeremiah 34:10)
But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. (Jeremiah 34:11)
Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, (Jeremiah 34:12)
Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, (Jeremiah 34:13)
At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. (Jeremiah 34:14)
And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: (Jeremiah 34:15)
But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.(Jeremiah 34:16)
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. (Jeremiah 34:17)
Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. (Leviticus 26:34)
As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. (Leviticus 26:35)
Why Pentecost?
In the New Testament this 50th day of liberty, or Pentecost was a one time happening; as the birth of Christ was a one time happening; and the death of Christ was a one time happening; and the resurrection of Christ was a one time happening. Pentecost was a one time happening, the giving of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit sent to earth to fulfill His mission was a one time event, never to be repeated in the history of man. The Godhead acting in setting those in spiritual bondage free — free at last.
We have hopefully shown that the Holy Spirit was given by God to men for His purpose to glorify His power and authority. Before Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit was given to the Lord’s disciples for their immediate work.
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (John 20:21)
And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: (John 20:22)
Then why Pentecost? Pentecost was the outward manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God to act in the power and authority of God on His earth. While the Lord Jesus Christ walked on His planet, He was the power and authority of God on earth, now at Pentecost the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit was sent down to men to dwell within believers for the glory of God, to rebuke sin, and to reveal righteousness. (John 16:8-11) At mount Sinai, God came down in power to man, at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit came down in manifested power in man.
God the Holy Spirit’s Supernatural Indwelling Men
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (Acts 2:1)
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:2)
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. (Acts 2:3)
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. (Acts 2:5)
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (Acts 2:6)
This one time event at Pentecost, as the one time event of God meeting with Moses at mount Sinai, was a momentous moment in the history of man. God, through His Holy Spirit, through His supernatural action came to dwell not only with man, but IN man. In the Old Testament Jehovah interacted with His mediator, Moses, to reveal His power to His nation and to establishment His law. In the New Testament it was Jehovah interacting through His energizing agency of His Holy Spirit at first to those who were of His people, His nation, Israel, and then to the Gentiles. Again, we have two numbers, the number 50 in the word Pentecost, and the number 7 in Pentecost being seven sevens — seven Sabbaths from the day of resurrection. Numbers can sometimes act as tentacles wrapping around other meaningful numbers. This is the case of the number 50, as we saw in the beginning of this article from the phrase ‘the third day.’
All Believers are set Free — Liberty — No Longer in Bondage
The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1)
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:15)
But let us not stop there . . . what other references can be found in the Old Testament to enrich our understanding of the importance of ‘the third day?’
God Met and He Will Again Meet with Israel on the Third Day
The third day was a time period set by Jehovah to meet with His people Israel at mount Sinai. Can you not see with your spiritual eyes the greatness of this moment in time?
And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:11)
And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at [your] wives. (Exodus 19:15)
And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that [was] in the camp trembled. (Exodus 19:16)
And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.(Exodus 19:17)
And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:18)
And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. (Exodus 19:19)
And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. (Exodus 19:20)
Not on the second day, nor on the fifteenth day; God not only loves detail, but He is always exact, He is never late, nor early, He is always on time and He is always precise. He said on the ‘third day,’ and He specifically told the people to set themselves apart from all acts and actions that would interfere with their physical and spiritual preparations to meet with a holy and righteous God. This momentous supernatural event has been memorialized throughout man’s history. God reaching to man to reveal Himself in power can be seen in the following scriptures:
Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. (Deuteronomy 4:10)
And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. (Deuteronomy 4:11)
And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. (Deuteronomy 4:12)
Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. (Nehemiah 9:12)
Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: (Nehemiah 9:13)
And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: (Nehemiah 9:14)
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (Hebrews 12:18)
And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (Hebrews 12:19)
(For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:(Hebrews 12:20)
And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) (Hebrews 12:21)
God’s Promise to Israel and the Third Day
There is one particular reference to ‘the third day’ in the Old Testament that illuminates the promise of God and the prophecy of God to Israel concerning ‘the third day.’ In Hosea, Chapter 6, we read . . .
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. (Hosea 6:1)
After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. (Hosea 6:2)
Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3)
There are a lot of things happening in these three little verses: First, Israel is presented as being away from God, and the call is to return to Jehovah; then we see that it was Jehovah who rent Israel away from Himself, that it would be Jehovah who would heal them and bind them again to Himself. Next, we see the unfolding of a time element in ‘two days’ and ‘in the third day.’
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8)
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)
Israel, as a nation accepted by Jehovah, will be resurrected ‘in the third day,’ and will live again in joy and liberty before their God. Their third day is their day of jubile, the day of liberty. In the third verse we see God’s order, and His plan disclosed as being prepared as the morning — a new day, a day of awakening, a day of light and life. No more, And the evening and the morning as in Genesis 1:13, Israel will no longer live in her day of darkness, but her day will now be in Light. The Holy Spirit signifies God’s manifestation to His people as ‘the rain,’ Jehovah promised that he shall come unto us as the rain, not only as the ‘former rain’, that which is past, but that He will again come manifested as ‘the latter rain.’ As the former rain He came unto His own (Isaiah 53) but they received Him not. (John 1:11) In this beautiful symbolism of rain we can see the cleansing of His people at the laver.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:10)
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The Latter Rain in the Third Day
God will be manifested in man in His Son, Jesus Christ, once more as the ‘latter rain’ at His coming in the clouds to claim His own and to shower Israel with blessings and joy.
Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.(Ezekiel 39:28)
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 39:29)
In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. (Ezekiel 54:8)
Hopefully, you have seen that in the third day in the 1st Chapter of Genesis, verses 9 thru 13, the earth was being prepared for man to fellowship with his creator. In the first third day life sprang forth out of the ground, seeds yielded life, and it was good. The Spirit of God not only hovered over the earth in it’s pre-primeval state, but He was the active energizing agent of life. As life sprang from the earth in the third day this action pointed to a yet future happening when the Lord Jesus Christ came forth out of the tomb of death, on the morning of the third day; new life, divine life, resurrection life. Can you see the connection of God’s provision of liberty for man in the number 50 — setting man free. Man was set free from his sin at the resurrection of Christ (the power of new life in Christ), and the power of that liberty was manifested at Pentecost. Seven Sabbaths after the third day, the Spirit of God with power and authority was manifested in man, not only indwelling, but manifested to man: giving man power in the freedom of the liberty in Christ. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
©Copyright 2016, Mary Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)