A Word

It started with a word… 

Eitan … Eitanim, to be exact.  That is the peculiar way the 7th month of the year is described in 1 Kings 8.  The only time the 7th month receives that name. (FYI: The 7th month includes Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, with Sukkot described as “The Feast.” It lasts seven days, plus one.)

Names for months are used many times in Scripture, and the 7th Month, normally called Tishri, is used more than most. So why Eitanim, that peculiar, unique name? Is it possible Eitanim is not a name? Could it be a description? If so, we start to unravel a truly beautiful mystery, and the story of Sukkot gets very, very, very, very interesting.

Eitan means strength. It also means endurance and perseverance. At its root, it means a river that never runs dry. Thus it is a constantly flowing river, quenching the thirsty during Israel’s dry, hot summer months, in her deserts, bringing life, strength, and endurance.  Essential for life. 

Eitanim is plural for Eitan. An abundance of enduring waters of life.

Let’s translate 1 Kings 8:2 with that understanding.  

“And all the men of Israel gathered to King Solomon in the moon (or month) of ‘Forever Flowing, Living, Enduring Waters,’ in the Feast of the Seventh Month. “ 

Why had they gathered? To consecrate the newly built Temple. The Temple was consecrated at the beginning of Sukkot. The power of the Living God became so strong that nobody could stand or function.  The priests could not perform their roles, and everybody fell flat on their faces.  (Read 1 Kings 8.) When the consecration was finally complete everybody celebrated the feast for seven days. Then they celebrated it for another seven days.  They were so happy nobody wanted to go home.  Smile.  That’s the blessing of Sukkot.

Now, let’s compare that to what Yeshua said in John 7:37-38 

“On the last great day of the Feast, (that’s the 8th day of Sukkot) Yeshua stood and cried, saying, ‘If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He that believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’” Eitanim.  He almost undoubtedly said this during Sukkot’s  Water Libation Ceremony at the Temple. (https://www.jewishroots.net/library/holiday-articles/water_libation_ceremony.html)

So … how do I understand the connection?

When the Temple was being consecrated, the glory from God fell so heavily the people could not stand.  They were immersed in Rivers of Living Water. They were engulfed in Eitanim.

But when we believe in Yeshua, we become fountains of those Living Waters.  We become rivers of those living waters that never run dry. We become Eitanim for others. Through Yeshua and through our faith in Him.

The downpayment of Sukkot’s fulfillment is eternal wetness.

The fulfillment? The complete restructuring of life on earth, heaven fully overflowing into life, as we, the carriers of life in Yeshua, completely overflow into heaven, becoming so enriched, so satiated, so abundantly filled with the Glorious Flow of God’s Spirit, that we dwell fully in heaven on earth. Everlasting strength. Everlasting Eitanim. Wherever we are. Earth or heaven. With all the capacities that might suggest. 

Now, let’s explore just a bit more.

Genesis 8:4, “And the Ark rested in the 7th month, on the 17th day of the month, upon the Mountains of Ararat.”  

Since Sukkot began on the 15th day of the 7th month, God finished cleansing the earth during Sukkot.  

In Summary:

God gave us the waters that destroyed all evil on the earth in Genesis. That death process was completed during Sukkot.

God restored the Temple and its worship during Sukkot, and the Water of Libation ceremony was created by the priests to honor God’s waters of life.

God gave us the waters that birthed true life into all the earth through Yeshua. Yeshua stated that He was the bringer of the waters of life during Sukkot.

Those waters are now supposed to flow out through us, His believers.

We will eventually celebrate Sukkot as the full redemption of mankind, probably at the Bridal Feast, as Revelation 22’s River of Life gushes forth from God’s Throne. 

Hallelujah!

And for now … we remember how God took care of us in the wilderness, how He always takes care of us in the wilderness, how we are never alone, how He is always with us, filling us with His Living Waters, giving us the ability to pour those Living Waters out all over the earth.

WE WILL MEET THIS SATURDAY AT 11AM ON GOD’S MOUNTAIN TO CELEBRATE GOD’S GOODNESS IN OUR LIVES, HIS EVER PRESENT PROVISION, THE WAY HE TAKES CARE OF US, PROVIDES FOR US, GIVES US WHAT WE NEED, CONTINUOUSLY BRINGS US CLOSER AND CLOSER TO HIMSELF,  WHILE HIS WATERS OF LIFE, GIVEN TO US IN YESHUA, POUR THROUGH US INTO OTHERS AND INTO THE WORLD  PLEASE COME JOIN US.  IT MIGHT BE WISE TO BRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHING AND WEAR SOMETHING THAT YOU DON’T MIND GETTING WET, JUST IN CASE ….  SMILE.  WE WILL SEE …  DON’T WORRY … IF YOU DON’T WANT TO GET WET, YOU DON’T HAVE TO … 

NOTE: AT YOM TIRUOT/ROSH HASHANAH, WE CELEBRATED GOD’S MAGNIFICENCE AND HIS ATTRIBUTES.  WE HONORED OUR BRIDEGROOM KING.

DURING THIS SUKKOT CEREMONY, NEXT SATURDAY, WE WILL CELEBRATE WHAT HE HAS GIVEN TO US AS HIS BRIDE.

God bless each and every one of you.

And tomorrow, October 4th, at 1:30, proceeded by a pot-luck lunch at noon, we will participate in Dawn Perry’s “Scrolling: Blueprinting God’s Masterplan for This Season“ 

Become a “Solutionary” in your own life story.

We have each been designed as a creative in an area chosen by God to complete His purpose for our lives.  This was established in His story over you from eternity past.  This is a signature mark of the piece of “Imago Dei” (the Image of God) that we each carry from Elohim – The Creator – Himself. 

Listen as Dawn unwinds and teaches about the Image Bearer of Elohim that exists in you.  This image of Himself in you exists to bring forth the plans He has for you – plans for good and not for evil, plans to give you a future and a hope.  

Begin the creative journey that will bring your creative muddle from chaos to completion borrowing from the template used by God Himself in the first chapter of Genesis.  Those life conflicts, the “dream seeds” you have held in your heart for so long, the “stuck places” all find their clarity as you learn the tenants of Process, Product, and Property that leave you with tangible next steps to create the purpose you were designed to carry out.