Times & Seasons: Fall
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.”
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 NIV
Within a single sentence in the opening scripture, King Solomon deduced the meaning of the Greek words chronos & kairos, both of which refer to & relate to the concept of time. Chronos is the quantitative expression of time that compartmentalizes it into measures we can mostly comprehend [i.e., seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, generations, and beyond]. Kairos, on the other hand, is the qualitative expression of time. Its primary focus is to highlight defining moments and seasons that exist independently from the quantum of chronos yet function in conjunction with it at the opportune times ordained by God.
It is no coincidence that the debut of this blog post is on the first day of autumn. After all, we have entered a new kairos within the chronos duration of the fall season, and understanding the significance of it is of utmost importance. From the moment God said to himself during the days of Noah: “As long as the Earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night [Genesis 8:22 TLB] — -it has been so up until now. And though the seasons change within the continuum of time, each of them comes with a set of protocols needing to get done to serve a specific purpose that corresponds with the divine mandate issued by God.
The word of God advises us in Ephesians 5:15–16,
“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.”
Hence, my assignment in this post is to help provide an understanding of those protocols and their overall purpose so as to prompt you to live wisely by stepping into God’s divine flow & complying with the prophetic decrees set for this fall season.
Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he [or she] may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end — it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay [Habakkuk 2:2–3 ESV]. These were the prophetic words of the LORD spoken unto Habakkuk the Prophet concerning the end of the times. God is intentional about everything He does, and all of creation, in some shape or form, reflects that. Whether we realize it or not, regardless of our desires, we all play a role in fulfilling that vision, including the critters that roam the ground to those that fly in the air. Even the forces of nature must heed what God declares.
According to the Jewish online news publication The Jerusalem Post,
“The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar, meaning that the months are calculated based on the appearance and movement of the moon.”
Every month starts on the first phase of the moon cycle: New Moon. Because of this, the standard Hebrew calendar will have a total number of days ranging from 353–355, depending on the year. Between the regular 365 Gregorian calendar days that most of the world follows and that of the Hebrew, there is a 10–12 day difference. Nevertheless, both calendars typically share the same number of months in a year [i.e., twelve months].
Bear in mind that when determining the first month of every new year, there is a bit of controversy between the Jewish traditions and what the Bible declares. The former considers Tishrei the first month of the year [i.e., the start of fall season] since that is the beginning of the agricultural year. But, the word of God tells us in both Esther 3:7 & Exodus 12:1–2 that the month of Nisan is the first month of every year, and Nisan for both versions of the calendar year is around springtime. Since we go by God’s timetable, the season of autumn falls under the seventh month in the Hebrew calendar, called Tishrei.
The kairos of Tishrei follow the agricultural map, which centers on reaping the harvest sown from the seeds planted in the previous season [i.e., summertime]. The quality of the harvest can either stem from good seeds planted in fertile ground, good seeds planted in infertile ground, or bad seeds in general. Between the first two instances, the former results from stepping into God’s divine flow & fulfilling the protocols laid out in the previous season. People who have complied with those divine orders can expect to reap the blessings God planned to release according to the chronos communicated to those individuals for this season.
On the account of creation in Genesis 2:2 NIV, God rested on the seventh day from His labor in the days prior and thus considered it a holy day [i.e., set apart]. So, in the context of this blog post, Tishrei is symbolic of divine rest, where God’s grace extends throughout the season. In agriculture, harvest season is when the farmers can enjoy the fruits of their labor while stockpiling for the winter months. So, it is also a time to conserve intentionally and wisely, as there is no telling of what lies ahead.
At the same time, we are to honor God with the first fruits of our harvest, whatever that may be. For instance, if it is a business that God put on our heart to build up in the previous seasons, and we are now receiving clients & revenue as a result of our obedience, we honor God by prioritizing Kingdom infrastructure [Matthew 6:33 ESV] in the manner of which the Holy Spirit leads us to do so. Understand that God does not require us to give our first fruits because He needs our resources. He is the Source of every resource on this Earth, so it belongs to Him anyway.
Rather, it is more about His inspection of our hearts from the disease of idolatry. When it is difficult for one to let go of something that they have esteemed in their heart as more important than their relationship with God, that is what the latter considers an idol. Idolatry is the locust of a harvest. Hence, we must be quick & willing to offer our first fruits to God with gladness. Then we will experience at the appointed time this promise Yahweh makes in Malachi 3:10–12 NIV:
“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your field will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
As mentioned before, divine rest is one of the protocols that God gives us the grace to experience after tilling the land He assigned us to till. During this period, God will often step in to sustain us in the areas we need support as we abide by Him by continually seeking His presence. Here is where the psalmist, King David, testifies to the goodness of God. He states in Psalms 23:1–3 ICB,
“The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need. He gives me rest in green pastures. He leads me to calm water. He gives me new strength. For the good of His name, He leads me on paths that are right.”
We get out of order when we try to bring old habits & former mindsets from previous kairos moments into the newness of this kairos season. Thus, it is in our best interest to develop new habits as we renew our minds to experience the fullness of God’s grace that the psalmist describes above. He leads me to calm water. . .He leads me on paths that are right. To lead is indicative of active motion happening from one point to another. Those descriptions inform us that the month of Tishrei represents closed chapters and transitions.
For those who have aligned themselves with the will of God in this season, think it not strange that you have either experienced a shaking in your life, amidst a shaking, or about to experience one. This shaking can be in the form of relationships, where God will cause people you have gotten familiar with to exit your lives as He ushers in new relationships that are more fitting for your next assignment. Expect a lot of movement, whether it is a physical move to a different location, a spiritual move where you are going deeper into the things of God with more insight & revelation, or a mental move where your mindset is getting upgraded to overcome strongholds that have otherwise held you back.
Whenever God turns to the next page of our life, He does so to reveal the more that awaits us. Don’t fight Him on this, and don’t fight the process, either. We will experience delays and perhaps even missed opportunities when we interfere with His methods. Only trust that He got you and only wants the best for you. After all, God has a long-standing track record of replacing expired things with upgrades. That is why it often gets said that God takes away to give, and His replacements will turn out even better than the things that got lost. Our job is to relax and let Him steer us in the direction He desires us to go.
Now, as for those who, in the previous season, planted good seeds in infertile ground, there are at least two scriptures that explain the cause behind the skimpy harvest that you are getting in this season:
I. Matthew 7:6 VOICE:
“Don’t give precious things to dogs. Don’t cast your pearls before swine. If you do, the pigs will trample the pearls with their little pigs’ feet, and then they will turn back and attack you.”
- The seeds that God gives us [i.e., gifts, resources, etc.] to sow into the lives of others is an investment in His word to prosper us when we bless others. The caveat is God’s desire for us to bless those He wants to receive His blessing and not those we want to bless for whatever reason. When we don’t respect the investor’s wishes by committing to the latter, we will experience the scripture above. People who cannot see the value in the seeds God has given us to sow as He does will not have the capacity to nourish what we deposit into their lives because their heart is infertile. Hence, it will get wasted, and we will have nothing to show for it.
II. 2 Corinthians 9:6–7 MSG:
“Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.”
- This scripture is self-explanatory, and it all goes back to the posture of one’s heart. Where the first point focuses on the heart of others, this scripture weighs the motives of our heart and the overall condition of it. God honors when we give in spirit and truth, so much so that He would rather us not give anything if our giving does not come from that pure place within.
Lastly, those with bad seeds have a heart that is infertile from the goodness & love of God. Simply put, these are the people that live outside of God’s will. In the previous season, they have chosen to commit their ways to the cravings of their flesh, which only produce unrighteousness in God’s eyes. Because of that, the harvest they will reap will reflect the spiritual bondage that they are in. When one sows evil, they will reap it at the appointed time. My prayer is that God will give them a heart that is willing to be transformed by His glory and that they will acknowledge the error of their ways by deciding to do right by God & others while there remains light in the world and time to repent.
With all that in mind, we leave you with this quote by Author Tim Kight:
“Don’t get so caught up in the minutes that you miss the moments.”
Know your team, know your season and understand the times. On that note, thank you for your focus. Until next time, ✌🏽Peace.
Notes:
“According to the Holy Bible, JANUARY Is NOT the First Month of the Year and 01st JANUARY Is NOT the First Day of the Year.” THE INVISIBLE LIVING WORD, 1 Jan. 2019, theinvisiblelivingword.wordpress.com/2015/12/29/according-to-the-holy-bible-january-is-not-the-first-month-of-the-year-and-01st-january-is-not-the-first-day-of-the-year.
Chronos Vs. Kairos. 27 Feb. 2023, www.acalltoexcellence.com/chronos-vs-kairos.
“G5550 — Chronos — Strong’s Greek Lexicon (Kjv).” Blue Letter Bible, www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5550/kjv/tr/0-1.
Goldofsky, Siel. “Jewish Months of the Year — the Hebrew Calendar — IvriTalk.” Ivrit Talk, 6 Apr. 2022, www.ivritalk.com/hebrew-calendar-jewish-months
The Jewish Calendar | Calendars. www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-jewish.html.
Jewish Calendar — Hebrew Calendar. www.timeanddate.com/calendar/jewish-calendar.html.
Okemiri, Nkem. “The Mystery of the Seventh Month of the Year.” Nkem Okemiri, June 2023, nkemokemiri.com/the-mystery-of-the-seventh-month
Rosen, Esther. “The Hebrew Month of Tishrei.” Chabad.org, www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2263462/jewish/Tishrei.htm. Accessed 25 Sept. 2023.
