Happiest Month of the Year

Do you know that this month, the month of Adar in the Jewish religious calendar is the happiest month of the year? Actually I am not very sensitive to the calendar of the Jews but one sister mentioned recently that the month of Adar started on 24 Feb 2012 and the Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim on the 14th and 15th day of the month of Adar.  She said that the Jewish calendar usually mirrors our spiritual happenings and that got me excited. I started to research more on the month of Adar in the internet.

The month of Adar is the 12th month of the Jewish calendar. (Note that this calendar is different from the civil calendar which celebrates Rosh Hashanah on 29 Sep 2011. The Jewish calendar is like our Chinese' lunar calendar.) This month is the last winter month before summer. It is the happiest month of the year because it was the month that the evil Haman was overturned.

In Esther 9, Haman persuaded the king to pass a decree for all the Jews to be executed. However God supernaturally intervened to save the Jews through Esther and the decree was overturned. Instead, Haman and his ten sons and all the enemies of the Jews were executed on the 13th day of the month of Adar. Hence on the 14th day of the month the Jews rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

Until today the Jews still celebrate this day, the Feast of Purim as a holiday, with feasting and gladness and for sending presents to one another. This reminds me of Nehemiah 8:10 when Nehemiah told the Jews to eat choice food and drink sweet drinks, to send portions to those for whom had nothing and to rejoice greatly for the joy of the Lord is their strength. 

Adar is also 'strength' in Hebrew. It's a month of good fortune for the Jews. The Feast of Purim commemorates the turnaround of the Jews' apparent bad fortune to good. When Adar comes, they enter into joy. The festival of Purim (which will happen on 8 Mar 2012) marks the highest point of joy of the whole year. Joy breaks through all barriers.

The joy of Adar is also what makes the month of Adar the 'pregnant' month of the year. It is interesting to note that when there is a leap year, there is an additional month of Adar, called Adar II and the Jews celebrate the Feast of Purim in Adar II. In the cycle of the Jewish calendar, 7 out of 19 years are 'leap years', pregnant with an additional month of Adar. This year happens to be a leap year as well. This is good news to me...

With every month of the year, the Jews also attribute a certain Hebrew letter to it. This month of Adar has the Hebrew letter 'kuf' which is the symbol of laughter. Laughter is the expression of unbounded joy, the joy of witnessing light come out from darkness. The epitome of laughter in the scriptures is that of Sarah's laughter at the birth of Isaac. Barrenness is like darkness. Fertility is like light. God turned barrenness into fertility and fruit-bearing. For Sarah, the fear of not being able to conceive gave way to laughter when she heard what God was going to do in her old age.

Indeed I experienced a parallel in this month. A joy that was inexpressible, the laughter and the hope of a future pregnant with God's overflowing goodness. I was never so at peace as I did this month for I know that my time is here. This month also coincides with the passing of winter and the arrival of summer. I have entered into a new season, a season of fruit-bearing, a season of harvest. I already started to see the manifestations of God's promises. He is doing a new thing in my life which I will share more in time to come. All glory to Jesus!