We officially stepped into the Hebrew month of Elul on August 20th. Elul is the 6th month of the religious calendar year, which started at Passover, and the 12th month of the civil calendar year, which started at Rosh Hashanah in 2019. We have entered into a very important time: the 40-days of Teshuvah.
Teshuvah Means Repentance
Teshuvah, which means repentance, is a time when we come into the presence of the Lord, and we intensely look at things that have been happening in our lives. It’s when we purposely go into a place of prayer, fasting, worship, and repentance. It helps us prepare our hearts for the upcoming year, which takes place at sundown on September 18th, the beginning of the Hebrew Year 5781. The 40 days of Teshuvah ends on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at sundown on September 27.
This is the Highest Holy day of the year to the Jewish people as it is a time of fasting and purification. This was the day the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies with the blood of a bull and a goat and put blood on the kapporet or cover of the Ark of the Covenant. The high priest would also lay hands on a second goat and confess the sins of the people and send that goat into the wilderness. On this day the people would receive forgiveness for sin, and this was only once a year. As Christians we recognize Jesus as our sacrificial lamb, who has done this very thing with His own shed blood; however, He went into the heavenly tabernacle to cleanse it and His sacrifice was once and for all.
Hebrews 9:22-28:
” In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.
Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”
New Mantle Assignments
So how does this apply to what God is doing prophetically in your life and in the nations today and in Hebrew Year 5781? You have been promoted that is why there has been so much spiritual warfare! The Lord spoke to me in August that He was promoting His people and they were going to receive new mantle assignments. At the beginning of August, you were promoted with a new mantle and a new assignment. You see, the enemy brings warfare to test your promotion. The enemy always comes to challenge what the Lord has already done. God can use the warfare that the enemy brings to strengthen and reveal things to you for the journey ahead. Many times warfare will reveal where God is working and where repentance and strengthening of your personal temple are needed.
God is rebuilding and strengthening you just like He did in Haggai Chapter 1, where we understand the Prophet Haggai spoke to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, about rebuilding the second temple. What is so interesting is that we find this event actually took place on the first day of Elul back in 353 BCE! You may be asking, “What would God be strengthening and rebuilding in me?” The answer is your temple! He wants your spirit, soul, and body prepared for the days to come. God wants your temple to be strong for 5781. He wants our nation to be strong in 5781.
Your Body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit
The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
You have been bought with the shed blood of Jesus Christ. This means you are in a new covenant of grace with Him.
Today is a new day! God is taking this time to rebuild things in our lives. He is preparing us to carry the weight and glory of the mantles that we received at promotion.
Since a new mantle and a new assignment was given to you upon promotion at the beginning of August. It is your job to carry out that assignment. Your temple of the Holy Spirit needs to be a fortified container that is conditioned for carrying your God-given assignment into the Hebrew New Year.
Praise the Lord for your new mantle and new assignment! He is helping you take this time to examine your personal temple. This means your private home, family life, workplace, church, neighborhood, and living environments. God is aligning every area with His Word. Your temple has to be rebuilt in order for you to be strong enough to carry forth the Kingdom assignment that God has for you.
Teshuvah: A Greater Glory is Coming
Read Haggai Chapters 1 and 2. Prophetically, after Teshuvah, this September, then, God says, “His greater glory comes!” In Haggai 2, it is revealed to us that once the temple was rebuilt God promised a greater glory would come. God is rebuilding your temple and strengthening it for the greater glory. There is a former glory and a greater glory. Keep your temple strong for the greater glory of the Lord to be revealed in and through you! You are a glory portal and a carrier of His glory. God is getting you set up to shine super bright in Hebrew year 5781! He has given you a divine setup and He needs you to be on board with His plan.
Prophetically, as God strengthens our personal temples then the structure of the government of our nations becomes stronger. We want to see this promise to come to pass in our earth today governmentally. These truths concerning a rebuilding time from Haggai Chapters 1 and 2 are prophetic calls for the nations as well. Your kingdom assignment affects your nation.
Prayer for New Mantle Assignments
Pray this with me and receive your new mantle assignment. “Father, I agree with You that I was promoted at the beginning of August. I am going to go through the next 40-day process of prayer, worship, communion, and fasting. And whatever is necessary to get my temple in order. Then I will prepare myself for what is going to take place on September 18th, Rosh Hashanah. And also on September 27-28, which is the Day of Atonement.
Lord, you are taking me into greater glory. And you take me to greater opportunities to share the gospel and to be moved in my kingdom assignment. As I grow in the greater glory rebuild and establish my nation into a structure that can house your greater glory in the earth today. Finally, Lord, I thank You that you have a call, plan, purpose, and destiny on my life and the nations. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Read Also: Overcoming Spiritual Warfare by the Power of the Spirit