Aligning to God’s annual cycle
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Understanding and aligning to God’s annual cycle is just one of the gifts God has waiting for us to unwrap. Being in a knowing place of where you are on God’s calendar is a blessed place to be.
God gave humans the blueprint for aligning to His annual cycle of blessings. As in the physical, there is a seasonal cycle of sowing, tending, harvesting and then enjoying and storing the fruits. There is a time to sow and a time to reap (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Genesis 1:14 and Psalm 104:19 tell us that the stars and moon declare the cyclical months and seasons of God’s appointed times. When we celebrate the start of each month (Rosh Chodesh) the blessings of that month are opened up - fast, pray, communion, worship, gather, declare biblical truths, meditate, prepare a meal. Remember, the month starts at sundown (if you can see the new moon then it starts with the witness of 2 people). God loves it when we partner with Him, when we give Him our First Fruits, when we invite Him in, when we say Your way not mine. When we give to God, we give Him an opening for blessings. As I delved into this, I saw the pattern of God giving in preparation (in advance of the need) and in the same manner, as we try to be image bearers of His, there is a beauty to giving God the day that runs into the start of the month. I do not see God being legalistic on this, so give Him the best that you can give whether it is the time leading up to the first day in preparation, or its the first day of the month, whether its a quickprayer to invite Him in or its a full day of fasting and praying - just do what you can to partner and align with God for that month and all that it has to give.
Adding the Hebrew calendar to your phone: Here are instructions on how to add the Hebrew calendar to an iphone to help you know which month and day we are on: https://www.wikihow.com/Add-Jewish-Holidays-to-an-iPhone%27s-Calendar
Summary of the months:
As we walk through the months we see the pattern of the Trinity at work. God gives to prepare us in advance of dominion. Jesus Christ helps leverage what good has given into a place of dominion - it's about doing something with what God gave us. The Holy Spirit then injects His life into what we have done/sowed which brings honor as we wisely steward what God gave us. God is an abundant and generous giver, and a bespoke God who builds relationship with us at an individual level. Wherever you are at, God has something for you as you enter into a new year. Even if you move onto His calendar mid-way through, numerous people have come into knowledge of God’s calendar and realized that they can see God’s blueprint on what was happening in their life in that (or previous) month. Even when we are ignorant to where we are on God’s calendar, we are still on it but we lack the ability to partner with God to make best use of what is happening and what should flow next.
Each new year on God’s calendar is an opportunity to build on the previous year, or for a fresh start. Our giver God loves to equip us and prepare us in advance for the season we are walking to, and as such we don’t start the year with a blank canvas but He offers us the ability to start the year with joy in the tank.We start the year with building Freedom, which is the natural response to the unmasking of Joy that we have built with the Father in the previous month. This knowledge of our Freedom in
Jesus allows us to receive Healing from the Spirit. In turn, once we are healed, we are ready to receive Truth from the Father. Deep knowledge of God’s Truth is the foundation for us deepening our Hope in Jesus. That Hope brings Renewal in the Spirit. Once we are renewed, we are able to achieve Intimacy with the Father, and that brings Strength in Jesus – the Lion of Judah – the following month. From that Strength comes Abundance from the Spirit. The extent of the provision through that Abundance provides the start of a deep Awe of the Father.
That Awe – which is a kind of Fear of the Lord – is the start of building the Honor that is modelled by Jesus. From that Honor we see Fruit in the Spirit, and our response to that Fruit is Joy in the Father the following month. In this way the months build naturally upon each other, in cycle of continuous growth in faith.
Some years we will find that a month is a month of building in line with the blueprint of that months and some years it you will find that its a time to reinforce truth, understanding and belief as a deposit in the bank to build with in the future.
Nissan/Aviv - Jesus gives dominion to our voice this month: to use the joy given in Adar in sounding praise and thanksgiving to Jesus for the freedom He purchased for us; to give God the Firstfruits of what comes out of our mouth: over what you say to yourself and about yourself, and what you say to and about others; to claim freedom and the expectation of God’s abundant provision of promises, miracles and provision to bring a full harvest: give dominion to hope; to dream again with God and ask Jesus to reveal any lies causing hope-deferred; and to reconfirm your covenant with God. Claim and declare your FREEDOM! Ziv/Iyar - the Holy Spirit breathes life to the praise, freedom and truth that you voiced during Nissan/Aviv. This releases the ability to heal from that which binds you: the physical and the emotional bitterness.
“I am the LORD your healer - Jehovah Rapha”. God told the Israelites that if they would listen carefully to the LORD your God and obey, He would not put the diseases put on their enemy onto them Ex 15:26. God is a God of second chances, a waymaker. As atemple of the Holy Spirit, He releases a radiant light - Ziv - to shine from within us to bring God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. As we wait for the ripening harvest and its symbol of the multiplication of blessings, we receive HEALING! Sivan - God teaches us truth about His desire to communicate directly with His people so that they live intimately and in tune with Him. God wants to be in a covenantal relationship with us that is both a demonstration of His desire for an eternal never-ending relationship but also the terms by which we should live. We should use this month to check that our heart is aligned to God’s covenantal will for our life and in line with His heart’s desires. We should check and receive new boundaries if they are given. God teaches His us His truth about His generosity and provision, how to live and give from His abundance and trust in His justice and mercy.
Truth is a way of life, not just a concept. Truth sets us free John 8:32. We walk into the next month with an amplified understanding of God’s TRUTH! Tammuz - Jesus gives dominion to your amplified understanding of truth about God’s promised abundant provision for you to stand firm so as to worship God in spirit and in truth and remove areas of false worship; and set your vision firm on God’s promised inheritance for you, not on any obstacle. Look around at your Promised Land and start to map it out. Live it out in HOPE!
Av - the Holy Spirit injects life into the hope and vision God has given you of the land that He has promised you so that you can enter into these promises. Joyfully receive the harvest of the truth sown in Sivan but listen to the discernment of the Holy Spirit to what old is falling away and what new God is building. Focus on breaking the curse of unbelief in God’s promises and breaking the belief that the enemy can have our promises from God. Be a Joshua & Caleb whose heart and words focused on God’s promises. Let the Holy Spirit grow in you a hunger for the abundance of God and the promises that God has put over your life. Good works, prayer and repentance are the change we should see as the fruit from us allowing the Holy Spirit to abide in us. We walk into the next month with a fresh RENEWAL! Elul - God comes to the common places in our life to meet our renewed spirit and with intimacy to sit with us as we spend time on introspection and self-evaluation and repentance in spiritual preparation for the new year. This intimate time with God ushers in forgiveness &mercy into the hardened places of our heart and asks us to make amends with those that we have harmed. This is a month of INTIMACY!
Tishri/Ethanim - Jesus gives dominion to take up your position of being in right standing with God with an increased intimacy for a new start, forgiveness and a greater revelation of who God is. This is a harvest time to have dominion to reap or have returned what was scattered. Be with Jesus and experience His glory and His revelation and assurance of His Father’s forgiveness. Ethanim means strong: “They who wait for Adonai will renew their STRENGTH”! Isaiah 40:31. Cheshvan/Bul - the Holy Spirit injects life into, and a new level of freedom of, the renewed strength and being in right standing with God and gives an increase in revelation of what we learnt about God through the recent 40 days set apart in awe of God. The Holy Spirit brings rain to restore dry ground in your life so that the growth can happen and increases the growth of good roots, plus offers living waters to wash away that which doesn’t serve you. The Holy Spirit reshapes how things look and with this it is a month of cleansing and revelation: it is a great time to look at deep roots of pain or lies or thoughts, or of truths not yet fully grasped. The Holy Spirit only reveals what is ready to be healed to propel you forward in your growth and in your purpose. The preparation of the ground and clearance makes way for the flow of ABUNDANCE!
Kislev - God takes the little that you have and makes it sufficient for serving, worshipping and stewarding your God-given purpose for Him. God gives nighttime dreams as a communication message from Him to us and dreams of our heart as a way to pray alignment of our heart with God’s plans for us. God teaches us to shine His light into darkened places and gives the supernatural provision to keep it burning. God gives mercy as we dedicate destroyed places (darkened places) back to Him so we can walk into the next month with a greater level of AWE!
Tevet - our rededication and awe of God last month allows us to walk with Jesus to give renewed dominion over emotions and the lie that we are powerless. This is a month of growth of spiritual authority through a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. It’s a time to have righteous anger, and pray for Godly authority of leaders and commanders. Our renewed dedication needs to stay centered on God’s will and as Jesus did, even with all authority given to Him, onlydo what is asked by the Father. With rededication and authority comes a greater sense of HONOR!
Shevat – with the honor built in Tevet, this month the Holy Spirit brings growth to our “trees”. With our rededication, awe and growth in spiritual authority, we need to look at our “trees” to check if they are set up to produce good and sufficient fruit. This is the month of silent new beginnings when the trees start to focus on the coming year’s fruit. It’s a shift / stepping stonemonth and so a time to break free from being stuck in the familiarity of yesterday so that wecan be free to move forward. We need to look at what “trees” we have and how they are being watered and fed and see what is awakening from a winter slumber. Pruning may be needed and what is taken away from you this month may be for your greater good. Fast to strengthen your hunger for the spiritual over the physical. Check that you are allowing the Holy Spirit to bring living water to your “trees" for growth of righteous and abundant FRUIT!
Adar - God gives us the fruit of an annual season with the Trinity and from this we receive freedom from decrees, schemes, spiritual battles and naysayers. We receive the removal of the masking of who we are and the supernatural supplies that God has for us. God gives us the ability to walk out of worry and despair and into the next month with unmasked JOY!
Summary by Season and an associated bible reference
Jesus/The Word Holy Spirit/The Life God/The Source
Spring - Isaiah 61 Freedom Healing Truth
Summer - Isaiah 61 Hope Renewal Intimacy
Fall - Proverbs 14:23-27 Strength Abundance Awe
Winter - Proverbs 3:8-9 Honor Fruit JoySide note - some months have Babylonian names which were used by Hebrews as a reminder that God redeemed His children from the second exile and that our time is governed by a God that still redeems from every kind of captivity.The months in more detail:
Spring - birthing of joy, growth of freedom to produce healing and give root to truth
1. Nisan or Aviv/Abib (Mar/Apr) Exodus 12:2 - FREEDOM!
Abib/Aviv is a Hebraic term for the stage when seeds have reached their full size.
This is the new year on a (second) timeline instructed by God when the Jews become a nation
(Exodus 16) - it was the start of a new season of freedom and inheritance.
It’s a time of Firstfruits, which is a Hebrew term that means “a promise to come”
- the first cut of barley was gathered into an “omer” and presented to the Lord as the promise to come for the barley harvest in 50 days. The Day of Firstfruits is when Jesus was resurrected and 50 days later was Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came.
This is a month to use your voice. It is a time to use the unmasked joy that you were given in Adar to:
- Raise a joy-filled sound of praise and thanksgiving for the freedom Jesus has purchased for you.
- Claim and walk out in your freedom. Declare God’s goodness in expectation of His abundant provision.
- Give dominion to the truth about hope, for belief in miracles and for God’s promises for you - the crossing of the Jordan into the Promised Land happened this month ( Joshua 4:19, 1 Chronicles 12:15). Reject the lies.
- Be brave with your voice to step out of bondage into freedom as with Esther, Nehemiah
and Moses,
“Let my people go!” Exodus 5:1.
- Speak truth over yourself in what you say to yourself and about yourself: it is an expression of deepest feelings and belief systems - your verbal Firstfruits (a
verbalizing of “a promise to come”).- Speak truth to and about others.
- With God, begin to dream again and pray for strategies to correctly align you.
- Give space for deferred hopes: ask Jesus what lies you are believing and take the lies captive by declaring “I reject the lie that …
” to reveal truth to areas where hope is lacking or unfilled. Allow grief and release for disappointments and hurts.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” Prov 13:12.
- Reconfirm your covenant with God. This was a time when kings went out to war (2 Sam 10:1) so war for your covenant promises and the boundaries of your territory not to be breached.
Be aware of:
- Speaking untruths over and about yourself or others.
- Feeling hopeless, anxiety, low self-esteem, frustration, anger and depression.
Celebrations and customs:
- Passover 14th (twilight)
- Time to use bitter herbs as a reminder of God’s redemption from bitter times
- Viewed as the time of betroval between God and his people
- Feast of Unleavened Bread 15th-21st: the 7-days following passover
- Day of Firstfruits: sabbath after passover and also the day Jesus rose from the dead and as 1 Corinthians 15:20 tells us, Jesus is our Firstfruits
- Counting the 49 days starting on First Fruits (Omer) begins
- Barley harvest begins
2. Ziv /Iyar (Apr/May) - HEALING!
Ziv is splendor or radiance (light and hence revelation of truth).Iyar is an acronym for I am the LORD who heals you (Ex 15:26) - Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer: which God told to the Israelites in the wilderness during this month. The thirsty Israelites found a well but the water was bitter, through Moses God miraculously turned the water sweet.
Jesus ascended to heaven in a cloud on the 24th of this month (40th day of counting the Omer, from the sabbath after passover) at the time of the barley harvest, the grain accessible to all people (known as the grain for the common people). King Solomon began the building of the Temple during this month.
This month encompasses the theme of being a God of second chances, the waymaker: exactly one month after the establishment of the annual festival of Passover, God offered a second Passover celebration (Pesach Sheni) so that no one missed the blessing (Num 9:10-11).
A time for the Holy Spirit to breathe life to the praise, freedom and truth that you voiced during Nissan/Aviv to release:
- The ability to heal from that which binds you: the physical and the emotional bitterness. Consider what God was teaching you or shaping in you through the bitter times. Remembering that God is a God of second chances, a waymaker.
- The radiant light - Ziv - of the Holy Spirit shining from within you to bring God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
- A joyful anticipation of the ripening harvest and that the harvest is a symbol of the multiplication of blessings.
Be aware of:
- feeling like you cannot continue walk out in the freedom due to shame, dread, regret or trauma
- complaining and murmuring- diviners and prophetic counterfeits
Celebrations and customs:
- Counting the 49 days starting on First Fruits (Omer)
- The ascension of Jesus 24th
- First fruits of the barley (grain for the common person)
3. Sivan (May/June) - TRUTH!
Sivan is a month of God showing His desire to communicate directly with His people so that they live intimately and in tune with Him. It is both the time of receipt of the Torah and of the Holy Spirit coming when God’s law becomes written on the hearts of believers.
You will know the truth and the truth will set you free John 8:32. Truth is a way of life, not just a concept (celebrated as the festival of Shavuot / Pentecost). Shavuot is viewed as a marriage day between God and the Israelite people (between heaven and earth) and the Torah is viewed as the ketubah (marriage contract), thus Pentecost could be viewed as a marriage day between God and his wider people group with the descent of the Holy Spirit bringing the covenant to the heart.
This month God teaches us truth about:
- His desire to communicate directly with His people so that they live intimately and in tune with Him. He wants to be in a covenantal relationship with us that is both a demonstration of His desire for an eternal never-ending relationship but also the terms by which we should live. We should use this month to check that our heart is aligned to God’s covenantal will for our life and in line with His heart’s desires. We should check and receive new boundaries if they are given.- His generosity and provision: the physical harvest, a revelation of His law as a heart matter and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
- How to live and give from His abundance. By aligning to the heart of God you can cultivate a generous spirit and thereby remove feelings of scarcity so that you can live, and give, out of God’s heart desires and His abundance.
- Aligning to the heart of God so that we can trust in His justice and demonstrate His heart for mercy and forgiveness to others.
- Truth is a way of life, not just a concept. Truth sets us free John 8:32.
Be aware of:
- Feelings of scarcity and a poverty spirit of wanting what God is not asking you to want.
- False truths: be on your guard for false truths as Paul delivered at this time as men would soon come to distort the truth and lead people people astray Acts 20:16-38
- Misbeliefs about God’s perfect timing over your life.
- Worry, apathy, selfishness and despair.
- Alignments and covenants that are not of God.
Celebrations and customs:
- Shavuot (seven weeks) / Pentecost (50th day celebration) / Harvest Festival: celebrating God’s first and best fruits.
- End of spring barley harvest and start of summer wheat harvestSummer - birthing of truth, growth of hope to produce renewal and give root to intimacy
4. Tammuz ( June/July) - HOPE!
A month of worship, vision and covenant.
The name Tammuz is the name of a Babylonian god and comes from the time of the Israelites’ time in Babylonian captivity.
This is the month when Caleb, Joshua and the other 10 spies searched out the Promised Land (Numbers 13:1-24) and also when the Israelites feared that their leader Moses would not return off Mount Sinai and hence decided to build a golden calf to worship instead, but Moses came down on the 17th with the Ten Commandments tablets and demanded the removal and rectification of this misplaced worship (Exodus 32). The 17th is also when the walls of Jerusalem were breached in 70AD by the Roman Army, which led to the destruction of the 2nd Temple.
On Tammuz 3, Joshua commanded in faith that the sun and moon stand still to allow the Israelites defeat over the Amorites and they did for a full day. Joshua’s gaze was fixed firmly on God’s promised inheritance and that God meant it when He said that He had given victory to Israel so they should not be afraid ( Joshua 10:1-15).
David’s defeat of Goliath likely happened this month and it was a declaration of who is worthy of worship. David was willing to take on a giant to defend the one true God: “just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26). Centuries later on Tammuz 9, the Babylonians - under the command of King Nebuchadnezzar
- breached the walls of Jerusalem and began destroying the city (the full destruction happening on the notable day of Av 9). This is the same king that carried off Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who refused to bow down and worship anyone other than their Heavenly King.This is a month Jesus gives dominion to your amplified understanding of truth about God’s promised abundant provision for you to stand firm so as to:
- Worship God in spirit and in truth
- Remove areas of false worship in your life
- Set your vision firm on God’s promised inheritance for you, not on any obstacle. Declare that God has the best fit for you and agree with His call on your life. Look around at your Promised Land and start to map it out.
- Put into motion this month what you want to continue into Av as biblical and historical data shows a pattern of things starting this month continuing into the next. Be aware of misplaced worship, of what covenants and handshakes you enter into. Be aware of feelings of rejection or envy or confusion or nightmare - keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and on your promised inheritance, not that which belongs to others.
Celebrations and customs:
- Fast of Tammuz: Zachariah 8:19 “fast of the fourth month” which modern Rabbinical teaching says is a day to mourn the breach of the walls of Jerusalem on Tammuz 17. It’s a good day to devote to worship and fasting.
- First figs
- Wheat harvest begins
5. Av ( July/Aug) - INTIMACY!
Av means father. This month is intended to be a time of entering our Promised Land. Instead it has become a repeated low point - and in particular Av 9 - for the Jews, which started with the spies returning from mapping out the Promised Land and giving a report of the giants/problems being too large. Their focus was not on the promise and abundance that God had given them but on the obstacles (Numbers 13:25-33, 14). This is also the day of the destruction of the First Temple and of the Second Temple - centuries apart but same day. Other Jewish atrocities have also fallen on Av 9 over the centuries. So this month has a focus on God as our great comforter, our “menachem” in Hebrew.
Rabbi Gamaliel, Paul’s mentor, recorded this month as being a joyous time in the vineyards when the grapes are harvested and the daughters of Jerusalem dance in the vineyards.
A time to let the Holy Spirit inject life into the hope and vision God has given you of the land that He has promised you so that you can enter into these promises:
- Joyfully receive the harvest of the truth sown in Sivan.
- Listen to the discernment of the Holy Spirit to what old is falling away and what new God is building. It takes discernment to know what is being pruning or being taught versus what is spiritual attack.
- Let God destroy so He can reconstruct but stay rooted in the Holy Spirit and word of God so that we do not create our own alternative way of serving God - we do not atone for our sins through our own good works, prayer and repentance instead it is a gift freely given through the blood shed on the cross. Good works, prayer and repentance are the change we should see as the fruit from us allowing the Holy Spirit to abide in us.
- Av 9 is a day to particularly focus on breaking the curse of unbelief in God’s promises and breaking the belief that the enemy can have our promises from God. Be a Joshua & Caleb whose heart and words focused on God’s promises.
- Let the Holy Spirit grow in you a hunger for the abundance of God and the promises that God has put over your life.Be aware of focusing on obstacles rather than promises. Be aware of feeling stuck or fearing or focusing on performance - this is a time for discernment from the Holy Spirit for taking out the old and bringing in the new.
Celebrations and customs:
- New Wine Festival: 50 days after Shavuot
- Between the Straights (Bein ha Metzarim) Tammuz 17-Av 9
- Ninth of Av (Tisha B’Av)
6. Elul (Aug/Sep) - INTIMACY!
Elul is the Hebrew acronym for SoS 6:3 line: I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine! A time when “the King is in the field’ (2 Chr 19:4) when God:
- Comes to the common places in our life to meet our renewed spirit and with intimacy to sit with us as we spend time on introspection and self-evaluation and repentance in spiritual preparation for the new year. It is a month set apart for daily repentance - teshuvah and for Cheshbon hanefesh: meaning "an accounting of the soul" which is the process of introspection and self-evaluation that takes place during Elul.
- Asks us to confess the truth and make amends with those we have harmed (Prov. 28:13; 1John 1:9; James 5:16, Matt. 5:23-4).
- Needs us to accept forgiveness and move forward with God through faith (Phil. 3:13-14; 1 John 1:9). Be comforted by the presence of God in your life. It is also a time for consideration of societal redemption (Ez 8:1-11:25, Haggai & Ezra 4-5). God is looking for people who mourn what is detestable to Him and share His heart for redemption.
It is a time for getting your house cleaned and in order, with a resolute heart for the next year.Beware of mistrust that the enemy will try to distract you with, particularly to cause isolation and rejection, and with religious constraints on your intimacy with God.
Celebrations and customs:
- Blowing the shofar: each morning from the first day of Elul until the day before Rosh Hashanah. The sound is meant to wake people from complacency and encourage a month of repentance (teshuvah).
- Reciting Psalm 27 as part of morning and evening prayers
- Reciting Selichot - prayers of repentance where the worshiper asks God for forgiveness for their sins. The prayers are centered around the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which are believed to have been passed down from God to Moses.
- New Oil Festival 22nd: 50 days after the New Wine Festival. Oil is a symbol of God’s presence
- Wood offering 23rd-28th 6 days): wood is a symbol of salvation
- Apologizing for any hurt they may have caused in the past year
-Returning any items that were borrowed but not returnedFall - birthing of intimacy, growth of strength to produce abundance and give root to awe
7. Ethanim / Tishri (Sep/Oct)- Head of the civil year - STRENGTH!
Tishri means the month of beginning and is the first month of the Jewish civil year.
“Behold I am making all things new” Revelations 21:5. Ethanim means strong. “They who wait for Adonai will renew their strength” Isaiah 40:31 Moses descended Mount Sinai on Tishri 10 - Day of Atonement / Yom Kippur - with the second set of tablets in hand and the assurance of God’s forgiveness.
The night after Sukkot - when the 50-foot high candlestick bowls were no longer lit and the Jerusalem night sky was back in darkness - Jesus proclaims “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” John 8:12. This is the month of one agricultural season ending and another beginning.
This month Jesus gives dominion to take up your position of being in right standing with God with an increased intimacy for a new start, forgiveness and a greater revelation of who God is. This is a harvest time to have dominion to reap or have returned what was scattered:
- Check that God is your source as you start the year and set apart the first 10 days in repentance - teshuvah - for further spiritual preparation to turn yourself toward God (Days of Favor / Days of Awe).
- Be with Jesus and experience His glory and His revelation and assurance of His Father’s forgiveness. Press through to touch the presence of God (Matthew 9).
- Decree that which has been scattered - including unkept vows - will be harvested or returned to you.Be aware of vulnerability and insecurity as you reflect inwardly on what you need to bring to God, self-sabotage or exhaustion instead of handing, and letting go, of things to God. Instead focus on the security you have from God for forgiveness, for your identity, for your peace of mind and for life-giving relationships.
Celebrations and customs:
- Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets/ Yom Teruah (Day of Shouting) 1st: special sabbath day (7th month so taken to be akin to 7th day of creation: a day of rest established by God as a pattern for us to follow) where it begins with shouting and the blowing of the shofar. Shofars are blown for 3 reasons: to announce the Messiah, to repent and chase away the devil, to wake us from our spiritual slumber. Apples dipped in honey are eaten to symbolize a sweet new year.
- Days of Awe / Favor 1st-10th: a time when God’s presence is particularly close, Isaiah 55:6. The first 10 days continue to be a time set apart for repentance - teshuvah - in spiritual preparation to turn toward God and start this year in right standing with God.
- Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) 10th: speculated by scholars that this is when Jesus was born symbolizing his atonement.
- Sukkot (Festival of the Tabernacles) 15th: remembrance of God’s provisions in the wilderness seasons and that we are now personal tabernacles housing the presence of the Holy Spirit.
- Shemini Atzeret (Eighth Day of Assembly) 22nd: Sukkot after-party.
8. Bul / Cheshvan (Oct/Nov) - ABUNDANCE!
Bul means increase - this is the month after the harvest, when the rains would come to increase the seeds that were sown. Rain is a reminder of God’s constant presence - come unto us as the rain” Hosea 6:3. Rain restores the dry land and stops droughts and famines.
“He shallCheshvan literally means 8th month and 8 is the number of eternal revelation and new beginnings. It’s the month when Noah both boarded the ark and when Noah came off the ark - times of eternal revelation and new beginnings.
Jesus said: “Don’t you say, ‘there are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? < ...as the fall harvest is over, and there are 4-months until the spring harvest> Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields <my Kingdom>, for they are ready for harvest. ” John 4:35
This is a month when the Holy Spirit:
- Injects life into, and a new level of freedom of, being in right standing with God and the greater revelation received of who God is through the 40 days set apart in awe of God. Smell the awe of God and the fragrance of the Holy Spirit - it's a month of myrrh.
- Brings rain to restore dry ground in your life so that the growth can happen and increases the growth of good roots in preparation for the abundance that God has for you.
- Offers living waters to wash away that which doesn’t serve you.
- Reshapes how things look, as with Noah having to twice live out totally different seasons in his life that started this month. This brings with it a month of cleansing and revelation so a great time to look at deep roots of pain or lies or thoughts, or of truths not yet fully grasped. The Holy Spirit only reveals what is ready to be healed to propel you forward in your growth and in your purpose.
- Gives life to sharing the love of Jesus and the good news as now may not be the time of the earthly harvest, but as Jesus taught us it is a time for heavenly harvest. Be aware of discouragement and doubt, feeling invalidated and having trouble letting go or shutting down.No festivals - believed to be a time reserved for the Messiah’s return.
9. Kislev (Nov/Dec) - AWE!
Kislev means “trust” and “hope”. This month is the time of the miracle of the light in the rebuilt temple supernaturally staying lit. With the ground ready for a good harvest, this month God:
- Takes the little that you have and makes it sufficient for serving, worshipping and stewarding your God-given purpose for Him.
- Gives nighttime dreams as a communication message from Him to us and dreams of our heart as a way to pray alignment of our heart with God’s plans for us.
- Teaches us to shine His light into darkened places and gives the supernatural provision to keep it burning.
- Gives mercy as we dedicate destroyed places (darkened places) back to Him so we can walk into the next month with a greater level of awe!
Be careful of hopelessness and lack of trust, plus egotism and living vicariously. Be careful to give sufficient time to sleep.
Celebrations and customs:
- Hanukkah/Festival of Lights on 25th: called the Festival Dedication (of the temple) in John 10:22 and is a celebration of remembering God’s miraculous provision and rededication (where the lampstands stayed lit, despite not enough oil, and therefore met God’s command to keep the lampstands burning). As Christians, we are each atemple of the living God that we need to let His miraculous provision keep the light of the Holy Spirit alive inside of us.
Winter - birthing of awe, growth of honor to produce fruit and give root to joy
10. Tevet (Dec/Jan) - HONOR!
Tevet 1 is when Esther became queen and is a month of authority.
Tevet 2 is the lighting of the last candle of Hanukkah to remember God’s miraculous provision of oil to keep the lampstand burning. A time when Jerusalem was besieged and which led to the destruction of Solomon's temple. Believed to also be when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. Our rededication and awe last month allows us to walk with Jesus to give renewed dominion
to:
- Emotions and bring them under the submission of God. Reject the lie that we are powerless.
- Growth of spiritual authority through a lifestyle of prayer and fasting (Matt 17:21). Mourn the loss, and repent for any part you contributed, to any loss of authority or promised lands.
- Having a holy anger and righteous indignation that is sourced from the heart of God and praying for Godly authority of leaders and commanders.
- Staying centered on God’s will and as Jesus did, even with all authority given to Him, only do what is asked by the Father.
- Walk with honor birthed through rededication and an increase in spiritual authority.Be aware of being outside of God’s plan and authority even when pursuing His promises - ask
God to reveal to you where you are doing this. Be aware of feelings of powerlessness or repression or condemnation, anger, panic and indecisiveness. Pray to be released from them.
Celebrations and customs:
- Hanukkah/Festival of Lights: finishes on Tevet 2
- Tenth of Tevet /Asarah B’Tevet: remembrance of King Nebuchadnezzar marching against Israel
11. Shevat ( Jan/Feb) - FRUIT! Shevat is an acrostic for “Shenishma Besurot Tovot” meaning “we should be blessed to share
good tidings”.
Shevat comes from the word to strike and refers to the heavy rains of the season. A symbol of God’s spirit pouring down on us.
This month of Shevat is about looking at how you are positioned. It’s about looking at what needs to be pruned, how are you getting watered, are you set up to bear good fruit in the coming season/year. It’s thought of as a stepping stone month to move away from being stuck in the comfort of the old familiar ways and be ready to move forward in what God has ahead of you. It’s thought of as the month of silent new beginnings when you start to focus on the fruit to come in your life even though it can’t yet be seen. It’s a time when things start to awaken and move out of the winter slumber.
With the honor built in Tevet, this month the Holy Spirit brings growth to our “trees”. With our rededication, awe and growth in spiritual authority, we need to look at our “trees”:- Read and meditate on Psalm 1: a person who delights in the law of the Lord is like a tree planted by a river that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither.
- Look at whether you are producing fruit: what “trees” are planted in your life and what fruit will they bear this coming season? Consider how you make decisions: Are your trees being watered and getting what they need to bear good fruit? Who's bringing the water and should they be watered in a new way?
- Use the same measure of looking at the fruit to evaluate those who you are being watered by (Matthew 7:15-20).
-It’s a good time to prune so if things get taken away this might be for your greater good.
- Consider what is being awakened from the winter slumber.
- Look at who you are watering and your plan for generational growth.
- Check that you are allowing the Holy Spirit to bring living water to your “trees" for growth of righteous and abundant fruit. Then declare “My blessings are on their way!” Thank God was His provision, as part of taking a stock count of what fruit will be coming into season.
- Consider your relationship with food and fast to strengthen your hunger for the spiritual rather than the physical (Daniel 1:8-17).
Be aware of a less-than or lacking when it comes to looking at your trees and their fruit: something is there, so consider looking at it from other viewpoints and perhaps it needs to be watered in a different way for good fruit to grow this season. Be aware of feeling rejected or vulnerable or shut down - your blessings are yours to walk into.
Be aware of striving for answers to what is right and what is wrong, but instead focus on being relational with God and sourcing your answers from His tree of life, not the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It’s also a month to be aware of feelings of comparison, less-than or lacking when it comes to looking at your trees and their fruit: something is there even if you’re havingtrouble seeing, so if you feel like this then you can ask the Holy Spirit or others who love you to help you look at it from other viewpoints and perhaps it needs to be watered in a different way for good fruit to grow well this season. Be aware of shutting down or feeling rejected or vulnerable. Remember that as images bearers of Christ we should be building each other up with love and truth. So look at what is being spoken over you by others: are you being built up in love and truth (Eph 4:29), are you checking these truths with God that they are also His truth about you, are you being overly prideful about the label of who you are rather than looking at how you can use your giftings for building God’s kingdom or overly hurt or humble and not willing to accept the truths of who you are created to be? Your blessings and the fruit of your walk with the Trinity are yours to walk into.
So all that to say, this month is a time set aside to be in a place to ask where God wants you for the next season and to give space for how you want and need things in the next season to look like.
Celebrations and customs:
- Tu B’Shevat 15th “New Year for Trees” (birthday for trees): a day used to count the number of years since a tree was planted (as God instructed not to eat the fruit until the tree’s 5th birthday). It was a time to take note of the indication of the fruit expected in the coming season and thank God for His provision. Almonds are eaten as they are the first tree to “awaken” from the winter sleep.
12. Adar (Feb/Mar) - JOY!
Adar means strength. Adar is the month of seeing fruit from Esther’s year of fasting and praying to stop Haman’s proposed genocide of her people. It was not only stopped but Haman reaped what he tried to sow.
It is also the month when the second temple was finally dedicated (on Adar 3 - Ezra 6:13-18) after the foundations sat for 17 years before the work restarted and then took 4 years to complete. In line with Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10 it was 21 years after returning from exile and 70 years after the destruction of the first temple for the second temple to be complete.
God gives us the fruit of an annual cycle with Trinity by:
- Receiving freedom from decrees, schemes and spiritual battles coming against you (as with Esther).
- Removing masks that have hidden your true identity spiritually & physically.
- Walking out of worry and despair into unmasked joy.
- Receiving and giving gratitude for supernatural provisions and solutions (Matt 17:27).
- Receiving freedom from the naysayers: we can cling onto what we know God has given or told us and let the naysayers take it up with God (as with the man who was healed by Jesus on the Sabbath in John 5).
Be aware of ungodly decrees being spoken over you by yourself and others. Be aware of despair, stress, apathy and anxiety and ask God to exchange it for supernatural joy.
Celebrations and customs:
- Purim (lots) on 14th: celebrities that the lots cast against the Jewish people by Haman were overturned. Masks represent the hidden identity of Esther and the masking of her pain.
- Flax harvestLeap month - Adar II - A double portion of Adar. Time to fully annihilate the “Haman” of your life (Esther 9).Monthly Word Studies and Reflections
Spring - Isaiah 61
Freedom
Healing
Truth
Summer - Isaiah 61
Hope
Renewal
Intimacy
- Proverbs 14:23-27
Fall
Strength:
Abundance :
Awe: The Hebrew word is yirah which directly translates to “fear of the Lord” but from a Jewish thinking perspective it embraces the concept of a positive awe inspired by something greater than oneself - beyond one’s capabilities and understanding, particularly when referring to God. It refers to a fear, respect, worship and reverence, and is strongly connected to ‘trembling’.
https://firmisrael.org/learn/hebrew-meaning-of-yirah-what-connects-fear-and-awe/
Winter - Proverbs 3:8-9
Honor: Honor vs Powerlessness
There are 3 facets of honor:
-Giving of honor to Father God
-Deepening our sense of honor to walk as a child of God, as His image-bearer-Growing in giving honor to others in their God-given giftings and their walk with God.
What is honor? Honor is both a verb and a noun. As a verb honor means to regard with great respect or fulfil an obligation / keep an agreement. As a noun honor means high respect and great esteem or adherence to what is right or a conventional standard of conduct.
So, to give God honor (as a verb) it is 2-fold: it is both giving great respect and fulfilling what He has asked of us. The bible is filled with what God has asked of us and meditating on His word (the bible) is one thing He has asked us to do, so by doing that - particularly this month - we can learn more about God to grow our great respect of Him and we can learn more of what He is asking of us. As our love and desire for God’s word grows and our love and desire to worship, praise and talk to Him grows, this becomes easier and easier to do.
But what about honoring yourself? There is a fine line between being proud - which the bible warns us about the dangers of - and being too humble. Being humble is biblically a virtue, but there is a problem if you are so humble that you cannot give yourself (or accept) honor for who you are as an image-bearer of God and the unique giftings and callings that He has given you. You were known by God before you were born and set apart for a purpose ( Jeremiah 1:5). God foreknew you, He predestined you to be conformed to the image of Christ, He called you, He justified you and He glorified you (Romans 8:29-30).
To build up self-honor with truth, rather than pride, we can again turn to our bibles and see what God says about us and we can also spend time in pray and reflection looking at our callings and giftings.
BUT, this is a month where the feeling of powerlessness can kick in and battle against our feelings of self-honor. Powerlessness may not be the first word that comes to mind to describe how you’re feeling this month but there’s a good chance that it boils down to this as its a key tool that the enemy is going to throw at you this month to sabotage you building ground in self-honor as being a child of God, His image bearer and a restorer of God’s kingdom. So what might powerlessness look like - unsettled, less than or not good enough, loneliness, bothered by someone else’s choices, tired, disheartened, lacking direction, jealousy or sabotage from others. The list could go on. What do we do with this emotion? Emotions shouldn’t be suppressed. Emotions are not always truths but they are your mind communicating to you.
Acknowledge the emotion and then press into the biblical truths of who you are. Weigh them up against what you are feeling. Build up stronger foundations for these biblical truths of who God says that you are - so much can be in our mind only: we can say it but do we really believe it in every fiber of our being. Strengthen your bank of truths of who God says you are and whatHe has called us to do. This bank account will be needed as you grow in your walk with God and the enemy decides to throw some opposition at you. It will also be needed at decision points to check that you are aligned to God’s truths. Fill up that bank in preparation.
When it comes to others, imagine this month having many touch points with others who build you up pointing out the things you have done well, the godly character that they have developed, the gifts that God has given them, the anointings that God has given them and the fruit of their ministry (with no exaggeration and no demeaning). Wouldn’t that help combat powerlessness and build up your bank? We can do this for others and create a Shield of Honor around them. The shield of honor is not flattery, nor is it the building up of people where there is no substance. It is walking in truth, honestly pointing out the righteous truth about others.
Be sure to come into agreement with the truths spoken if someone does this for you and ask the person you are doing this for to come into agreement with the truths you are saying.
Agreement strengthens the power of what is being spoken. When the person enters into agreement with them, we establish a cord of three strands of truth between that person, Almighty God, and you. They are coming into agreement with God about who they are, rather than coming into agreement with the enemy about who he wishes them to be. We need to walk in simple honesty, then when that is said, receive it likewise with quiet humility.
Fruit JoyReferences/ extra reading:
www.simkafoundation.org/ - Simka offers a beautiful table top guide to take you through the Hebrew calendar week by week as well as a weekly email.
www.healinginthehebrewmonths.com - there is both a Podcast as well as a website with a number of resources to help you understand more about each month.
www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall
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Holidays/Elul/elul.html
https://www.fusionglobal.org/featured-teachings/