I Will Allure her...and Bring her into the Wilderness...

Hosea 2:14 - "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her."

We have entered the 6th month on the calendar cycles of Yahweh - a month called Elul (Nehemiah 6:15).  As the month directly before the much anticipated 7th month fall feasts, it has become associated as a season of refining, preparing, teshuva (repentance, return, and restoration), as well as purification.  When looking at the historical patterns of the nation of Israel, Elul also connects to the season when the King is in the Field - prior to sitting upon His throne in judgement and royal estate!  This shadow picture becomes a powerful spiritual concept that this is the season that our King, the Messiah, is also in the field...He can be found, and yet indicates He also is inspecting the work of His kingdom in this same field.  

The questions immediately begin to arise as we contemplate the setting of this month.  The King is in the field...away from the royal fanfare of court, providing a level of access and familiarity that cannot be enjoyed while on the Throne, perhaps arriving for the purpose of searching something or someone out?  It is no accident that Elul is the acronym for the phrase Ani LeDodi VeDodi Li אני לדודי ודודי לי taken from Song of Songs 6:3.  Could this be the purpose of the King's journey?  He seeks the one who is called His Beloved, the Bride? Yet does she understand the timing of His coming?  Will she recognize Him in the manner He has chosen to appear?  So often we expect the great, the miraculous, the fanfare, but what about the quiet voice in the midst of the fields and struggles of life?

Matthew 4 reveals another layer to the above imagery.  Our Messiah Yahshua was driven into the wilderness for 40 days...exiting on Yom Kippur to declare the Yovel, the season of Jubilee!  Due to the timing of His exit, His wilderness trek took place in this 6th month of Elul.  Elul...the month of teshuva and refining, the month during which we seek our Beloved, is set not just in a field, but in the wilderness.  Therefore to understand His love, to know Him as our beloved, indicates I must understand the wilderness.

Take a moment to think about the wilderness seasons in your own life - the hard times, the struggle, the difficult moments, the seasons where it seems like we've been isolated, perhaps forgotten.  At the beginning, those very moments are when we feel the furthest away from our King.  Yet it is here that He is to be found.  Proverbs 3:12 - "For who Yahweh loveth He correcteth..." The Western mindset has taught us that the wilderness seasons are to be avoided...protect our comfort at all costs.  And if you happen to be one unlucky enough to be there, surely this has to do with your own wrong choices.  The Wilderness has become diametrically opposed to seasons of blessings and "mountain top" experiences.  But let's take a moment to look closer at that word "correcteth" in Proverbs!  Correcteth in the Hebrew is yakach יָכַח and it carries the meaning of rebuke or correction, yet it also indicates to prove and comes from the root meaning to be in front of, to clear or manifest, to appear or demonstrate.

Yes there are times we need correction, yet this verse goes beyond just those moments!  The true meaning deals with revealing or demonstrating something in order to prove a point.  So a better understanding of this verse then becomes that Yahweh will reveal Himself, manifest Himself, and prove Himself to those He loves!  How does He prove His role as my healer, my provider, my banner, my redeemer if there is not an opportunity where that specific characteristic and identity is needed to be made manifest?

This completely revolutionizes the view of the wilderness!  It's where He is found...it's where He PROVES Himself to His Beloved!  The exodus journey of Israel lays out this concept in detail - He reveals different aspects of His character and Name on their 40 year journey.  They are fed manna, watered with living water from the Rock, sheltered by the pillar of cloud and fire, protected by His Presence, and placed in the wilderness so that He could reveal His character to His beloved.  Revelation 12:6 - "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of Yah..."  

This past weekend, I was asked to share at conference whose theme ("Rooted and Grounded in Love") was taken from Ephesians 3:17-19 - "That Messiah may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Messiah, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God."  We are surrounded by a culture, both in the world and in the Believing community, that constantly shouts their version of "love"!  It has become relegated to an emotion, a feeling, or even something ethereal that can't be fully defined.  We have a tendency to use catchphrases, flowery language, or quote trendy verses to give it form.  But feelings and emotions are fleeting...based off of our outward circumstances, and here in Ephesians the love that we are to explore is something that the apostle Paul describes  that we are to be rooted and grounded in!  It is revealed to us for the purpose of being filled with the fullness of Yah!  Immediately I felt drawn to the wilderness parallels....

The wilderness is where this love that is spoken of is revealed.  Love in Hebrew is 'ahavah אַהֲבָה.  It stems from a root meaning to breathe (in fact the word 'ahavah itself mimics the act of breathing).  Breath is life!  In Genesis 2:7 when Yahweh breathed into Adam he became a living soul!  He was filled with the fullness of Yah - the neshamah (soul) which is directly associated with the mind and intellect of Yahweh, was entrusted to Adam.  Can you see the picture that is woven through the language?  The Beloved longing to reveal Himself to His Bride who He seeks?  And as He entrusts her with His character and His mind (Philippians 2:5 - "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Messiah Yahshua.") it's as if He is breathing new life into her!

Whatever area in your life that exile or death has touched...your health, your finances, your generations, your vision, your purpose...the very wilderness that you currently find yourself in is the place prepared for you, intricately designed for you to come to know the mind of Yahweh, to be breathed upon and receive new life, restoration, and fullness.  In fact when looking further at this term 'ahavah the individual letters reveal this message: א = the strong one, the Husband, but also indicates I will - invoking a covenant promise regarding an action in the future; ה = Breathe; & ב = the vessel, the container, the house, or the Bride!  His 'ahavah - His love, encompasses His covenant promise that He intends to breathe upon His people, to cause His Bride to live again, to be restored to wholeness, as every aspect of who we are is receiving new life!

'Ahavah is connected to the root yahav meaning to give, provide, or supply....He supplies the breath, we provide the vessel.  Yet to be filled with His fullness requires a letting go, an emptying of who I am, room must be made.  In fact this same root stem (הב) is seen in Hosea 8:13 - "They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifice of mine offerings (havhav הבהב), and eat it; but Yahweh accepteth them not..." In context it indicates Israel who looks obedient and holy from the outside...dressed in their best, smiles on their faces, "holy, pleasing", yet it's evident the true offering that has been desired has been neglected - the offering of themselves!

Altars were much more than a place of sacrifice!  They were doorways connecting the spiritual realm to the natural where the one you were seeking could be accessed and made manifest in your midst.  Hence the reason long before the sacrificial systems of the Temple, you see individuals like Noah, Abraham, Jacob building an altar - to see the manifestation  of Yahweh in their midst and so often a characteristic - a Name was declared!  That altar later would become a memorial, a record, a reminder in stone for when the journey got long and our own memories begin to fade that this was a moment that He appeared, a moment that He moved in our midst!

The altar was the place of holy fire....in the natural fire requires 3 elements to burn. 1) Heat (the energy sources that starts the fire - our Yah is an all-consuming fire) 2) Oxygen ('ahavah reveals His intent to breathe upon us) and the final element then must be what we provide 3) the fuel....

The wilderness is the last place our flesh desires to go...it knows the purpose of this journey.  It's the fuel that will be placed on the altar, room must be made for His fullness.  I want you to take a moment to think about the seasons in your life that it felt like you were in the fire...seasons of discomfort, pain, opposition...the very moments where we so often feel like we're forgotten.  The flesh cries out we've been left here, He should have answered by now, He should have moved in this situation.  To the flesh it doesn't feel like what we've been told is "love".  And yet it's those very seasons that are designed for us to become the vessel, the seasons of refining, where if we'll learn to look beyond the natural circumstances, you'll see we've been placed on the altar, and the dross burnt up to make room for the fullness of who He is!

If you were never in need, how would you know that He is Yahweh Yireh our provider?  If you were never sick or broken, how would you know that He is Yahweh Rapha our healer?  If you never experienced stress or worry how would you know He is the Sar Shalom, the Prince of Peace?  We've flippantly said we want to know Him, we've used the poetic verses to describe His love, and yet we've shunned the very wilderness seasons that manifest His love and reveal Him in our lives.  We desperately seek an exit, we cry for change, emotions of anger and resentment arise when the journey goes longer than we were willing to stay, and the entire time the voice is crying in the wilderness...Prepare the way for the King. 

Jeremiah 31:3 - "Yahweh hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."