Twice a year the Jewish people celebrate God's deliverance of His people--during Purim and Passover. Purim is celebrated one month before Passover and occurs on the 14th day of the last month of the year. Approximately every three years there is a Jewish leap year where four more weeks are added to the calendar at the end of the year. The last month on the Jewish calendar is Adar; during a leap year there is Adar I and Adar II. Purim is celebrated in Adar II so that there is only 30 days between Purim and Passover.
The leap year is added to the Jewish calendar to be sure that their lunar months stay in sync with the solar calendar. I find it interesting that this year is a leap year on both our Roman calendar and the Hebrew calendar. It seems so right to me that the year of Jubilee would have within it these two leap years. You see, the month of Adar is known as one of great joy and celebration. This is a time when God showed His people His miracles and power to set them free from captivity and to bless them. The literal interpretation of the Jewish leap year or Shanah me'uberet is "pregnant year"--pregnant with joy. The name Adar is related to the Hebrew word "adir" which means strength and power. Remember that Jubilee is a year of freedom, redemption and restoration. The Lord loves to give us a double portion!
Psalm 28:7 seems like such a perfect verse for the months of Adar: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song." The Lord wants us to finish out this year well and leap into our New Year ready to receive His next cycle of blessing for our lives. We cannot allow the enemy of our souls to interfere with God's plans. He would like to plant fear in us so that we will not move into the fullness of everything that God has for us. We must develop our strategy to battle this anti-Christ spirit. May I suggest that the weapon of our warfare should be worship of the Lord for His intention is to bless us and move us into the fullness of His plan for our lives? If we stay aligned with God we will move from blessing to blessing.
The constellation Pisces (fish) is associated with the month of Adar and is a sign of blessing and fruitfulness to the Jewish people. Is it not interesting that Jesus told Peter to throw his fishing line into the water to pull up a fish and that he found a four-drachma coin to pay the temple tax for both of them? (Matthew 17:27) This final month is also connected to the tribe Naphtali, one of the rear guard tribes. The characteristics of Naphtali as prophetically spoken over him fit well with this month. Jacob said to his son, "Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words." (Genesis 49:21-NKJV) When Moses gave his final blessing to Naphtali he told him that he was "abounding with the favor of the Lord and is full of His blessing." (Deuteronomy 33:23)
The Scripture in Habakkuk 3:19 is linked to Naphtali. "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights." Even in the midst of difficulties, the Lord will be our strength and give us the ability to leap on the high places. In this year and this season I believe that God wants us to leap into the fullness of everything He has for us. We must speak God's plans and purposes over our lives and rejoice in the blessings He has for us.
Joan E. Mathias