SNAPSHOT OF CHESHVAN

The Fragrance of God

The month of Cheshvan is connected with the fragrance of myrrh. Myrrh was used as a main ingredient in holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23). This is why I believe it is the right time to cry out to the Lord for the anointing. The oil of myrrh was also used as an embalming oil, making it a symbol of death. Just as Jesus came to earth to die for us, every believer is called to die to themselves and be born again, living for the Lord.

This month is a time set apart by Yahweh to allow the aroma of Christ to be infused into our soulish nature. The Apostle Paul spoke about this fragrance in his second letter to the Corinthian church. He says that when we yield our life to God, Christ spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God.

God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of his endless triumph.  Through our yielded lives he spreads  the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We  have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God —a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death  to those who are perishing. The unbelievers smell a deadly stench that leads to death, but believers smell the life-giving aroma that leads to abundant life. And who of us can rise to this challenge?  For unlike so many, we are not peddlers  of God’s Word who water down the message. We are those sent from God with pure motives, who speak in the sight of God  from our union with Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Jesus had this fragrance of the knowledge of God oozing out of Him, and the evidence is the thousands of people who were attracted to Him throughout His ministry. For those who desired more of God, Jesus’ aroma opened their spiritual senses, and they followed the life-producing scent. Paul is instructing the Corinthians here to rise to the challenge of yielding their lives to God. He tells them that they must be careful not to water down the message of the gospel, and keep their motives pure. As I’ve said before, our motives matter to God. And we must always be asking the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and see if there is any wrong or sinful motive hiding within us. When He reveals what is hidden, it then becomes our responsibility to allow Jesus to realign that motive so that it is positioned with God’s will.

The day of the Lord is fast approaching, and there is an urgency for us to be ready. Each of us needs to keep our hearts repentive before Yahweh, allowing the sanctifying power of the Word to transform our lives. We also must also be connected to Holy Spirit, who is our guide in all truth. There are so many deceptions that we can fall into unless we have that connection. Our passion for Jesus needs to be hot and not lukewarm like the church of Laodicea who became useless to God. When we become prideful, we loose our passion for Jesus and can displace that satisfying aroma of Christ. So then, let us press forward in faith, regularly connecting with God, keeping our love focused on Him.

A Month to Cry Out for the Anointing

Cheshvan is reserved for the anointing in which God pulls you aside to draw a new oil out of you. Isaiah 10 says that the anointing breaks the yoke of the enemy. When the yoke has been broken, chains and bondages are destroyed and freedom comes into your life and the lives of others. The anointing comes as a result of crushing, and it is a costly gift from God. This makes Cheshvan a challenging month because God must press the anointing out of you. Olive oil is made through a process of grinding, crushing, and pressing. In the Bible, oil is a symbol for the Holy Spirit, and pouring anointing oil upon a person is used to represent the transfer of the Holy Spirit’s power and purity flowing through that human vessel. Jesus had the anointing, and it broke chains, yokes, and bondages. His anointing healed the sick and cast out demons. Like Jesus, we are called to operate with the anointing of Holy Spirit. So this month, cry out for the anointing to get pressed out of you so that you can walk in power and authority in your sphere of influence, drawing people towards Jesus Christ.

Satan wants to get the upper hand in your life, but this is the time when we must plant our heels on the enemy’s plans to transform us into his rebellious image. Instead, as you deal with your trials and difficulties through the anointing, you will be changed into Christ’s image. When the Holy Spirit reveals that part of your heart that has a commonality with Satan, here is what you must do- repent, renounce, and replace with the opposite spirit- humility for pride, love for fear, and a sense of God given identity for insecurity. Jesus had power and authority because He had nothing in common with Satan, and He wants that for you too!

Revelation will be abounding in you this month as you pursue the Lord, and you will flow in a supernatural dimension. Moving in both revelation and the anointing will cause you to gain the upper hand on Satan! So, as you put your heel on the enemy’s neck, look down at your foot and say, “I’m preparing my heel to step!” In your worship time with God, move in worship as if you are crushing the enemy under your feet. Movement is unique part of spiritual warfare, and when you feel stuck or backed into a corner, you must engage your body to move forward spiritually. This is worshiping in spirit and truth.

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:24

We are a connected being, and one part of us affects the other parts. So when we engage our bodies in worship, it unlocks things within our spirits and our souls. I would invite you to explore this area with the Holy Spirit, let Him teach you new worship warfare! There are some situations and atmospheres that need to be met with our worship to create a shift. Has there been a heaviness in your home? Are you feeling the heaviness of witchcraft around your city? If your answer is yes to either of those two question, than you need increase your time in worship. Exalt the Lord and watch the enemy flee.

Warring with Your Words

We have recently entered into a new Hebrew year at the beginning of the last Hebrew month of Tishrei. It is now the year 5783. When talking about a Jewish Year, we need to remember that in Hebrew, a year is not only written in numbers. It is written in Hebrew letters and Hebrew letters have both a sound and a meaning. In 5780, we entered into a whole new decade and number 5700 means “May it be the year of,” and 80 means, “Pey,” which in Hebrew means mouth, face, speech and vocalization. Therefore, if each year in this new decade is a representation of Pey, then one can see the importance for every believer when it comes to our face representing our identity in Christ and understanding that the words we speak are important and have power, His power!

We must watch over our words this month. Our mouth carries the power of life or the power of death (Proverbs 18:21). We must choose to speak life. Stay away from complaining and speaking words of death this month. The Lord has been teaching me about the power of our decrees. The spiritual exercise of making decrees finds its precedent in both Old and New Testaments – the practice of simply quoting God’s promises back to Him, “reminding” Him of what He has said. This kind of prayer is one of the most vital forms of intercession. In fact, the practice of decreeing God’s Word not only builds our faith but transforms our lives. To learn more about how to move in the power of decreeing the Word of God, this is a great book to get you started: The Power of The Decree by Patricia King.

It is apparent that the Word of God attracts spiritual conflict. We can see this take place when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river, and God said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Right after that Word of God came, Jesus was confronted in the wilderness by Satan. When God speaks to your calling and destiny, the enemy will come to try to distort your identity and get you to walk away from your purpose. During those times it becomes critical that we hold onto what God said. Timothy was instructed to war with the prophetic words that had been spoken over his life. Don’t let the enemy disqualify you from what God has called you to. War with the Word of God this month! It is the sword in your mouth that destroys strongholds and uproots the enemy’s plans.

The Flood

It is believed that the Great Flood began and ended in Cheshvan. October 31st, Halloween, is the day that Noah boarded the ark and the Great Flood came upon the earth to destroy the first world. One year and 10 days later, Noah left the ark on Mount Ararat. In Genesis 7:11 the Scriptures state that the flood came on the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month. The first month in the Biblical Hebrew agricultural calendar is September (Exodus 34:22). Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is celebrated in mid-September. The second month begins on around October 14th, and seventeen days hence is October 31st. Although the modern Jewish New Year falls on a different day in September every year, the ancient Hebrew calendar appears to place October 31 as the date of the Great Flood.

So why is this significant? To find the significance of the flood taking place on Halloween we need to understand the reason for the judgment of the flood. Genesis 6 tells us of angels that conspired against God and had sexual relations with women- producing the Nephilim or the giants. The book of Enoch depicts the evil things that the fallen angels taught humans, and the depravity of their offspring, the giants. You may already be aware that the book of Enoch is not in the original canon of scripture. The Book of Enoch was considered as scripture in the Epistle of Barnabas (4:3) and by many of the early Church Fathers, such as Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus and Tertullian, who wrote c. 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies pertaining to Christ. In the New Testament, the book of Enoch is referenced in the Gospel of Luke, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the Epistle of Jude, the last of which also quotes from it. A Christian should treat the book of Enoch like Jesus and His fellow Jewish brothers did, read it as a historical reference. While it may not be scripture, it holds information that brings the proper biblical context to not only the story of Genesis 6, but the roots of evil things that take place in our world today.

When the giants were killed in the flood, their bodies passed away, but their spirits lived on, like ours do. The exception being that their spirit was neither fully human or fully angelic. They were the first trans-humans in history. And because of this, they could not go into heaven, nor could they enter the lake of fire. Their punishment was to be left upon the earth, with no body. They are later referred to as evil spirits, or demons, the disembodied spirits of the dead giants from the flood. So, if these demonic entities lost their ability to live in the flesh on earth on the day of the flood, they are looking for a human to manipulate, oppress, and turn away from God. When Jesus confronted the legion of demons who had embodied a man in the gospel of Matthew (8:28-34), the demonic entity shouted Jesus “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” They are well versed in legality, and are always looking for a legal right to be able to oppress or embody a human being.

The History of how Halloween began started with a group of pagan priests called the Druids. The ancient Druid priests would celebrate October 31st by pulling down and rebuilding the roof of their temple as a symbol of the destruction and renovation of the world (as in the Great Flood). To remember the dead, the people were instructed to place an offering of food on the graves of departed loved ones. The people could not keep the poor children in the towns from disguising themselves and stealing the food off the graves. This custom has evolved into the American practice of Trick or Treat.

God’s original and final intention for October 31st is revival and repentance. Satan’s intention is always to pervert whatever God creates, and so He has blinded the eyes of people to celebrate the dead giants on the anniversary of their death. This is such a mockery to humans, and whenever I see these giant skeletons and gravestones on people’s lawns, it hurts my heart and also causes a righteous anger. And while the world doesn’t know any better, Christians should, and yet so many believers have been fooled into celebrating and practicing the pagan rooted holiday of Halloween. What our family chooses to do on Halloween is to ask the Lord to show us how He wants us to celebrate October 31st as Reformation day.

The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses. It was a day marked for revival and this wasn’t a coincidence. God wants to revive His Church, and He chose to do it on a day that Satan thought was his. If you would like to learn more about the dangers of celebrating Halloween, watch this video where former Satanist John Ramirez shares the demonic roots of Halloween. And if you would like more information on the Reformation and Martin Luther, watch this video.

The Meaning of the Number Eight

The number eight has significant prophetic meaning for us this month. Not only are we in the decade of 8 (the Hebrew year is 5783), but Cheshvan is the 8th month on the civil calendar. So what does the number eight mean to us today? The number eight can mean a few different things. If you go to my post on the biblical significance of numbers, you will see that eight means: new beginnings, circumcision, and the Hebrew letter Chet (tent wall/fence/separation). From the book of Genesis, we know that there were 7 days of creation. God made everything in 6 days, and then He rested on the 7th day, making the 8th day a day of new beginnings. God wants to do the same thing in your life. Jesus made all things new, but a lot of us are too busy looking at the things of our past to notice the new thing He is developing within us. Cheshvan is a time to believe and receive the new beginning in your life.

Circumcision was a practice done on the 8th day of a male’s birth under the law of Moses, and it was an outward physical sign of the eternal covenant between God and Israel. Generally speaking, God used this particular sign to teach us that: The flesh profits nothing; man cannot provide his own salvation. But under our new covenant, we are no longer required to undergo circumcision, but instead be water baptized as an outward physical sign of our eternal covenant with Jesus. Circumcision was a sign of our need for sin to be put to death, and baptism is a sign of God’s provision of life. Generally speaking, God uses this particular sign to teach us that: The Spirit alone brings life; salvation must come from God. If you have not yet been water baptized, I would encourage you to do so immediately (if you have received salvation by faith in Jesus). The good news is that you don’t need a pastor to do this, but you will need witnesses and someone who can dunk you under the water. I have seen people do this in a pool, a lake, or their own bathtub. This is another form of spiritual warfare, because you are making a statement to Satan that you break covenant with him, and you are in covenant with God.

The Hebrew letter Chet is the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The ancient pictograph for this letter is a picture of a tent wall or a fence. The meanings of this letter are separation, enclose, and protect. Chet is formed from the Hebrew letters Vav and Zayin which are connected by a “yoke.” This letter therefore resembles our relationship with the Lord Jesus as He leads and teaches us the pathway of life. A yoke is a connection between two things so that they move and work together. Since the sum of the letter Vav and Zayin equals the value for the Hebrew word for love (אהבה or ahavah), we can see the essential nature of this “moving and working together” is that of loving the Lord and one another, the two commandments of our new covenant. We must make sure that we are yoked to Jesus, allowing Him to lead us on the path of abundant life. When you are yoked with Jesus, you cannot be yoked to anything else, so this is the time to cut off yokes to the god of Mammon (love of money), or anything that has roots in sin. Renew your covenant with Jesus through taking communion. When we take communion, we proclaim His death, until He comes in glory!

My prayer is that this was helpful for you in your own personal walk with the Lord. Please subscribe to this blog if you would like to be updated when a new post is published. Every month I share about the Hebrew month ahead, and I would love for you to get that insight so you can align with God for the year ahead. There is something powerful about joining God in His timing, and staying in step with what He is doing in the earth.

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Resources

Brown, Tom. “Baptism: The Promise Is for You & for Your Children.” Covenant Grace Church, Covenant Grace Church, 18 Nov. 2021, https://www.covenantgracegso.com/blogwriting/2021/6/16/baptism-the-promise-is-for-you-and-for-your-children.

Parsons, John J. “The Letter Chet.” Hebrew for Christians, https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Grammar/Unit_One/Aleph-Bet/Chet/chet.html.

Pierce, Chuck D., et al. “Cheshvan – The Month of Manasseh.” A Time to Advance: Understanding the Significance of the Hebrew Tribes and Months, Glory of Zion International, Inc., Denton, TX, 2011, pp. 303–306.

Smith, Hillary. “Samhain.” World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 28 Sep 2020. Web. 16 Oct 2022.