The Month Of Shevat(Jan./Feb.)

[Vincent R. Pool, Sr.]

In the Hebrew calendar, we are in the month Of Shevat. This month is associated with the tribe of Asher. Ashers' name means happy, fortunate, fatness(full of blessings), fruitful(productive in every aspect of life), delicious, and pleasure. Asher is the 8th son of Jacob, and the 2nd son of Zilpah(Leah's maid). 8 is the number of new beginnings, and 2 is the number of the son, or covenant. This is the month that God is positioning his covenant sons afresh and anew in the place of the fullness of covenant blessings(See Deuteronomy 28:1-14), which includes every aspect of life. According to the blessing of Moses, found in Deuteronomy 33, Asher is considered the most favored tribe of God. This is the month to become very optimistic about our positioning in God, realizing that he has truly favored us, and to declare and decree with a triumphant shout, "My Blessings Are On The Way"! One of the Blessings of Asher was that of being fruitful(having many children). This is a month to reassess your generational connections, both natural and spiritual. God identified himself, generationally. He proclaimed and identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! This is a month to consider how you are being watered and who you are watering. How is your olive tree blossoming? is the question for this month(see Psalms 1& Psalms 127&128). This is the season to receive prophetic instruction and insight to make sure that we are aligned properly generationally. We must be praying constantly and continuosly for both our natural children, and those that God has allowed us to birth and mentor(disciple), spiritually. Asher was the tribe of abundance, or great overflow. We must allow the Lord to position us in the place of abundant overflow. Each of us is responsible for sustaining those that the Lord has connected us to and those that will come after us, the fruit of our field. This month is also connected to the Hebrew letter Tzadik, which gives us a picture of the righteous one(God). This is a season that our righteousness must truly become our foundation. We must truly be able to see God in the fullness of his righteous nature as Yahweh-Tsidkenu, The Lord Our Righteousness(Jeremiah 23:6), and develop the totality of our lives from that position of strength(See also 2Corinthians 5:21). This month is also connected to the sense of taste(Psalms 34:8), and also to the stomach. We must evaluate what we are tasting and eating of spiritually in this season like never before. What we are tasting and eating is what will produce life and nourishment for our future and spiritual well being. We must become keenly sensitive to the voice of the Lord as to what table we should be dining at, and not allow our bellies(our natural nature), to become our god. Beware of the delicacies of the king!(See book of Daniel). This would be a good time to allow the Lord to lead us into a time of fasting to reprogram our eating habits, both naturally and spiritually. We should carefully consider how we make decisions during this month, making sure that they are based upon our position of righteousness or right standing with God. Shevat is the 11th month of the Hebrew calendar and 11 can be interpreted as mercy or finishing strong. In this new season of favor, we must be able to see that God in his infinite mercy, is already positioning us to finish strong in this season by prophetically placing us in a place of blessings and abundance laid upon a foundation of his own righteousness! Blessings!