Recently, I joined Caleb Gee of Let There Be Truth podcast in a discussion about celebrating the Biblical New Moon. Caleb is a gracious host with a desire to restore the things the church has lost throughout the centuries. If you are new to the Feasts of Adonai, this episode will give you a good summary about what the new moons represent and how you can be intentional about celebrating them, all to the glory of God.
Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5782 (2021)
There is something about Kislev.
It’s the ninth month, the month of dreams, and the month of dedication (Chanukah). But, if one counts the months from the civil year beginning with Tishrei, 
then Kislev is the third month. In other words, Kislev has attributes that are associated with the number three such as trees, gathering, new life, and resurrection. Darkness, figurative death, and chaos come before any renewal. The themes and historical events that occurred during Kislev such as light overcoming darkness, defeating the enemy against insurmountable odds, and renewing and rededicating the House of Adonai all echo the resurrection power expressed in the number three.
It is in that sense of newness and renewal, which manifests in gathering and unity, that I aim to focus on this year. The twelve months mirror the twelve tribes of Israel. The moonths are like us, reflectors of light. But also like us, they can reflect something they were never meant to mirror: a lower, earthy, or even demonic realm. It’s not a coincidence that the enemy has perverted things associated with the luminaries and time, such as months, to the point that Believers are often leery of their purposes.
In The Creation Gospel Workbook One, Dr. Alewine says, “Pagan worship deifies the sun and moon, for even in ignorance, pagans can identify signs of spiritual authority. The problem is in turning the sign into the actual authority.” (p. 69)
As a Creation Gospel trainer, I’ve read that passage many times. This year, it struck me differently. I could not help but 
wonder if Believers have made the same mistake. We are notorious for having “calendar” controversies, varying dates for first fruit festivals, and arguments of when new months should begin. The lack of unity (oneness) in the Body gets rather frustrating, and is especially confusing for those just coming to the Torah. Are these indicators of losing one’s sense of time, rather than gaining it? For the most part, individuals and groups do what is right in their own eyes when it comes to “times and seasons.” Some are contentious in this area, and others emphasize respecting other’s opinions.
But, are our endless debates about the timing of the appointed times and months a symptom of “turning the sign into the actual authority?” There is test for Believers on Day Four. It is based in the action words of that day. For example, light separates, gives, and governs. Action is akin to one’s deeds or fruit. If natural light separates from darkness, gives light to the earth, and governs the days, months, years, and moedim, then so will those that follow the Creator of the luminaries. But there will be a constant need for discernment, because the heart of man is deceptive.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NASB) The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.
The discernment key is fruit. Because we are natural, earthy beings, we must look at physical fruit, deeds, and results to truly know or discern from which “tree” an idea, doctrine, teaching, or theory originates. In the New Jerusalem, the moedim and new moons will NOT be determined by the physical lights of day four. Instead, the “trees” will know when and how to produce fruit with only the Light of the Lamb.
Revelation 21:23 (NASB) And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
John continues into chapter twenty-two describing the glorious City, the wife of the Lamb:
Revelation 22:1-2 (NASB) Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22:5 (NKJV) There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Revelation 21:23 says that the city is illuminated by the glory of the Lord, and it’s lamp (vessel that gives light) is the Lamb. This is a return to One Day, when the first spoken words of God in the Bible are, “Light be” or “Let there be light.” The light of One Day (day one) was not the physical lights placed in the rakiah or expanse; rather, it is the same light mentioned at the end with New Jerusalem. It is Spiritual.
Kislev is the last of the three autumn months on the Jewish calendar. It signals colder days, less daylight, and the coming winter. This makes it an opportune time to meditate on death that leads to new life, a type of darkness, and then Light. Winter, then spring. Seed, then sprouts and fruit. And, eventually, a time when those cycles will cease, and will become all light, and ever-bearing fruit.
Ezekiel 47:12 (NASB) By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing (medicine).
What or who are these trees?
In Hebrew, the fruit that the trees bear is a “first fruit,” just as Messiah, and you and I, are a type of firstfruits of the Kingdom. Rosh Chodesh is the feast of the born again, or of those born from above, the first fruits of the earth. The renewal of the moonths testify of this heavenly reality. The “head” of the month is a picture of the whole, just as Messiah is the head, and we are His Body.
There is a reason that God chose to use the particular time frame of “months” to describe when the tree of life bears fruit in Jerusalem above.[1]
The trees are plural in Ezekiel. They refer not only to Messiah, but to His Body, who are grafted into Him and one another. His people partake of and abide in Him and the Word, and become echad, a perfect unity, like the menorah tree. Trees are common idioms for people in Scripture, and both are designed to produce fruit.
Psalms 1:1-3 (NASB) How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.
Proverbs 11:30 (NASB) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.
Living in the realm of Jerusalem above, with only the Light of the Lamb, one knows the months and the moedim without the sun and moon. The result is abundant fruit, and the ability to bear that fruit every month in the Spirit of Adonai. If that’s true above, can it be true below, here in the earthly realm? If yes, what will it require from us?
During Kislev, Chanukah is celebrated with a menorah, a lamp, or a vessel that gives light.[2] In the Torah, the menorah was fashioned after the almond tree.[3] 
A menorah is a tree with LIGHTS. It represents Resurrection, Woman Wisdom, the Spirit of God, and the Tree of Life. Yeshua chose the menorah to represent His assemblies (churches) in the Book of Revelation, because He is figured as the One in the midst of this “tree” or lamp. He is the root and stem of Jesse, full of the seven fiery spirits of God.[4] We are One with Him, and should produce His light and fruit. The light of the menorah was to be an ever-burning flame. Spiritual light burns continually, but does not consume. This hidden light separates in order to gather in unity.
Exodus 27:20 (NASB) You shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.
Believers all look to the same physical lights and earthly evidence and make judgments, to obediently meet the Creator at His appointed times. But, we don’t all come to the same conclusions. Rather than being unified in the calendar, which is the testimony of God’s authority in the earth, we are greatly divided. A lot of rotten fruit (false light) results from our endless debates.
In the Heavenly City, of which we are a citizen, the trees manage to do something no earthly tree 
can: they produce twelve fruits every month. This is enough for ALL twelve tribes of united Israel. They are all in one accord when they do not depend solely upon the shadow world’s earthly luminaries.
One Day the natural luminaries will fail, decay, and be no more.[5] In fact, like us, they are fading even now. It occurred to me this Kislev, that if our eyes trust only in the natural light (something decaying), we will never be unified, because death is a separation, not a gathering. Our new life in Messiah includes gathering with one’s brothers and sisters. Anything that works to their exclusion, especially private interpretations of prophecy (the feasts are prophecy!), is not a tree of life (or light) capable of yielding twelve kinds of fruit.
2 Peter 1:18-21 (NKJV) And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Being echad (one) is not possible without God and His Spiritual light. I believe that the calendar of God is intentionally ambiguous, because it is a test of authority in the hearts of mankind, especially Believers. I am not suggesting that we toss out the physical luminaries as the markers of Adonai’s set times. They are, in our natural realm, needed governors.[6] However, there remains a much greater reality, that cannot be ignored in our calculations.
Kislev ends within the days of (re)dedication or Chaunkah every year. Since we are a type of Temple, it’s always a good idea to cleanse and rededicate our hearts to Adonai. Sometimes things creep in while we are unaware, distracted with the cares of life, sleeping, sick, grieving, or when we’ve been under attack. At this season, while the feast cycle is dormant during the darkness of winter, reconsider God’s prophetic calendar. It should produce a harvest, not havoc in one’s life and the lives of fellow Believers. As a tree in the Kingdom, carefully inspect the fruit you have produced, and are producing, for the feast days center around these very things. May we continue to grow in fruit and love for the brethren. May we dream of being Echad!
Questions for Reflection:
Ephesians 4:1-6 (NASB) Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
12. Based on the passage above, how important is unity?
[1] To help see this, consider these questions: Who do we produce fruit for? Is it for ourselves or for others? To put it another way, who benefits when we keep commandments such as the feast days? Do we obey for ourselves or for others? If one says they do so for Adonai, why do so many mitzvot deal with how one treats their neighbor? Have we missed something vital that the Tree of Life teaches in Revelation 22:2? Who is reflected in the months? Adonai or His people?
[2] The Hanukkiah has eight branches and one shamash or servant candle, for a total of nine branches. The eight branches represent the eight days of Dedication or Chanukah, and the menorah itself figures the seven branched menorah in the Tabernacle/Temple that GIVES light. The ninth branch on the Hanukkiah is the servant light that ignites the other branches.
[3] Exodus 25
[4] Isaiah 11:1-3; Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6
[5] 2 Peter 3:10-13
[6] Genesis 1:14-19
I get very few Sundays off from work, so I was excited to learn I was “on call” this past Sunday. I thought it meant time for me to develop a message Adonai had been brewing all week on the new month. Instead, Abba had an entirely different lesson in mind.
In the pics below, you can see that the day was for my husband. He was so happy that I didn’t have to go into work, as he had an off-road Jeep day planned. Though what I wanted to do was stay home and write, my husband was the priority. By putting him first, God blew me away with a living parable. I am still awe struck by the goodness of the LORD and how He can teach His truth in ways we never imagine.
Climbing a Mountain
In order to climb the rocky and muddy terrain of an east TN mountain off-road in a 4×4 (notice the 4’s CG students!), one has to AIR DOWN their tires.
This sounds counterintuitive at first glance. Our great big tires with nearly 60 pounds of pressure needed to be deflated to about 15 pounds of pressure. Once released, they looked nearly flat, and much smaller than normal.
Who looks at that and thinks, “Now we are ready to climb a mountain!”
But, that RELEASE is exactly what enabled our Jeep to traverse through deep muddy ruts, climb boulders, and creep up rocky terrains as if they were nothing. Deflating the tires increased our traction and grip. It was like wearing slip resistant shoes with invisible cleats.
I was amazed by how easy (and fun) it was! But, we also had an experienced guide leading us in his own Jeep. Truly, if we weren’t able to watch him climb over the boulders and navigate the deep ditches, we would have likely turned back in fear of not making it or damaging our vehicle.
The driver leading us was named Clint. The next morning, Adonai had me look up the meaning of his name. It means a “rocky cliff, a hill.” What are the odds that 
our guide’s name would represent the very thing we were doing? And, that we needed to follow him in order to be successful? Several times he jumped out of his Jeep and acted as our “spotter,” telling us exactly which rock to place our tire on to climb up and out of precarious positions. (Can you see a reflection of Yeshua in this?!)
After reaching the top of the mountain and a real, smooth manmade road, we stopped to air the tires back up. (These guys carry air compressors for this purpose.) I couldn’t help but to think that we reach Shavuot the same way – deflated of self to gain an infilling of God’s Spirit. As we were driving home, I pondered about this process in light of the second month.
Iyar is our climb up to the summit of Shavuot. While we tend to think that we can’t get anywhere with low or flat tires, God knows better. Now, I know better too. You can’t climb a mountain with full tires. If you try, all you’ll do is sit and spin in the mud or bounce off of rocks and likely topple your vehicle.
Low tires (think humility – lack of ego – the thing we removed during Passover week) are the wheels that give one feet like a hind or mountain goat. They are the sure footing that can climb boulders with slippery mud without sliding or losing control. The views from this vantage point are amazing. With all our “hot air” released, we really can trek effortlessly over treacherous terrain that most stumble over.
This links early fruit fruits (of barley) to the first fruits of wheat at Shavuot. Each day is marked and counted. Each is a step up the mountain. The more we release self, ego, pride, and anything that puffs us up, the easier the climb, the better the view, and the more the obstacles appear to be a fun adventure instead of an impossible pass.
During this month, the sanctification process that began during the week of Matzah continues. If you find deep ruts, muddy waters, giant boulders, or even rocky walls in your path, and this invokes feelings of being overwhelmed, remember the hind. Remember how a 4×4 operates. All four tires are given power to turn and move, but not before releasing most of their own air.
In life, especially at appointed seasons, we must do the same. We get to the Mount of Revelation nearly empty of self in order to receive and be filled with the life giving Spirit of Adonai.
Jeep folks call getting a new set of tires, getting “new shoes.” In Ephesians 6, the armor of God includes one’s “shoes.”
“…and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace..”
To shod is to bind under, to put on. Verse 15 says that one must put on these “new shoes” WITH the preparation of the gospel of peace. The two are bound together. The IVP Bible background Commentary says that these shoes enable one to “advance toward the enemy undistracted about what they might step on; this gear is essential to one’s ‘preparation’ for battle.” Now, I can add that these shoes also help one climb higher with sure footing to reach the summit, a figure of Adonai’s Throne.
The LORD taught me this lesson in a profound way through my husband’s love of his Jeep, lol. Don’t you just love how Adonai speaks – all the time – if we will just submit and listen? Shoes, even the ones that our Jeep wears, determines the outcome of our journey.
I can spiritually see all of your beautiful feet and the lovely shoes in which Adonai covers each delicate toe. They are absolutely precious to Him. He desires that you climb every rock, boulder, and mountain with the ease of a hind’s feet. I believe most of you are wearing these shoes already.
But there is only one way to perceive the climb without trepidation and fear. Release your own air. Let it all out, and you’ll find that the shoes He has fitted you with have far more protection and grip than you ever imagined. What once seemed impossible, will become an exhilarating off-road adventure through “a land not sown.”
Isaiah 52:7 (TLV) How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces shalom, who brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Heading to our new moon meeting for Tevet 5781 (2020). These are my notes for our locals. I thought some of my readers would find them helpful for the new month. May your homes been filled with Light and Yeshua!
Happy Chanukah!
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