The Year 5774: Ayin Dalet

Sundown on Wednesday, September 4 marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah or Jewish New Year. For the Jewish community, this is a time of reflection, purification and hopeful contemplation of the future. Not unlike our Western New Year’s celebrations, Rosh Hashanah is a time of recapping or regrouping in order to advance. The word I shared on Ayin Gimel is still being fulfilled in the lives of God’s people, both now and in the days ahead. What Father releases in any year does not expire at the close of the calendar year. Think of these timely revelations as layers of flavors added to the dispensational brew that Heaven is distilling in the earth. Each ingredient flavors the whole and affects the end-result. I encourage you to read what God has been doing thus far in the decade, here, here, and here. It’s quite impossible for a desiring heart to miss out on what God has begun to pour out. He’s still pouring, friend. Drink and refresh yourself for the work that must be done.

Ayin Dalet is the year 5774 (or our year 2014) which commences Wednesday evening for the Jewish people. Never have I been more excited about the prospects of this year as revealed in the pictorial indications of dalet. Remember, the Hebrew alphabet doubles as numbers giving each character a numerical value.  Since each Hebrew character possesses a pictorial meaning as well, there are layers of richness to each letter/number.  Dates also paint a picture, revealing the Creator’s design for that particular year. Ayin dalet means “74” in Hebrew – ayin meaning 70 and dalet, 4. Shall we begin?

Ayin “70”

If you are not familiar with the number 70 or ayin’s pictorial meaning, here’s a brief recap. Every decade has an overarching theme.  Ayin “70″ possesses meaning that sets the stage for the next 10 years.  2011 is known as ayin aleph, 2012 as ayin bet, 2013 as ayin gimel and so forth.  The word “ayin” means – eye; to see, and by extension, to understand and obey. It also means “Divine Providence”.

The ayin is described as having 2 eyes – the choice of using good or evil to perceive things – optimism or pessimism.  Ayin is a silent letter. (No translation of it in English) It sees, but does not speak; representing humility.  The name ayin can also mean “eye” or “fountain”, a fountain of wisdom and the ability to perceive wisdom.  There was much emphasis at the beginning of this decade (5770’s or 2010’s) on the cultivation of prophetic insight.  Among those who grew in prophetic sight and utterance, some saw optimistically others pessimistically.  My hope is to promote the optimistic ayin in the church, seeing how faith works by hope and love (Gal 5:6 & Col 1:5). The pessimistic ayin spews forth what I consider fearful, and sometimes vengeful venom which manifests in the way of horrifying or judgmental prophetic words. This only serves to paralyze the work of God. Either way, eyes began to open in 2010, and that process will continue on throughout the decade.  Each subsequent year will bring enlightenment to the eyes of the church in a new arena.

Dalet “4”

Dalet is the picture of a hanging tent door. The door, dalet, also can mean the movement of one coming from or going into the tent. As is the case with every word, we can interpret negatively or positively. During dalet, one will either move (1) out of or (2) back into their tent.  Will you choose to vacate places of confinement or will you choose to retreat into the tent of isolation? Perhaps you are as Abram in Genesis 15 who lamented to God, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” Fruitless and frustrated, Abram was about to give up hope on ever obtaining the promise. In response to Abram’s cry, God took him outside of his tent to view the stars in the Heavens.

“He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.'” Genesis 15:5 NIV

May this post be the voice of the Lord beckoning you out of your tent to perceive the possibilities. Come out of the tent of fruitlessness and frustration. Re-envision God’s promises made long ago.

In order to step outside of the tent, one must bow to clear the low-hanging door. To come out of limitation and confinement, dalet will require us to humble ourselves in a curious way. When bowing, one has a particular view of his feet, hands, arms and body in general. On our way out of the tent, we must look at our feet (symbolic of our journey), our hands (symbolic of our accomplishments), our arms (symbolic of our strengths), and our body (symbolic of our health and wholeness). Possessing our destiny will necessitate a time of introspection and honest assessment. In preparation for ayin dalet, may I encourage you to honestly evaluate your life in these four critical areas.

1. Feet (your journey). Where has God brought you from? What of His faithfulness have you learned on the trajectory of life? How do the geographies of your past prepare you for the future?

2. Hands (your accomplishments). Where have you succeeded? When in life have you felt the most fulfillment or achievement? What was it that you were doing?

3. Arms (your strengths). For what are you sought out? What skills, spiritual giftings, innate genius have you discovered?

4. Body (your health and wholeness). How whole are you emotionally and physically? Are there areas of your health that need addressed? How about your emotional stability? Denial keeps us from bowing humbly in honest assessment. Your destiny can only be as fully realized as you are whole emotionally and physically.

Dalet does not require you to be perfect, but merely honest in these four critical areas. If you are to come out of your tent of limitation, whatever is limiting you must be targeted. Many are kept from their destiny because they refuse to acknowledge the purpose for which they were created. Sometimes we want to be anything BUT what God has called us to be.

“Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, ‘Why have you made me like this?'” Romans 9:20 NLT

The more quickly you embrace the obvious purposes of God for your life, the sooner you will see the promise. Be brave! Remember it is He, the Lord, Who will lead you out of the tent – if you are willing to honestly look.

Doors Will Open

Doors will open this year as you are willing to walk through them. What has evaded you will come into your field of view beckoning your involvement. Responsibility is shifting into your hands, forcing you to decide, “How bad do I want it?” “Is my potential future worth the cost of my comfort?” “Can I survive outside of my tent of limitation?”

As I began to study dalet, the tent door, two passages came to light. Each of these references speak to what you can expect to greet you as you step through your tent door.

1. Expect Confirmation.

In Genesis 18:1-2 we read how the Lord appeared to Abraham as he sat by the tent door. “The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth.” The Lord appeared to Abraham as three visitors sent to deliver this word.

Genesis 18:10 NIV “Then one of them said, ‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.’”

The once far-off promise was given a due date. Things that have hovered in the realm of the ethereal, upon confirmation, will begin to materialize in the coming year.

2. Expect Commissioning

In the days ahead, leaders who embrace the relay concept will be willing to hand a baton to the next positioned runner. Some visions can be accomplished in a lifetime while others require multi-generational participation to be fulfilled. Ministries and/or businesses that will survive into the coming generation will offer new runners opportunities to get in the game. 

In Deuteronomy 31, Moses nears his death. In verses 14-15 we read,

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, the time for you to die is near; call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting,that I may commission him.’ So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. The LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent.” NAS

Notice it is God, Himself, Who commissions Joshua at the door of the tent. When God calls you to the door of the tent of meeting, your commissioning is at hand.

Jesus, Our Door

In John 10:9 KJV, Jesus says, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” He is our dalet – the One who leads us into greener pastures. Too many of us follow our favorite ministers or voices hoping to find our destiny. Until you hone in on the voice of the Shepherd, the door of destiny will elude you. He alone can confirm. He alone can commission. He alone can grant entry into the next assignment or pasture of your life. Sell all of the stock you have placed in man’s ability to identify and promote you, and invest it where it belongs. May I speak a declaration over you?

I declare over you the blessings of ayin dalet. The door of your tent is no longer a barrier to your destiny, but an open gateway to your future. The Lord, Himself, will lead you out of places of limitation into new territories. You have new eyes to see your purpose and to envision God-given possibilities. You will grow in emotional stability as you address your fears. Your health will spring forth speedily, including physical strength, weight loss, and fitness. Sickness and disease will no longer hold you hostage.

Promises you have held onto for years will be activated by words of confirmation. This time next year, you will hold your promise in its infancy. As you are faithful to the tent of meeting, the Lord will request and fulfill your commissioning. Circumstances cannot thwart the timing of the Lord. You, my friend, are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. He alone is the door to Your future. You will not veer from your unfeigned faith in Christ.

So BE it!

VIDEO LINK: Watch Stephen Strader of Ignited Church in Lakeland, Florida declare the blessing of Ayin Dalet.