What a privilege it is to be a child of the living God! When we desire above all things to follow in the Master’s footsteps, we change who we are and decide who we are to become. So, the Scriptural formula informs us that the measure we act upon God’s word is equal to how much of Him we want in our lives. This is the invitation and choice presented to us at Elul. And when we place our full trust in God and walk along His path, we discover that all things become possible because God sets no limits for our lives except those we place upon ourselves! That’s why God’s desire for you and me is that we become history makers!
During Temple times, the silver trumpets were blown on each new moon but after the 2nd Temple was destroyed the shofar is blown each day during the month of Elul to declare declare that our God reigns and destruction will end in restoration. And on the last day of Elul the Tekiah Gedolah, the long, unbroken sound is blown to declare the faithfulness of our God who was and is and is to come!
How well prepared are we for His return? We read in the Talmud, (Tractate Shabbat 153a) that one of our sages (Rabbi Eleazar) told his disciples,: “Repent one day before your death.” His disciples asked him: “Does one know on what day one will die?” He replied: “Then all the more reason that he repent today, lest he die tomorrow, and so his whole life is spent in repentance.” (Live each moment as though it could be your last!)
The amazing love of God is revealed in a Divine reversal, as Yeshua stands at the door of our lives seeking to make good any deficit lurking in our lives. And so we pursue Him as never before keeping our eyes on the Author and perfecter of our faith. Yeshua said in Matt.13:44: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure (the Bride of Yeshua) hidden in a field, (the earth) which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys (pays the price) for that field.”
Yeshua died for us to regain the rights to obtain His treasure, (His bride) that is, you and me. His objective wasn’t to obtain the field itself but the treasure contained within it.
The Jewish leaders saw Yeshua’s crucifixion as an assumed “proof” that He blasphemed God by claiming to be the Messiah; in their interpretation, no true Messiah would “hang on a tree” and become a curse of God. But in Gal.3:13-14 Paul states “…Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross)” quoting from Deut,21:23.
So in fact the reverse was true than the claims of the religious hierarchy as affirmed in Isa.53:3-5 describing the Messiah: “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 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.”
Yeshua became the Suffering Servant to redeem us from our sins, but will soon return in judgment as the Conquering King. This is our blessed hope as we eagerly await that moment that causes us to rejoice and dance to the tune of the One who is the King in the Field of our lives.
