GOD PART:

Shavuot – “Weeks” – 7 weeks after Passover

The fourth and final spring festival is called Shavuot, which means “weeks” in Hebrew. Beginning with Passover, Israel is commanded to count seven whole weeks until the 50th day at which point Shavuot is observed.

Exodus 23:14-16:

Details the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Harvest (Pentecost)

Deuteronomy 16:9-12:

9 Count off seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain. 10 Then celebrate the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lordyour God has given you. 11 And rejoice before the Lordyour God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites in your towns, and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows living among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and follow carefully these decrees.

LEVITICUS  23:15-21

(15) You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete sabbaths. 

(16) You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord. 

(17) You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an [c]ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as first fruits to the Lord. 

(18) Along with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect, and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord.  

(19) You shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 

(20) The priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering with two lambs before the Lord; they are to be holy to the Lord for the priest. 

(21) On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations. 

(22) When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

BOOK OF RUTH READ

There are many HEBREW traditions associated with Shavuot:

1. reading the Book of Ruth.
2. spending the entire night studying Torah until dawn.
3. decreeing the Ten Commandments
4. decorating synagogues and homes with aromatic spices, and partaking of a dairy meal and dessert.

The Book of Ruth is traditionally read during Shavuot because the biblical account takes place during the summer harvest. 

The book of Ruth celebrates God restoring honor and dignity to Naomi and her Moabite daughter-in-law, Ruth. 

Ruth is a gentile who identifies with the Jewish people by committing herself to Naomi and Naomi’s people, the Jewish people. King David, Ruth’s great-grandson, was born and died on this festival.

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PENTECOST MEANING:

pentēkostḗ (from 4002 /pénte, “five”) – properly fiftieth, referring to the festival of Pentecost – a one day festival celebrated at the end of the barley harvest. This was a joyous time of giving great thanks to God. 

[The workers could only spare one day at this season of the year because the wheat harvest was already in process.]

FEAST OF WEEKS

Leviticus 23:15-16 instructs observers to count 50 days from the day after the Sabbath (the day the sheaf of the wave offering is presented) to the day after the seventh Sabbath, marking the Feast of Weeks

This 50-day period is also known as the “Counting of the Omer“

The Feast of Weeks commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and, in the New Testament, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. 

JUBILEE YEAR:

The Jubilee year is mentioned in Leviticus 25:8-13 and occurs after every seventh Sabbath year (49 years), making it the 50th year.

Jubilee involves social and economic resets, including the release of slaves and the return of ancestral lands.

Jubilee is a complete reset, a release from captivity, with themes of freedom and restoration.

2 Pentecost Thoughts:

Signs and Wonders

EXODUS 19

16 On the morning of the third day there was thunderand lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 

17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 

18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 

19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.

20 The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up

EXODUS 20 

1 And God spoke all these words:

ACTS 1

4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 

5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

ACTS 2

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 

2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

ACTION:

They  Obeyed: followed, waited.

God’s Promise:

They Received

They Spoke

FIRST FRUITS BLESSING:

1. First fruits reminds us that God is the source of ALL blessings and disciplines us to seek his kingdom FIRST and that he is to be our FIRST love!

1. First fruits gives us confidence that our Father will always provide and creates an EXPECTATION of VISITATION as we watch our inheritance and promises be mature!

1. First fruits releases revelation that directs us from the Wave offering to gathering the HARVEST and develops the final INGATHERING in our hearts.

• Hebrews 11:13-14
• Ephesians 1:11, 14, 18
• Colossians 1:12
• 1 Peter 1:4

1. First fruits giving honors God as your source … a declaration that your blessings come from God!

1. First fruits giving sanctifies (makes holy) the rest of your income!  

Romans‬ ‭11:16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.”

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1. First fruits giving releases the fullness of God’s blessing.  

Ezekiel‬ ‭44:30‬ ‭NLT‬‬ 

“The first of the ripe fruits and all the gifts brought to the Lord will go to the priests. The first batch of dough must also be given to the priests so the Lord will bless your homes.”

1. First fruits giving opens us to receive God’s overflowing provision.  

Proverbs 3:9-10

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.”

 

PENTECOST DECLARATION:

Today as we  celebrate the Lord’s Pentecost, we rejoice that God has given His Word, poured out his Holy Spirit, and has brought us into an abundant provision. 

We recognize the Lord in His extravagant giving, has provided all we need to accomplish His purposes and fulfill our destiny.

In gratitude and faith, we give our first fruits offerings knowing our supply comes from the Lord most high.

Therefore, we declare and decree that we will walk in the power and spirit of Pentecost, that God’s kingdom might prevail for the glory and honor of the King of Kings! 

We decree the Right to take out enemies we’ve never taken out before because of honoring the Blood.

We decree a New Supply has opened.

We decree a New anointing is Here.

We decree New empowerment is mine!

AMEN!

Key Verse:
Proverbs 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

POINT:
What is in our hearts always comes out—Guard your heart!

Common Enemies of the Heart

The major reason we rarely stop to monitor our hearts is that it was never encouraged. As children, we were taught to monitor behavior rather than our hearts. If we behaved, good things happened, regardless of what was going on inside us.

These enemies create a debt/debtor relationship—an “owe somebody” contract.

1. Guilt: “I Owe You”

Proverbs 22:7 – The borrower is slave to the lender.

2. Anger: “You Owe Me”

3. Greed: “I Owe Me”

Greedy people:

Talk and worry about money excessively
Are reluctant to share
Aren’t cheerful givers
Keep track of what they’ve done for others
Are never content with what they have
Attempt to control others with money

Greed isn’t a financial issue—it’s a heart issue. Fear is the driving force behind greed.

4. Jealousy: “God Owes Me”

At its core, jealousy says, God should have given me what He gave them.

TRANSFORMATION: How to Guard Your Heart

Confronting Guilt → Answer: Confession

1 John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Confession isn’t about guilt relief—it’s about true change.
Confession to God and others leads to healing (James 5:15-16).

Confronting Anger → Answer: Forgiveness

Ephesians 4:31-32 – Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.

Forgiveness is the decision to cancel a debt.
Matthew 18:21-35 – If we refuse to forgive, we are the ones who suffer.

Steps to Forgiveness:

Identify who you’re angry with.
Determine what they owe you.
Cancel the debt. (“They don’t owe me anymore.”)
Dismiss the case when memories resurface.

Confronting Greed → Answer: Give Generously

Luke 12:18-21 – “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

Generous giving breaks the grip of greed on our hearts.
Give to the point that it impacts your lifestyle—if not, greed may be at work.
1 Chronicles 29:11 – Everything in heaven and earth is Yours, Lord.

Confronting Jealousy → Answer: Celebrate

Cain was jealous of Abel.
Esau was jealous of Jacob.
Joseph’s brothers were jealous of his favor.

James 1:17 – Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.

Celebrating others’ success frees your heart from jealousy.
It’s hard to love someone you’re jealous of.
Jealousy shapes our attitudes toward people and can drive a wedge between us.

Lust → A Managed Appetite

Lust isn’t a problem you solve; it’s an appetite you manage.
It can’t be eliminated, but self-control is key.
Guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy weaken our spiritual resistance to temptation.

CLOSING: Guard Your Heart with These Actions

✅ Confession allows us to come out from hiding.
✅ Forgiveness allows others to come out from under cover.
✅ Generosity allows us to partner with God as He shows Himself in tangible ways to the world.
✅ Celebration turns our hearts toward gratitude.

Guilt is conquered with confession.
Anger is conquered with forgiveness.
Greed is conquered with generosity.
Jealousy is conquered with celebration.

 

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.

 

THE JOY OF TABERNACLES

DAY 3

Solomon spent seven years building the Temple. Then, when all Israel gathered for the Feast of Tabernacles, Solomon had the ark of the covenant brought into the Temple. With the ark came the manifest presence of God.

 

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 (1 Kings 8:6, 10-11).

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).

Feast on the God’s Word

Read the whole story of Solomon’s Sukkot celebration in 1 Kings 8. 

Psalm 16:11:You lead me in the path of life; I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight (NET).

Celebrate the Feast

Ask the LORD to keep his appointment with you today in a way you know he is present. Invite his glory to fill the place where you are. Declare that his glory will fill the earth. Wait for him. As you begin to encounter him, respond to him. You may, for example:

• Praise him, starting with 1 Kings 8:23 
• Pray Psalm 16 to him.
• Pray for and bless his people, using 1 Kings 8:56-61 as a guide.

Go on your way joyful and glad in heart.

 

 

THE JOY OF TABERNACLES

DAY 2

God required many more sacrifices at the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot than at his other appointed times. Numbers 29:12-28 lists them.

Most prominent and most numerous were burnt offerings. Indeed, on the first day of the feast alone, God instructed, “You must present a burnt offering as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects” (Num. 29:13 NLT).

For all the other animal sacrifices in the Mosaic law – the sin offering, guilt offering and peace offering – only the entrails of the animal were burned. The meat was made available either to the priests or to the people as food. By contrast, the burnt offering was wholly consumed. It typified total surrender to the Lord.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we now express our total surrender to God by becoming living sacrifices, instead of offering burnt ones.

In the classic, Absolute Surrender, Andrew Murray wrote:

The condition for obtaining God’s full blessing is absolute surrender to Him.

God does not ask you to give the perfect surrender in your strength, or by the power of your will; God is willing to work it in you.

When God has begun the work of absolute surrender in you, and when God has accepted your surrender, then God holds Himself bound to care for it and to keep it. Will you believe that?

Feast on the Word

Romans 12:1-2 speaks of surrender as one decisive act, followed by many day-to-day choices. Meditate on these two verses:

Decisive act. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship (v. 1).

(In The Message:) So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering.

Daily choices. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be [being] transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will” (v. 2).

(In The Message:) “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.”

Celebrate the Feast

Surrender happens in a decisive act – and in daily choices. In view of all God’s mercies, have you decisively dedicated yourself as a living sacrifice to him? If so, recall that time. Thank God that he gave you grace then and that he will “care for and keep” that surrender.

Will you also give him permission to show you any specific thing you’re now trying to hold back? Will you trust him today for grace to release that thing to him?

If you haven’t made the decisive surrender called for in Romans 12:1, will you press in to God and ask him to work in you what you in your own strength cannot do?

Celebrate the surrender that brings freedom, rest, victory and joy!