We have entered the Biblical month of Elul and most of Christianity is totally unaware because it has tossed out the Biblical calendar and its significant meaning to our walk with the Lord.  God has designated an appointed time when end time prophecy will be fulfilled.  Yet, and sadly, the Church, like Israel, is unaware of the time for IT’S VISITATION. 

The month of Elul paints a picture of the necessary preparation needed for the Bride to make herself ready to meet her Bridegroom face to face. This Month of Elul is the month of preparation that leads up to the fall feasts.  The prophetic fulfillment of the fall feast is yet to be realized.  These feasts paint a picture of the rapture, the wedding of the Messiah, the salvation of the nation of Israel, and the second coming of the Messiah and His Millennium reign.

These events when they are fulfilled will be the quintessential events of God’s love story.  History as we know it will climax with the return of the Messiah with His Bride to judge the nations and to set up His millennium Kingdom.  Then for a thousand years the King and His Queen will rule and reign in this world with righteousness and love.  A detailed account of the fall feasts is available on our website at:  

http://www.sweetmanna.org/FallFeastsIntro.html​

Beginning on Rosh Chodesh, which is the beginning of a new noon signifying the start of the month of Elul, and continuing until the day before Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Wedding of the Messiah, it is customary to blow the shofar (ram's horn) every day (except for Shabbat). This practice is said to be adopted because it was in the month of Elul when Moses returning for the third time to Mt. Sinai blew the shofar as a reminder to the people to remain faithful and not to fall into sin.

The blowing of the shofar every day is intended to awaken us in preparation for the rehearsals that take place year after year.  However, the time is fast approaching when the shofar will blow and it will not be a rehearsal, instead it will be the parting of the Eastern sky and He will appear in all His Glory and gather His Bride to Himself. 

The period of time for repentance is called Teshuva in Hebrew.  Teshuva has a slightly different connotation in Hebrew than repentance does in English.  Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines repentance this way:  Repentance is a change of mind, or a conversion from sin to God. Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice, from conviction that it has offended God. 

Teshuva on the other hand has a sense of restoration because one returns to God.  Teshuva has a higher goal of returning face to face with God, rather than just turning ones back on sin.  This is the season that represents the Bridegroom calling for His beloved to return to Him and His covenant promises.

The custom is to first blow tekiah (תְּקִיעָה), a long single blast known as the sound of the King's coronation.  This is followed by shevarim (שְׁבָרִים), three short, wail-like blasts which is to signify a call to repentance.  The blasts that follow are called teruah (תְּרוּעָה), these blasts are several short blasts of alarm to awaken the bride.  The closing shofar is called  tekiah hagadol (תְּקִיעָה הַגָּדוֹל), it’s a long, final blast:.

The blasts of the shofar speak prophetically about the purpose of the month of Elul.

1.  Announces the approaching coronation of the King

2.  Signifies a call to repentance

3.  Sounds the alarm for the Bride to awaken or arise.

4.  Concludes with the Great Trump which is the signal to announce Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the day that is thought to be the day that the Nation Israel will be saved in one day.

Sound the Alarm!!!!!

"Blow you the trumpet in Zion,

and sound an alarm in my holy mountain:

let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:

for the day of the LORD comes,

for it is near at hand" Joel 2:1

Pray for America!

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men;

For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peacable life in all godliness and honesty.

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (Yeshua) 

1 Timothy 2:1-5

It is interesting to note that the month of Elul is the month that Jews consider to be the month that our King draws closes to us.  It is said of the month that, “The King is standing in the field.”  What that means is that the King has left His palace and has such a desire to be with his people that he has left all of his pomp and circumstance behind to come near to where they are that he loves.  He has removed his royal robes to become as one of them.   He bids them come, come my beloved let us commune together face to face.

The Jews who have not yet accepted Yeshua as their Jewish Messiah are looking for their King and Messiah in the field at this time of the year.  We who know Yeshua, recognize that 2,000 years ago He left his heavenly palace, and left all his heavenly pomp and circumstance of His divinity behind to come to the field of earth to be near those he created and loves.  He came to the field of our lives to commune face to face.  For 2000 years our King has been plowing the fields of our lives preparing His bride for the wedding of the Messiah and the 1000 year reign.

The letters E-L-U-L is thought to be an acronym for the Hebrew, "Ani L'dodi V'dodi Li"  "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine", found in the Song of Songs.  It is no accident that this sixth month on the biblical calendar, 12^th on the civil calendar, paints a picture of love and desire of the Bride and the Bridegroom for one another.  This month is set aside as a time to return to your first love.  Elul is said to mean search.  Therefore the Jews consider it a time to search our hearts to see if there be any sin that would separate us from our Beloved.

It is clear from the book Song of Songs that our Beloved is crying for His Bride to return to Him.  Let’s take a deeper look at a verse in the Song of Songs.

Song of Solomon 6:13  Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies. 

What we see hear is Solomon who is a picture of Yeshua crying out for the Shulamite who is a picture of the Bride Church.  Throughout the Hebrew scripture wherever a word is repeated, like it is here with the word return, it is meant to emphasize its importance.  The fact that the word return is repeated 4 times in this passage should be a signal for us to pay attention.

Let’s take a look at this as it pictures Messiah and His Bride.  Solomon is crying out to the Shulamite to return.  Solomon means prince of peace.  Shulamite means daughter of peace.  So the picture is that of the Prince of Peace or Messiah is crying out to the Daughter of Peace, His Bride.  Based on the meaning of the Hebrew and the prophetic picture that is painted in the Song of Solomon of Messiah and His Bride, a deeper understanding could be interpreted like this.

Face me, come back to me, face me, come back to me, My Bride, O Daughter of Shalom, face me, come back to me, face me, come back to me, that we, i.e. Elohim, Abba, Yeshua, and the Ruach HaKodesh along with the angels may look upon thee.  What will you see in Your Bride, the Daughter of Shalom?  As it were, our gaze is upon a company of dancers, warriors  from the Jews and the Gentiles dancing in unity.  

This is a Prophetic view of the Bridegroom crying for His Bride to return to Her first love and look upon Her Bridegroom “face to face”.  Then, although it is remez and hidden, we find that when the Bridegroom gazes His eyes upon His Bride, He finds a joyful company of dancers also known as warriors dancing before the Throne, both Jew and Gentile alike.  They are dancing in unity together, in love with one another and with their Bridegroom, ready to face Him, “face to face”.

This picture of Jew and Gentile dancing together I believe to a picture of the Feast of Tabernacles.  This feast will be fulfilled during the Millennium reign of the Messiah.  Even today, we get a little glimpse of what the future may hold for the Bride of the Messiah.  Every year during the Feast of Tabernacles Christians from all over the world join the Jews in Israel to celebrate this joyous feast. 

The streets of Jerusalem are filled with dancers along with musicians with various instruments, banners are held high, and shouts of joy fill the air.  Jew and Gentile celebrate together the joy of knowing God.  Surely even today, our Bridegroom in Heaven gazes upon His Bride with pleasure as she dances before Him, longing for the day when they will be, “face to face.”

During this month of Elul let’s search our hearts for anything that would prevent us from gazing “face to face” with our Bridegroom.  Let this be a personal season of teshuva, i.e. returning to our “First Love”.  I want to be numbered among the company of dancers and warriors.  What about you?

MARANATHA

COME

LORD JESUS!

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Be Blessed!

Rev. Marjorie