We are in the period known as the forty days of Awe, Elul through to Yom Kippur.
Elul is the month, Teshuvah is repentance, also the King is accessible, Also this is a time a charity.
The four letters of the name Elul (אלול) are an acronym for the phrase in “Song of Songs” (6:3): Ani l’dodi v’dodi li – “I am to my beloved and my beloved is to me.”
Jews read Psalm 27 daily.
It’s the 6th month, and is preparation for the 7th month (Tishrei), which has Rosh Hashanah (religious new year, yes there are 4 new years in Hebrew)
Rosh Hashanah is biblically Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה), literally “day of shouting or blasting”, and is also more commonly known in English as the Feast of Trumpets.
Then follows Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement.
Now (Elul) is where we are called to pray and repent, but God (the King) is accessible (in the field), this is to get our hearts right for the high holy days in the next month.
Of course this is Old Testament thinking, We have access all the time through Jesus.
Also Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is at this time. Beginning on the eve of the 15th of Tishri and commemorating the shelter of the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness. aka: Feast of Booths, Succos, Succoth, Sukkoth, Tabernacles.
This models God dwelling with us.
FYI The number 40 is mentioned 146 times in the Bible and most often refers to a period of testing or trial.
Here are a few examples:
– Yeshua (Jesus) fasted for 40 days in the Judean wilderness following His mikvah (baptism) by John.
– The Hebrews wandered for 40 years in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33–34).
– Moses tended sheep for 40 years for his father-in-law, Jethro, before he was called to lead the Jewish nation from captivity in Egypt. He also fasted on two separate occasions on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights while receiving the law from God (Exodus 24:18; 34:1–28).
– Jonah gave the people of Nineveh a 40-day warning: “Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ (Jonah 3:4)” In this case, the 40 days was a period of warning that allowed the people of Nineveh to repent and turn from their evil ways.
– In Noah’s day, during the Flood, the waters poured out for 40 days and 40 nights, judging the people of the earth.
– Both Moses and Yeshua fasted for 40 days as they communed with God during times of testing. The 40 years spent by the Israelites in the wilderness was a judgment of God.
So, we see, therefore, that God uses the number 40 to represent a period of testing or of judgement, and for that reason this next 40-day period is taken very seriously.