Iyar is the second month in the Hebrew calendar, counting from Nisan. Historically, it is the month of new beginnings. It is the first month after the Exodus from Egypt when the Israelites started their journey to the Promised Land. In this month, also called Zif, King Solomon began the construction of the Temple (1 Kings 3:1). It is also the first month after Jesus’ resurrection, a time when He revealed himself to His disciples on various occasions. And in the month of Iyar, the State of Israel was restored after almost two millennia. In each case, a new period started. In all these cases, something new began, a whole new experience, we could even speak of a paradigm shift.
In Hebrew, Iyar is spelled aleph-yud-resh, and in Jewish tradition, it is read as an acronym pointing to an incident that happened during this month, soon after the Exodus from Egypt. We read in Exodus 15:26 that God said: “the diseases I have placed on Egypt I will not place upon you, for I am God your Healer.” When you take the first letters of the words “I am God your Healer (אני י‑י רפאך)”, you get this acronym which is spelled like the month of “Iyar” (אייר), which indicates that Iyar is a good time for healing.
The episode in Exodus 15 describes the first test the Israelites were facing after the glorious exodus from Egypt. It was a life-threatening situation: they had no water. Without water in the desert, you are doomed. And when they finally found water, it was bitter. What a disappointment!
What was the Lord teaching them? They had never before been in a situation when they needed to trust the Lord. A slave’s life is not particularly joyful, but his master takes care of all his needs. A slave has no room for his own initiative, makes no decisions, just obeys. And he learns to expect that someone will make all the decisions for him. So, the expectation of Israelite slaves that God would do all for them was actually an expression of a slave mentality.
It was this mentality that the Lord decided to change. This is why He brought all kinds of tests upon them so that they would learn to trust Him.
At Marah, the solution was a matter of revelation. God showed Moses the tree, which turned bitterness into sweetness. The tree can remind us of the Cross: Yeshua’s sacrifice has turned the bitterness of sin into the sweetness of His salvation. The Cross is the source of healing.
When it comes to healing, there is an important passage in Isaiah, Chapter 53. It speaks about Yeshua:
He “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
There is an interesting connection between this prophetic chapter of Isaiah, which describes the Messiah, and the story of Exodus. The expression that connects them is the “arm of the Lord”, in Hebrew זְר֥וֹעַ יְהוָ֖ה (“zroa jhvh”). Isaiah proclaims at the beginning of Chapter 53:
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? (verse 1)
Yeshua is identified with the arm of the Lord and note that to recognize Him is a matter of revelation.
This zroa is an expression of the power of God. This power was manifested at the Exodus, and at the healing at Marah. This power was manifested throughout the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert.
It is noteworthy that the lamb’s shank bone which is placed upon the Passover Seder table at each Jewish family is called zroa. It makes a direct connection between the Passover Lamb whose blood saves from death, and the mighty Hand of God which brings salvation and deliverance. Why then do not all the Jews see it?
It takes revelation. Isaiah asks: “to whom has it been revealed”? When the time came, God revealed His arm to the nations. And He blinded Israel. As Paul explains in Romans 11, God gave them
“Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” (Romans 11:8)
But the time will come when they see the one they pierced, when their eyes will be opened and they will recognize the Lord, who has been with them even in Auschwitz.
So, it takes revelation. We see the same principle from the time after Jesus’ resurrection, which also happened in the month of Iyar. When the disciples went to Emmaus, they did not recognize Jesus until He was revealed to them.
It has not changed until today. It takes revelation to see who Jesus really is, both for a Jew and for a Gentile. It takes revelation to see Him as the mighty arm of the Lord, mighty to deliver, mighty to heal. The month of Iyar is the month of revelation.
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