The Bible is full of timelines and calendars. It makes God happy to set dates and make appointments, called “moedims” by the Jews. There are Hebrew holidays with great prophetic meaning and then of course there is the simplicity of the calendar.
The Bible also presents warnings about the sobering responsibility of knowing God’s timing. Jesus preached on the accountability of prophetic timing more than any other Bible figure. Examples of Jesus’ warning about prophetic timing include:
>> The parable of the five foolish virgins. (Matt. 25 1:13)
>> The thief in the night announcement. (Matt. 24:43)
>> He scolded the religious leaders for not knowing the sign of the times. (Matt. 16:3)
>> He predicted and mourned the destruction of Jerusalem because they “missed their day of visitation.” (Luke 19:44)
>> The coming of the Son of man would be like the days of Noah and they would be planning other events not knowing the timing of the flood. (Matt. 24:39)
Since God spoke all things into existence, He has trusted His children to steward His kingdom in the created realms of time, space and matter. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning (time) God created the heavens (space) and the Earth (matter).” Now the 31,101 verses that follow in your Bible, can be learned, lived and demonstrated within those three different playgrounds. They are in perfect continuum together and you can’t have one without the existence of the other two. Moses wrote this on an animal-skin canvas at least 3,300 years before Einstein’s general theory of relativity was published. It can be summed up in just 14 words: “Space-time tells matter how to move—matter tells space-time how to curve.” Key above all else, is that it is heaven’s timing that tells us how to move.
In Hebrew, every letter is a number and every number is actually a prophetic symbol. As a guy who loves numbers and the voice of God through His mathematical lingo, I can tell you the prophetic word for the new year 5784 on the Hebrew calendar blows my mind. 5784 carries an emphasis on the eight and the four. This 84th year is still in the decade of the Pey which is the symbol of the mouth.
It will be a decade of the breath of God and our words being full of powerful declarations. As soon as we entered this supernatural decade, you will remember the entire world was told to mask up and cover our mouths. Cities burned and rioters looted to the chant of “I can’t breathe.” This is the decade of the breath and the mouth.
The four is the Hebrew letter/number “dalet.” Symbolic of a door, dalet represents choice. The first mention of a door in Scripture is in Genesis, you guessed it, chapter four: “If you do well, shall you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must rule over it,” (Gen. 4:7).
Cain closed the door and killed his brother. This is a year God will have you choose. This is a year of decisive action and the demand of extreme loyalty to Jesus and His kingdom. The Lord told me that this is the year of “altered state.” As things change quickly, we have to push into the fear of the Lord and a greater place of severe loyalty and obedience. We can’t say we belong to Jesus if we run to eat at the table of the enemy. God will receive your place at the altar like never before. Your prayers, your declarations, your quick obedience to lay down your life will come before the Lord immediately this year. This prophetic hour is all about quick obedience and loyalty to sticking with the Lord and His plan.
If you’re brave enough, come look at the 84th verse of the New Testament: “They immediately left their nets and followed Him,” (Matt. 4:20). Boom! They immediately dropped everything, all of the things they knew, everything that made sense to them and had always worked on, to go and follow Jesus—immediately—into a new place.
I think that this is a perfect prophetic picture of the timing of this season. As Jesus invites us to follow Him into new and uncharted territory, we must leave our nets and follow Him, period. For if we fight for what we have always done before, we will fight for what no longer matters.
Troy Brewer is the founding and senior Pastor of OpenDoor Church in Burleson, Texas. He is known for his relevant and authentic teachings, amazing insights and studies on the wonders of God. A sixth-generation Texan, he also has a passion for all things Texas. Troy and his wife, Leanna, have four grown children and two grandchildren.
