08/18/2026
The Wilderness of Elul - Lessons of the 6th Month
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." - Hosea 2:14
We have entered the 6th month on the calendar cycles of Yahweh - a month called Elul (Nehemiah 6:15) and felt led to share some insights that the Father has been speaking to us. It's a message that has been stirring over the past several years walking the journey He has set before us, and it was finally time to give it voice as I (Brittney) was asked to share this past weekend at a special women's conference. It was beautiful to witness as well that this same message is something Yahweh is stirring in the hearts of so many others - crossing congregational lines and geographical distances. This is truly the message that He is stirring within His people - it's time for the Bride to prepare herself!
The timing of the conference and this month of Elul were no accident. As the month directly before the much anticipated 7th month fall feasts, Elul has become associated as a season of refining, preparing, teshuva (repentance, return, and restoration), as well as purification. When looking at the historical patterns of the nation of Israel, Elul also connects to the season when the King is in the Field - prior to sitting upon His throne in judgement and royal estate! It forms an acronym for the phrase ani ledodi vedodi li - I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine...
Could this be the purpose of the King's journey to the field? He seeks the one who is called His Beloved, the Bride?
Matthew 4 reveals another layer to the above imagery. Our Messiah Yahshua was driven into the wilderness for 40 days...exiting on Yom Kippur to declare the Yovel, the season of Jubilee! Due to the timing of His exit, His wilderness trek took place in this 6th month of Elul. Elul...the month of teshuva and refining, the month during which we seek our Beloved, is set not just in a field, but in the wilderness. Therefore to understand His love, to know Him as our beloved, indicates I must understand the wilderness. Elul reminds us that to know our Beloved is to find Him in the wilderness...a pattern confirmed over and over again in the Scriptures!
Take a moment to think about the wilderness seasons in your own life - the hard times, the struggle, the difficult moments, the seasons where it seems like we've been isolated, perhaps forgotten. At the beginning, those very moments are when we feel the furthest away from our King. Yet it is here that He is to be found.
The wilderness is the last place our flesh desires to go...it knows the purpose of this journey. It's the fuel that will be placed on the altar, room must be made for His fullness. I want you to take a moment to think about the seasons in your life that it felt like you were in the fire...seasons of discomfort, pain, opposition...the very moments where we so often feel like we're forgotten. The flesh cries out we've been left here, He should have answered by now, He should have moved in this situation. To the flesh it doesn't feel like what we've been told is "love". And yet it's those very seasons that are designed for us to become the vessel, the seasons of refining, where if we'll learn to look beyond the natural circumstances, you'll see we've been placed on the altar, and the dross burnt up to make room for the fullness of who He is!
We've flippantly said we want to know Him, we've used the poetic verses to describe His love, and yet we've so often shunned the very wilderness seasons that manifest His love and reveal Him in our lives. We desperately seek an exit, we cry for change, emotions of anger and resentment arise when the journey goes longer than we were willing to stay, and the entire time the voice is crying in the wilderness...Prepare the way for the King...
Access this full Blog Post that covers the notes shared at the conference and more regarding the month of Elul via the link below.
https://www.livingmanna.net/blog/2026/08/18/i-will-allure-her-and-bring-her-into-the-wilderness
Whatever cycle of life you find yourself in now, perhaps in the midst of your own personal wildness journey, whether just beginning or maybe it's coming to a close, these are the cycles Yahweh has built in to our lives for growing, maturing, and discovering His character. This is why the Bride will be found and called from the wilderness....don't despise these seasons. Let Him do the work He desires...we are a Bride being prepared!
