THE KING IS IN THE FIELDS

by Dr. Jürgen Bühler, President of ICEJ

Biblical significance of the month of Elul (5786)

The month of Elul is a special season in the Jewish calendar, a time when the Jewish people begin to prepare their hearts for the great biblical holidays that lie ahead. It is a month associated with drawing closer to God, repentance, forgiveness, and preparation to meet Him. Elul is also associated in Jewish tradition with the words of Song of Solomon 6:3, “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” It is a beautiful picture of the loving relationship between God and His people.

Therefore, Elul is more than just a month of warm feelings, love, happiness, and even the celebration of weddings. It is an invitation to return to the Lord, to draw close to Him again, and to allow Him to search our hearts.

The King is in the Fields

One of the well-known rabbinic expressions associated with Elul is that “The king is in the fields.” The imagery is simple. Throughout the year, the king would reside in his palace, surrounded by protocol and restrictions. Ordinary people could not simply enter his royal chambers whenever they pleased.

But during Elul, the rabbis use the image of the king leaving his palace and coming into the fields, where people can approach him.

There is no biblical statement that God literally follows such a practice during the month of Elul. However, the image provides a wonderful spiritual reminder. The king is not distant from us. He invites us to draw close. For the believer, this reality is even greater. Through Yeshua, we have access to the presence of God. The book of Hebrews reminds us that we can approach the throne of grace because of what the Messiah has accomplished for us.

The challenge is not that the King is absent. The challenge is that we are often too busy to look for him. We live in a generation with more communication tools than any previous generation. We have email, instant messaging, social media, and countless ways to communicate with people around the world. Yet it is strange that we can become busier than ever. Our schedules become full. Our activities multiply. We become busy with the things of daily life, and sometimes we fail to recognize that the King is waiting for us.

That is why Elul provides such an important spiritual reminder: take time to meet the King. Return to your first love.

Ellul's message is therefore not simply: "try harder." It is an invitation to return to God in love. Perhaps some believers need to hear this very simply today: go back to your first love.

There are times in our walk with God when our passion becomes weak, when prayer becomes routine, when Scripture becomes familiar rather than precious, and when ministry becomes an activity without intimacy. God is calling us back.

He invites us into His presence and into a deeper relationship with Him. Because of Yeshua, we don't have to stay out. Through His blood, we have access to the throne room of God.

This should be the desire of our hearts: “Lord, I want to know You again. I want to draw close to You. Restore the love and passion I had at the beginning.”

Elul reminds us that the King is in the field. He invites us to meet Him.

The Shofar is a Call to Repentance.

But there is another important feature of Elul. Starting this month, the shofar is heard every morning in many Jewish communities in Israel.

The sound of the shofar is not just a beautiful Jewish tradition. It carries a message. It is a call to wake up, to listen, to examine our lives, and to repent.

The book of Joel gives us a powerful biblical picture of this:

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming.”

Joel repeatedly calls the people to repentance before the coming day of the Lord. Joel 2:15 (ESV) says:

“Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly.”

The entire congregation is called into the presence of God. The elders, the children, even the infants are gathered together. The message is clear: when God calls His people to repentance, no one is excluded.

That is why the daily shofar of Elul paints such a powerful picture of the Church today. We may not have a physical shofar, but there should be a spiritual sound of repentance coming from our lives.

We should constantly ask ourselves:

Lord, what needs to change in me?

What have I allowed into my life that doesn’t belong there?

What hidden sins have I overlooked?

What attitudes, habits, compromises, or distractions are keeping me from walking closely with You?

Psalm 19 provides us with a picture of prayer in which the psalmist asks God to reveal to us what is hidden within us.

Repentance is not turning away from the God of love. It is turning toward Him.

When we walk with the Bridegroom and ask Him to show us what needs to change, He faithfully puts His finger on the things we need to deal with. And when He does so, it is not to destroy us, but to cleanse us and renew us.

The month of repentance

For this reason, Elul is traditionally considered a month of repentance. Jewish communities emphasize prayers of forgiveness and mercy, known as selichot, asking God to forgive them and reveal what is wrong in their lives.

There is something deeply meaningful about dedicating an entire month to preparing the heart. Imagine what would happen if the Church took this principle seriously, not as a ritual, but as a true spiritual discipline. Imagine believers taking time each day to ask the Holy Spirit to examine their hearts. Imagine prayer meetings becoming places where people not only ask God to change their circumstances, but first ask Him to change them.

This is especially important for those who lead prayer meetings. When we make repentance the real focus, we prepare the way for a deeper work of the Holy Spirit. We are, in a sense, “cleaning house.” And when the house is cleaned, there is room for God’s presence to work more deeply among His people.

Preparing for the Day of Awe

There is another reason why Elul is significant. It leads to the great biblical days that follow.

About a month after the beginning of Elul comes Rosh Hashanah, or the biblical Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets. Ten days later comes Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

According to the biblical pattern, Elul is therefore a season of preparation. The people drew near to God. They examined their lives. They repented. They sought forgiveness. They prepared for the coming holy days.

Yom Kippur takes us back to the time when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for the people.

For believers in Jesus, access to God is open to us constantly through Yeshua. We do not have to wait for a specific day to enter into God’s presence. However, the spiritual principle remains: we are to live prepared to meet God.

The prophetic hope associated with these biblical feasts is also significant. The Messianic community in Israel continues to look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises regarding Israel. The Scriptures speak of a future day when Israel will recognize the One whom He pierced, and when cleansing and forgiveness will come. Zechariah speaks of a fountain opened for the cleansing of sins.

Paul also speaks of God’s purposes for Israel and the salvation that will ultimately come. We do not know exactly when these prophetic events will occur. But we do know that God is faithful to his promises.

Preparation for Greater Things to Come

And after Yom Kippur comes the Feast of Tabernacles, Sukkot, one of the great feasts of worship in Israel. It points to the harvest and, in the hope of many believers in Israel, to the coming of Jesus, his millennial reign, and the kingdom of God on earth.

These are not insignificant events. They remind us that God’s purposes include Israel, the nations, the harvest, the kingdom, and, ultimately, the fulfillment of His redemptive purposes on earth.

And all of this is preceded by a season of repentance. This should make us pay attention.

The shofar of Elul is therefore more than a sound in the streets of Jerusalem. It can become a spiritual image for every believer. Let the shofar sound in your life. You may not have a physical shofar. But you can cry out to the Lord.

You can say, “Lord, search my heart. Show me what needs to change. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Draw me closer to You.”

Let this be a season of returning to your first love.

Let this be a season of purification.

Let this be a season of drawing closer to the King.

Because the King is in the fields.

He is waiting for you.

And He is not just calling you to repentance. He is calling you to relationship. He is your Beloved and He is inviting you to begin anew with Him.

May this season prepare us for all that God has before us and for a deeper work of the Holy Spirit, for greater faithfulness in prayer, for a harvest among the nations, and ultimately for the fulfillment of His purposes in Israel and throughout the world.

Let the shofar sound.

Let the Church awaken.

Let every heart return to the King.

And let our confession be again:

“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.”