GOD'S SPECIAL SEASONS

FALL ON ME
Solomon wrote that "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" (Eccl. 3:1.) The Bible also teaches that God brings things to pass in the "fullness of times." Are there special seasons when God makes Himself more accessible to us?

Many years ago I heard a pastor share about how he had noticed that almost every significant move of the Holy Spirit in his church had happened in the Fall season of the year. I also heard Perry Stone say something similar to this. I am intrigued by this because our own church experienced our first major outpouring of the Holy Spirit just as the Fall season was approaching on Labor Day, 1995. September 4th to be exact. Of course we know that Jews live their lives according to the seasons of the year. God's Feasts are called "holy convocations." These are appointed times when God meets with Israel.

But what is so special about the Fall of the year?

FOUR FULFILLED - THREE REMAIN
Of the seven appointed Feasts of the Lord, four have already been fulfilled by Jesus. He was sacrificed on Passover, buried on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and raised from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits. Each of these three feasts occur in the Spring. One feast happened in the Summer - the Feast of Pentecost. Just as expected, Jesus fulfilled that Feast as well by pouring the Holy Spirit upon His disciples precisely on that appointed day.

Today, three Feasts remain unfulfilled until Jesus returns and all three of those Feasts occur in the Fall of the year. They are the Feast of Trumpets which looks forward to the return of Christ for His Bride, the Day of Atonement, which is emblematic of Judgment day, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which speaks of our eternal dwelling with God.

Could it be that God is most active during the Fall of each year because that season represents the future fulfillment of everything prophetic?

THE SEASON FOR SEEKING GOD
To make things more interesting, this past September 4th, during the Labor Day weekend, our church experienced yet ANOTHER powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit coinciding with the anniversary of our first outpouring  sixteen years prior. Is this just coincidence or does this indicate a Divine pattern? According the Jewish tradition, preparations for the Fall Feasts begin with the arrival of the month of Elul. (July/August) The word Elul means "to seek" and points to the fact that when Elul arrives so does a special season of "seeking the Lord." The forty days leading up to the Feast of Trumpets are called the "days of preparation." It is a season for awakening the soul to encounter God and especially for the Bride of Christ to "make herself ready" by watching and praying for her Bridegroom's return.

The month of Elul was also a time when the king of Israel left the palace so that he could travel and inspect his fields and vineyards. If someone wanted to address the king of Israel, he had to be granted an audience. If anyone tried to enter the palace or throne room uninvited they would face certain death. But in the Fall of the year, when the "king was in the field" - the law allowed for anyone to approach him and have an audience with him. In other words, the Fall is the time when God, our King, is "in the field" and  can be easily sought and found!

THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS
 If you have read my book, Becoming the Beloved, you know that I believe that the Feast of Trumpets indicates the time when Jesus will return as the Bridegroom to take His Bride to our wedding. While current events are moving and aligning the nations according to Biblical prophecy, let me encourage you to use this special season to trim your lamp and fill it with double oil. Jesus is coming again. And this Feast of Trumpets could be our wedding day!