MIRACLE OF THE THIRD
“…It happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes…” (Esther 5:1)
Something about the third has to do with redemption, breakthrough and resurrection. The life of Moses, Nehemiah, the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and the deliverance of the children of Israel from the conspiracy of Harman through Esther testifies to the miracle of the third.
It is written, “And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7-8)
In the bondage of over four hundred years, the children of Israel reminded God when their crying got heaven’s attention and God attended to them. It does not matter how long you have been buried spiritually, emotionally or financially but it matters that your cry to God will trigger your resurrection in this third month. God encourages us to remind Him, “Put me in remembrance; let us contend together; state your case that you may be acquitted.” (Isaiah 43:26) The power of the third day resurrection is relevant to your resurrection this third month of the year if you will remember to remind God. The children of Israel reminded God of His covenant when their crying got to God.
At the time Moses was born, the death sentence of Pharaoh for every son born by Hebrew women was in effect. As a result Moses, mother decided to hide him. Moses mother, “…Hid him for three months.” (Exodus 2:2) On the third month of hiding Moses from the death sentence of king Pharaoh, Moses ended up in the compassionate care of the murderer’s palace when his mother, “… Took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.” (Exodus 2:3) On the third month, Pharaoh’s daughter saw the ark of bulrushes at the bank of river and when she opened it, “…She saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children” (Exodus 2:6) Moses came out of hiding, redeemed on the third month.
Nehemiah, heard about the great distress and reproach of his people; he also heard about the breakdown of the wall of Jerusalem. By virtue of the negativity of the news, he took it upon himself to enter into prayer and fasting. As the Lord will have it on his behalf, “…It came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.” (Nehemiah 2:1). In the month of Nisan (March-April) the attention which Nehemiah gained from King Artaxerxes delivered into his hand all that was needed for him to move forward in the quest for rebuilding and redeeming the damages incurred at the hand of enemies over his land and his people. In the third month the motion to redemption was activated.
Among all the number of days, it was on the third day that Jesus our Lord and savior chose to stun the devil when He resurrected. The miracle of the third cannot be undermined, God does nothing by accident.
Jesus’ resurrection on the third day, Moses’ coming out of hiding and going directly into compassionate hand of one’s that made law to kill him was not magic or luck but miracle of the third.
When Harman’s conspiracy to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus was in place, it was the miracle of the third that answered for the deliverance of all the Jews. Queen Esther was alerted of the impending danger and she took it upon herself with three days fasting and prayer. After the fasting of three days, Queen Esther needed to go into the inner court of the king. Inner court of the king was described in Esther 4:11, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live…” Despite Esther’s understanding of what could happen by going to the inner court of the king without being called by the king, she made her way into the inner court after her three days fasting. Esther 5:2, “So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight…” On the third day Esther found favor where failure is the answer. Trust God for your own testimony in this third month.
FAITH CAPSULE: The power of the third day resurrection is relevant to your resurrection this third month of the year.
Tunde