God created time! He designed a calendar to help us stay in step with Him as we move through time.  His calendar was established at creation (Gen 1:14 “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years”).  On God’s calendar day begins in the evening not the morning.  Night watches set the stage for the new day.  His calendar includes “set apart” or “appointed” days such as the yearly cycle of Feasts and the weekly Sabbaths.  Israel began every month with a first fruits celebration called Rosh Chodesh (Head of the Month).  They did this because they wanted to honor God at the start of every month and during this celebration they also gathered to seek prophetic direction for each month, because they knew every month was like a prophetic season for them. Gathering for First-fruits allowed them to live in sync with God’s timing.  

Kislev Characteristics:

• In the natural realm Kislev is the “month of darkness” because as you move through Kislev the days get shorter and the nights get longer.  
• But Kislev is not only a month of darkness but a month of light shining in the darkness. It is the month of Chanukah, which is the festival of lights. It’s important to let your light shine in the darkness this month…. and with all that’s happening in our world these days, we definitely have ample opportunity to do that.
• It is the 9th month on the Hebrew Biblical calendar (counting from Nisan)
• Nine is the number for fruitfulness, completion, fullness of blessings and Holy Spirit (9 gifts and 9 fruits).
• It is a number of Divine blessings, divine completeness, and divine judgment. 
• 9 is the number of gifts of the Holy Spirit and there are 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit.  
• Twice in the book of Acts the 9th hour is associated with prayer (Acts 3 and Acts 10) 
• And then of course the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost at 9am in Acts 2:15!  
• Because Kislev is a month of physical darkness, the Jews consider it to be a month of dreams and night visions.
• 9 of the 10 dreams in the Torah are read. Jacob’s dream of the ladder, Joseph’s dreams of his family, Pharaoh’s dreams of famine, the dreams of Pharaoh’s servants that Joseph interprets.  
• So Kislev is a month to be aware of our dreams.
• We receive God’s revelation in the night watches (Job 33:14-18; Dan 2:19-22).  
• Ask God for wisdom and understanding of your dreams, He is after all the Author of those dreams – Daniel 2:17-19 “Daniel and his friends prayed to God for the understanding of the mystery and during the night the mystery was revealed”  
• The Hebrews consider Kislev to also be a month of the womb. It’s probable that it’s the month that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary’s womb and Jesus was conceived. 
• This is a month for the river of God to flow in a fresh way from your innermost being.

• The number 9 represents the finality (completeness) and judgment of the Cross so beautifully.
• God’s judgment was poured out on Jesus who was crucified at 9am (Mark 15:25) and at the 9th hour (3pm) He said “it is finished!”  
• We are able to walk in the gifts and the fruit of Holy Spirit because of the finished work of the Cross and in our set prayer times let us continually give thanks to God for the judgment He poured out on Jesus and for the grace of this finished work, the complete work. Grace that enables us to live on Earth as it is in Heaven, to walk in our inheritance.
• Grace to have no sickness, no poverty, no lack, only total victory in all areas of our life.

Letter: Samekh: Hebrew letters were originally pictures and Samekh [ס] looks like a circle, a ring or a repeating cycle.  

• Hebrew letters don’t just represent sounds but they represent ideas.  
• Words beginning with Samekh include to turn, to go around, to surround, to encompass or enclosure to come full circle.  When we know this, we can prophesy from that, it’s a month to come full circle, a month to confront and deal with things that hindered you in the last season.  
• In a Samekh month God can give you a second chance at missed opportunities. It’s a month to be on guard also as old enemies can come back around as well.  
• It’s also a month to break out of old destructive cycles that keep you from your destiny. 
• The root word of Samekh is to lean upon, uphold or to support as in Isaiah 26:3- “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed (Samekh) on thee: because he trusteth in thee”.   
• The ancient picture is a shield.  His perfect peace (continual, repetitive peace) is a shield for us when chaos is all around us because our minds are upheld and supported by His Word.

Kislev is the month of the Hebrew tribe of Benjamin:

NAME CHANGE:

• Benjamin was one of those individuals who had a name change which altered the course of his destiny.  Although the tribe of Benjamin lost their way for a bit and were almost destroyed (see the story in Judges 20 – they lost 25,000 men!  Only 600 survived) they ended up strong with members of their tribe saving the Jewish population (Esther and Mordecai) and writing almost the entire New Testament and fulfilling Israel’s destiny of being a light to the Gentiles (Apostle Paul)
• Benjamin was the youngest child of Jacob and Rachel and one of the smallest of the tribes of Israel. 
• Rachael’s first son was Joseph and her second was Benjamin. She died giving birth to him. Before she died, she named him Benoni (son of my pain).
• Jacob knew this was not the identity God wanted him to have and so he renamed him Benjamin (son of my right hand or son of honor). 

PROPHECY: WARRIORS, SKILLED IN IN WARFARE: HIT THE MARK MONTH

• God’s destiny for Benjamin is in Gen 49:27 “When Jacob blessed him he said, “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.”  
• The tribe of Benjamin were fierce warriors, skilled in warfare, trained to hit the mark.  
• The tribe of Benjamin had many distinguished slingers and archers such as in Judges 20:16, where we read of 700 “left-handed” slingers who could sling stones at a hair and not miss! 

BENJAMITES:

1. Ulam had 150 sons and grandsons who were expert archers. (1 Chron 8:40)
2. King Asa had an army comprised of 280,000 valiant warriors from the tribe of Benjamin. (2 Chron. 14:8, 17:7)
3. King Saul was a Benjamite and also a skilled warrior (a quality God would use to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines – see 1 Sam 9:16) However, nothing of spiritual significance is ever mentioned when we are introduced to Saul in 1 Sam 9:2.  

• What is mentioned is how impressive his lineage and family status is and his physical appearance. 
• Saul is chosen as king because the people asked to be given “a king to lead them like the other nations” (1 Sam 8:5). 
• Even after Samuel warns them that he (Saul – whose name means “asked of”) will be a king that will take everything from them (sons, daughters, land, vineyards, etc) and make them like slaves, they still choose to have a king.  
• God, however, in His grace, put a new heart in Saul and made him a changed man (1 Sam 10:6,9) in order to help him succeed as a righteous king.  God literally changed Saul in order to make him the kind of man who could rule and be King. When God removed this from Saul, He truly removed the qualities that made him king. He left behind the man Saul originally had been and worse.  He became the man who hunted and tried to kill David.
• In contrast, David needed no such change in order to rule, he was already a man after God’s heart, having spent his whole life cultivating a relationship with God.  
• However, his son Jonathan cut covenant with David which forever united the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. 
• Although the potential was there, Saul was given a new identity when he became a changed man with a new heart, his fear of men (1 Sam 15:24) caused his downfall.  Rather than walk in the “new man” that he had become, he chose to fear the people instead of God.

1. Saul of Tarsus is another Benjamite who had an identity change. He was given a new heart, a new nature, a new name (Paul).  He was changed from Saul to Paul in Acts 9.  

• Unlike the king who he was originally named for, Paul chose to walk in this new identity and fulfill the destiny God had for him, a destiny which included writing most of the New Testament, planting churches, and being an apostle to the Gentiles.  He counted the natural qualities of his old self (which were quite impressive) as nothing, in fact he called them “rubbish or dung” compared to gaining Christ.  
• He received from God the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness and therefore “reigned” in life IN CHRIST.

THOUGHT: 

• Sometimes circumstances or people in life brand you with an identity that God never chose for you.  
• The way you view yourself is not how God views you.  
• This month choose to change your identity and be all that God has called you to be.  
• If you are like king Saul, held captive by fear, this is a month to be set free.  
• Ask God to show you the habit patterns and ways of thinking that hold you in an old cycle.  
• Guard the word of your mouth, this is a time of confession and decree, what you say now determines your future.  
• Ask God to breathe fresh revelation on you this month revealing your true identity in Christ, your sonship identity.  

FESTIVAL: Hanukkah, Festival of lights; Only feast that connects 2 months: Kislev and Tevet. The light will not go out. God will find a way to impart Mercy. His grace is sufficient and His love is everlasting.

DECLARATIONS:

1. I DECREE, during this Hanukkah season, that my God is the God of miracles. My Miracle is on the way!
2. I DECREE, Jesus is the light of the World. Revelation light is being released for me!
3. I DECREE, I will walk in the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit because of the finished work of the cross!
4. I DECREE, I’m coming full circle this month and the things that hindered me in the past season are broken because of the blood of Jesus!
5. I DECREE, I’m staying focused on God’s call for my life. I’M armed with spiritual weapons, taking my stand against the enemy and I will NOT MISS THE MARK!

LEV. 23

39 ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.

40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

41 You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month.

42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths,

43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’

44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

A Temporary Shelter

2 Corinthians 4:17-18
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Safety in Your Wilderness

• Promise of His Presence
• Daily Provision
• God’s Goodness

The Blessing of Tabernacles: We see and celebrate God’s goodness!

God is Good: Celebrating Tabernacles reminds us He is faithful and brings joy.

1 Kings 8:6, 10-11
The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord. And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.

The people so delighted in God’s presence that they celebrated Sukkot for 14 days instead of seven. Then they “went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel” (1 Kings 8:66).

God is Good: Celebrating Tabernacles is a joy that overcomes fear.

Ezra 3:1-4
1 And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings.
4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day.

Ezra 3:10-13 (NLT)
“When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid. But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.”

God is Good: Celebrating Tabernacles reveals God’s held and hidden plans.

Ezra 6:3-8 (NKJV)
“In the first year of King Cyrus, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem: “Let the house be rebuilt, the place where they offered sacrifices; and let the foundations of it be firmly laid, its height sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits, with three rows of heavy stones and one row of new timber. Let the expenses be paid from the king’s treasury. Also let the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God.”
Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, and Shethar-Boznai, and your companions the Persians who are beyond the River, keep yourselves far from there. Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God on its site. Moreover, I issue a decree as to what you shall do for the elders of these Jews, for the building of this house of God: Let the cost be paid at the king’s expense from taxes on the region beyond the River; this is to be given immediately to these men, so that they are not hindered.”

God is Good: Celebrating Tabernacles is great peace!

Haggai 2:1-9 (NKJV)
“In the seventh month, on the twenty-first of the month, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying: “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, saying: ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!’ “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.””

God is Good: Celebrating Tabernacles brings great gladness!

Nehemiah 8:14-17 (NKJV)
“And they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim. So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.”

God is Good: Celebrating Tabernacles confirms God is more than enough.

John 7:37-39 (NLT)
“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)”

Declaration:
Jesus, we thank you that you are living water given to us that we might never thirst again and light that we might never be in darkness. We receive both refreshing and revelation.

Today, because we have honored the anointed time of Tabernacles and we bring our First Fruits offering, we ask that you move us into joy, peace, generosity, health, faith, harvest, and life abundant.