SNAPSHOT OF KISLEV

Rosh Chodesh

The Hebrew calendar corresponds with the lunar cycle, and a new month begins on the evening of a new moon. All through the scriptural record, the New Moon was a day when the prophets heard from Yahweh, being a day designated for waiting upon Yahweh, for discerning His purposes and for prophetic revelation. The Jewish people call this Rosh Chodesh which means “the head of the month.” They celebrate the beginning of every month with giving God a first fruit offering, gathering as a community, and ask the Lord for insight on the month ahead. On Rosh Chodesh, as on other festivals, the people are commanded to be joyous, offer sacrifices, and be reminded of God’s divinity (Numbers 10:10).

For a Christian believer today, we can participate in the celebration of a new Hebrew month and come into alignment with God’s timing. He hasn’t changed, and He still operates in cycles and seasons. It is important for us to be aware of what He is doing so that we can partner with Him in prayer and deed in the right season. The tribe of Issachar had a sense of times and seasons, and they were able to prophetically lead Israel into closer alignment with God. This anointing is needed for us today as we live in evil times. There is a constant barrage of distractions that are intentioned to slowly cause a disconnection in our relationship with God. Following the Hebrew months is a way for us to get ahead of Satan’s plans and submit our lives continuously to God. Over the last year, I have been sharing information about the Hebrew month ahead so that you can be equipped for battle. There is also a free Hebrew calendar that you can get by clicking the link at the end of this post. And there will be a new Hebrew calendar for 2023 coming hopefully sometime before Christmas.

As you read what God is saying about this Hebrew month, I would invite you to spend time with Him, asking Him for more insight on how you can align your life to His cycle of life. There are times when we encounter what looks like spiritual warfare, and even though we use all our weapons against the enemy- things are still in chaos and disrepair. The Bible teaches us the way to have victory over the enemy, and it begins with submission to God. We need to submit our lives to God- which causes an automatic resistance to Satan. Sometimes we are out of order, and God wants to show us how to live within the order that He designed. He knows what is best for us, and we need to develop our trust that His ways and thoughts and are higher than our own. With that, let’s explore what the Lord is saying about the Hebrew month of Kislev.

A Month of Shining in the Darkness

Kislev is a month of darkness. As we move through Kislev, the days grow shorter, and the nights grow longer. In the supernatural realm, Kislev is a month of the light shining in the darkness. This is because the first part of Hanukah takes place during Kislev, also known as the feast of lights. While this is not a God-appointed festival, it is a celebration that Jesus took part of when He was on the earth. Hanukah celebrates that Yahweh is a God of miracles. It is believed that the celebration of Hanukah takes place when the angel Gabriel came to Mary, telling her the good news about the Messiah. Jesus was not born in the month of Kislev, or the Gregorian month of December. He was probably born the feast of trumpets or the feast of tabernacles in the fall. However, if we track backwards 9 months, that would mean that Jesus was conceived in the month of Kislev! This makes it a time to declare that Jesus is the light of the world. And since Jesus lives in you, this is month to let your light shine!

Because Kislev is a month of darkness, the Jews consider Kislev to be a month of dreams and night visions! In the portions of the Torah that are read during the month of Kislev, there is a major emphasis on dreams. From Jacob’s dream of the ladder going up to heaven, to Joseph’s dreams, and the dreams of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s servants that he interpreted, dream language was a part of the Old Testament worldview. Kislev therefore is a month to be aware of your dreams and to better understand your dreams. If you want to learn more about dream interpretation and dream language, you can check out the posts of my blog about dreams.

Since Kislev is a “month of dreams,” it is a month for God to bring new revelation for your future. It is also a time to enter into a new level of trust and rest in your relationship with God. Do you have a dream journal beside your bed? If not, I would encourage you to get one specifically for writing down your dreams. Is there something that you want to ask God? We know from the Word that we are to ask believing that we will get a response- so, go ahead and start asking! A lot of times you will not receive an answer until you are at rest. So many of us miss out on what God is saying and doing because we are too busy to rest. God wants us to prioritize rest in this season so that we can receive blessing and revelation from Him.

The Tribe of Benjamin

Each Hebrew month is represented by a Tribe of Israel. Kislev is associated with the tribe of Benjamin, and so to understand the purpose of this month we need to look at the history of this tribe in the Old and the New Testament. This will give us prophetic insight on how to move through the month of Kislev. Benjamin was the last-born son of Jacob and his wife Rachel. There were complications during the birth, and with Rachel’s dying breath she named her baby, Ben-oni, “son of my pain.” Jacob, not wanting his son’s identity to be associated with pain, renamed him Benjamin, “son of my right hand.” Jacob knew the power of a name because his name means “supplanter.” When he had an encounter with God, his name was changed to Israel, or “one who prevails with God.”

Jacob favored two of his sons over all the others and that caused a huge problem within the family. The other brothers born of Leah and the maids of Leah and Rachel, were all jealous of the way that Jacob treated Joseph and Benjamin. To make matters worse Joseph had a dream about his brothers and family bowing down before him. This did not go over well with his brothers or his father Jacob. And you can see from the biblical account that the special coat of colors he had received from Jacob symbolized that he did not have to work in the fields like his older brothers. Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers and make sure that they were properly taking care of his sheep. So, Joseph went to Shechem, and it angered his brothers that the favorite son was being sent to spy on them while they worked. They decided this was the last straw and wanted to kill him. They threw him in a pit, but before they got around to killing him, some Ishmaelite traders passed by on their way to Egypt. The brothers decided to sell him as a slave instead of killing him. They then lied to their father Jacob and told him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

Believing that Joseph was dead, all of Jacob’s attention shifted to Benjamin. He lived in constant fear that something bad could happen to his son Benjamin. Because of this, Benjamin’s childhood was sheltered and protected. Jacob became the ultimate helicopter parent and refused to let Benjamin out of his sight. So when Benjamin’s brothers were told that they had to bring Benjamin to Egypt in order to receive food during the famine, Jacob refused to let his son go. The entire family almost starved because of Jacob’s protection of Benjamin. Joseph was testing his brothers to see if they had changed when he told them they had to bring Benjamin to Egypt. Would they treat Benjamin the same way they treated him? When he saw how his brothers defended Benjamin, Joseph revealed himself and reconciled with his brothers.

Benjamin went on to have ten sons of his own, and eventually his family line developed into a tribe in Israel. We can see in the Bible that the tribe o Benjamin was sheltered and protected just as Benjamin had been. When the tribes marched in the wilderness, the tribe of Benjamin was in the third group of tribes, protected in the front (by Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, and Manasseh) and in the back (by Dan, Asher, and Naphtali). The tribe of Benjamin marched with the tribes of Joseph’s sons, Ephraim, and Manasseh.

When Israel came into the promised land, Benjamin was given a secure place in the center of the land, south of Ephraim and Manasseh, and north of Judah. Because Benjamin was always protected, that tribe never gained strength. We can see the results of that in the Old Testament. Jerusalem was originally in Benjamin’s territory, but the tribe did not have the strength to drive out the Jebusites. Protection had also caused the tribe of Benjamin to never develop a close relationship with God. During the time of the judges, the tribe developed a reputation for perversion and violence, culminating the rape and murder of a Levite’s concubine by the mend of Gibeah in Judges 19. When the other tribes confronted them, the people of Benjamin gathered to protect the wicked men of Gibeah. The result was a war that almost took out the entire tribe of Benjamin. Despite their failure, there were several great people in the Bible that came from the tribe of Benjamin. Esther and Mordecai, and the apostle Paul were all Benjaminites. Through Paul, Israel fulfilled its destiny of being a light to the gentile nations.

A Month to Come Full Circle

The Hebrew word Samekh is associated with the month of Kislev. The pictograph of Samekh is a circle, which symbolized a cycle. God works in cycles, and that is why I have been sharing about His cycle of times and seasons. There are blessings that flow when you get into the cycle of God. Therefore, the Jewish people are so prosperous, because they know and follow the cycle of God. Kislev is a month to come full circle. God wants to give you a second chance to confront and deal with things that defeated you in the last season. So be watchful for that. This is the time to enter a whole new cycle of life!

And while missed opportunities can come back around again, old enemies can also come back again, so be on your guard. The word Samekh can also represent destructive cycles in your life. Kislev is a month that God wants to set you free from old negative thought patters, bad habits, and unhealthy relationships. Stay connected to Holy Spirit and ask Him to show you what cycles you need to come out from. He will guide you forth into new levels of freedom.

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Resources

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

Pierce, Chuck D., et al. “Kislev – The Month of Benjamin.” A Time to Advance: Understanding the Significance of the Hebrew Tribes and Months, Glory of Zion International, Inc., Denton, TX, 2011, pp. 307–311.

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