ONE DAY “The Appointed Time” by Doug Fortune (Excerpt from a re-released manuscript)

$(KGrHqN,!qUE-Y4hHTMcBPvY7DUd2g~~60_35

“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) There is great prophetic significance in this Scripture, when you consider that we are moving into the THIRD millennial ‘day’ from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I strongly believe that the Father is indeed a God of ‘times and seasons’. We will see this in the pages that follow as we look at some of the Feasts of Israel. However, the Third Day is really so much more than chronology, it is much more than thousand year periods of time that we so carefully map out on our ‘charts’. There are two words in Greek that are both translated as ‘time’ in your Bible, they are chronos and kairos. Chronos is the time of the natural realm, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, etc., whereas kairos could be described as the ‘appointed time’. I vividly remember the night when my wife, who was great with child, nudged me out of my slumber to say, “It is time!” I thought of suggesting that she wait until office hours… just kidding! Believe me, it didn’t matter what the chronos time on my watch said, this was a ‘kairos’ moment. It was the ‘appointed time’ to head for the hospital. That’s kairos!

Certainly, it is no coincidence that the Third Day is happening in the third millennial ‘day’, but let us understand that this is a ‘kairos’ season. You see, in Biblical symbolism, the number three speaks of fullness, completeness, maturity. “For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” (Mark 4:28) Translated literally, that verse would read, “…first greenery, then an head, then full grain in the head.” Full grain, complete or mature grain is the THIRD stage of development. And so it is with us, the Third Day speaks of the THIRD stage of development of the Church, our completeness, our maturity. Throughout history there have been individuals that have stepped into this completeness, this full maturity. However, what we are moving into in this Third Day is a CORPORATE expression of maturity, and this is happening at an ‘appointed time’. “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the TIME APPOINTED of the father.” (Galatians 4:1-2)

In the western world, we think of adoption in terms of taking into our family one who was not born in our family. However, in the Hebrew culture, adoption was really more the ‘right of passage’ into manhood, when full SONSHIP was conferred upon a son. That son was then recognized as a mature SON, having the authority of the family name. “But when the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born subject to [the regulations of] the Law, To purchase the freedom of (to ransom, to redeem, to atone for) those who were subject to the Law, that we might be adopted and have SONSHIP CONFERRED UPON US [and be recognized as God’s sons].” (Galatians 4:4-5 Amplified Bible) The Third Day is the appointed time of the Father, wherein He is raising up mature sons and daughters who bear His image and His likeness. This is the day of the ‘right of passage’, the appointed time of maturity as He is raising up a people whom He can trust as HEIRS to exercise the authority of the Family Name. “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an HEIR of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:7) This is the ‘day’ that the ‘kairos’ appointed time is overtaking the ‘chronos’ time. Although this is an ‘appointed time’, and this appointed time definitely manifests in the realm of chronos time, the Third Day is really much more about a different Life, a Life originating from a different Source.

 
Concerning the ‘appointed time of maturity’, Jesus’ first miracle gives us a beautiful picture of what I believe shall also be His last miracle. “On the THIRD DAY a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee… 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 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.” This, the first of His miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples put their faith in Him.” (John 2:1, 9-11 NIV) Now then, I am certainly no expert on wine. However, I do know enough about wine to know that age or maturity is a large part of what makes a wine desirable.When I was a kid, my Dad occasionally made wine in our basement. I remember that he would take the water and other ingredients, including some kind of yeast, and put them in a great big bottle with a balloon on the top. During the fermentation process, we would watch the balloon slowly inflate over many days, and then over many more days, slowly deflate before the wine was even ready to begin the aging process. Had you tasted the mixture before fermentation, it would have simply tasted like sugary, yeasty grape juice… not exactly pleasant, to say the least. The point I’m getting at is that no matter what kind of theological exegetical acrobatics you may try to employ, the very context of the Scripture tells us that the wine that Jesus made was fully fermented and aged to maturity. In fact, it was a much better wine than the expensive wine served at the beginning of the wedding; “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.” In ONE DAY Jesus produced this fully fermented wine that was aged to maturity and proclaimed as the best wine. And exactly what ‘day’ did that happen on?… “On the THIRD DAY a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee…”

Can you see the miracle that Jesus is performing today, in this Third Day? He is utilizing six water pots, six ‘earthen vessels’ of stone, which I believe are a picture of US as containers of Christ. Six is the number of man, our bodies are made up mostly of water, and “…we have this treasure in earthen vessels.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) He is taking all of our “washing of water by the Word” (Ephesians 5:26) and turning it into something bubbling and ALIVE. Herein is the true miracle though… He is making a people who are fully fermented with resurrection Life and aged to maturity, and He’s doing it in ONE DAY, the Third Day! We are in such a time of acceleration, as the ‘chronos’ is pregnant with ‘kairos’, I believe that what would normally take much longer is now happening in exponential succession. Indeed, this is the day of the ‘right of passage’, the appointed time of maturity, as He is raising up mature sons and daughters who bear His image and His likeness. “Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in ONE DAY? or shall a NATION be born AT ONCE? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.” (Isaiah 66:8) The ‘earth’ of these earthen vessels that WE ARE are being made to ‘bring forth’ a Holy Nation of Kings and Priests in one day, the Third Day.

“Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in ONE DAY? or shall a NATION be born AT ONCE? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.” (Isaiah 66:8) The ‘earth’ of these earthen vessels that WE ARE are being made to ‘bring forth’ a Holy Nation of Kings and Priests in one day, the Third Day.

Jeremiah speaks of this as he says, “…for the Lord hath created a NEW thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a MAN.” (Jeremiah 31:22) I particularly like the way the Literal Bible states it; “For has created Yahweh a new thing in the land. A woman will ENCIRCLE A MAN.” In Biblical symbolism, the ‘woman’ often speaks of the soul, the ‘earthy’ part of us. The word translated as encircle or compass, saw-bab’ in Hebrew, means to revolve, surround, or border. The word translated as man, geber in Hebrew, means a valiant man or warrior. My friend, this is NOT talking about a baby! I see both an individual and a corporate picture for us. Each of us individually has a full-grown, mature MAN inside us and corporately, the ‘woman’, the Church, has a full-grown, mature MAN inside her. The Father is causing the ‘earth’ to produce beyond its’ natural capability and this Man-Child is being brought forth in ONE day, the Third Day.

Friend, this is the ‘appointed time’! However, as I said before, though this ‘appointed time’ definitely manifests in the realm of chronos time, the Third Day is really much more about a different Life, a Life originating from a different Source.

We can find such a picture of this Life in the ‘seed bed’ of Genesis, as often the Father shows forth spiritual things by giving us illustrations in nature. “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. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 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. 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. And the evening and the morning were the THIRD DAY.” (Genesis 1:9-13) Here we see that the third day of creation was a day of separation, as He separated the land and the seas. It was also a day of fruitfulness, as the earth brought forth fruit of the same kind as the seed that was contained therein. What a picture for us, as this Third Day we are moving into is indeed a day of separation (death) and fruitfulness (new Life).

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in THREE DAYS I will raise it up.” (John 2:19) Jesus Christ has set the pattern for the Third Day ‘seed principle’, which is expressed in death and new Life. You see, something must die before it can be resurrected into new Life. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:24-25) This is the one price of admission into the Third Day… only those whom Paul describes as “dead in Christ” will truly live in the Third Day. The Third Day life is exemplified by the third compartment of the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies. You see, there was no natural light in the Holy of Holies, only the light of the Glory of God. This light of the Glory was reflected from the Ark and Mercyseat that was covered over with pure gold, as gold is a highly reflective material. The result is that when one entered into the Holy of Holies, with the light of Glory and the reflection from the gold, all one could see is the GLORY of God. In the Third Day it’s not about US, it’s ‘all about Him’ and His Glory, that is what we see.However, we must remember that between the Holy Place, the second compartment of the Tabernacle, and the Holy of Holies, there was a VEIL. “Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, THROUGH His FLESH…” (Hebrews 10:19-20 Amplified Bible) I believe that the veil represents the ‘flesh’ life, the life originating from the soul (the mind, will, emotions). That’s the life that’s ‘all about ME’, my desires, my needs, my ambitions. That is the life, the ‘flesh’ life, the ‘soul’ life that died on the cross; “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his SOUL an offering for sin… because he hath poured out his SOUL unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:10 & 12) Yes, the ‘flesh’ life of Jesus Christ was RENT, just as the veil in the temple was rent, and it is no different for you and I. We must allow the Lord to REND the ‘veil’ of our soulish ‘flesh’ life that we may enter into the Life originating from the Holy of Holies. It is only as we enter into His death, we can enter into His resurrected Life. “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His DEATH; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

It is also quite fascinating to find out exactly when this ‘day’ begins; “And the EVENING and the morning were the THIRD DAY.” (Genesis 1:13) You see, all throughout the Scripture you will notice that the weekly Sabbath, the Feast days, and even any normal day began at sundown. God’s days always begin at night! I believe that it is only out of the ‘darkness’ that the Father brings the Light of a New Day. There is divine purpose in this, as the darkness of night dims our vision of the ‘old day’ that we may let go of it. This causes us to be entirely dependent upon the New Light as it comes. As I mentioned earlier, by all outward signs it would appear that there is a ‘darkness’ that has encroached upon our world. That’s because it is the Third Day, and the EVENING and the morning were the Third Day.

The Light of a New Day is ‘hidden’ in the darkness of the evening, which is really the start of the new day, and the Light is not revealed until the ‘appointed time’.

The fully fermented, aged and mature wine, the best wine, was ‘hidden’ as the water contained in the six water pots, and it was not revealed until the ‘appointed time’, the Third Day.

A full-grown, mature MAN is ‘hidden’ in the ‘woman’, a Holy Nation of Kings and Priests is ‘hidden’ in the ‘earth’, and they shall not be revealed until the ‘appointed time’.

Resurrection Life is ‘hidden’ in the death of the ‘flesh’ life, the ‘soul’ life, and is only revealed at the ‘appointed time’, the Third Day.

“Therefore judge nothing before THE TIME, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the HIDDEN things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)

(We are re-releasing this book “whose time has finally come!” Use the discount code- 9GAVT9ST thru August 15th and get $3.00 off. Will also be available on Kindle soon!)https://www.createspace.com/4393422

Category : Life in Christ
Tags : , , , , , , , , , ,