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Teach Us To Number Our Days

Steve Crook – February 11, 2009

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Psa 90:12 So teach [ us] to number our days, that we may apply [ our] hearts unto wisdom.

I find that most times I am less aware of the hour than what I feel I am; meaning, I tend to notice that as I am in this mindful state of realizing the shortness of the day it is at that moment that I am being given a great amount of mercy from the Lord. In my years past, I often think on the time that I used to do so many other things other than give myself to the Lord. Of course, I know this is all of the Lord, and it is His perfect plan for me, but it is a miracle in and of itself that I even look back and consider my time spent, much less that I realize that it was mostly time that I spent achieving knowledge and growth in the Lord at a snail’s pace because most of that time I didn’t really know the Lord was working all things after the council of His own will.

I now find myself in a place where I pray I consider what day I am in much more than I ever did in the past. It is with this thought in mind that I set off to study the topic of considering what “to day” is and what it means to the body of Christ. As always, a simple study is much too short to truly grasp and hold the immenseness of the mind of Christ on any topic, but I pray the Lord uses this study to get us all looking more closely at Christ through the things His places in our walk on this day, to day. I can foresee that this will be a multi- part study which will span several study sessions to even begin to touch on this topic.

What Is In A Day

We can see that in the beginning of Genesis, there were days from which certain things were achieved according to which day it was. Of course, we all know these days are numbered one through seven, but there is much more being revealed to us than simply what was created on which day. There is a road map that was given of which most of the Christian world is unaware. I will briefly list some of the things that happened in the seven days of creation. As I read through these days, please keep in mind that we are not looking so much toward what we read as physically happening in these days, but what is spiritually happening in our walk with Christ. It all starts with what “day” is; it is light.

First Day:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

It is important to note that in verse 5 where we read “God called the light, Day”, that the same word here as inspired by the Holy Spirit is the same word at the end of the verse that we read as day. However, I want you to now place emphasis on what is being said. What we have just read is, “the evening and the morning were the first light”. This is important to understand because this is the very foundation we need in order to starting understanding how it is we are to learn to number our days. On the surface, it sounds like it is a very straightforward statement -“teach us to number our days” – but there is a huge amount of information being said in this tiny little verse.

One of those huge things being said in Gen 1:5 is that though there is day and night divided, they are just as important as one another, indeed they are the SAME thing as seen by the Lord.

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

As important as that is, it can easily escape us just what we are being told right here in the beginning of the Word of God. We are being told just what Christ tells is in the New Testament in Joh 8:

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Not only do those that follow Christ have the light of life, they ARE the light itself!

Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

How am I relating this to Gen 1? Well, I believe the Lord has linked and related these together because the light which is called Day is what we are to the world. We are the Day, spiritually speaking, of the world. The rest of everything else in the world is darkness or what God called night.

But again, why is this so important to grasp? It is important to get a handle on because as we move through this and the future studies continuing this topic of “teach us to number our days,” we must be able to spiritually grasp who we are from what else is in the world.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

We are called out of the world into light. Among other things, we are called out of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life into the marvelous light of life of Jesus Christ. Amazingly, one of the ways this relates to “numbering our days” is in truth telling us to consider each day alike. We are collectively the body of Christ, but members in particular. Remember, in Genesis we just read the evening and the morning are a day… whether it is the first, second or seventh. Then we read that the darkness and light are alike to God.

We are called out of the darkness that first is in all of our lives, but to the Lord it is alike to what we go into, the light. How can that be? It is foolishness to the natural man because we can CLEARLY see a difference to physical day and night. With the Lord, He is the source and it is no different than the Lord being able to “mean it for good” when it is an evil thing “that we mean for evil”.

I find it miraculous that before I was given faith to know that holidays are a time that we DO tend to esteem those days above others, I was most times the happiest in my flesh when these things were happening in my life. I know we all tend to or have been guilty of looking forward to one day over another but we should be letting the wisdom of the Lord soak through us in learning to number our days.

Waters From Waters

Getting back to Genesis, we now can move on to the second day.

Second Day:

Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

On the first day we see a dividing of light and darkness which is alike to the Lord. Interestingly, on the second day we see another dividing, but this time we see it in the form of waters from waters. These verses seem straight forward to the natural man until we compare spiritual to spiritual and see that the firmament being Heaven must be a clue when we consider that the ways of the Lord are above our ways.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We see a similar thought in Col 2 and 3:

Col 2:20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Col 2:22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Col 2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Ye are dead….. your life is hid in Christ…but I thought you were dead? Well, it is because that is exactly what we have been told in the first and second days…. there is a dividing, there is a firmament, there is a rift that CANNOT be crossed but by Christ. That’s why we are told so many times to SEEK the Lord, SEEK the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind WHILE HE MAY BE FOUND! When can He be found? It is when we are seeking him that the light is here because He has placed it in our heart to seek Him.

Joh 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Joh 12:36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

I want you to pay close attention to what happens right here in John because it is so indicative of this whole process and it is saying very similar things as to what Genesis says happens each of the days of creation:

Joh 12:36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
Joh 12:37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
Joh 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Joh 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
Joh 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with [ their] eyes, nor understand with [ their] heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

One way the dividing of the waters from the waters, and the dividing of the day and light, is the same is that there is a firmament CALLED SPIRIT which both gives sight and hearing or doesn’t. I did a study a little while back which included a section that spoke about how in type and shadow the air or spirit of God touches everything…it is the one thing that is constant when we compare the sea, earth and islands. God’s spirit touches all and no man is an island because of this. We are all connected in one way or another by God’s spirit.

The separating divide between waters and waters and light and day is just another way of the Lord telling us that it is all Him doing it and has nothing to do with us somehow doing it on our own. His commands and everything else obeys. In Matthew, we see another example of this and it has to do with “hearing.”

Mat 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

It is always the divide, it is always the will of God which dictates what will or will not happen, even in the lights case…Jesus Christ. That is exactly why Christ says to pray “thy will be done on earth, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” That is also why Christ Himself set that example for us as He prayed, “nevertheless thy will be done” when He said, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done”.

Whose Seed Was In Itself

It was so important to mention, that Christ includes “thy will be done on earth, as in Heaven” during the answer He gave when He told us how to pray, and we know from other scriptures that we are to pray without ceasing. It is so important to pray “thy will be done” because it mostly is far from our minds when we are generally so carnal. That leads me to the next day.

Third Day:

Gen 1:9 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.
Gen 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:11 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.
Gen 1:12 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.
Gen 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Notice that we now have God addressing the water under heaven, and He commanded them to gather together. I do not think it is too far a stretch to say that this spiritually points to the truth that these waters gather together in the same mind or same spirit because it is from this gathering that the earth or dry land appears. Scripturally speaking we know the earth represents the church of the day.

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Here we see Jeremiah speaking to Judah and its king because verse one of chapter 22 tells us that is where the Lord had Jeremiah go, etc.

I have often read about the third day in Genesis and envisioned that the earth or dry land somehow rose up out of the water. However, if you really consider what is being said here, the dry land is a RESULT of the waters gathering and receding from the dry land. It’s like when land is covered with a mass of water and the wind blows enough to cause the water to push back and away from the shore. It causes the dry land to appear where it wasn’t noticeable before. It is just another witness that the earth doesn’t DO anything without the Lord first saying “let it be so”.

In verse eleven, we can actually see this in action because the Lord says, “let the earth bring forth grass…”, etc. The Lord actually commands the doctrines and spirits of the church to come about and do His will. Isn’t this what we know to be true from so many other scriptures?

What is immensely important to consider is what is told in the next verses to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Gen 1:11 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.
Gen 1:12 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.

What the earth produces is what the earth was created to produce. The earth was there already, but when the Lord divided the waters it then appeared with what it already had been created with. All the Lord had to do was set in motion what He had already created. The doctrines and spirits which are so prevalent in the church are those things which are fruit that was already in itself. In other words, all that is in the world was there and created from the beginning. This is just another witness to that truth.

This truth is also reflective of just where the tainted milk of the churches comes from to those who it feeds. It comes from within itself. We cannot and do not hold this against the church because 1) they are deceived to not know any better and 2) it was there from the beginning so it is undetectable.

What I am hopefully being used to show is that what the church produces was ultimately created by the Lord, “in the beginning” but also just as true is that after the wheels were set in motion the earth produces that seed and fruit which is ALWAYS OF ITSELF. It can never branch off and produce things that are anything other than “the seed in itself”. The thing the earth produces, the grass, herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, is from the fruit that came before it and dies on or in the earth. The earth or church NEVER produces the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT because that spirit is from the “waters above the firmament”.

Conclusion

Today we have briefly touched on a topic which has many things that can be said and revealed through it. Lord willing, we have seen that there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from each of the days of creation which relate to one another in many ways including how we spiritual progress in our walk with Christ.

Next study, we will continue to study the rest of the days of creation and time permitting we will start to delve into what the spiritual significance of how “to day, yester day, and to morrow” have to do with the “Is, Was and Will Be” revelation of Jesus Christ.