Hosea 3:4-5 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. Afterward, the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.
On the Hebrew calendar, we're at the end of the month of Elul. This particular month the shofar is sounded once a day as a call for the people to repent as we approach the Hebrew month of Tishri.
Interestingly enough, Yom Teruah [Hebrew for "Day of the (shofar) blast"] known in modern times as Rosh HaShanah (Hebrew for "Head of the Year") falls on the 1st day of Tishri (beginning this Monday night) which is also the seventh month of the year -- yet it has been designated as the New Year. This season is also known as the season of "teshuva". In Hebrew, "teshuva" means "repentance", and yet it also means "return".
So, ironically, the beginning of the year is connected to the end of the harvest year. The beginning is connected to the end. And the end is connected to the beginning. Thus, a cyclical pattern emerges: the gospel message was delivered by the Jewish people whose Messiah Yeshua appeared at the beginning of this age. This message has gone to the nations for nearly 2000 years and is now returning to its source, Israel and the Jewish people, whose return to their homeland signals the completion of the cycle culminating in the spiritual resurrection of the nation. We are certainly witnessing the beginning of this fulfillment at the end of the age with Messianic believers multiplying and proclaiming faith in the true Messiah to their own Jewish people.
In this season of repentance ("teshuva"), as we ourselves turn to the Lord, please remember to be praying for the Jewish people -- not only for their return to their homeland, the physical restoration -- but for their repentance and faith in the only Name given under heaven by which we must be saved -- the spiritual restoration which signals the coming of King Messiah Yeshua.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Tonight begins the Biblical feast of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) throughout the world! Roughly 2500 years ago, there was a special Sukkot celebration in Jerusalem. The people of Israel were exiled and dispersed all across the Babylonian empire. Later, they were given the right to return and start construction on the 2nd temple of Israel. Nehemiah 8 speaks of the special celebration that happened at that time. We read how Ezra taught the people out of the book of the law and how they responded in weeping and repentance before the God of Israel.
As I’ve been writing about the "great awakenings" that took place over the past few days. I believe we could be witnessing such a move of God.
In laymen’s terms, the difference between a ‘revival’ and an ‘awakening’ is simply that moves of God transcend denominations and sects. While various ‘denominations’ have revivals at times, an ‘awakening’ shakes the body of Christ across denominational boundaries in spite of their differences.
In the early 1700s, the western world including the United States, was being swept under the influence of a philosophical and cultural movement known as the Age of Enlightenment, also called the Age of Reason. At this critical time in history, the First Great Awakening was birthed by the Lord in the American colonies of the “New World”. Led by preachers such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, a spiritual renewal took place which became a unifiying cultural foundation for the American Revolutionary War, which began in the late 1770s.
For those who have been following us, we have been ‘re-deployed’ to the United States at this pivotal moment in history. For those who know me personally, my heart is for revival and for preparing the Bride of Messiah to meet her Creator.
The high priest of Ancient Israel wore a crown of pure gold on his head called a Nezer, which comes from the word “nazar”. This word "nazar" means to dedicate, consecrate and sacredly separate. The word “nazarite” comes from this root, and describes someone who has taken a vow to be separated from the world.
One of the more beautiful ceremonies of the Jewish faith is called “Tashlich”. Tashlich means to cast away. Every year between Rosh haShana and Yom Kippur, Jewish people around the world journey to a nearby river or stream and cast in bread crumbs as they confess their sins. As the bread crumbs are swept downstream soon to be out of sight, so they believe God will sweep away their sins.
Amazingly another year has passed and tomorrow night begins the feast of Yom Turah -- or Rosh Ha Shannah -- the Feast of Trumpets.