The Appointed Times of the 7th Hebrew month, Tishri, have now ended and we have entered the month of Heshvan. An alternate spelling is Cheshvan. It is during this month that we enter the season of the former rains. The later rains come in the spring around the time of Passover.
During this month the rainy and cold season begins in Israel and it is the time that the spring crops of barley, flax and wheat are planted. The former and later rains will last for 5 months, until spring. It is the only time that it rains in Israel, normally.
This month is sometimes referred to as Marchesvan, mar meaning bitter, or Bul (see I Kings 6:38), a word closely related to the Hebrew word mabul, meaning flood. The reason it is often called Marchesvan is because it is the only month in the Hebrew calendar that has no secular or modern holidays, fasts, no set aside times; and because it is the month that marks the start of the cool and rainy season in Israel. The flood during Noah's time began on the 17th of this month. Noah and his family, and the animals, were closed up tightly in the ark before the rains began. Traditionally, if the rains have not begun in Israel by the 17th of the month then they begin to worry about not having enough rain for their spring crops to take root and grow. After the ending of Shemini Atzeret they begin to pray for the rains to come.
As we look to history, this month has been a time that has brought much suffering to the Jewish people. On Cheshvan 15th (November 9, 1938) Die Kristallnacht (the “Night of the Broken Glass”) the German Nazis initiated a campaign of terror against the Jewish people, which started the Holocaust.
Another interesting fact about this month is that a lot of the ancient Rabbi's believe that this month will lose its bitterness because it is this month that is also referred to as the month of Messiah. It is believed that in this month, the Messiah will be ruling in His kingdom and will start the re-building of the millennial and final temple. This is an interesting concept if you see what Noah did as soon as He came off the ark, he built an altar. The coming off of the ark was a re-birth, a new beginning for all of mankind and the whole world, a type of salvation; typifying the work that would be done by the Messiah in the last great wrath and destruction of the wicked and the world by fire, and when He returns with salvation.
In Hebrew the number 8 denotes new beginnings. Cheshvan is the 8th month.
I believe that there are prophetic implications surrounding this month if you go back and study the flood of Noah.
Shalom,
Leisa