prophetic – It Is Finished

God’s seasons

I take an online Hebrew class every Monday afternoon. A couple of weeks ago, I was working on my vocabulary flashcards and I came across the word “season or time” which is “et” or עת in Hebrew. And it got me thinking about it’s meaning.

Most of the prophetic words I hear are about seasons. Season of miracles, season of favor, season of restoration, time of breakthrough, etc. Almost all of these use Old Testament Scriptures to confirm them. And the focus is on “doing.” For example, God will release favor in our lives if we’re faithful to do all He has said.

I love the prophetic. There have been times I’ve received prophetic words in my life that confirmed what the Spirit of God had already spoken to me regarding His direction or things concerning my destiny. And it gave me the boldness to act on it… to walk it out.

I don’t have an issue with “seasons” per se. But the problem with seasons is it keeps us focused on a timeframe. One of the aspects of me and my husband’s business is farming. Farming is seasonal….. even in California where we farm year round. We still have seasonal crops. If we’re not careful, we catch ourselves using “catch phrases” that box us into ways of thinking in particular seasons. For instance, cherry season is financially great, apple season we can finally rest, summer fruit season is BUSY, December – January is our leanest season, etc. While all of that seems to be true in the “natural,” it can keep us boxed into certain expectations or limitations. Keeping us walking in by sight and not by faith.

Prophetic “seasons” can do the same. They keep us future focused on what Jesus is going to do, instead of what Jesus has already done. They keep us looking at just one thing for the “season” such as God’s favor instead of looking at the FULL finished work of Christ in our lives and the truth that He has given us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness NOW.

So while I was studying for Hebrew and noticed the word season is “et” or עת in Hebrew. It is made up of the letters “ayin” and “tav”.

“ע” which is ayin in Hebrew is the idea of seeing and watching as well as knowledge. ayin (Gen 6:8) referring to the eyes of the Lord. a word describing an eye…or insight or seeing or perceiving with God’s perspective.

“ת” which is tav in Hebrew meaning cross or the sign of the covenant.

I love that! God’s seasons in our life are all comprised of seeing things from His perspective, and that perspective is Jesus and His finished work (Heb 1:1-3). In every season of my life, I should expect to the finished work of the cross to be in operation in my life. No matter what a natural season may look like in my life, it is still a season of favor, abundance, health, goodness, grace, wisdom, breakthrough, prosperity, sonship, freedom, deliverance, etc.

Luke 4:19 Jesus declared it a “year of God’s favor or a year of Jubilee.” Year is a cycle of time… a season. The root word for Jubilee in Hebrew is yabal, which means “to flow.” Jesus provided a continual flow for us in every season of our life. We don’t just have a season of favor, a season of peace, or a time of abundance. We have a lifetime of continual fulfillment…. of the ALL things that He provided for us for life and godliness.

I still read prophetic words that come across my path about seasons, but now I read them as a reminder of what Jesus has done and what is already mine. Not dependent upon what I do, but mine by inheritance. I read them as God highlighting certain things that are part of the finished work so that I can grow in my knowledge of them. Gain more understanding of these things so that I can walk in victory.

What did the finished work of the Cross provide? That’s your season! Walk in the revelation of it. Walk in the victory of it.

~ Robin

Tammuz

Every month in Biblical times had a different meaning and purpose… it was a new prophetic season.

keep eyes on prize Jews in Biblical times had a special celebration at the beginning of every month, it was a time to put God first and seek direction for the new month. It was called Rosh Chodesh (Head of the Month). They came together to praise God, to give their first fruit offerings and to hear what God was saying for the month….to gain direction for the month ahead. They were only able to hear Him by listening to the prophets…..we, however, hear Him face to face. He abides in us and speaks directly to us.

Tammuz is the 4th month of the Hebrew Biblical calendar and the 10th month of the Jewish civil calendar. By looking at these Hebrew months in the Bible, we learn to think like God thinks. Romans 15:4 says For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Tammuz is a month that teaches us to worship and stay faithful. Each month was associated with a tribe and Tammuz was associated with the tribe of Reuben. By looking at Reuben we learn this month to wait on God and to choose to trust Him.

Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, and as such he was born into a position of great privilege.

In Genesis 49:3,4 Jacob prophesies over Reuben that “he is my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.” This was Reuben’s position… firstborn son of Jacob. He was destined to inherit the double portion. He was to be the leader of the tribe as well as the priest of the family. But like his Uncle Esau, Reuben lightly esteemed his birthright…. he acted so disgracefully that he forfeited his birthright – Gen 35:22.

This incident changed the course of his life. The double portion was taken away and given to Joseph. His leadership as a tribe was taken away and given to Judah. His priesthood as a tribe was taken away and given to the tribe of Levi. When Jacob blessed the other sons he pronounced a curse on Reuben – telling him he would not excel.

Why did Reuben do this? As we look at Reuben’s family life, we see that their family had been through a traumatic period…..

They had fled from Laban who had chased them down and would have killed Jacob if God had not intervened.
Escaping Laban then they faced a confrontation with Esau who also tried to kill Jacob
Entering Canaan their sister Dinah was raped at Shechem and two of her brothers massacred all the men of the city in retaliation. Canaanites were outraged.
Fleeing Shechem, Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried at “The Oak of Weeping” Then Rachel went into labor and died giving birth to Benjamin.
Still, they journeyed on until they came to the tower of Eder where they finally stopped.

So the whole family had gone through a time of tremendous upheaval, violence, and loss. They had to just keep moving through all of it. Not until they stopped at the tower of Eder could they even begin to process what they had just gone through!

That’s when Reuben went in and found solace with Bilhah. He wasn’t even thinking about the Blessing that lay ahead in his future…. he wasn’t thinking about all he could lose because of this choice. He simply wanted comfort and he wanted it NOW!

He was desperate for comfort and security and sought them outside of God.

The biblical tower of Eder was built near Hebron as a watchtower that shepherds watched their flocks from. Eder became a symbol of God’s watchfulness over His people. It was a place of refuge. That’s where Reuben went to Bilhah. It was here that he should’ve sought refuge in God. Allowing Abba Father to refresh his soul… a soul that had been through a series of traumatic events. Doing that would have restored his vision and helped him walk out his prophetic destiny.

But instead, he sought out Bilhah. Bilhah means terror or trouble. It also means worn out…. something so worn out that it serves no purpose. Another possible definition means foolish. These definitions sum up for us what Reuben was experiencing when he slept with Bilhah. His action was foolish…Ps 14:1 – a fool says there is no God… a better translation is a fool says in his heart “no God!”. Reuben by yielding to sin was saying no to God… no to His promises, no to His destiny for Reuben, no to trusting God to see him through this terrible time in his life. He was so worn out in life that he ended up losing sight of his purpose in God.

Reuben’s name means “behold a son”. Behold means to see…. see a son! It’s important in this season that we begin to see ourselves as “sons”. Sonship is our destiny that was marked out for us in love by God (Eph 1:5). Having correct vision… seeing ourselves as God sees us, in a position of sonship… will keep us from forfeiting our spiritual inheritance.

God wants to awaken us to the revelation of “Sonship” in our lives in this season.

Psalms 2:7-8 tells us that we are to declare/decree our position as sons. Gal 4:1-7 tells us that it is time to claim our inheritance as sons because we are no longer slaves. And Romans 8:14-17 tells us that as sons & daughters we are endowed with authority in His kingdom. This is a time to displace, to cast off an “orphan spirit” and embrace the spirit of sonship that is ours, with all of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities (John 5:19).

Because of Reuben’s lack of vision, his birthright was forfeit. The wonderful inheritance… the prophetic destiny… God intended for him was lost. Reuben took his eyes off the prize (Phil 3:14). When you lose sight of the goal you are always in danger of not fulfilling your destiny. Wrong vision will cost you your inheritance. The sad thing is his descendants followed in his footsteps… the tribe of Reuben also lost their inheritance.

Next time we’ll look at how Reuben’s descendants followed in his footsteps……

~ Robin

Iyar — 5776 (2016)

Jehovah rophe necklace Last night we entered into the Hebrew month of Iyar. This is one of the three Spring months…. Remember that each month is a progressive blessing of revelation – the blessing of the Spring months are:

Reconfirm your covenant with God at Passover in the first month (Nissan)
So that, He can reveal secrets of His covenant in this second month (Iyar)
And then He will bring you into a whole new level of Pentecost in the third month (Sivan)

Spring is a time to plant…. as you sow this month declare that your harvest is being secured and that every seed will prosper. Biblically it is the “New year of Kings”… a time of counting the years of the reigns of kings in ancient Israel. It is also the month when kings go to war (2 Sam 10:1)… This is a time to reign as kings and to use your authority…. to war for your covenant promises. 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.

After coming out of Egypt, Iyar was the transition month between Egypt and Mt Sinai. It was a transition to a new level in their relationship with Him from being one of deliverance to one of covenant. The rabbis have traditionally taught that this new level was actually a marriage covenant between the Lord and Israel… He became their Husband. During this transition time, He began revealing His covenant secrets to them in the Wilderness.

In Ex 15:26 He revealed Himself to them as their Healer, Jehovah Rophe. In fact, Iyar is actually an acronym meaning Ani Yahweh Rophe. In Hebrew, it is spelled: Aleph, Yud, Yud, Resh….. “Ani Yahweh Rofecha. Aleph – stands for Ani, Yud – 2 yud’s next to each other always represent God’s name and Reish – stands for Rofecha.

In Ex 16:12 He revealed Himself as Jehovah Jireh, the Lord their Provider as He sent in quail in the evening and rained down Manna (angel’s food) from Heaven. Another covenant secret He taught them was the Sabbath (Ex 16:26)… He was trying to teach them to rest in Him, that He would provide everything they would ever need. His provision was given even in their grumbling (Ex 16:2). In Ex 17 He revealed Himself as Jehovah Nissi, the Lord their Banner after their victorious battle against the Amalekites. This battle was only victorious because He was their banner and fought for them…. later after the report of the spies and they are judged to wander in the Wilderness for 40 years, they realize their sin and decide to go up and take the land against Moses’ counsel and are badly defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites.

In Ex 17 He revealed Himself as Jehovah Nissi, the Lord their Banner after their victorious battle against the Amalekites. This battle was only victorious because He was their banner and fought for them…. later after the report of the spies and they are judged to wander in the Wilderness for 40 years, they realize their sin and decide to go up and take the land against Moses’ counsel and are badly defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites. Our victories are only guaranteed IN CHRIST… Psalm 108:13; Psalm 60:12; How do we learn His secrets? Simply when we ask! Dan 2:21-22, Mt 13:11, James 1:5.

Iyar is often called the month of Ziv, meaning radiance. It is linked with light or increased revelation. It is the opposite of darkness….Isaiah 60:1-3. This is also the month the disciples were taught many things about the Kingdom by Jesus during the 40 days after His death and when they waited in the upper room to receive the promise from on High. Just like every year before, as tradition dictated, they spent the night before Shavuot (Pentecost) first taking an offering to the temple and then staying up all night studying the Word.

But this particular year on Shavuot, He fulfilled the prophecy in Joel 2. He poured out His Spirit upon them and they became changed men and women who went forth changing the world. This month we are still in the period of what is called counting the Omer. Omer in the Hebrew is to form and utter speech! This is a time to speak out the promises of God… releasing words that will help propel us into our destiny and transition us successfully into this new season!

Remember that this is the month of transition for them through the wilderness before Mt Sinai. In the wilderness they received grace – the word encampments translates “grace was available”.

This month walk in the abundance of grace that is yours IN CHRIST as you move towards the month of Sivan. This month begin to learn the ways of God….the secrets of His covenant.

The tribe associated with Iyar is “Issachar”, this is probably one of my favorite tribes. Jacob prophesied over Issachar in Gen 49:14-15 and Moses prophesied over them in Deut 33:18-19. Issachar was the 5th son of Leah…..five represents grace, goodness, and the favor of God. Issachar was a man of strength that would not hold back from hard work to establish a secure place to rest. He was a burden bearer… this links the anointing to intercession.

Men of Issachar were also prophetic people…. they not only had an understanding of the times and seasons but they also knew what Israel should do in those times and seasons… 1 Chron 12:40. Deut 27:12 reveals that an Issachar anointing understands the timing of God and the government of God, carries the burden of the Lord, and releases the blessing of God into the earth realm at the crossroads of every season.

IN CHRIST we have this same anointing….. to understand the timing of God and of His government…. to carry His burdens in prophetic intercession…. and to release His Blessing into the earth and to everyone we come in contact with. This month walk in the revelation of the Issachar anointing.

~Robin