Greetings from Engeltal in the midst of the “Ten Days of Awe”!
There’s a prophetic act going on here in Engeltal as I write this prayer letter to you. The electric company is going along all of their lines, cutting down trees, bushes and branches that cause a potential risk to take away our power in case of a crisis event of a major winter storm or tornado. They are freeing the power supply from potential danger of being cut off. Right now they are clearing the branches that have been blocking the view of the chapel at Bethlehem from my windows. Our chapel is a place of prayer and intimacy with the Lord. I can even see now to the next mountain ridge, extending my horizon.
Beloved, now is the time to cut off everything that blocks our view of the eternal! We must get our priorities in line with the Kingdom of God and shred everything that has been hindering us from seeing, hearing, and participating in His purposes in the earth!
That speaks of this season of the “Ten Days of Awe”: the time between the biblical Feast of Trumpets and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Pastor Joe Sweet of Shekinah Worship Center in Lancaster, California presented a tremendous call to search our hearts during this season. I’ve taken the liberty to transcribe his video as he gave this message from the Lord so well. You may click this link to watch it on YouTube.
Urgent Message of Preparation by Pastor Joe Sweet
Beginning Sunday evening, September 29, is what we call the Feast of Trumpets.The Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about the Feast of Trumpets, but it does say that we’re to blow trumpets before the Lord. It’s to be a Sabbath day, holy unto the Lord. Now when we look at what the trumpet is associated with in the scripture, prior to when this command to have a Feast of Trumpets was given, we see the trumpet, or the ram’s horn blown at Mt. Sinai, where the voice of God spoke and everything shook.
So the trumpet is associated with hearing the voice of God. You can also go into Revelation chapter one and Revelation chapter four, and the trumpet again is associated with the voice of God. John the Beloved said, “I heard a voice speaking with me like a trumpet.” And again in Revelation chapter eight, there are trumpets that are associated with the releasing of God’s judgments that culminate in the last trumpet at the Second Coming of the Lord. So here the trumpet speaks of the voice of God. It speaks of the judgment of God, and it speaks of preparing our hearts to meet the Lord.
So this Feast of Trumpets that begins Sunday evening is the beginning of what we call “Ten Days of Awe,” leading up to the Day of Atonement. So beginning at sundown on October 8, until sundown October 9 is the Day of Atonement. From the Feast of Trumpets until the Day of Atonement—that’s that time traditionally that we prepare our hearts before the Lord, to be judged by the Lord, to be evaluated by the Lord. That’s what these “Ten Days of Awe” are. And so, on the Day of Atonement, we’re evaluated by the Lord.
Now there’s a verse in Ezekiel chapter twenty, verse thirty-seven, where God says, “I will bring you under the rod, and bring you into the bond of the Covenant,” or He said, “I will cause you to pass under the rod.” And by revelation from the Holy Spirit and through a number of prophets who have heard directly from the Lord on this, we have come to know that every year, on the Day of Atonement, God evaluates our lives. He evaluates whether we accomplished what He wanted us to accomplish in the previous year. Did we hear His voice? Did we respond to Him in obedience? Or did we not? So the “Ten Days of Awe” is time to come before the Lord, ask Him to help us review our life, review our walk with God, our relationship with God, and our relationship with others. Have we heard? Have we obeyed? Have we done what He’s wanted us to do?
And if we haven’t, these ten days is the time to repent. It’s time to get it right. Because on the Day of Atonement, all of us, whether you know it or not, all of us will be evaluated by the Lord. And at that time, He will measure out for each one of us what our lot is for the coming year. If we didn’t do what God told us to do, we could be held back. We could “go around the mountain again.”
If we obeyed God, we can be promoted. Maybe some areas of our life may be promoted and other areas may be held back. So this is a very sober time between now and next Tuesday evening, October 8, to really take it serious—to go before the Lord and say, “Lord, search my heart. Have I heard Your Word? Have I responded appropriately?” How is my relationship with the Lord? How is my prayer life? How is my relationship with other people? Do I need to make things right? This is a Grace Period right now.
And over the last several years I have observed in my own life, and in the lives of others, how God really does evaluate us on the Day of Atonement. How we go into the Day of Atonement before the Lord determines how we come out in the following year. We have also observed that this seems to be a time of heightened revelation. It’s been my experience during this season of the “Ten Days of Awe,” the Day of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles that follows: it seems to be a time of heightened revelation, where, if we’re postured right before the Lord, if we’re prayerful and humble, seeking His face, where He releases more revelation of what His will is for us, what His plans are for us.
So these are what we call Holy Days—of course, every day is holy unto the Lord and every day we’re seeking to live upright, and walk as close as we can to the Lord. But more than any other time, it’s a good time to pause, if we haven’t already, and say, “Lord, search my heart.” And if there’s something that we need to make right, let’s make it right before next Tuesday evening. Let’s get right before the Lord. If you need to talk to people and clear things up, do it! If you need to repent, do it! Spend time before the Lord, because God is rich in mercy (Psalm 86:5), He’s rich in mercy to all who call upon Him. Let’s come boldly right now before the Throne of Grace—and God tells us in advance what He’s going to give us. He said He’ll give us mercy, and He’ll give us grace to help in time of need. Let us be able to say, “Lord, let me have clean hands and a pure heart. Let my motives be clean. Let my hands be pure before You.”
And let’s have a great evaluation from the Lord, so that we can have a great 2020. God bless all of you, in Jesus’ name. I am doing just what Pastor Sweet recommends, seeking the Lord in a posture of humility and prayer, asking Him to search my heart. I pray that you will do the same. This is a critical time in the earth for the Bride of Christ to arise in the fullness of the power of the Bridegroom to prepare for the Harvest that is coming in 2020.
The New Year 5780 on the Hebrew calendar opens a new decade: It’s the decade of the mouth. That tells us that we must be fully aware of what comes forth from our mouth, as it proceeds from our hearts. If we find coming out of our mouths sarcasm, cutting remarks, judgments of others without having heard the full story, etc., we must evaluate what is in our hearts. Is there a bitter root? Is there an unhealed wound? This is the time—before Yom Kippur—to ask God to cleanse our hearts so that in the coming decade He can use our mouths to speak His Word. The declaration of His Word, in agreement with Jesus’ intercession before the Father (Hebrews 7:25), is the Spirit of Prophecy (Revelation 19:10), and becomes the agreement of two witnesses to establish His Word in the earth.
With clean hands and pure hearts, let us move into this new year and new decade to accomplish all that God has given us to do in the earth, each one fulfilling his/her destiny for the Glory of the Father and giving Jesus what He paid for with such a great price of love and life.
THANK YOU for standing together with us in this season! We are grateful!
Your handmaiden and servant, Sharon and Philip
P.S. As you are spending time before the Lord at this time, please pray that God will speak all who are appointed to be a part of the team for the Jerusalem Summons, February 29- March 11, 2020, that they will hear, and that they will obey His voice. This is not an ordinary tour. We are to carry a corporate anointing to Jerusalem and to all of Israel that will impact the spiritual atmosphere for the Lord’s eternal purposes. In order to accomplish His purpose with a corporate anointing, the anointing of each person whose life He has called must be present. Please help us pray this through. For more information, see http://globaloutpouring.org/js2020/