The Jewish leap year occurs seven times in a nineteen-year cycle; this year is one of those years; it is known as a “pregnant year.” In a pregnant year, we have two months of Adar, the Festival of Purim taking place in Adar II. Adar I begins tonight at sundown and goes through March 10, 2024.
This is a month to let your joy increase, and we receive double joy because there is double Adar! The first Adar bridges the gap between the lunar and solar calendars, so it is also a month to bridge your spiritual gaps and make the connections with God and others you need to make.
Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Adar is the month the decree was reversed, and the Jews had victory over their enemies! Let joy rise in the face of despair – the enemy wants our eyes on the things that surround us, but when we delight in the Word of God and remember the power of God, we can run over a troop and leap over a wall.
With all that is going on in Israel right now, it is also important for us as Christians to bridge the gap and stand against antisemitism. Many Christians support the nation of Israel but have not yet made the complete connection of the Jewishness of Jesus, Yeshua. He didn’t just come from Israel; he was an observant Jew who followed the Torah and taught others to keep it. To believe in Jesus means we love the Jewish people, we love the Torah of Moses, and we believe in God’s eternal covenant with Israel. It’s time to bridge the gap and eradicate the lie of replacement and fulfillment theology in the church. We are not the new Israel, and God has not cast off Israel.
Adar is a month to shake loose from the things that hold you back and press forward in joy. It is a month, a double month, to discover your identity, and I believe we are in a significant season where Christians are being called to see the true place of the Jewish people in the eyes of God. It’s time for us to unite with God’s people and grab the corner of a garment of a Jew and say, let us go with you, for we know God is with you (Zech. 8:23).
Take a spiritual inventory this month, discover any theological antisemitism you may have been trained in, identify it, repent of it, and rid your mind and heart of it.
Let joy rise in you this month as you connect to the roots of your faith and the Jewishness of Jesus – Refer to him as Yeshua during these two months of Adar and see how your perception changes.
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 