We have entered the month of Elul on God’s calendar, which proceeds the High Holy Days. Every day during Elul and the Ten Days of Awe is noted by the blowing of the shofar to awaken people from spiritual slumber. How can the shofar (rams horn trumpet) awaken people spiritually? Jeremiah 6:15-18 tells us that Israel stood at a crossroads and needed to look for the ancient paths, but they wouldn’t take it; they heard the shofar’s sound but wouldn’t heed it.
Before we become quick to judge, we should remember the times we have not heeded the Word of God in our own lives. As God has given us grace, we should extend grace as we read the stories of God’s chosen people.
Elul is a great picture of grace. Before we enter the new year on God’s calendar, and He makes decisions for the coming year, God, in His grace, says, return unto Me. For forty days, we hear the shofar declaring to repent, return, give alms, and pray.
Remember Jesus’s words to the church at Ephesus? “I know what you have been doing, how hard you have worked, how you have persevered, and how you can’t stand wicked people; so you tested those who call themselves emissaries but aren’t — and you found them to be liars. 3 You are persevering, and you have suffered for my sake without growing weary. 4 But I have this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. 5 Therefore, remember where you were before you fell, turn from this sin, and do what you used to do before. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your menorah from its place — if you don’t turn from your sin!” (Revelation 2:2-5 CJB).
Jesus gave messages to six other churches in chapters two and three, and they all give us a picture of the month we entered. No matter what good we may have done, we still need to inspect ourselves and get right with the Lord so that we are not judged harshly when we enter the High Holy Days.
Before we continue, I want to answer a question on every Christian’s mind: am I teaching salvation by works? No, I am teaching that our salvation leads to good works, and we will be judged according to our works1.
My prayer is that each of us takes advantage of the appointed time during this month to examine ourselves and prepare our hearts for the High Holy Days that are to come. In Matthew chapters twenty-four and twenty-five, Jesus talks about the end of days. In chapter twenty-five, He gives us a picture of the month of Elul with the parable of the virgins and talents.
All ten virgins were virgins; they were all invited to the banquet. Each individual in the parable of the talents worked for the same man. This is key to understanding what Jesus is saying; there will be those who think they are in but are not. In these parables, which I encourage you to read, we have a wake-up call and instruction to do good works. I want to focus on the later portion of this chapter.
Matthew 25:31-46 CJB “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, accompanied by all the angels, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. 33 The ‘sheep’ he will place at his right hand and the ‘goats’ at his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you made me your guest, 36 I needed clothes and you provided them, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the people who have done what God wants will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and make you our guest, or needing clothes and provide them? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 The King will say to them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you did these things for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did them for me!’ 41 “Then he will also speak to those on his left, saying, ‘Get away from me, you who are cursed! Go off into the fire prepared for the Adversary and his angels! 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 a stranger and you did not welcome me, needing clothes and you did not give them to me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, needing clothes, sick or in prison, and not take care of you?’ 45 And he will answer them, ‘Yes! I tell you that whenever you refused to do it for the least important of these people, you refused to do it for me!’ 46 They will go off to eternal punishment, but those who have done what God wants will go to eternal life.”
This is what happens at the end of days, and because we don’t know what year that will take place, every year during Elul, we need to be wise and take inventory, repent, and do our first works. If the Lord doesn’t return, the things we did during Elul to set things right set the course for the following year.
God is a God of seasons and timing; that’s why He made the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:14). When we align ourselves with God’s calendar and God’s ways, we open the way for blessing. That doesn’t mean we won’t face trials; James says the trying of our faith produces patience (1:2-8). When we walk in the ways of God, we are able to respond to trials in the same way Joseph and Job did, with trust in God.
Allow this season of preparation to bring you to a place of closeness with God. Elul is an acronym for “I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine.” In Judaism, it is the time when the King is in the field. God is God all the time, but there are special seasons in which God wants us to draw near to Him; Elul is one of those seasons; come to the Father this month.
- Rev. 2:23, Jer. 21:14, 1 Pt. 1;17, Matt. 16:27, Psa. 62:12
For more information on the Hebrew Calendar, visit chabad.org and consult A Time to Advance: Understanding the Significance of the Hebrew Tribes and Months by Chuck D. Pierce with Robert and Linda Heidler.
Casey D. Bell 
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