In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. (Haggai 1:1-5)
We have now entered the sixth month of the Biblical calendar and the last month of the year Ayin Gimmel. The month of Elul is the time when “The King is in the Field”. It is the month we breakthrough into a new place of increase and multiplication as we are released to triumph. This month is very key every year because it is the month we meet our King in the field and find our place in His Kingdom order. This is highly significant this year, the year we are moving from recovery to wholeness, because the Lord is restoring us to experience His glory. As we approach Him this month we can be confident that the law of recovery will be activated quickly so we are positioned to be filled with His glory during the High Holy days and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Elul is the last month of the summer season where we press through the narrow place to experience a new level of God’s glory. This season consists of the months of Tammuz, Av and Elul. We have come through Tammuz, the time when we arise in worship, which allows us to see what have not seen and receive new vision from the Lord. We have also come through the narrow place of Av otherwise known as the “Time of Dire Straits”. We are now in Elul and our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, is ready to meet us in the field to empower us, encourage us and allow us to triumph over all our oppressors. It is said to be the time when God is more accessible than any other time of the year.
Elul is also linked with the Tribe of Gad, who was Jacob’s first son born to Leah’s handmaid Zilpah. When Gad was born Leah said, “A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad”, as such his name means “a troop”. The root word for his name, guwd, means to invade, to attack or to press. When Jacob blessed Gad he said, “Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last”. When Moses blessed Gad he said, “And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel”.
Jacob’s declaration over his seventh son was fulfilled when Gad aligned with the house of Saul even though God’s presence had departed. Later, after the death of Saul’s son Ishbosheth, Gad joined the other northern Tribes of Israel when David was anointed king over Israel. Saul had chosen a kingdom void of God’s presence but David reestablished the presence of God in Israel by bringing back the Ark of the Covenant. By choosing God’s presence (Davidic Kingdom) over a kingdom ruled by men (the house of Saul) Gad fulfilled Moses’s blessing, “He came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord and his judgments with Israel”.
As I have mentioned multiple times over the last couple of months I believe we are in a historic shift that is initiating the greatest revival and reformation the world has ever seen. That is a pretty bold statement when we look at how the early church turned the world upside down as they moved in great signs, wonders and miracles preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. Because of this we must be especially diligent this summer season because it is the time when we are most vulnerable to the enemy. We must continue to worship the Lord and allow Him to reface our shield of faith so that we are able to withstand the wiles of the enemy in days ahead. Get ready to turn the world upside down as He restores His glory to us in a new way!
Activate the Law of Restoration
And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now. (2 Kings 8:6)
Elul is the opportune time to approach the King and receive restoration. In the book of 2 Kings we read the historical account of Elisha’s miracles and his interaction with a woman from the city of Shunem. As it happened there was to be a famine in the land for seven years and Elisha told her to sojourn in the land of the Philistines until the famine was over. The scripture says that she was distinguished, which means that she was a land owner and most likely held some position of influence in the city along with her husband so this would not have been an easy thing. In spite of this she chose to heed the warning of the prophet and she left her wealth behind to sojourn until the famine was over.
At the conclusion of seven years Elisha came to the king and announced to him that the famine would be over. His words of course came to pass as he said when God made the footsteps of four lepers sound like the marching of a great army with horses and chariots. About this time the woman from Shunem also returned because the seven years had come to a conclusion but when she arrived her house and her land had been taken. She approached the king and pleaded her case to receive her land and house back. This is a picture of what is available to us during this month; we can approach the king and make our request to get back any thing we have lost.
As it turns out the woman was making her request during the same time the king was speaking to Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, about all the miracles that Elisha had performed. Gehazi explains to the king that the woman standing before them making her request was the woman whose son Elisha raised from the dead. Upon hearing this the king appoints her an officer who would restore back to her not only her house and land but all that it would have produced for the last seven years. God is ready to bring a seven fold restoration to you and your house!
As we commune with our King this month we can ask Him to restore to us all that has been lost. This applies not only to what you may have taken off to fit through the narrow place last month but also generationally. We can ask God to restore what the enemy has stolen from our generations! He is God that is able to restore the years that have been eaten away by the enemy.
Be Positioned to Triumph and Breakthrough Into Increase
And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: He dwelleth as a lioness, And teareth the arm, yea, the crown of the head.And he provided the first part for himself, For there was the lawgiver’s portion reserved; And he came with the heads of the people; He executed the righteousness of Jehovah, And his ordinances with Israel.(Deuteronomy 33:20-21)
Lions are very majestic among all of Gods creations. As such we have dubbed them the kings of the jungle. They are unusually social when compared to other cats in the wild such as cheetahs or tigers. A pride of lions, which is a group of lions, consists of related females along with their offspring and a small number of adult males. When it comes time to hunt it is the females that join together and attack in a highly organized manner.
Lions have attained their status as kings because they are known as apex predators. This means they find themselves at the top of their food chain. They have no other predator that hunts them as prey. They are also known as keystone predators because though they are small in number with respect to the total ecosystem they live in they make a large impact on it. This is a highly important principle because if you remove the keystone from the ecosystem it will collapse in the same way a wall collapses when the keystone is removed. The enemy knows we are keystones positioned as precious stones in God’s wall and he would like to see us removed but God has a different plan.
When Moses spoke his blessing over the tribe of Gad he revealed that this tribe can be compared to a lioness. The month of Elul is also liked with this tribe who was mighty in battle and possessed an anointing to overcome and triumph. Their ability to engage the enemy in an organized way allowed them to be mighty warriors who possessed a lawgiver’s portion in their inheritance. We have access to receive organizational strategies to defeat our enemies this month and begin to overturn lawless paradigms that have attempted to rule over us. We can become like a lioness ready to tear the arm of our oppressors and dismantle the ruling forces that would try to keep us bound.
Our adversary is also compared to lion so it is highly important that we receive God’s anointing this month to defeat him. We must regroup ourselves and receive the organizational strategies we need to overcome so that our keystone is not removed and the wall we have been building remains intact. Listen carefully the Lord this month as He is ready to release to us the instructions we need to increase and multiply.
We see this modeled by Jesus in Luke 9 when there was a multitude that had followed them to a place in the desert and they needed food. The apostles talked among themselves and were convinced they didn’t have what they needed in order to accomplish this task and wanted to send them away. Jesus didn’t agree with their assessment and said, “You give them something to eat”. He then instructed them to organize the people by having them sit down in groups of fifty.
Then Jesus took what they had, gave thanks and began to give it to His disciples to give to the people. He increased and multiplied five loaves and two fish until all that were present had eaten and were satisfied. Once they were done there still remained twelve baskets full. There is much more to be revealed in this miracle but if we allow the Lord to instruct us during this month He will increase and multiply what we have. We will be increased and multiply because the King is in the Field!