Tag: King

Hebrew month of Elul…… the King is in the field

king is in the field    We are currently in the month of Elul on the Hebrew Calendar.  My favorite thing about this month is that it is known as the month the king is in the field.  In the Bible, the king would leave his palace during the month of Elul and set up camp in the field and everyone was welcome to approach him.

Most of the year the king lived in a palace protected by guards and iron gates.   To have an audience with the king, you had to be summoned.  Should you approach without being summoned, you would die (Esther 4:11)… unless he extended the golden scepter to you and spared your life.  After the summons, there was palace protocol to learn before you could approach a king.  You had to dress correctly, speak correctly, and have proper mannerisms, your presentation had to be flawless.  Once you got to the capital, you were ushered to the palace through the many intimidating gates, corridors and antechambers that lead to the throne room.  Even the Queen of Sheba passed out when she came before King Solomon!  

BUT….once a year in the month of Elul, the king would come into the field.

He would leave his palace and go out among his people.  He would set up his royal tent in the field near a town and all who wanted to see him were welcome.  

The announcement was made, The King is In the Field.

They were all welcome to come just as they were… no dress code, no protocol, no intimidation.  The king receives them all with a smiling face and a radiant countenance, desiring to hear their concerns.  The peasant behind his plow has access to the king in a manner unavailable to the highest ranking minister in the royal court when the king is in the palace. 

Let’s look at a couple of Biblical examples of kings in the field.  2 Chronicles 19 is about king Jehoshaphat going into the field. Verse 4 says “So Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem and went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.”  The king went into the field to turn the people’s hearts back to the Lord — restoration.  When he went out among the people he saw things God didn’t like…. injustice, bribery, and oppression.  So, he established judges to end oppression and bring justice. — God wants his people to experience His character.  He wants to manifest His Justice, His righteousness and His love — this wasn’t being seen among the people.

Another king who went out into the field is Melchizadek in Genesis 14.  Melchizadek gave Abram bread and wine and blessed him saying:  “Blessed is Abram by God and Blessed is God who delivered your enemies into your hand.”  When Abram was weary from battle, king Melchizadek came into the field to strengthen and refresh him.  He blessed Abram.

Of course, the greatest King who left His throne to come into the field was Jesus.  He lived in our field in a tent of mortal flesh.  He was God made accessible, smiling and radiant.  He came to manifest God’s goodness, love and righteousness… to heal and deliver ALL.  He came to draw us into a relationship with the Father.  That’s what it looks like when the king is in the field.  

He is the King of kings.  Revelation 1:6 says He made us kings and priests.  We are in the field.  What should that look like?  We should be walking among the people, receiving them with a smiling face, listening to their concerns and like Jehoshopat reconciling them back to God by manifesting His righteousness and love towards them….. 

So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.  ~  2 Cor 5:20

Like Melchizadek, strengthening and refreshing them…letting them know they have been blessed by God. Offering them the bread and the wine… offering them Jesus and what He did for them through the Cross.

And like our King Jesus showing forth the nature of our Father… His goodness, love, righteousness.  His ability to heal and deliver ALL.  Drawing them into a relationship with a Good Daddy.   Not just in the month of Elul but all the time.

~ Robin

Nisan – 5776 (2016)

Now the LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.  ~ Exodus 12:1-2

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Last year as we entered into the Hebrew month of Nisan I woke up to a song in my heart and on my lips… “it’s a new season, it’s a new day….a fresh anointing is flowing my way…a season of power and prosperity…..it’s a new season coming my way.”  And in prayer, I kept hearing God say “new day, new day!!”  Then He led me to Joshua 1:2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all these people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.”   All of this happened in the Hebrew month of Nisan.  A new day had come for the children of Israel…  the old way of living (in the Wilderness) was over and it was now time to cross over into the Promise Land and receive all that God had promised them.

On this past Friday evening we entered into Nisan… on Saturday morning I woke up with an expectancy of something new.  It felt as if something in the atmosphere had shifted.  Saturday was also the day of Azusa Now in Los Angeles (which marked 110 years anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival) as well as United Cry DC in Washington DC.   East coast and West coast worshipping together and crying out to God on the same day for revival in our land!  A day of unity in the Body of Christ.

I believe we have entered into a new day… Saturday marked a day that everything changed… an historic day for us!  For our nation!  And not coincidentally it happened as we entered into the Hebrew month of Nisan.  The month of Passover… a time of liberation, personal change, going from slavery to freedom, and the emerging out of the old.

Saturday I believe we “passed over” into a new season… a season that has shifted us and positioned us for the next Great Awakening.  Rev. William Seymour, the leader of the Azusa Street Awakening, prophesied that in 100 years there would be an outpouring of God’s Spirit and His Shekinah Glory that would be greater and more far reaching than what was experienced at Azusa.

REVIVAL — A TIME OF GREAT AWAKENING IS UPON US!

Revival is defined as to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished.  Another great definition I read is “The Spirit of God working through the Word of God, in the lives of the people of God.”

Passover (which is in Nisan) is a time of revival and spiritual renewal, a restoration of the Power and Glory….a renewed interest in God!  In Nisan the children of Israel shifted into a new season… a season of liberation as they followed Moses, the revivalist, out of Egypt.  The children of Israel had been enslaved for 430 years and in Exodus 6 God told Moses that He heard their groanings….and He responded to their prayerful cries and to the hearts of His people… there was a revival of His covenant with Abraham.

Zech 10:1 tells us to ask the Lord for rain in the springtime…. this month is a time to ask for the rain of His presence.  I loved that on Saturday the 8th (Azusa now and United Cry DC) it rained here in California and also in DC…. in fact my Facebook post that morning was Hosea 6:3 “He comes like the rain”.  That day on Facebook I saw two different photos of rainbows… one over the colosseum in LA and two double rainbows a few days before over the Washington monument and the US capital.

It is also the month that the King had favor on Nehemiah and granted him permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall.  This was another time of revival for Israel…. in Nehemiah chapter 8 the people gather as Ezra reads the Word of God.  They stood listening to the Word for about 6 hours!! Then they began weeping, because they realized how much they had sinned against God…. they were repentant…  and worshipping God after it was read…. their hearts were revived and turned back to God.    Again, this happened in the month of Nisan.

It is also month to watch your speech.. be aware of what your confessions are.    Your Word confessions should “grab the wind” and change the atmosphere. Speak forth revival… in your life, your families, your city and your nation!  

 

~ Robin

 

Joy

Joy is to abound the entire Hebrew month of Adar…. and this year because it’s a leap year we get 2 months of Adar… double the joy!   Joy is not the same thing as happiness… they are vastly different words!

Words are powerful.  I’m one of those mom’s who is constantly correcting her kids on their grammar as well as the words they use.  I ask them “is that really what you mean to say?”  Proverbs 18:21 in the New Living Translations says “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”  Since I am definitely one who LOVES to talk, I want to make sure that I’m reaping good consequences.  That’s why I love studying words in English, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew… really digging out the meanings.  So that I know exactly what I’m saying.

Choosing joy this month is much easier if you know the difference between joy and happiness.

Happiness is from the Middle English word meaning “hap” or “chance”… based on outward happenstances.

Joy comes from the Middle English from the French Anglo word “joie” meaning rejoice! I love that! The Apostle Paul thought it was so important to rejoice that he felt the need to repeat it twice… “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”   In fact, Paul talks about joy at least 16 times in the 4 chapters of Philippians.  

King David also exhorts us to serve the Lord with joy… Psalm 100:2 “Serve the LORD with joy. Come before him with a joyful shout!”  This exhortation wasn’t borne out of “happy” circumstances… he was at the time hiding in a cave, exiled from his throne, having barely escaped from the murderous intentions of his power-hungry son Absalom. What a rough set of circumstances!  And yet David chose this moment to compose a psalm of rejoicing.  

Joy is a deep down confidence that all is well, no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the difficulty, no matter what the problem.  Jewish sages have a saying, “simcha poritz geder” — joy breaks all barriers.  

Joy is a gift from God… Psalm 4:7 says Thou hast put joy in my heart”  The Greek word for “joy” is chara (χαρὰ), it’s a word related to “grace” (χάρις).  There is grace for joy available for us….. we need only spend time in His presence to be full of joy (Ps 16:11).

Today rejoice…. choose joy whether your circumstances are joyful or not….

  • get into His presence and let Him fill you with His joy (Ps 16:11))
  • let it strengthen you (Neh 8:10)
  • causing you to superabound with hope (Rom 15:13)

and that joy will break down any barriers in your life.

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I recently read a wonderful definition for joy:  joy is the flag that flies on the castle of the heart when the King is in residence there.  

~ Robin