THE KING IS IN THE FIELD - The Month of Elul

The Month of Repentance

THE KING IS IN THE FIELD

– HAMELECH BASHEDA - המלך בשדה 

Ecclesiastes 5:9 - ” Moreover, the profit of the earth is for all: the king [himself] is served by the field.”

Judaism teaches that the month of Elul is an auspicious opportunity to draw closer to God. Well, it will be potentially auspicious if you spend the month in repentance and refection. In Fact, the shofar is sounded every morning at the Shacharit prayer service, calling us to make teshuva (repent) and return to HaShem!

The origins of Elul as a month of special Divine grace and mercy go back to the time of Moses over three thousand years ago during the first year after the Israelites were redeemed from the Egyptian servitude. Fifty days after leaving Egypt, they stood at the Mountain of Revelation to receive the Torah. After hearing the Words, with one voice they responded: “כל אשר-דבר יהוה נעשה  - ko lasher dibeir Adonai, na’aseh’ -   “Everything that ADONAI has spoken, we will do” (Exodus 19:8)

And then, just forty days later, while Moshe was still on the top of the mountain before HaShem, they violated that special relationship by worshipping a golden calf. Moses was so irate that He smashed the original stone tablets which had the ten commandments written on them “by the finger of God”. He stayed a further forty days on the mountain during which time, by way of sincere and heartfelt intercession, he obtained God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the people of Israel. Moshe then returned to the mountain on the first day of Elul with another set of tablets that Moses himself had prepared, for God to inscribe the commandments again.

Ever since that incident, the month of Elul serves potentially as a month of Divine mercy and forgiveness. And, when one considers that from the first day of Elul until Yom Kippur is exactly forty days, it takes on additional significance because, in biblical typology, forty is symbolic of a period of preparation.

The Hasidic expression, “The King is in the field” (המלך בשדה - Hamelech

 ba’sadeh), is often used when describing the month of Elul, a month of repentance and mercy in which there is possibly, an added nearness between God and His set-apart people. What is the meaning of this imagery of a king in the field, and what is its significance?

This idea was originally expressed by Rabbi Shne’ur Zalman of Liadi, better known as the “Alter Rebbe,” the founding spiritual leader of Chabad-Lubavitch, who explained the reason for this special closeness during the month of Elul:

“It is comparable to a king who returns to the city, and when he passes through the fields on his way to the palace, anyone who wishes may get close and greet him as he passes through the fields. This is important, because once he is in his palace, entry is only possible to those with special permission. So too, during the month of Elul, all go out into the field to greet the King as he passes through.”

On the one hand, Elul has an apparent disadvantage: it is a month of great concern and trepidation in which “even the fish of the sea tremble” in anticipation of the coming Days of Awe (the ten day period between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, also known as Aseret Yemei Teshuva – the Ten Days of Turning and Returning i.e. repentance). But, these feelings of apprehension can be transformed into an advantage and opportunity, when Elul is perceived as a month in which great closeness between God and His creation prevails.

The concept of “The King is in the field” makes it possible for us to approach Him and draw nearer to Him, and we all know that “love covers all transgressions” [Prov. 10:12]. Or as Shimon articulated in 1 Peter 4:8, “love covers a multitude of sins”.

When the King sits aloof on His throne, similar to a human king in his palace, one has limited access only, and anyone wishing to approach must pass through various gates and undergo numerous checks in order to be allowed entry. Only if the king extends his golden sceptre, can you approach without the fear of death (the story of Queen Esther).

The theme that permeates the month of Elul is that a disadvantaged time may be transformed into an opportunity:

Joel 2:12-14

“Yet even now” — it is a declaration of ADONAI—“turn to Me with all your heart,with fasting, weeping and lamenting.” ¹³ Rend your heart, not your garments, and turn to ADONAI, your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abundant in mercy, and relenting about the calamity due. ¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent, and may leave a blessing behind Him —so there may be a grain offering and a drink offering for ADONAI, your God.

The ability to understand the secret embedded in that which is flawed and imperfect as a potential source of advantage, enables one to accept human life as it comes — with all its fluctuations and constant changes, with the firm belief that God is Infinite and Omnipresent even in what seems to be lacking and disadvantaged. In that sense, God is, indeed, “in the field.”

Rebbe Nachman of Breslev wrote that it is best to turn all thoughts and philosophies into prayers. In that spirit, “God, please let me know how to transform the disadvantages and imperfections of my life into advantages and opportunities, and a gate through which I can pass to become closer to You.” “My heart says of you, ‘Seek His face!’  Your face, Lord, I will seek.”  (Psalm 27:8)

It is especially during this forty day period that culminates in Yom Kippur that we appropriate King David’s prayer found in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Examine me, and know my anxious thoughts, ²⁴ and see if there be any offensive way within me, and lead me in the way everlasting”.

IT IS THE PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON

This is the month in which we are, in a sense, welcomed back as being children of God; we are experiencing a rendezvous with the Lord of the Universe. The key is our willingness to make teshuva and take responsibility for all that we have said and thought, even those ugly things that are below the threshold of our recall.  

The parable of the prodigal son should be read together with the two preceding parables, the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin. All three end in celebration because there is joy in God’s heart and heaven as sinners repent. 

HaShem takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, nor does He find pleasure in people being separated from Him. ^“Or do you belittle the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience—not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)

There were multiple times we see Yeshua grieving when people don’t respond to God’s love. However, in this parable, we see that when just one person repents, it brings God great joy.

The first two parables, The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin demonstrate that God is searching for and pursuing the lost. ADONAI looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. (Psalms 14:2)

The Prodigal Son illustrates our role in responding to HaShem chasing after us.  

Luke 15:11-24

¹¹ Then Yeshua said, “A certain man had two sons, ¹² and the younger of them said to the father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that comes to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them.¹³ “Not many days later, the younger son gathered everything and traveled to a far country, and there he squandered his inheritance on wild living. ¹⁴ Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine came against that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he was longing to fill up on the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one was giving him any.¹⁷ “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food overflowing, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸ I’ll get up and go to my father, and I’ll say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your presence. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired workers.²⁰ “And he got up and went to his own father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and felt compassion. He ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. ²¹ Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your presence. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it! Let’s celebrate with a feast! ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and has come back to life—he was lost and is found!’ Then they began to celebrate.

The younger son, in his arrogance and pride, squandered his inheritance. He did nothing to earn it; it was his father who had worked and saved all his life, caring for his family. But, in his selfishness, the son did not consider this at all. Look at his attitude. The younger son essentially said ““Give me my inheritance now. Why should I wait any longer for that which is already mine to do with it as I want”.

He is full of rebellion and lacks the wisdom, responsibility and accountability that comes with a free gift! He demonstrates a complete lack of respect for his father and for his entire family. Often, in the ways of HaShem, He allows us to hit rock bottom and come to an end of ourselves. It is only then, that we come to our senses.

¹⁶ And he was longing to fill up on the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one was giving him any. ¹⁷ “But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food overflowing, but here I am dying of hunger!

Think about this. A pig was an unclean thing and yet, here he was, living among pigs! What Jewish boy would ever behave like this? Swine was considered unclean in Jewish law, so this work would’ve been deemed unacceptable. Yet there he is, living among the pigs. This is the picture of squandering every good thing, but he got what he wanted: freedom of the will. 

WE MUST SUBMIT OUR WILL TO GOD’S WILL! “And whoever does not take up his cross and follow after Me isn’t worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:38).

Coming to your sense, is the first step in making teshuvah. It is like an addict. You have to desire to be freed from addiction before you can get free! “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” Luke 15:18-19

The Bible says God loves a broken and contrite heart. He won’t despise that, because a broken heart that’s submissive to God, can be transformed into becoming a vessel of honour, useful in our Master’s Hands (2 Timothy 2:21).

The father saw him, and knew that he had returned (made teshuva) and therefore, the father had compassion, and felt the pain and brokenness of his son. The father ran to him, hugged and kissed him. In the Greek, it’s a tense that denotes a continuous action. That’s the picture of God the Father kissing the penitent sinner on the head. The father rallied his servants for a celebration. He gave his son a new position with a ring, a robe, and sandals. There are two words for this action: 

• Mercy: He didn’t get what he deserved. 

• Grace: He received what he did not earn. 

The speech the Prodigal Son prepared was pointed at earning his reconciliation, but he experienced the mercy and grace of the Father. Instead of a slave, he was restored to his family as a son! This echoes Joseph’s ascension from being a prisoner, to becoming second-in-command in Egypt.  “Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph. So they quickly fetched him from the pit. He shaved, changed his clothes, and came to Pharaoh” (Genesis 41:14).

The life-changing message of the Gospels is that when we feel far from God, He is never far from us. The moment we make teshuva and turn back toward Him, He runs out to meet us. The moment we humble ourselves in response to our sin, he exalts us, calls us his child, and throws a party in our honour.

God’s desire is that we would linger in the revelation of the aftermath of finished work of the Cross! THE KING IS IN THE FIELD! Romans 6:4 states that if we identify with Him in His death, burial and resurrection, then we have been raised up into newness of life. That’s God’s promise and variations of the richness of this promise engulfs us, when we choose to draw nearer to Him, as we encounter our King Messiah in the field.

Take time in this season to seek out the King while He is in the field. It is a most advantageous and auspicious time to encounter Him. The month of Elul is a strategic period of grace to return to HaShem with your whole heart!

Run toward God with all humility and allow your heart to be full of joy and peace, as He exalts you. Humble yourself in light of His majesty and allow him to pour out a joy over you like you have never felt before. The potential for your cup to runneth over is intense.

God has every reason to condemn you, but out of His overwhelming love, He has chosen to call you his beloved child. You are the prodigal son who is returning to His Father! DON’T DELAY.

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.'”

CARPE DIEM – SEIZE THE MOMENT! THE KING IS IN THE FIELD!