The Hebraic month of Cheshvan has arrived. Sukkot is over. But is isn’t really! We still carry the memories and lessons learned at The Feast of Tabernacles inside our hearts. As we enter this 2nd month from Tishrei, and the 8th month from Nisan called Cheshvan we are forever thankful.
Cheshvan is so full of lessons for the heart. I’m hoping to post more than one article on this subject during the following days. In the meantime, looking back shows us what we will carry forward. Then, moving ahead teaches us how God is doing new things. In other words, this 8th month called Cheshvan puts a seal on all God has taught us in the previous year. The 2nd month called Cheshvan gives us the hope of living those things out. It all works together to help us live in accordace with God’s love.
I love Cheshvan, not because it is particularly joyful, but because it teaches me so much.
EXPECTATIONS
Of course, we enter this month on a huge high. This comes from having just experienced our season of joy during Sukkot. We come into this time of “new beginnings” with great expectations. Let’s be careful that our expectations are based on our purpose from YHVH and not the imperfect zeal of our own humanity.
From a human point-of-view, such expectations can break your heart. As a matter of fact I recently read an excellent article which explains these facts very well. Perhaps you might enjoy this article too. Here is the link: https://thethingswedontadmit.wordpress.com/2026/10/10/when-your-expectations-break-your-own-heart/.
SHARING OUR WISDOM
The article I mention above is written by Ashton Brook, a writer I have just discovered. She perfectly describes what I’ve come to expect each year after we return home from attending The Feast of Tabernacles. We begin our ordinary days again. Because of what we have experienced and where we have been, we plan our lives with such high expectations. This all takes place during the time we are entering the Hebraic month of Cheshvan on God’s calendar.
Thus, the month comes completely packaged. Cheshvan comes with all of it’s highs and lows. We joyfully bring home all of the excellent wisdom God revealed to us during Sukkot. However, do we pass what we truly learned on to others within the proper manner which God intended?
Are we using this time of Cheshvan, which is also called a time of “renewal,” in the way God intended? Or, are we making this month into what we hope or expect from our own human desires? After all, this IS the month when God felt compelled to start the flood. It is the same season which once helped the world to start all over again. Did anyone but me think about this fact during the hurricanes which swiftly swept through our lands over the past few days?
In those days of Noah, God had His reasons for sending the flood. There were good reasons for doing so. Let that sink in as you make your new plans for the coming season. Are the plans we are making in sync with Torah? Will they be on-track with what YHVH’s purpose is for our lives?
REFLECTIONS OF A NEW MOON
One of my favorite meditations during Cheshvan is the Hebraic way of thinking about the moon. Each month the moon makes another renewal. That is what our eyes see, but it is actually all an illusion. The light we see which appears to come from the moon is actually sunlight, not moonlight. This is true because the moon doesn’t shine by itself. The moon merely reflects the light of the sun.
Yet, the moon is what God chose for us to mark the passing of our time. Perhaps this is based upon how the moonlight is an example of our relationship with God. Thus, we see this example, that a person’s greatness is not measured by how much light they are able to receive and pass on. It is only measured by how much of God they pass on to the next generation by the way they live each day of their lives.
Isn’t God great with the examples He has built into nature? These things surround us every day, but we often fail to see them.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT TREE FOR NOURISHMENT
I also love the illustration inside the above mentioned article which the author gives of a tree. In relation to this thought, I recall studying the aspects of The Tree of Life at the Feast of Tabernacles this past month. We were given some amazing lessons from The Tree of Life, The Torah, The Word of God. The tree was good and its fruits were excellent.
In her article, Ashton Brook notes, “a tree cannot make someone sit beneath its branches. It can only keep growing.” Such profound words. Let those words sink down into your soul. Are we trying to mold and force others into our concept of what this month should be, or are we allowing God to draw them into the beauty of Cheshvan? Cheshvan is all about what God wants from us, not what we want to give to God. Are we looking at this season correctly?
God invites people to come sit under His “tree” called Torah. Like Eve in the garden, we must be very careful in extending His invitation for this privilege to others. The invitation must originate from Him. It is possible for us to receive the same sad response which Noah received from those who saw him building that ark. They thought he was wasting his time. No one looking on believed that Noah truly heard from God.
LEAVE THE PROOF TO GOD
Of course, time and God proved Noah was on track. This same principle works for us. Noah was LIVING OUT his truth, not preaching it to everyone who passed by. God desires for our lives to be a sermon for others to read and follow. The people of Noah’s day could look at Noah’s actions and know what He was hearing from God. He didn’t have to say a word. This is the type of sermon our lives should be preaching.
Yeshua was the perfect example. He spent very few words talking and much more time living out his message. His example shows us that this passing on of the gospel must be done HIS way, not ours. In the month of Cheshvan, we are often filled to the brim with God’s word. These concepts and words will spill out and run over into our lives without us having to say very much. It is what we DO that gives the witness. As we walk through life, those overflowing words just spill out and prove themselves to others.
GUARD YOUR HEART
Sukkot is such a wonderful and positive experience. Once we arrive home from Sukkot, we often begin to let our guard down. We have been constantly surrounded by the faithful at Sukkot. That constant need to be careful and aware did not exist in that temporary place. Now we are back in the world again. The enemy has permission to try what he wills against us. He never misses an opportunity.
If Adam and Eve could not avoid Satan in the garden, what makes us think he is not capable of entering our homes too? Satan loves to follow us home from the feast. Such times as this present a perfect opportunity for him to catch us off guard. When we don’t remember to be on guard, he quickly comes inside to steal, kill and destroy. Most of us don’t even notice when he creeps up and tries to wipe out all the good we have just experienced.
A PERSONAL EXAMPLE
Personally, I got to experience this up close and personal. Believe me, I’m not bragging. I’m ashamed, but will proclaim the story in hopes of being helpful to others. Just after The Feast of Tabernacles, I had a huge argument with my husband. It was stupid and senseless, so that should have been my first clue. Unfortunately, our rather unpleasant disagreement happened right after a lovely and very holy time of worship at Sukkot. The month of Cheshvan had barely begun. In all of my own humanity, I defended myself to the point of disgrace and despair. When I finally got quiet and took my cares and concerns to Yeshua, He ministered to me in the way that only He can do. He asked me a question. “Who do you really hurt when you become so angry and rebellious? “
I immediately felt ashamed. Hot tears came gushing forth. I knew in hurting my husband’s feelings, I had really hurt Yeshua’s feelings. My actions in defending my own humanity had put my God to public shame and disgrace, not to mention bringing hurt into my husband’s heart. At the feast I had learned a new technique. It was that of approaching my trials and troubles from the perspective of Yeshua’s seat at the right-hand of God’s throne instead of looking at things from a low and worldly perspective. I had resolved to live life on a higher level at all times. How quickly I failed. All I could do was to confess my faults and trust God to heal my heart. Yeshua surely knew the right question to ask as He spoke to me.
A LESSON LEARNED
Every lesson I received from the messages of Sukkot could have been ruined by this one huge, mistaken moment in time. Quickly, I made a sincere apology, both to God and to my husband. I then felt the great relief of knowing I am loved unconditionally. Yet, that hard lesson has lingered in my heart. I prayed for God to help me to be better at living out what I learned at Sukkot. My request was that He would protect me from the deceptions the enemy was throwing my way now that I was back in the old environment and not so constantly aware of how easily deceptions can creep into our time.
I was reminded of this again when I read the message of the article I shared above. Like Yeshua ministering to me in my times of trouble, she too asked a very profound question. “Am I giving the life I’m living the same attention I’ve given the one I imagined?”
Now that is a question that quickly puts things into perspective.
LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD
We all leave The Feast of Tabernacles ready for the perfect world YHVH will one day bring to the earth. Once at home again, we see the reality of how the world still exists today. How can we continue to grow in such a state as this? I loved this author’s concluding thought, “Growth isn’t about having everything figured out, it’s about being willing to look inward, challenge ourselves and do things differently.” Yeshua is always there to help us with this. His careful love appears right on time. God’s Holy Spirit strengthens us when we aren’t strong enough to manage it ourselves. All we have to do is ask.
This is the first lesson God taught me during the early days of Cheshvan. I’m confident more lessons will come. During the water ceremony at Sukkot I chose the word “harvest” to be my goal for this year. Already, God is having to correct my path. Once again, He is teaching me the right way to bear fruit fit for His table. My way is wrong, only His way works properly in the course of my daily life.
LET GOD RIPEN THE FRUIT IN HIS TIME
Sometimes fruit is very immature. It rots, and is not useful for the Kingdom. We only need to keep and use the fruit which God has ripened in it’s proper time and season. All other fruit must be thrown away. This was my season to experience some “ripeness.” I had asked for “harvest.” Now I saw what a bad farmer I was becoming. My guard had already been let down, and the enemy had come to sow tares in my fields. I had to make some quick and important corrections if I expected a good harvest for the upcoming seasons.
Now, I deeply regret the quickness that gave way to sin in my life after such a time of joy and thanksgiving. Yet, I accepted the challenges offered after forgiveness flooded my soul upon confession. As a child of God, my heart is constantly being circumcised for change. My soul has become even more determined to be alert and aware of my own actions and imaginations. I’m learning to pay attention and discern my ways from YHVH’s ways. My plans are to be more accepting, more thoughtful, more forgiving and more in-tuned to God’s perfect will for my days. This is the only way to reach the good harvest my soul earnestly desires. The seeds I sow in Cheshvan will mature one day. My own ways will accomplish nothing good. It is only by leaning on Yeshua’s strength, mercy and righteousness that I will overcome. Every day is a new beginning. With every Cheshvan comes a brand new start.
NEW BEGINNINGS
Thus, the first days of Cheshvan began a planting from me. This planting was one of confession and forgiveness. After all the days of Elul and all the soul searches before Yom Kippur, I slipped up again. God covered me with his coat of love again. This whole process is comparable to the little seeds we plant in the ground each season. We learn how to allow the proper time of growth to begin. At first it appears that nothing is happening. Everything is hidden way down underneath the soil which God provides. The good seeds learn to overcome the surrounding soil. They reach up, pushing forward, ever yearning to reach toward the heavens. So, patiently I trust He is going to teach me how to bring the harvest my heart desires. In the meantime, I must be alert, on guard and patient to follow His every way. I must be watching for when the enemy comes to sow the tares among the wheat. I must protect the grounds where God has planted me.
This is a fresh start, and that is what Cheshvan is all about – new beginnings. During this month of Cheshvan we begin the readings of Torah all over again. The things we missed last year will ring new in our ears if we will only listen and obey.
Christine Williams, another great author I follow, brought forth these additional words about new beginnings. “Beginnings carry expectations, but finishing requires endurance, humility and a heart that remains submitted to Yehudah when the exciting moments of a season have passed.”
STAYING HUMBLE
Both writers from the articles I mention today speak highly of the trait of humility. I realize that is the attitude Yeshua is impressing upon me as we leave the season of joy and arrive back into ordinary time.
Cheshvan is more of a quiet time. It is lived best when filled with humility. True humility, the humility which Yeshua lived out before us, is what it takes to successfully pass on every revelation received from YHVH during Sukkot. Humility is the vehicle which brings what we learned at Sukkot into our everyday practices of daily living.
If you leave humility at the feast and come home without it, you will miss the point of every lesson presented. It matters.
Thus, we must live in a constnat state of humility, just as Noah lived while he was building the Ark. He could not listen to the voices of the world around him. His focus was only on the voice of God. This form of humility requires surrender to our own ways and a willingness to live our lives by only following God’s ways. The practice must happen not only through all of the joyful seasons, but in every season of ordinary life.
OUR PLACE ON THE CALENDAR
I’ll end this article with a quote I found to be profound for this season. Again, it is from Christie Williams who wrote “The Bridal Glory.” She says, “A season has served its purpose when its truth continues to govern us beyond its place on the calendar.” Perhaps this is one of the strongest messages of Cheshvan.
Prayers for your fall season to be full of God’s greatest blessings!
Gail Landgraf
VERSE
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. (Genesis 7:11.)
PRAYER
Father, I pray that each season will bring us further into the purposes You have proclaimed for each of us. Help us to trust Yeshua more for guidance. Teach us more of Torah so that we may be better immitators of You and Your will. Show us how to live into the ordinary days you bless us with as strongly and with as much enthusiasm as we give to the feast days. Please give us discernment to know Your ways over our ways. Amen.
SONG
THE POWER OF YOUR LOVE – Hillsong https://youtu.be/H9_0jiO5ZRM?si=IbINxkspQqsyuFjm
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