This month follows Tamuz and Av, the 2 months which contain some of the greatest low points and greatest sins in Jewish history (the sin of the Golden calf, the sin of the spies, the falling of the temples, etc). And if you understand God's heart, it's no surprise that this month is a reflection of God's mercy. Elul is about cleansing and repentance. Sin causes pain for us all. Not just for us and those around us, but it pains God's heart as well. The hebrew word T'shuvah, is a key concept for this month. It's often translated as repentance, or apologizing for sins. But T'shuvah means more than that because repentance isn't really enough. If we have hurt someone, ask yourself this: Does saying "I'm sorry" take away the pain? The answer of course is no. Yet T'shuvah is about taking away the pain. T'shuvah represents re-uniting the will of God with those mistakes in our past. It's about restoring that which was broken especially the brokenness of our hearts. Through God's grace this month, we have an opportunity to realign our broken hearts and lives with God's intended destiny for our lives. God will give you special insights into restoration this month. But this is not just a spiritual journey. It's also physical.
In this month, it is said that "the King is in the Field." Normally, the Hebrew calendar distinguishes two general qualities of times. The "mundane" and the "holy". For example, we have 6 normal days of the week, and a 'holy' Sabbath day. We have regular days, and then we have holidays and feasts. Elul is a haven in time, where these two sort of merge. On Holy days we approach the throne, we come to God in His places, following his protocols. This is not unlike when Esther came before the King, in that we put the 'mundane' away and go before him in holiness under special protocols. But this month, the King leaves his thrown and comes down into our lives, and into our fields. Instead of the farmer getting cleaned up and going to the palace, the dirty sweaty farmer finds the King walking in the field with him, and enjoying the work with him. The King is coming into our lives to make our 'mundane' things Holy. During these days, we can approach the King in any way, about any thing, and He embraces us in all our messiness, and shares with us his smiling face, and appreciation for our work. And so, our physical as well as our spiritual selves are aligned with His plans and purposes and blessed.
But it's not just about healing either. As always, it's about relationship and the passion that God has for a deeper more intimate relationship with us. The 4 letters of Elul form an acronym for the initial letters of the key phrase in Song of Songs (6:3) "I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me." "I am to my beloved" represents our hearts desire to return fully to God, while "My beloved is to me" is reflective or God's desire to be united with us, and represents His mercy and forgiveness that allows that union to happen. And this month He strives to make sure it's not just in a special way on some special spiritual celebration, but in our every day lives. As the scripture says: "A tower of might is the Name of God, into it shall run the righteous and become exalted." In hebrew literature, the "tower of might" represents the bride, The tzadik, the groom, runs, with all of his might, to enter the "tower of might." God is sprinting to be with you this month.
So, this month, let God into your Field. Show him your challenges and problems. Show him your weaknesses and what you think are your strengths. Don't hold back, but embrace the gifts of grace He brings you this month. This is the month He fixes all those problems that are holding you back. His goal is to fix those problems, and then seal you into a whole state next month. United with Him, and ready to leap to a new Glory next year.
Below are some key events that happened this month. Consider the mercy of God in all of them. He's always looking out for you and is ready to 'reset your clock' on any mistakes you have made in your life. Notice that throughout this month, God is always creating new things and making right the mistakes of the past. Through this, we are especially prepared to be sealed in the new when the new year starts next month.
10 Elul - Noah Dispatches Raven (2105 BCE)
17 Elul - Noah Dispatches Dove (2105 BCE)
23 Elul - Dove brings Olive Leaf to Noah (2105 BCE) - Noah searched this month for an end to the floods that were devastating everyone, and this month, he found an end!
25 Elul - The 1st day of Creation (3761 BCE) - Creation is what God loves to do! What will He create in your life?
25 Elul - Jerusalem Walls Rebuilt (335 BCE) - Re-Creation is God's recreation. He loves to rebuild/restore that which was broken back to it's wholeness. He wants to do that with you too.
