Are you ready for the days of awe and wonder as we enter a new prophetic season?
We are entering a biblically and prophetically significant time on the Hebrew calendar. This is a time of the ending of an old season and the stepping into the new, filled with new assignments, new doors, and new plans from God for our lives on both a personal and corporate level. It's a time for reflection and repentance and to return to the awe of the Lord.
We need a word from God, and we are invited to tune into Heaven's broadcast over our lives and the nations of the earth.
Let's talk about it.
What are the Days of Awe?
Coming into the fall season every year, I always feel an inexplicable sense of awe and wonder. Something just feels different in the atmosphere—and it's more than a temperature change (in fact, we just had the first official day of fall and it was still over 90 degrees here in Georgia.)
I didn't understand why I've felt this way throughout my life until I started to learn about God's appointed times and seasons on the Hebraic calendar.
It all started when God began to speak to me through dreams—beginning with a dream about pomegranates and Rosh Hashanah! (You can read it here and in my new book Prophetic Promises.)
It would make sense that I would feel a sense of awe and wonder leading up to the Days of Awe!
Head of the Year: Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah is the head of the Jewish New Year. It typically falls around September or October every year. It is the 5th of 7 Jewish feasts, known as the Feast of Trumpets. (Check out this great article that talks about how "Jesus is the fulfillment of each of the 7 feasts!")
This year, Rosh Hashanah began at sundown on the evening of Wednesday, October 2, 2024, and ends on the evening of Friday, October 4, 2024.
This day marks the end of the Hebrew calendar year 5784 and the beginning of 5785.
Day of Atonement: Yom Kippur
Rosh Hashanah starts the 10 days of Awe that lead up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement—the holiest day on the Hebrew calendar.
We know that our great King and Messiah, Jesus Christ, fulfilled the day of Atonement when he gave his life for the sins of the world—one final sacrifice to atone for all sins forever.
The Day of Atonement is a time to remember what Christ has accomplished on the Cross, repent, and ask forgiveness for sins as we enter a new year.
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
(This year on the Day of Atonement (October 12) , One Million Women are gathering in Washington D.C. on the National Mall for a powerful prayer event in our nation.)
Thus, the Day of Atonement marks the end of the Days of Awe and sets the stage for a new year.
Let's talk about what we can glean from all of this info!
Reflecting on 5784: The Year of the Door
In the number of year 5784, the number 4 is the Hebrew word dalet, which means "door." Doors are the entryway to transitions that lead us into new rooms of opportunities, relationships, assignments, connections, resources, and more dynamics of our destinies.
While many doors may have opened in this past season, you may fall into the company of those of us who saw doors once open begin to shut.
I don't know about you, but this has been a particularly challenging year for me. I have experienced many open doors shutting in this past season. God has put me through the refiner's fire to purify me and call me deeper to follow him. I have experienced a deeper level of what it means to leave all, pick up my cross, and follow Jesus.
The invitation from Jesus has been, "Will you follow me?"My heart has yielded to say, "Wherever you go, I will go. Where You stay, I will stay ... no matter the cost."
I know that I am not the only one experiencing this deep work of the Spirit of God. The Lord is refining his people in this hour. It hasn't been an easy process, but it has all been with purpose.
He Opens and Shuts Doors
If you have seen many open doors shut over the past year — if you have been pruned, refined, and purified in a deeper level than before— know that this is all part of God's process of preparation. He is preparing you to make you more fruitful.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. John 15:2 ESV
He has shut open doors to place before you one MAIN open door: the door Jesus has set before you. He IS the door. So take heart if this past year has looked much different than what you anticipated. When you submit to the process of following Jesus on the narrow path, many wrong doors of opportunity will shut so you can come to His main doors of destiny for you. He is leading you to an abundant life that can only be found in Him.
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:9-10 NKJV
Along this same vein, there is a famous saying that will lead us into the meaning of this new Jewish year 5785. When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.
Prophetic Insight: Hebraic Year 5785
We are in the decade of the PEY, meaning "mouth" in Hebrew.
We are now in the 5th year of HEY. Let's look at it.
Hey Defined:
Heh ( Hei) (Hey) (ה) is the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Numerical value: 5
Sound: "H"
Meaning: 1. here is 2. to be disturbed 3. behold (Source: Chabad.org.) The Hebrew HEY has several meanings including to behold, revelation, breath of God, a window, and God's grace.
For today's word, I will focus on one aspect highlighted to me: Windows. In part 2, I will share about prophetic insight behind the term "Behold."
As I learned from Rabbi Jason Sobel of Fusion Global, rabbinical scholars describe the opening of the top left of the Hebrew character Hey (ה) as a window.
Let's talk about the prophetic significance of windows in this new season.
A note on the prophetic: I love how God can give us each a unique aspect of what he is saying and doing in this season — including as we prophetically break down the number 5785. We need one another's voices to comfort, encourage, and build up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 14:3.)
When God Opens a Window
You may have heard the famous phrase, "When God shuts a door he opens a window." Upon digging into the origin of this quote, I discovered the popularity of the phrase is often credited to one of my all-time favorite movies, the Sound of Music.
(Spoiler alert: if you've never seen it. Pause, go watch it, and come back to read. Thank me later.)
In the film, Maria, played by the iconic Julie Andrews, desires to become a nun. However, the Reverend Mother tells her she must first be a governess to seven children for several months before she can be reconsidered for the position.
Feeling as though her dreams have been dashed, Maria somehow finds an ounce of hope and courage. She declares, "When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window."
This shut door does in fact lead Maria to a new, unexpected window of opportunity. She steps through a door of destiny when she crosses the threshold of the home of the Von Trapp family. This unexpected and unwanted plot twist in Maria's life leads her to the true desires of her heart. Instead of becoming a nun in the abbey, she becomes the wife of the widowed naval officer and mother of his wonderful family. When God closed a door in her life, he did indeed open a right window of opportunity at the right time.
He will do the same for you, too.
God is in the Detour
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9 NLT
Like Maria, you may have watched a desired door slam shut in this past season.
What if that shut door is leading you to the divine detour you didn't know you needed?
What if God has a plan to get you where you need to be, and certain doors needed to be shut before his new windows for you can open?
If anyone knows about an unfortunate shut door, it's Joseph. He received two dreams from God about his destiny and his family, but it took a pit, Potiphar's house, and a prison before he reached the palace. However, each detour to experienced ultimately led to his destiny and window of opportunity.
No matter how unexpected, daunting, or surprising the detours of this season may seem, God is at the helm. He is turning detours and delays into divine windows of opportunity.
God is saying to his people today, "I am in the DETOUR."
"I have windows of opportunity opening for my people in this hour that they did not see coming. While it may seem sudden and unexpected, I have been planning the route changes from the beginning. I am in the divine detour.
I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ Isaiah 46:10 NIV
Do not stare and wait any longer by the thresholds of doors I have shut in the past season. You need to fix your eyes on Me and behold Me with violent hope so you are ready to recognize and discern the windows of opportunity I am opening. It is time to prepare now for new windows opening. I am calling you to deeper trust and faith in Me before you see the windows appear. Trust I have a plan that will take you by surprise.
Even in the areas of life where it seemed like the enemy of your soul ruined the path you were on, I will bring something new out of the ash and rubble. Even what the enemy has sent against you to harm you and take you out of the race, I will use to catapult you into my plans. I always have the final victory.
With eyes of faith, look for my windows of divine opportunity. Do not be quick to judge by the first appearance of a window of opportunity—it may come out of left field. Don't write off new opportunities at first. Keep calling out to Me for wisdom and discernment, and I will show you the way to go (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Do not be intimidated or afraid of opportunities that seem too big for you. I will help you and give you the favor, strength, and grace needed for what I have for you. Take one step at a time in the new directions I will lead you.
These windows may take faith to open and enter ... but you will be surprised as you BEHOLD my glory working ALL things together for your good ... even in the detours.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV
And to those still recovering the strength and hope in their hearts that felt robbed in this last season.
I hear the Lord say, "I will revive your heart again! I will meet you in places you have been scattered and I will bring you back together (Ezekiel 11:17). You will hope again, for the beautiful plans I have for you are set in motion in delays and detours of this time.
Could it be that you will REJOICE with wild joy when you see my plan for you begin to unfold? When I bring beauty and blooming from the pruning and shut doors from the past season of your life? When I restore you to better than before?
Take heart, when I shut doors, I will open new windows of opportunity for you."
Windows Of Opportunity
I was in a season of transition a few years ago, praying for God to release my next steps, when I had a dream.
I saw a toolbox connected by a string to a window. The toolbox was full of somewhat random supplies that I knew represented my skills in waking life. I used the tools to open the window and climb out of a constricted, small place into a wide-open area.
Through the dream, God showed me he was giving me a window of opportunity–but I needed to partner with him in faith by using the skills he had given me to see that opportunity open to me. Yet, He wasn't going to automatically open it for me–I had to do it myself. And this was his delight as my Father to see me grow in my journey with Him.
Through the dream, God gave me the courage to ask boldly for an internship opportunity and the confidence to know I could handle a new task. I did get the opportunity, and that internship prepared me to have my own ministry one day.
Sometimes God will sovereignly open or shut a door in our lives. Other times, He will burst open a window for us. And yet still, there are times He puts the tools in our hands and asks us to open a window of opportunity ourselves.
In this season, it will be important to recognize good opportunities from the Lord and trust that he will give you what you need to step into a surprising new thing.
Will you prepare for the windows of opportunity that may catch you by surprise in Rosh Hashanah 5785 and 2025?
Walk By Faith, Not By Sight into the Days of Awe
Do do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward. You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For,
“In just a little while,
He who is coming will come and will not delay.
But My righteous one will live by faith;
and if he shrinks back,
I will take no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Hebrews 10:25-39 BSB
As we leave one season and head into another, we don't always get the assurance of clarity—but we are given a greater gift ... The opportunity to trust God on a deeper level.
We are invited into a new road where you will walk by faith and not by sight.
I encourage you to spend time seeking the Lord during the window of these special holy Days of Awe. God wants to speak to you personally about what he is doing in your life in this new season on the horizon!
7 Ways to Prepare During Days of Awe
Go to the secret place.
Find somewhere peaceful to cultivate time with Jesus. Take a drive, get out in nature, return to a place you have built an altar to God and seek him.
Worship and be still in his presence.
Sit with Jesus, journal, and reflect on your past season.
What lessons did you learn?
What are you grateful for?
What areas is God working on in your heart and life?
What prayers did He answer?
What areas still need breakthrough?
Ask God what he is speaking to you about this new year.
Spend time reflecting and repenting for unconfessed sin, and receive God's forgiveness and love, and commit to a change.
Take time for prayer, declarations, and petitions.
Take communion.
Thank God for what he has done and what he has yet to accomplish.
Part 2 Coming soon: Behold: Prepare for a Surprise
What if your shut doors, detours, and divine delays are a divine setup?
What if there is a sudden, "BEHOLD!" coming your way?
In part two, I will share more prophetic insight for Hebrew year 5785.
P.S. Have you gotten my new book, Prophetic Promises, yet? Check it out here! It's all about navigating your adventure to God's promises for your life. I hope it encourages you! All the love,
MARIEL VILLARREAL
About the Author: MARIEL VILLARREAL
is a writer, speaker, and prophetic mentor. Her heart is to encourage this generation with right-now prophetic words that reignite hope during the waiting between a prophetic promise and its fulfillment. Through her ministry, the Embolden Co., she holds seasonal prophetic mentorships, training programs, and retreats to empower people around the world to develop their spiritual gifts and hear God for their lives—so they can bring revival to the nations. Follow her on Instagram here.
Want to support Mariel and the ministry? Become a monthly partner here!
Blog tags: Prophetic, prophetic words, prophetic word Hebrew year 5785, Hebraic calendar, Christian Prophetic ministry, prophetic word of the year, prophetic gift, daily devotional, prophetic words 2024, prophetic message, prophetic word 5785, Prophetic Insight: Windows of Divine Opportunity | Rosh Hashanah and Hebrew Year 5785 | Part 1
Sources:
