We are walking in today: Elul, A Season of Judgment, Mercy, Repentance!!
Witness merciful throughout the Bible: H2623 chesed-- faithful, kind, godly, holy one
Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.
The Torah testifies...............
Exodus 34:6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
The prophets proclaim..................
2 Samuel 22:26 With the merciful H2623 thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.
The writings bear witness..........................
Psalm 18:25 With the merciful H2623 thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Jeremiah 3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, H2623 saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Elul and the Days of Awe: The Season of Judgment, Mercy, Repentance, and the Return of Yeshua
“Return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey His voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 30:2)
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Give careful thought to your ways.’” (Haggai 1:7)
Elul, the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar. This month begins the season of blowing the shofar (ram’s horn) and seeking The Most High in sincere teshuvah.
The Hebrew word for repentance or returning to the Lord is teshuvah. This is a word that indicates a turning back (shuv) to the Most High. We see this word used in Genesis 3:19 when the Lord tells Adam “and to dust you will return (va-el afar tashuv).” Teshuvah indicates both a turning away from evil as well as a turning toward what is good. In turning toward the Most High, one dedicates his entire soul to serving Him.
“Return, faithless Israel, declares Adonai I will not look upon you in anger, for I am merciful, declares Adonai. I will not be angry forever.” (Jeremiah 3:12)
Judgment and Mercy in Elul and the Days of Awe
Elul leads up to the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), a time of intensely focusing on repentance and forgiveness. The Days of Awe begin with Erev Rosh Tishrei on September 29 and end with the close of Yom Kippur on the night of October 9 (1–10 Tishrei).
As such, it is traditionally considered to be a time of introspection, taking stock of one’s life, evaluating one’s actions, and contemplating what one has accomplished during the previous year both materially and spiritually. The very word Elul (which is an ancient Akkadian word meaning harvest) is similar to the Aramaic root verb meaning search. Elul is followed by the month of Tishrei, which is a period of reconciliation.
According to Hebrew tradition, Moses returned to Mount Sinai during the month of Elul, remaining there for 40 days following the incident of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32; 34:27–28). This would have been the time between the new moon of Elul and the holy day of Yom Kippur, which is the 10th of Tishrei, a period of 40 days in which he prayed to The Most High to forgive the Hebrew people for the sin of the Golden Calf. According to the book of Hebraic teachings, his returning with a second set of tablets is considered as evidence of The Most High’s mercy.
Elul: Wisdom and Understanding, Mercy and Forgiveness
Because Hebrew letters are also numbers, a mystical belief or tradition has arisen in Hebric understanding regarding deciphering the meaning of words by evaluating their numeric value.
The letters that make up the word Elul have a number value of 67, so it is associated with another Hebrew word that shares the same numeric value: the word binah (בינה),which is Hebrew for wisdom or understanding. From this, it is supposed that the month of Elul is the time given to us by The Most High to grow in wisdom, a time for reflecting on where one stands within the overall framework of The Most High’s mercy and justice.
While the preceding month, the Hebrew month of Av, with its many catastrophes, may suggest a moving away from The Most High, Elul becomes the time to grow in binah (wisdom) and to begin to make things right with Him—the time for teshuvah or repentance.
It is also possible to read 67 as 6+7, resulting in the number 13. For this reason, Elul is also associated with The Thirteen Attributes of Divine Mercy that are based on The Most High’s words to Moses when He passed by him on Mount Sinai:
“Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord The Most High, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.’” (Exodus 34:6–7)
The Exodus passage above reveals The Most High’s divine mercy toward the Israelites who sinned, and so it is read as part of the Selichot (forgiveness) prayers that are recited daily during this 40-day period of Elul plus the Ten Days of Awe. These days are a time of spiritual cleansing culminating with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Thus, Elul is also referred to as the month of mercy and forgiveness. It is the time to renew one’s efforts in prayer, Torah study and charity and to ask forgiveness from others that you may have harmed. It is a Hebrew tradition that The Most High cannot forgive us for sins committed against another person until we first go to the person we have wronged and obtain forgiveness. When we combine this tradition with Yeshua’s emphasis on forgiveness, we see in this process an opportunity for real reconciliation:
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14)
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25)
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)
As Believers, the miracle of forgiveness should begin in our hearts long before the offender begs us for forgiveness. Nevertheless, may we also be quick to recognize when we have hurt or offended another and be swift to apologize and ask for forgiveness. This season of Elul is the perfect time for us to take stock and actively seek forgiveness.
The Number 40 in the Bible
The start of the month of Elul begins a 40-day period in which every individual and the community as a whole takes time for introspection. The number 40 is mentioned 146 times in the Bible and most often refers to a period of testing or trial.
Here are a few examples:
Yeshua fasted for 40 days in the Judean wilderness following His mikvah (baptism) by John.
The Hebrews wandered for 40 years in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33–34).
Moses tended sheep for 40 years for his father-in-law, Jethro, before he was called to lead the Hebrew nation from captivity in Egypt. He also fasted on two separate occasions on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights while receiving the law from God (Exodus 24:18; 34:1–28).
Jonah gave the people of Nineveh a 40-day warning: “Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, ''Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ (Jonah 3:4)” In this case, the 40 days was a period of warning that allowed the people of Nineveh to repent and turn from their evil ways.
In Noah’s day, during the Flood, the waters poured out for 40 days and 40 nights, judging the people of the earth.
Both Moses and Yeshua fasted for 40 days as they communed with The Most High during times of testing. The 40 years spent by the Israelites in the wilderness was a judgment of The Most High. So, we see, therefore, that The Most High uses the number 40 to represent a period of testing or of judgment, and for that reason this next 40-day period is taken very seriously.
Shema Selah we have to consider the great mercy that the Most High shows us that we are to show to others who come seeking forgiveness for trespasses against us!
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