Living as the Ekklesia in the Third Day - Part 2
By Joanne Panettieri
Editor of Kingdom Iconoclast
The Third Day is a day of judgment on our enemies
Genesis 34 is the story of Jacob’s daughter Dinah.
“1And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.
3And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel.
4And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. “
This is the story of the defilement of Dinah by Shechem the Hivite. The Hivites were decendants of Ham through Canaan. Shechem rapes Dinah, who is the daughter of Jacob, as she is going out to visit among the women. In revenge Jacob’s sons deceive Shechem by telling him that he can have Dinah as his wife if all the Hivite males will become circumcised. But Dinah’s name means “judgment” and even though the Hivites agree her brothers are plotting a bitter retribution against them.
“25And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males. 26And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out. “
On the First Day we are circumcised but on the Third Day the flesh is killed! According to Todd Bentley in his article on the 7 Giants in the Land, he says about the Hivites:
“Hivites means lie openly. This tribe represents a type of the spirit of humanism. This spirit is represented as a serpent. Humanism is one of the strongest, if not the strongest of all evil spirits at work in the world today. It is the exaltation of man (self-exaltation) to the place of God. This spirit manifests an attitude that says: “Let’s forget about God and do it ourselves.” Or “I’m getting tired of waiting for God to do what He said He was going to do. So if God doesn’t get it done by this deadline, I’m going to go out here and I’m going to do it myself. I don’t need God. I don’t need anybody. I can just get it done myself.”
We see judgment again in the Third Day in Genesis 40 in the Story of Joseph. During Pharaoh’s birthday celebration he lifts up the heads of the cupbearer and the chief baker – one to restoration and one to death!
Again in Genesis 42:18 Joseph holds his brothers in prison for 3 days while accusing them of being spies. But on the Third Day he instructs them saying: “Do this and LIVE”!
In the Third Day we walk in the full presence of the Lord
Exodus 19
“ 11And 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.”
Before the Spirit of God rested above the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, the presence of the Lord came down at Mount Sinai. The people were commanded to separate themselves in preparation for His coming:
“9And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD.
10And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
11And 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. “
Day one and day two were days of preparation, but the Third Day is a day of the fullness of God’s presence. The people of Israel were called to become a Kingdom of Priests, (EX. 19:6), but because of their fear of entering the presence of God they did not enter into their calling. They told Moses, “we will do everything the Lord tells us, but you hear for us”. This was the beginning of men needing an intermediary between them and God. The Lord accepted their conditions and established one tribe to become the priesthood, rather than the whole nation! This priestly calling has now been transferred to the Church, through Jesus Christ, as the High Priest, not of the order of Aaron and the Tribe of Levi, but through the order of Melkizedek.
1 Peter:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
The Third Day is represented by the third doorway or veil, into the Holy of Holies.
When Moses constructed the Tabernacle, the presence of God dwelt in the Holy of Holies, which correlates to the third dimension or Third Day (see chart above). The presence of God visibly manifested over the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies. In the Third Day we live in the presence of God! Whenever the presence of God moved the whole camp packed up and followed. But on the Day of Atonement the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies in the presence of God and offered sacrifices for the people. The New Testament teaches that our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, has done this for us, once for all and because of this we now have access into the most holy place in the presence of God.
Just as on the third day Esther put on her royal robes and went before the King, the Church in the Third Day all have access into the presence of God!
The Third Day is a day of refinement by fire!
Leviticus 7:17
“17But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.”
Leviticus 19:6
“6It shall be eaten the same day ye offer it, and on the morrow: and if ought remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in the fire.”
The sacrifices of the Third Day must be totally consumed by fire – all that is of our natural earthly realm, or lower nature must be burned up by the fire of consecration. All the wood, hay and stubble for our God is a consuming fire!
The Third Day is the day of Living the Resurrection Life!
The Third Day is the Day of Resurrection:
Hosea 6:2 “After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him.
Just as Jonah was released from the "belly of the fish" on the Third Day and on the third day Jesus was released from the "belly of the earth”, so also, is the Christian raised to new life!
Eph 2: 6 “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”
We are raised with Christ and seated with him in Glory! We are victors and more than conquerors!
The Third Day is the day of great reproduction!
On the Third Day God spoke the seed principle of regeneration. We are to reproduce “Christ in you the hope of glory” as we go into all the world and make disciples of all men. We will sow and reap in the Third Day in full productivity.
Gen 1:11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.
The Third Day is the day of crossing over to enter the rest
On the third day Joshua led the people of Israel across the Jordan to the Promised Land.
Joshua 2: Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it”
Entering the promised land is a type of entering the Rest. We will do the works of God in the Third Day, building God’s Kingdom and not the kingdom of man and the flesh according to Isa. 58.
Isa 58:4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
On the Third Day there is a new wine anointing!
On the third day of the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus did His first miracle. This miracle was the changing of water into wine.
John 2: 1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." 4 "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." 5 His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
The 6 stone jars are a type of the church. 6 is the number of man and stone is a type of the church which is made up of living ‘stones’. These vessels are carved out of stone, and they are filled with water, which is a type of the Holy Spirit (“rivers of living water will flow from your belly”). Note that they are filled with water. These Christians are not lacking, because they are filled. But on the Third Day Jesus transforms the water into new wine! There is a fresh anointing coming to those who are filled in the Third Day!! We will not operate out of the same anointing that we did in the second day! This is a day of the glorious freedom of the children of God!