Three days and three nights, or the third day?

Passage for today

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

Esther 4:15, 16

 

New International Version

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance

Esther 5:1

 

New International Version

Some people argue that the Lord Iesus could not have been crucified, died and buried on a Friday to be resurrected on Sunday. This is because our Lord said in Matthew 12:40,

"As Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth".

To die on Friday and be resurrected on Sunday does not fulfill the three days and three nights prophecy. Yet surprisingly, we read towards the end of the Gospel of Matthew that after the Lord was buried, the chief priests and the Pharisees requested from Pontius Pilate in Matthew 27:63,64 saying

". . . we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.

The request of the chief priests and Pharisees was for the tomb of our Lord to be sealed and guarded until the third day instead of until the fourth day. It did not include the third night. It seems to contradict what the Lord Iesus has said earlier in Matthew 12:40.

This apparent contradiction is also seen in my reading of the book of Esther this morning. In Esther 4:16, Esther asked her cousin Mordecai to gather all their fellow Jews to fast for three days and nights. Yet in the next chapter we read that Esther went to seek an audience with King Xerxes on the third day, before the three days and three nights were completed.

Is "three days and three nights" a figure of speech in Hebrew? Are the words of Esther 4:16 analogous to those of our Lord in Matthew 12:40?

Just as Esther's audience with the King on the third day fulfills her own "three days and three nights" instruction, I am persuaded that our Lord's resurrection on the third day likewise fulfills his own prophecy that he will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. As it is written in 1 Corinthians 15:3,4

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Conclusion:

Brothers and Sisters in the Anointed One, Let us remember the Crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord Iesus throughout the coming Holy Week leading to Easter next Sunday 05Mar2026.

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For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

Passage for today

11 Yours LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty!
For all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours.
Yours is the kingdom, LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
12 Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all!
In your hand is power and might!
It is in your hand to make great, and to give strength to all!
13 Now therefore, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29:11 – 13

 

World English Bible

It is often pointed out by Bible teachers that the last line of the Lord's Prayer, "Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory" did not exist in the oldest and most reliable Greek manuscripts. It was most probably added later on as a "liturgical addition" as part of Christian tradition.

However, this last line of the Lord's Prayer is not without scriptural basis.

While reading 1 Chronicles chapter 29 a few days ago, I came across a passage from verses 11 to 13 that records the prayer of King David as he blessed the LORD before the congregation of Israel (see passage quoted above). David began his doxology by saying,

"Yours LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty!"

He went on to tell the LORD,

". . . Yours is the Kingdom, and you are exalted as head above all",

and

". . . In your hand is power and might".

The last line of the Lord's Prayer might have been a liturgical addition that was possibly based on the Blessing of King David to the LORD in 1 Chronicles 29, where he affirmed that to God belongs the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory.

Brothers and Sisters in Iesus the Anointed One, let us bless Our Heavenly Father, God Almighty, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Like King David, let us ascribe to God, "Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever. Amen"

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Please visit the following links for my thoughts and observations on related topics.

• Give us each day our daily bread (26-04-2022)
• The Power of spoken words (19-05-2021)
• Worship Him who sits on the Throne (04-08-2014)

John's vision of the Throne of God

Passage for today

1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God.
6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

Revelation 4:1 – 6

 

New International Version

Sunday 07Sep2025, Wesley Methodist Church Kampar.
Notes written from my observations of the Vision of the Apostle John recorded in Revelations chapters Four and Five.

John was in the Spirit when he saw a vision of the Throne of God in Heaven (Rev 4:22).

On the Throne

One seated on the throne

having the appearance of jasper and carnelian (Rev 4:3)

Encircling the Throne

a rainbow

resembling emerald (Rev 4:36)

Surrounding the Throne

24 other thrones

24 Elders seated on those thrones

each wearing white clothes and a gold crown (Rev 4:4)

Coming from the Throne

flashes of lightning

rumbling and peals of thunder (Rev 4:5)

Before the Throne

7 Lamps, blazing (Rev 4:5b)

they are the 7 Spirits of God

a crystal clear Sea of Glass (Rev 4:6)

Around the Throne

in the centre (inner circle) (Rev 4:6b)

4 Living Creatures

covered with eyes, front and back

resembling Lion, Ox, Man's face, Eagle

each having 6 wings, covered by eyes

the 4 Creatures constantly say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come" (Rev 4:8)

each time followed by the 24 Elders who fall down and worship the One sitting on the Throne (Rev 4:9-11)

In the Hands of the One who sits on the Throne

a Scroll written on both sides, sealed with 7 Seals (Rev 5:1)

no one could break the Seals, nor look into the Scroll (Rev 5:4)

Standing in the Centre of the Throne

(innermost circle)

encircled by the 4 Living Creatures, and by the 24 Elders

is the Lamb that had been slain

having 7 Horns and 7 Eyes (Rev 5:6)

Encircling the Throne, the 4 Living Creratures, and 24 Elders

(outermmost circle)

a Host of Angels, thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands (Rev 5:11)

Beyond all these

every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth,

and upon the sea, and all things in them (Rev 5:13, 14)

saying, "To him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, blessing, and honour, and glory, and might, to the ages of ages"

at which the 4 Living Creatures said, "Amen"

and the 24 Elders fell down and worshipped.

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Please visit the following links for my thoughts about the worship of God Almighty who sits on the Throne, written over the past eleven years:

• Thou art worthy to take the Book and open its seals (2022.03.15)
• The Lamb took the Scroll from the Right Hand of God (2021.09.19)
• Let us draw near to the Throne of Grace (2021.12.20)
• Worship Him who sits on the Throne (2014.08.04)
• The Throne of Sapphire (2021.09.05)

A different Gospel?

Passage for today

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel
— which is really no gospel at all.

Galatians 1:6 - 7

 

New International Version

When we read through Galatians 1:1 - 7, we see that the Apostle Paul preached the following Gospel of the Lord Iesus:

• God the Father raised Iesus from the dead (v1b)
• Grace and peace comes from both God our Father and from our Lord Iesus the Anointed (v3)
• God is our Father, and to Him belongs Glory forever (v4b, 5)
• the Lord Iesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age (v4) — according to the will of our God and our Father (v4)

Sadly, we read in verses 6 and7 that the Galatian Christians have deserted God and have turned to a different gospel (v6).

Question:

What Gospel are we believing today?

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Taking the Lord's Supper

Passage for today

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23 - 26

 

New International Version

Sun 31Aug2025 Wesley Methodist Church Kampar

In what manner should we take the Lord's Supper?

(A) We should avoid the Unworthy Manner

When we look closer into the short passage from verse 18 to verse22, and comparing them with verse 22, we see that taking the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner can be characterised by the following behaviour in the Assembly of believers

• showing divisions in the assembly (v18), having differences with one another (v19)
• not waiting for one another to take the supper together (v21)
• some believers take too much, and get drunk, while others remain hungry because they do not get their share of the bread and wine (v21b)
• such a manner of taking the Lord's Supper despise the Assembly of God and humiliates those who have no food to eat (v22)
• those who do so have sinned against the body and blood of the Lord Iesus (v27)

(B) We should adopt the Worthy Manner

Verses 23 to 25 of today's passage go on to tell us about the worthy manner in which all believers should partake of the Lord's Supper in the Assembly:

• take it in the same manner as shown and as given by the Lord Iesus (v23 - 25)
• compare with Luke 22:19 - 20; Mark 14:22 - 25; Matthew 26:26 - 29
• the proper manner or order of taking the Lord's Supper was received from the Lord and was passed on to the believers in the Corinthian Assembly (v23), as follows:
  1. Take bread, give thanks, and break it (v23, 24)
  2. Recount the words of the Lord Iesus, "This is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me" (v24)
  3. After taking the bread, take the cup in the same way i.e. give thanks, then distribute the wine to everyone (v25a)
  4. Recount the words of the Lord, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me" (v25)

Why is it necessary to take the Lord's Supper in a Worthy Manner?

We read in today's passage that both the bread and the cup is to be taken for one solemn purpose — to do it in remembrance of the Lord Iesus (v24b, v25b).

Each time we take the Lord's Supper together, eating the bread and drinking the cup, we are taking no ordinary bread and wine. Instead, we are proclaiming the death of our Lord Iesus.

Conclusion

The Lord's Supper is no ordinary supper. It is to be taken in the same manner as first given by the Lord Iesus to His disciples.

Each time we take it together, we do so in remembrance of our Lord. We proclaim His death.

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The following are my thoughts on related topics, written over the last eleven years on this blog:

• A Final Commandment (2022.07.30)
• King of Righteousness, King of Peace (2021.09.06)
• Melchizedek, Priest of Most High God (2014.08.02)

The Living Soul

Passages for today

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:7

 

King James Version

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it . . . gives everyone life and breath and everything else. . . .
28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Acts 17:24 – 28

 

New International Version

Sun 2025-06-08
In loving and cherished memory of my daughter-in-law's dearly beloved father, the Late Foo Check Ping who passed away on Sat 2025-06-07. These thoughts from two passages of scripture came to mind during the funeral wake service that Sunday evening.

(1) The Living Soul gets life from God

Adam got his life from God. He became a Living Soul after the LORD God breathed into his nostrils. Since that day, God's breath became Man's breath. Likewise, all of us today who descended from Adam has the same breath of God in us. Like Adam we also are Living Souls who get life from God.

(2) The Living Soul has life in his Body

When we take a closer look at Gen 2:7, it was after the LORD God breathed into Adam's nostrils that Adam became a living soul. God did not just blow some breath over his head, nor on his hands, nor upon his feet. Instead, the LORD God breathed into his body through his nostrils. Adam received God's life in his body. This life remained in him throughout the years, from young until old.

In Acts 17:28, the Apostle Paul told the Athenians that it is in God that we live and move. Without this God-given life in our bodies, we will not be living souls anymore. We will probably be just like any of the other creatures that God has created, without the breath of God in them.

(3) The Living Soul lives life for God

After Adam became a Living Soul by the breath of God, the Lord God commanded him to go forth and multiply and have dominion over all the other creatures on earth. That was the whole purpose of life prepared ahead of Adam. Adam the Living Soul was given one task — to live his life for God.

Conclusion

Brothers and Sisters in Iesus the Anointed One, as Living Souls who have received the breath of life from God, the same breath that was in Adam, let us live our lives for God everyday until the day of our Lord's return

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Love is patient and kind

Passage for today

4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7

 

Revised Standard Version

Last Sunday during morning worship service in Kampar Wesley Methodist Church, I was reminded of an old gospel song based on this well passage about the Love of God, recorded in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

During my undergraduate days at Universiti Pertanian Malaysia in the 1980s, we used to sing a song using the lyrics from the Revised Standard Version, quoted above, with a few minor adaptations. Today, I'd like to post the lyrics of this song below. Sadly, I'm unable to locate any audio or video recording of its tune. I shall come back here and post a link should I manage to come across one in future.

Love is patient and kind
Is not jealous or boastful
Not arrogant or rude
Does not insist on its own way

It is not irritable nor resentful
Does not rejoice at wrong
But rejoices in the right

Love bears all things
Believes all things
Love hopes all things
Endures all things

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U P D A T E — Wed 2025.07.16

At last I have managed to write out the tune of this song from memory using numeric solfege notation. Initially, just the melodic pattern, then followed by the rhythmic pattern with the lyrics. Photos below:

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U P D A T E — Wed 2025.07.23

Finally, I have converted the numeric solfege notes above into music notation. Photos below: