AdarII: The Month of Celebration, Happiness & Random Acts of Kindness

Stabilizer In The Storm

by Meaghan Spies

Adar II 

Exodus 10:1-2 Now the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done among them, that you may know that I Am the Lord."

Let us continue to study the prophecy the Lord gave me for the month of Adar for 2022, or 5782, on the Hebrew Calendar.

Adar, An Unusual Month 

The month of Adar is a very interesting and unusual month on the Hebrew Calendar. In a Hebrew Leap Year, such as this year, 5782/2022, an extra month of Adar is added to ensure that God's commandment that Pesach falls in spring is observed annually. In the Bible, on the Spiritual Calendar, Adar is the twelfth and final month of the year, whereas on the Civil Calendar Adar is the sixth month of the year. In this Leap Year, which is also a Shm'ta Year, a year of release and rest in the Lord, Adar is both the sixth and the seventh months of the year. 

The word Adar stems from the Akkadian word adaru, taken from the word adir which denotes strength and power. According to Jewish tradition, Adar is a month of celebration and happiness, with the Talmud noting that, "When Adar arrives, we increase our joy!" The month of Adar stands as a yearly reminder to celebrate the fact that God gives strength and power to His people to overcome the plans of those who hate them and of the trauma's life can bring. Adar is also marked by acts of kindness so we can be most like our God who is full of mercy and kindness. Adar is a time to welcome a season of miracles for a  nation or in individual lives.

A Month of Celebration and Happiness

✻ Adar is most famous for the Purim Festival recorded in the Book of Esther when Haman's plan to destroy the Jewish nation was foiled by Queen Esther's wisdom and God's Divine Intervention. Haman had decided to hold a lottery to determine when his plan for the annihilation of the Jews would occur. When he understood that, according to tradition, Moses was born on the 7th of Adar he laughed and thought it an appropriate date to execute his plan on people he hated. But little did he know that Moses was also born on the 7th of Adar! God showed he was God by turning Haman's nefarious plans into good for His people, Israel, on the day of the birth and death of their greatest leader. The month of Adar, the final month of the year, is recorded as the time when the nation was saved. (Read the Book of Esther this month to get the full story.)

Purim is still observed in remembrance of what God and Queen Esther had done. The festival on the 14th Day of the month of Adar is marked by a festive meal, the reading of the events that brought them so much joy in the Book of Esther, and acts of kindness and charity, or the sending of gifts especially food, to family, friends, widows, orphans, the elderly and to others in need so they can share in their joy.

✻ Adar also marks the time of the rededication of the Temple at Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. (Take time to read about these events in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.) Having their Spiritual Home rebuilt and restored was a season of great joy and miracles to the nation. 

✻ Adar was also the last month Israel spent in Egypt before journeying to the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey God promised Abraham He would give as an inheritance to his seed. That was the month the Plague of the Death of the First-Born was executed by the Destroyer, in which all the first-born sons of both people and animal died but the children of Israel were spared because they obeyed God's commandment to put the blood of the lamb that was slain on the doorposts of their homes. God then gave His people the Beginning of Months, a brand new, fresh beginning on their journey of life.

Adar II

What is interesting to note is that according to the rabbi's, The Ten Plagues played out over a period of ten months, with Pharaoh finally setting the covenant people of God free in the month of Nissan in the 13th century BCE, a day after the last day of the month of Adar. Adar can thus be seen as a month of opening to even greater rejoicing and hope for a good future.  God instructed Moses to teach the people to remember that time period when He set them free from the bitterness and cruelty of slavery by rehearsing in the ears of generations to come all of the mighty things He had done among them, that they may know that He is the Lord. 

We should take time often to also rehearse in our ears the great and mighty works of God to ourselves, in the ears of our children and to those we meet. Thus we will constantly be reminded that God is still Lord over all; that He did and still does great things among the people of the earth, and that we can put our trust in Him to see us through any difficulty or trouble that comes our way; to give us a hope and a good future.

When we think of Adar, the month of March, let it activate the memory of how great and how kind our God is to those He loves, and who love Him in return with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. After all, He promised that all things work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Do not wait for Adar, though, in order to thank God for working miracles in your life. Celebrate His goodness and kindness toward you and your family daily. Perform acts of kindness towards others on a regular basis. Showing God just how grateful you are for His mighty works in your life will be an open door for Him to strengthen and empower you to overcome other obstacles that will come your way.

Meaghan Spies © 2022