The biblical month of ‘Elul’ is the sixth month in the biblical calendar. It is the month that is also called the ‘full stop or point month’, which directs to understand the beginning, in order to start to reach an end (Note: to successfully complete the yearly cycle of God's blessing that is coming to an end in order to lead to the new yearly cycle of God's blessing).

 

Elul means ‘futile, good for nothing, grape or month of the grape’ and it is the month that is aligned with Gad who was the 7'th son of Jacob and the first son of Leah’s maid Zilpah (Note: means ‘bowl, large bowl, shell’).

 

The name of Gad means ‘fortune or plight’ (cf. Genesis 30:9-11).

 

Genesis 30:9-11:
9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 And Zilpah Leah’ maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

 

 

Jacob blessed his son Gad to be a warrior and to walk and live in triumph (cf. Genesis 49:19).

 

Genesis 49:19:
19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

 

Gad is where the capacity to wage warfare is trained. In this realm, there is harmony, disharmony and dissonance. This time includes a phase in which we learn harmony from disharmony and resonance from dissonance.

 

Gad reflects the dimension where God puts His arsenal. In the sphere of Gad we experience the arsenal and meet angels of warfare (cf. Jeremiah 50:25).

 

Jeremiah 50:25:
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, …

 

And Moses blessed the tribe of Gad to be a triumphant warrior to establish the righteousness of the Lord for all those who would recognize his potential (cf. Deuteronomy 33:20-21).

 

Deuteronomy 33:20-21:
20 About Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head.
21 He chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the Lord’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.”

 

Gad’s domain implies to war from rest in order to impart God’s righteous will. The function of rest is a renewal of strength. The weakness of rest is laziness.

 

The strength of warriorship is the capacity to get supply anywhere and to strike fear in the hearts of people. The weakness of warriors is fear and anxious restraint.

 

 

Furthermore the emblem of the tribe of Gad is a war tent. This points to the place of the relationship with God as a supernatural warrior and to understand His weapons as well His war which isn't fleshly (cf. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; …

 

 

The name “ELUL” is an Acronym of the scripture of Song of Songs 6:3a, which is:

 

 

In Hebrew, the first letter of each word in that phrase spells out the name of this month abbreviated: ELUL.

 

This phrase directs to the knowing that we are Jesus’ treasured possession and He is ours through a real love relationship by the spirit. It as well points to the coming of Jesus as king into the city of Jerusalem which is in the spirit realm the structure of the bride of Christ (see Revelation 21:2.9b-10).

 

Revelation 21:2.9b-10:
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. …
… 9b “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

 

 

Elul is the month where the King is in the field. It means that the Lord makes Himself accessible to us and surprises us with His kingly presence. It is the presence of the ‘riding of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (cf. Matthew 21:5-9; John 12:13 i.c.w. Revelation 19:11-16).

 

Matthew 21:5-9:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.
8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

 

John 12:13:
13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

 

Revelation 19:11-16:
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.
12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.
14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.

 

Elul is the picture of the earthly ministry of Jesus as He became flesh to dwell among us (cf. John 1:14).

 

John 1:14:
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

Let us approach Jesus as the King of Kings and allow Him to shine with His countenance on us.

 

 

Elul as the ‘full stop or point month’, which directs to understand the beginning, so that you can start to reach an end, gives us the opportunity to successfully complete the yearly cycle of God’s blessing coming to an end in order to lead to the new yearly cycle of God’s blessing.

 

Elul is the month, in which the sound of the Shofar is blown every day until the day before Rosch ha-Schana. It is the time to get awakened by the prophets to position ourselves rightly to receive the blessings of God in the new cycle of blessing (cf. Amos 3:6-8).

 

Amos 3:6-8:
6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?
7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared – who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken – who can but prophesy?

 

The sound of the Shofar carries the potential to unlock a new spiritual dimension similar as the apostle John experienced it (cf. Revelation 4:1).

 

Revelation 4:1:
1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

 

 

It is the season of self-denial, which means, that we have to understand, we are chosen by God’s grace to run God’s race because Elul is the month of preparation for the ‘high holy days’ in the coming month of Tishrei. (cf. Matthew 16:24; Galatians 2:20 i.c.w. Ephesians 2:8-10).

 

Matthew 16:24:
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

 

Galatians 2:20:
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

 

Ephesians 2:8-10:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

 

The symbol of the tribe of Gad is a war tent or warrior, who has the power to push the raiders-troops of the enemy away (cf. Genesis 49:19; Deuteronomy 33:20-21 i.c.w. 2 Kings 13:20-21; 1 Chronicles 12:8).

 

Genesis 49:19:
19 “Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels.

 

Deuteronomy 33:20-21:
20 About Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head.
21 He chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the Lord’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.”

 

2 Kings 13:20-21:
20 Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring.
21 Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.

 

1 Chronicles 12:8:
8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains; …

 

The time frame of Gad implies a phase to get trained to transmute our spiritual body in order to reflect the four faces of God in the way like God desires it. This is about the connection between the apparition and the motion during a warfare season in order to reveal God's being.

 

The dimension of Gad is a mixture of warfare (Note: face of the lion) and music (Note: feet of the gazelle; cf. 1 Chronicles 12:8).

David is an example of this kind of mixture. He created many instruments of music and warfare. The reason of this mixture is because rest results in warriorship.

One must operate from a seat of rest in order to be a great warrior and not a destructive one.

A warrior needs to be creative. This implies, that which comes to destroy will be destroyed, so that which is productive will remain. That is what a good warrior does.

True warfare is taking the nonproductive things that are not supposed to be there and leaving the productive.

 

It is similar to the calling of the prophet Jeremiah, who was able to destroy and raise things up through the power of the Word of God (cf. Jeremiah 1:9-10).

 

Jeremiah 1:9-10:
9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

 

In this revelation, it is possible for us to strategically remove all that the Holy Spirit has already identified as not fruitful and dishonorable in our lives during this biblical month and move forward in deeper relationship with Him.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm

Note:
The following message is the first part of a teaching that consists of two parts and we recommend to read the message chronologically.

 

In the letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul mentions the importance of the one new man, made up of the Messianic Jews and the Christians of the Gentiles through Jesus Christ (cf. Ephesians 2:13-18).

 

Ephesians 2:13-18:
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.
17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

 

 

In this context, I would like to make a special reference to the potential of the ‘one new man’ and focus on the teamwork between Joshua and Caleb, who carry two powerful and revelatory components for us as God’s people at this time.

 

Before the ‘Shaliach’ Moses (Note: The word ‘Shaliach’ means ‘messenger’ and is the type of the apostle in the Tenakh) apostolically called the team of Caleb and Joshua as well as the other leaders of the tribes to go into the Promised Land of Canaan to investigate it, he gave them clear instructions, telling them to report to him after their return everything they saw or encountered there (cf. Numbers 13:17-20).

 

Numbers 13:17-20:
17 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said, “Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.
19 What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified?
20 How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

 

The request of Moses, as the apostle in his day to his leadership teams was that he demanded of them an unadulterated report after their return. This means that Moses was not afraid of a report of upcoming challenges in the future and was not a man who only wanted to hear about the blessings i.e. the good fruits.

 

Moses was a man and apostle of God who wanted to develop an apostolic strategy from the report of his scouts to pave the way to a good and victorious future for all the people of Israel.

This is what, among other things constitutes the authority and task of apostles even in our time.

An apostle understands the importance of the subject of ‘spiritual geography’ and its related challenges and blessings in the regions. He brings an apostolic strategy or approach on how to effectively and securely go ahead in the next steps in the spiritual battle according to Ephesians 6:12-13 in order to conquer the regions occupied by the enemy i.e. the field of promise.

Here, there are personal fields of promise and communal fields of promise, similar to the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation by John (cf. Revelation 2 and 3).

 

 

It is of high importance for the taking of the land to correctly understand the structure of the ‘one new man’ in Jesus Christ, who can also be described as a precious olive tree (cf. Romans 11:17-18).

 

Romans 11:17-18:
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.

 

The olive tree is the highest positioned tree after the flood in the Word of God, as it was the first tree to come to light because it was Noah’s dove sent out that had an olive leaf or olive branch in its beak and brought it to him in the ark. The broken olive leaf points to God’s mercy in the midst of judgment (cf. Genesis 8:10-11 i.c.w. James 2:13).

 

Genesis 8:10-11:
10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.

 

James 2:13:
… 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

 

This means that we as Christians of the Gentiles, who were a wild olive branch, have been broken off from the wild olive tree by the power of God and grafted into the precious olive tree, thus now filling the position where rabbinic Judaism had its place.

 

If we consider the precious olive tree of Romans 11:17-18, it divides as follows:

 

Now this doesn’t mean that we move forward in religious legalism or tradition as saints from the Gentile nations, but have the opportunity through the power of the Holy Spirit to receive a Spirit-filled Hebrew and Biblical mindset in order to bring the treasures of Christ from the Tenakh and the New Testament to the surface to help powerfully break through in our field of responsibility (cf. Matthew 13:52).

 

Matthew 13:52:
52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

 

In the structure of the ‘one new man’ in Christ Jesus, it is similar to the Messianic Bride of Christ, who is also a city complex and reigns from heaven to earth (cf. Revelation 21:2).

 

Revelation 21:2:
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

 

 

As God’s people we have repeatedly come into contact with prophecies and promises through hearing in our years of faith, and certain things have not yet come to pass in our personal lives or even in the church as the ekklēsia. Because of this, it is necessary that we correctly understand the structure of the first Promised Land promised by God to the people of Israel.

The Promised Land or even our promise is precisely linked to it.

Canaan was the land of promise from God to the people of Israel and it was there that the twelve spies of Israel encountered the giants but they also saw the prosperity and fertility of the land (cf. Numbers 13:27-28).

 

Numbers 13:27-28:
27 They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
28 But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.

 

 

The spies were sent by God through Moses from the desert of Paran on the way to Canaan (cf. 4.Moses 13,1-3).

 

Numbers 13:1-3:
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
3 So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.

 

The name ‘Paran’ means ‘dug out, hollowed out, ornament’ and ‘Canaan’ means ‘lowland, low country, humiliated’. These name meanings are indicative to us of the importance of preparing our hearts in order to receive the fullness of God’s supernatural outpouring for us and our region, much like king Jehoshaphat experienced with his allies in the time of the prophet Elisha (cf. 2 Kings 3:14-20).

 

2 Kings 3:14-20:
14 Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you.
15 But now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha
16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water.
17 For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.
18 This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands.
19 You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.”
20 The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was – water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.

 

The decision to move into the center of God’s humility and into His promise as ‘Canaan’ means ‘low country’ releases the presence of His glory, which also includes abundant provision in all areas of our lives (Note: spirit, soul and body).

 

It is real humility that releases grace and favor (cf. 1 Peter 5:5b).

 

1 Peter 5:5b:
“… 5b All (Note: old and young) of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

 

 

It was Caleb and Joshua who joined together as a team, possessing a special gift of faith and the right spiritual sight, and so were able to carry the large bunch of grapes from the land of the ‘lowlands’ on a pole together and incidentally bring back pomegranates and figs to Moses (cf. Numbers 13:23-26).

 

Numbers 13:23-26:
23 When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs.
24 That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.
25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
26 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land.

 

The location of the finding of the grapes took place at the time of the first grapes (cf. Numbers 13:20c), which is a reference to Jesus Christ, the first and only begotten Son of God who laid down His life for us on the cross in order to bring us into covenant with the Father.

 

Numbers 13:20c:
… 20c (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)

 

Amen and Amen.

In His Wisdom,

Daniel Glimm

 

For part II of the message please click here.