{"id":9352,"date":"2016-09-04T09:42:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T16:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/?p=9352"},"modified":"2016-09-04T09:42:14","modified_gmt":"2016-09-04T16:42:14","slug":"the-month-of-elul-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoshanarabbah.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/04\/the-month-of-elul-is-here\/","title":{"rendered":"The Month of Elul is here\u2014time to prepare for the fall feasts!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Elul-graphic.0011\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting in Sync With YHVH Times and Seasons<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the forty days of\u00a0teshuvah\u00a0<\/i>(the Hebrew word meaning \u201crepentance\u201d) all about? Let\u2019s briefly explore this concept to see how why they occur when they do and how they relate to the fall biblical feasts and the second coming of King Yeshua the Messiah.<\/p>\n

\"Repentance\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During these forty days, which begin on the first day of the sixth month on the biblical calendar and end on the\u00a0Yom Kippur\u00a0<\/i>(the Day of Atonement), it is time for the redeemed believer to get his or her spiritual house in order for the upcoming biblical high holy days. Why? Because these holidays prophetically picture the second coming of Yeshua the Messiah and his gathering his people to himself, and the coming judgments upon the earth of the wicked and lukewarm, and the pouring out of YHVH\u2019s wrath upon the wicked along with the destruction of Babylon the Great by Yeshua. They also point to the time when Yeshua will establish his millennial kingdom on this earth, and finally, the coming of the new heaven and new earth at the end of the millennium.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, during the forty days of\u00a0teshuvah<\/i>, it\u2019s time for YHVH\u2019s people to awake from their spiritual slumber (1 Thess 5:1\u20138; Rom 13:11\u201314) and repent (or make\u00a0teshuvah<\/i>) from sin and turn back to wholehearted obedience to Elohim. The three months between the biblical feasts of\u00a0Shavuot<\/i>\u00a0or Pentecost and\u00a0Yom Teruah<\/i>\u00a0(the Day of Shofar Blasts) prophetically pictures the 2000 year time period between the first and advents of Yeshua the Messiah. As we near the end of this period, it is time to get ready for Yeshua\u2019s second coming and to put off spiritual lukewarmeness by repenting of sin (Torahlessness) and by putting on the robes of righteousness and looking heavenward in anticipation of our Messiah\u2019s coming. The forty days between the first day of the sixth month and\u00a0Yom Kippur<\/i>\u00a0is the time to be doing this.<\/p>\n

Why forty days and why now? According to the biblical record and Jewish tradition, Moses received the tablets of the ten commandments on\u00a0Shavuot<\/i>\u00a0(the Feast of Weeks or<\/p>\n

Pentecost) after having been on Mount Sinai for forty days. When he came down with the tablets, the children of Israel had built the golden calf, and\u00a0 Moses reacted to this news by smashing the tablets. He ascended the mountain the second time where he pleaded on behalf of the Israelites for YHVH\u2019s mercy for another forty days. He then ascended the mountain the third time (this time on the first day of the sixth month) for another forty days and returned on Yom Kippur (forty days later) with the second set of stone tablets as proof that YHVH had forgiven his people for their idolatry and had renewed his covenantal relationship with them. This is a good time to review the thirteen attributes of YHVH Elohim\u2019s mercy as revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai in Exodus 34:6\u20137.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of Elul, it\u2019s customary to sound the shofar, not only because it\u2019s a biblical command to do so at the beginning of each new month (Ps 81:3), but because the shofar was the means YHVH initiated to call his people to attention, to warn them, to wake them up, or to announce important events. In ancient Israel, different blasts of the shofar signified different things. During the forty days of\u00a0teshuvah<\/i>, it is customary to regularly sound the ram\u2019s horn shofar. Hearing its plaintive and wailing sound can help to stir one\u2019s heart to repentance.<\/p>\n

The name\u00a0Elul<\/i>\u00a0in Jewish tradition has been recognized as an acronym for the phrase in the Song of Solomon 6:3, \u201cI am my beloved\u2019s and my beloved is mine.\u201d For the redeemed believer in Yeshua, this signifies our love for our soon coming King and Bridegroom and our need to be fully devoted to him by putting off sin and anything else that would separate us from a loving relationship with him. This is why the month of Elul is a time for soul searching and repentance. At this time, \u201cWe must seek YHVH while he may be found\u201d (Isa 55:6). Isaiah further admonishes us, \u201cLet the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return [Heb.\u00a0shuv<\/i>] unto YHVH, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our Elohim, for he will abundantly pardon\u201d (Isa 55:7). Psalm 27 is traditionally read during the month of Elul as well. This psalm speaks of YHVH being our salvation and delivering his people from their enemies by hiding them in his\u00a0sukkah<\/i>\u00a0or tabernacle \u2014 a\u00a0 prophecy relating to YHVH delivering his people during the tumultuous last days just prior to Yeshua\u2019s return after which he will set up his\u00a0sukkah<\/i>\u00a0or dwelling place one earth to rule over the world during the millennium. This wonderful event is prophetically pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles (Heb.\u00a0Sukkot<\/i>, the plural form of the Hebrew word\u00a0sukkah<\/i>).<\/p>\n

What Is Repentance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Scripture, there are several basic steps to repentance. They are as follows:<\/p>\n