Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 60:1-3 ESV

Iyar: A Time for Increasing Revelation

The Hebrew month of Iyar is linked with light because it was a time where the Israelites were traveling towards Mount Sinai. It was at Mount Sinai that their revelation of Yahweh came through the institution of the law. God invited all of Israel to know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob personally. He was the one who had taken them out of Egypt, where they had seen His awesome power and might. However, they still had this limited understanding of Yahweh, which we observe in their reaction to Moses’ absence. Their anxieties began to manifest a kind of restlessness which caused them to believe that they needed to elicit the help of another god to guide them into the promised land. The irony of the Exodus account is that when Israel neglected drawing closer to God’s presence, they forged their own gods, the same gods that Yahweh had just delivered them from.

This form of infidelity was costly; however, we are capable of same mistakes as Israel today. The Lord Yahweh does not share ownership with any other god in regards to His people. In these evil days, we must decide to follow only Him and refuse fellowship with other idols. In the month of Iyar, the Lord wants to reveal the areas of your heart that you have given to something else. Yahweh is a jealous God, and He wants all of you for Himself.

Many times, when we reflect on the law that was given to Moses, we think of a list of rules. And yet it was much more than just rules and protocols. God was inviting His people into a covenant with Himself; it was an invitation of intimacy, a marriage ceremony. To be close to God, the Israelites would need to lay down some things they had learned in Egypt. They could not serve other gods, only Yahweh. The same is true for us. If we want increased revelation of who God is, we must be willing to lay down our own idols. We cannot serve Jesus and the love of money, or Jesus and the love of self, or Jesus and the love of the world. If we have truly decided to follow Jesus, we must give Him the right to our heart, so His Spirit can lead us and guide us into our divine destiny. When we yield to God, meeting with Him in the secret place, His light within us begins to develop and transform our mindset.

Jesus is this light spoken of in Isaiah 60, for He declared it to the world in the gospel of John, when He said,

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:12 ESV

How often we forget that Jesus is the light within us! His light wants to shine through us in this dark world today. The light within you wants to draw others to Jesus, for the Lord said that we are the light of the world. Jesus in fact commanded us to let our light shine before others, that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16, NIV). During this season of transition, this month of Iyar, I am inviting you to ask the Lord for increased revelation of His word so that you can shine brightly for Him.

A Month of Healing

Iyar is a time for new layers of healing to manifest in your life. There is a divine invitation for you to draw near to Him and find healing in His wings. Keep coming to God as His beloved child; sit on Papa’s lap, and let Him heal you—body, soul, and spirit. Yahweh is our Healer, Provider, and our Banner of Victory over every enemy. Do you believe it? It’s time to move into greater realms of trust, believing that the Lord is who He says He is, and receive His healing, provision, and victory in our lives.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Be not wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV

Biblically, this is a month of natural healing. This means that you do not need to strive for healing! All that you need to do is draw closer to Him, become more aware of His presence, and soak in His love. Allow the Lord to cleanse you, so your body, soul, and spirit are aligned with Him moving forward. When you align yourself to Him—healing comes. Healing is a natural expression of obedience. That is not to say that if you are sick, you are in disobedience. This is not always the case, for there are many times when something is happening in the supernatural realm that we cannot see (like in the story of Job). However, there is a biblical basis for our alignment and walking in divine health. The Lord wants us to discover this path for healing, which will ultimately lead us into wholeness.

A word of caution for us this month is that we must not allow circumstances to cloud our sight of God as our healer. You may know of situations where someone was believing in faith for healing, and they passed away. The enemy’s plans are to develop a stronghold in your mind that says that God did not heal their bodies, God isn’t a healer. However, the truth is that He did heal them. For some, healing comes in the next life, when we pass on through the door of this world into eternity. The Word of God says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, and this salvation includes wholeness and healing. We must remain intimately connected to the Spirit of God and refuse to allow Satan’s high and lofty attitudes to change the way we see Yahweh. God has made it abundantly clear that healing is available in this life on earth. Deliverance is the children’s bread (Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). This means it is for God’s own sons and daughters; purchased by the blood of Jesus. It is for God’s children – believers, who are qualified for deliverance.

While many believe that God’s will just happens in this world, I submit to you that this is not always the case. God gave us a free will, a right to choose. This is why Jesus taught us to pray “on earth as it is in heaven.” That means that we must pray and believe that healing is available to us here and now and receive it by faith. Many believers today are not walking in wholeness simply because they have never asked for healing. Do not be one of those who refuse what Jesus died to offer you, your inheritance from the Lord.

God’s will and purpose for you is wholeness—nothing broken and nothing missing; shalom. He wants you to receive His free gift of healing this month, for it was already paid for at the cross. Jesus was whipped and scourged for our healing. The deep furrows in His back were like the rows a farmer ploughs to plant seeds. The seeds God planted in Jesus’ back were His provision of healing for you and for me. Jesus received the most iconic tortures in His time. The Roman flagrum with which they flogged Jesus 39 times gave Him body marks/stripes. Each of the 39 stripes took care of all our sicknesses and diseases which the Bible affirms in both the Old and the New Testament. My prayer is that you would grab hold of this truth and receive it by faith.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:24 ESV (Emphasis added)

A Time to Receive the Issachar Anointing

The name Issachar means, “reward.” King David said the men of Issachar, “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” This was a special anointing on them from the Lord, and it is linked with the gift of discernment talked about in the New Testament. We need people who wear the mantle of Issachar in the Kingdom of God today! This anointing is also linked with prophecy, which has become a thing of the past for most Christians. The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthians to focus their attention not on the gift of tongues, but to value and go after the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1-12)!

The Holy Spirit desires to pour out an anointing of Issachar, so that you will better discern the times and know what to do with what you have been given. If you are reading this post, you undoubtedly already have this desire to know the times and seasons. On this blog, I have made it my goal to instruct God’s people on the proper times of God, and the appointed times that He have given to us to draw closer to Him, preparing us for the battles ahead. My prayer is that you would take what you learn here and move onward and upward with the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Lord unlocks breakthrough in your life and fills you up with a hunger for His written word and His presence.

Besides understanding the times, Issachar understood his strengths and used them to benefit his people. This is something the Lord wants you to discover for yourself. He has given you strengths, and they have been given to you so that others may be blessed by your stewardship of those strengths. This is a time to seek the Lord for revelation of the gifts He has given you and ask Him to light up the path He has for you to walk on. Many times, the enemy will attack us specifically in our giftings. This is a way for him to stop you and block your way forward. But Jesus has already conquered Satan and his demonic powers, so you can overcome those lies and move forward into your destiny. The world needs you to step into your God-given calling and take hold of all that God has given you. Remember that whatever God has called you to do, He has already given the provision you need to accomplish your mission. Keep the faith, and believe that God is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides.

In addition to using his strengths to bless others, Issachar was a hard worker who studied the law and knew how to fight. As a result, he was blessed with wealth and land. Our eyes need to be focused on the Lord, and His mandates for us as His people. When we know His ways, we can walk in them, which arms us for battle. The Lord wants His people today to learn how to fight in the spiritual battles we face. For many years, we have dismissed the truth about the spiritual realm. In America, we have become wise in our own eyes, and decided that what we cannot see cannot exist. However, as the children of God, we cannot afford to have this mindset. We must remember that the spiritual realm exists and that we have one enemy. The world wants you to believe that humans are you enemy, but God reveals in His word that we do not fight against humans, but other things that exist in the unseen realm.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV

Like Issachar, we can learn how to use our weapons of war, fight the real enemy, the devil, and come into the land of promise that God has for each of us today. The choice is yours. Will you step into this kingdom work? Will you follow the mandate of Christ and walk by faith and not by sight? Will you allow the Lord to speak to areas of your heart that you are afraid to give over to Him? I pray you do! The Hebrew month of Iyar is a prophetic door for us to move ahead and shift the rest of the year. I pray that you walk through that door with the power of the Holy Spirit this month, prospering in all your ways, revealing the light of Christ that is within you.

REFERENCES

“Bible Gateway Passage: 1 Peter 2:24 – English Standard Version.” Bible Gateway, Crossway Bibles, 2016, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Peter+2%3A24&version=ESV.

“The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.” Ephesians 6:12 ESV – – Bible Gateway, Crossway Bibles, 2016, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%2B6%3A12&version=ESV.

“The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.” Isaiah 60:1-3 ESV – – Bible Gateway, Crossway Bibles, 2016, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2B60%3A1-3&version=ESV.

“The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.” John 8:12 ESV – – Bible Gateway, Crossway Bibles, 2016, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2B8%3A12&version=ESV.

“The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.” Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV – – Bible Gateway, Crossway Bibles, 2016, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2B3%3A5-8&version=ESV.

“Holy Bible, New International Version.” Matthew 5:16 NIV – – Bible Gateway, Biblica Inc., 2011, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2B5%3A16&version=NIV.

“New King James Version.” Isaiah 53:5 NKJV – – Bible Gateway, Thomas Nelson, 1982, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2B53%3A5&version=NKJV.