The Season of our Joy!

The Fall Feasts of the Lord are just around the corner! This Wednesday evening, September 8, will mark Yom Teruah, the Feast of the Blowing of Trumpets. Ten days later we will observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, followed by Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.

The celebration of these feasts this year will hold especially great significance for me, as I suddenly find myself personally walking through the deeper meanings of these feasts, which are foreshadows of the coming of Yeshua our Messiah for His Bride. Yom Teruah is a call to repentance and return (teshuva in Hebrew). As believers in Yeshua we are reminded to return in faithfulness or "stay faithful" to our Betrothed until he returns for us. As we blow the shofars announcing His return, we anticipate our Betrothed's arrival, at which time we will be fully cleansed and redeemed, so that we may remain with God forever. As it is in the spiritual, so it is in the physical for me this year!

In the last week of July at the national conference of the Messianic Israel Alliance, I met the man I believe God has chosen for me. I have waited almost eleven years for him! I have not dated or looked for a man in these many years, because I knew that if I were to be married, Yah would have to do the choosing. Somehow - by the power of the Holy Spirit - I knew him when I saw him! We were in an auditorium worshiping the Lord when I got my first glimpse of him, down on his knees, his arms outstretched, his whole heart and body in surrender to the King. And in my heart I felt I heard the Spirit say, "This is your husband whom I have chosen for you."

Since that last week of July we have both received this understanding of God's will for our lives, and we are overcome with joy! As I am awaiting the return of my Messiah and King, who has gone to prepare a place for me, so I am awaiting the return of John, my Betrothed, who is making preparations for us to be married! We have pledged one another our purity, and as we walk through this season of Yom Kippur, we understand that it is a time when we repent of our sin and seek God's forgiveness, offer forgiveness to those who have wronged us, make peace with those with whom we have been at odds, and ask Messiah to wash our garments white as snow, making us a Bride without spot or wrinkle!

John has sought and received the blessing of my 87-year-old father! The picture here shows their joy as they shake hands on their agreement. Now we await the time of Sukkot, the rejoicing of the Wedding Feast, which Yeshua Himself proclaimed would occur following His return. The sukkah (tent or booth) symbolizes the place where the groom takes his bride into His own dwelling, a dwelling He has made for her, the place where the marriage is consummated. Nothing but joy can prevail! The bride and groom have joy unspeakable, for finally - at last - that which is promised is realized!

For all who have walked with me over ten years while I have prayed and waited - rejoice greatly with this daughter of Zion, for my joy is unspeakable!