A Word for the Hebrew New Year 5779
As one season comes to a close, another begins, and with it blooms new revelation and understanding of the times ahead. With fall signaling the Hebrew New Year, a new cycle of movement in the spiritual realm commences. God begins to move differently. And we must learn from the past year to comprehend our weaknesses, but also seek revelation concerning God’s divine objectives to strengthen us in the days forthcoming.
Every summer as I seek the Lord concerning the Hebrew New Year, an image or certain keywords are instilled in my heart focusing on the foundation of what is to come. This year I heard the Lord say, “This is the Appointed Time to Unleash the Sound!” But to understand this fully, we have to dissect the year prior and how it relates to the year ahead.
Last year was the year 5778 in the Hebrew calendar, and in the Hebrew language (letters also have a numerical value). The “8” in “5778” in the Hebrew language is the letter “chet,” and to make things more entertaining, each letter has its own meaning and pictograph associated with it. So, “chet” has a numerical value of eight; its pictograph is a door or gateway, and its meaning is literally “divide,” “half,” or “outside,” as a door or gateway separates one area from another. Year 5778 thus was dubbed “the year of the gate,” being a year of passing through into the promise just as the Israelites passed through the Jordan into the Land of Canaan. Last year, the word He dropped in my heart was the word “movement.” The Lord broke into a new movement and we had to follow Him into unexplored promises that were not fully revealed (Isaiah 43:19). Now, as that season concludes, we have started a movement. But He is asking us to manifest and unleash His Sound in this uncharted territory in order to prosper.
We now must examine the meaning of the New Year to start to grasp the new sounds. This upcoming year is 5779, “9” being the Hebrew letter “tet,” having the numerical value “9,” the pictograph of a basket, and the meaning “basket,” “clay,” “surround,” or “contain.”
Based on the letter “tet,” here are some of the sounds that will define the season ahead:
The Sound of the Potter’s Wheel:
Common practice amongst the nomadic Hebrews was to carry clay in baskets to transport it to a destination and then use the clay to build vases, lamps, plasters, etc. Similarly, if we are the clay and the Lord is the Potter, we can see analogous comparisons to how we are formed and how we are to be used in the hands of God this season. We are taken from our initial conception, shaped, molded, and matured into the appropriate form, and employed to accomplish the divine purposes of the kingdom. One of the sounds we need to become familiar with is the sound of the potter’s wheel. This sound will be prominent these next twelve months revealing the heavenly vibrations of the Father’s moldings in how He wants to shape us for our future destinies.
The Sound of Birthing Kingdom:
The letter “tet” numerical value is 9 which is the time that it takes to reach the completion in a pregnancy. This value combined with other pictures associated with the letter “tet” speaks of an expecting mother, the womb being the basket or container in which the baby is kept until pregnancy reaches its fullness. There was a new movement that was conceived last year that will reach its full maturation and be birthed in the forthcoming months. The sound similar to the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 is another preeminent sound for this season: a sound of remembering all the blessings of God and the multiplication that comes from following Him. And it reaches its climax with a sound of kingdom:
“Then Hannah prayed out of her deepest feelings:
My heart rejoices in the Eternal One;
my strength grows strong in the Eternal.
My mouth can mock my enemies
because I celebrate how You have saved me!
No one is holy like the Eternal One—
no, no one but You;
and there is no rock as solid as our True God.
Stop talking so proudly,
and don’t let such arrogance flow from your lips,
For the Eternal One is a True God who knows,
and He weighs the actions He sees.
The bows of the mighty crack in two,
but the feeble are given new strength.
Those who were full have had to work hard so they can eat,
but those who were starving have become fat with rich food.
The one who was infertile has borne seven children,
while the one who bore many sits alone in sadness.
The Eternal One kills and brings to life;
He sends down to the grave and raises up new life.
The Eternal One makes both poor and rich;
some He humbles, and others He honors.
He lifts the poor up out of the dust,
the needy from the trash heap.
He raises them to sit with princes
and seats them on a glorious throne.
For the pillars of the earth are the Eternal One’s,
and on them, He has set the world.
He will watch over the footsteps of the faithful,
but the wicked will be made silent in the darkness,
for one does not win by strength alone.
The Eternal One will shatter His foes;
from His throne in heaven, He will thunder with rage.
The Eternal One will be judge to the ends of the earth;
He gives strength to His king,
And power to the one He chooses to rule” (1 Samuel 2:1-10 VOICE).
It is a sound that arises from praise and worship and shifts barrenness to multiplication. We have been like Hannah, barren for a time awaiting a divine shift in the atmosphere and finally being impregnated with a promise that is to reach its fullness this new year. The vessel that carried the promise now makes a sound of thanksgiving and gratitude that transforms fruitlessness into a kingdom declaration. This is a sound that has never been perceived before. Hannah prophesied the end of an era and the beginning of the shift. This sound birthed the power of judgement and anointing that launched Samuel from being the final judge to the prophet who initiates the shift of the old regime into the reign of the kingdom era. Samuel anoints the first King! We need to become familiar with the shift of the sound to perceive the shift of the era.
The Sound of His Goodness:
It is helpful to examine words that have the letter “tet” to unveil deeper meanings for this coming shift. One word that will direct us this year is the Hebrew word “tov” which is a “tet” word and means good. When the Lord spoke to me about unleashing the sound, He elaborated and revealed that is time to unleash the sound of His goodness, or “tov”-ness.
During creation, the Lord sealed every action with the signet of “tov,” showing the intrinsic goodness of all things created through a divine declaration. This is a season of unleashing a creative sound of dignity and excellence that will allow us to mirror the Father in achieving and fulfilling the promises that were proclaimed last season.
The Lord created the Earth with the sound of His voice and said it was good. Out of the ground He formed man and breathed life into him, and concluded it was very good. Man and land are closely connected; the sounds the Earth makes impact us and the sounds we make will impact the land. As the land hears the sounds of His goodness, we will see greater shifts in the land and in humanity.
“People won’t talk about you anymore
using words like “forsaken” or “empty.”
Instead, you will be called “My delight” and the land around you “Married,”
because the Eternal is pleased with you and has bound Himself to your land.
As a young man marries the woman he loves,
so your sons will marry you, Jerusalem.
As a groom takes joy in his bride,
so your God will take joy in you” (Isaiah 62:4-5 VOICE).
The Sound of the New Wine:
Last but not least, as we enter in a renewal of covenant, this is the appointed time where we will release the sound of new wine. This is described in Zephaniah 3:9, 17. Like in Hannah’s song, we will experience a shift of the sound. We will speak directly to God in one accord and with a pure sound, and in return the Lord will release a sound over us:
“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord”
The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
(Zephaniah 3:9,17 NKJV).
Jesus’ miracle at the wedding of Cana epitomizes this notion perfectly. Here is a moment, an appointed time, where there is a need for a new wine, a new sound, a new movement. The old had worn out and run dry, but the necessity for more did not relinquish. This is how the new season will work in that Jesus provided the declarative ignition commencing the creation of the new wine resulting in the affirmation and exhilaration of the master. Because we have entered into the appointed time to release what has been poured in these clay vessels, because of Christ’s declaration of destiny over our earthen exterior, we will hear the Master rejoice over us with a sound that says, “You have saved the best for last.” He will sing a sound of love over us and the land!
This is a year to hear the sound of heaven over us, but do you know what that sounds like? What is heaven saying about you? What will you need to do in order to prosper in the next move of God? I challenge you to hear the new language of faith, holiness, and praise emanating from the throne room to guide you in days ahead, in seasons to come.