Shevet is the eleventh Hebrew month and one of the winter months. This year, Shevet has been memorable because of the unusual cold winter in the USA. For weeks, snow has covered much of the nation, causing many to slow down their usual pace of life. But is there more to this than a regular winter storm? Is there a significance to the winter of 2026? This year is also remarkable as America marks its 250th birthday.
Why this unusual cold at the beginning of the 250th anniversary year? Is it possible that the Lord is preparing the remnant for something glorious ahead?
There is usually little that draws attention to the month of Shevet. There are no holy days during Shevet in the Jewish calendar. Yet on February 11th, 2026, early in the morning during prayer, the Lord again brought the month of Shevet to my attention. I soon checked and realized it was the 24th of Shevet in the Jewish year 5786.
The first time He brought it to my attention was on January 19th, 2026, which was the 1st of Shevet in the Hebrew calendar. Around that same time, news of a terrible snowstorm across most states in the USA emerged, and the snow began falling that weekend.
Interestingly, the month of Shevet is mentioned only twice in the Bible. The first mention is in Deuteronomy in the Torah. In Deuteronomy 1:3, the first day of Shevet is highlighted. On that day, Moses spoke to the people to prepare them to cross over the Jordan and possess the land ahead.
Since the first day of Shevet this year, has it been a preparation time for the remnant getting ready to cross over to a new season in history for the church? Did the Lord close us in—like being in the tabernacle under the cloud—while it was freezing outside? While the rest of the world viewed it as a terrible winter and moved on with business as usual, did the Lord want His people to respond differently, to press in during Shevet 2026?
We know that God is sovereign over every storm. As it is written, even the winds and the waves obey Him (Matthew 8:27). Yet God also uses nature to speak. He once used a donkey to speak to the prophet Balaam.
A Short Season of Suffering
The winter cold is not to be seen as torture, but as a short season of discomfort while the Lord prepares to birth His promises for 2026 and the season ahead. Just as a woman nearing delivery focuses entirely on bringing forth the child, her body undergoes tremendous change. It is not life as usual for a mother in labor.
The remnant and the intercessors are like delivering mothers on earth, birthing the purposes of God. God can do anything without our permission, yet He chooses to involve and partner with His people in the process. After all, He paid a heavy price to redeem us—not merely to give us a reserved ticket to heaven. He has a plan for our remaining time on earth. He saved us so we may participate in the activity of the Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven.
Every form of suffering is uncomfortable, but labor pain is different. It is pain that produces new life. It is one of the most beautiful moments—when new life enters the world with great potential to fulfill its purpose. There is joy in knowing the baby will soon see the mother’s face, and the mother will see the baby face to face for the first time. It is no longer imagination or assumption. The promise becomes visible reality.
Jesus used this same imagery in John’s Gospel when speaking about the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Lord calls us to pray and prepare for spiritual birth and awakening, it is beautiful and worthy of our full attention. He is bringing forth new life into the earth—a new spiritual season. The hard cold of winter does not last forever. It must give way to spring.
A Time to Be Closed In — A Time to Deliver
Are we at the beginning of another great awakening in 2026 and beyond? Has He closed us in this winter to pray fervently in preparation?
When Moses delivered his message on the first of Shevet, the children of Israel had been in the wilderness for forty years. They were not yet in Canaan, the promised inheritance. The wilderness—also referred to as the Arabah, the deep plain on both sides of the Jordan—was all they had known.
In Deuteronomy 1:3, Moses speaks to them in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, after defeating Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. They were stepping out of a forty-year testing season. They had seen victories, but their possession journey was just beginning.
“See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers” (Deut. 1:8).
It is not easy to possess land actively occupied by others. The promised land was not in vacant condition to be occupied or handed over with keys in ready-made houses. There were giants. There were nations. To possess the promise meant taking hold of what God had sworn to give. Their only key was the promise of God.
Promise Is the Seed You Carry
The wilderness can be a place of pending promises. Yet fulfillment requires a “possessing” nature. This is the new reality ahead for the remnant.
We can become so comfortable with past glory that we forget the promise ahead. We are familiar with former victories, but unfamiliar with the new victories or challenges ahead. Humans are generally risk-averse. Stepping into the unknown by faith is no small thing. We haven’t been this way before says Joshua 3:4 to the children of Israel who were about to possess their inheritance.
The remnant is called to possess territory they have never walked before.
God has not called His children merely to leap blindly. We enter the promise by faith in the One who authored it. Shevet was a preparation for transition. God is central to this transition. Change is not humanity’s strength—but promise is God’s strength in dealing with His covenant people.
If, during possession, we make it about our own ability, we reveal that we have not fully learned the lessons of the wilderness. When life is about our achievements and success still, then we haven’t learned how to crossover to God’s promises in our lives.
Shevet Is a Sign of Awakening and Watchfulness
The month of Shevet is connected to the blooming of the almond tree, which signifies the arrival of the spring season. The almond tree is the first to bloom in Israel, signaling the end of winter. The shoot of the almond tree that Jeremiah saw in Jeremiah 1:11 was a sign of awakening and watchfulness at the same time. The almond tree was known as the “awake tree” because it was the first tree to bud in the new year. It symbolizes new beginnings. It is a symbol of watchfulness.
If we do not watch in prayer, we are most likely not going to be awakened. Because Jesus watched and prayed, He faced the most difficult time on earth just as the Father desired, while His disciples, who had not prayed, panicked during His arrest.
Is God calling us into the same season of watchfulness and prayer for the great awakening ahead? YHWH said to Jeremiah regarding the almond tree, “You have seen well.” You have perceived and considered correctly. “I will hasten”—as the almond tree implies—“I will watch over and remain over My word to accomplish it.” God does not sleep over His promise to you and to me, even if it has not seen daylight for years. Unfortunately, we tend to forget, lose clarity and purpose, and become absorbed in our daily grind and toil.
The Almond Tree Is a Sign of Death to Life
The other mention of the almond branch is in Numbers 17. There, God miraculously caused Aaron’s rod—a dead almond branch—to sprout, blossom, and produce ripe almonds overnight. This act symbolized resurrection and life out of death, and it was so significant that Aaron’s branch was placed in the Ark of the Covenant. This rod, along with a jar of manna and the tablets of the Ten Commandments, was housed inside the sacred chest.
As the remnant watches over His promises, the dead almond branches we are holding can come to life overnight. There is no logical explanation for how it happens, except that God keeps His word and fulfills what He has promised. Aaron’s budded rod symbolizes Christ’s resurrection power from the dead, without which the preaching of the gospel is vain, our faith is futile, our hope is lost, God has failed His promises, and all our testimony is false. This is the essence of 1 Corinthians 15:14–19.
In this context, going back to the word on Shevet 24 (February 11) in 2026, it parallels the powerful word the prophet Zechariah delivered on the same date. It is the only other mention of the month of Shevet in the Bible. Although it is a prophecy from 2,500 years ago, God’s Word is timeless. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall not pass away.
Zechariah’s Vision of Horses
The vision Zechariah saw began with a Man of God, or angel, riding a red horse. It occurred in the second year of Darius, the king at that time. Interestingly, 2026 is also the second year of the current president of the United States.
This angel riding the red horse denotes the judgment and vengeance of God being released upon the earth. Yet he stood among the myrtle trees. The myrtle tree represents the ekklesia, or the house of God. Notice that God does nothing without partnering with His church on earth, whether in mercy or in judgment. “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). As John Wesley said, “Without God, man can do nothing; without man, God will not do anything.” God chooses to work through the obedience, prayer, and action of His people. Participation with God is invited, not coerced.
Scripture also tells us that judgment begins with the house of God. His purpose is to purify His church and not to punish, even as shaking is poured out upon the rest.
Red, Sorrel, and White Horses
Behind the Man of God were three other horses: red, sorrel (reddish-brown), and white (Zechariah 1:8). These horses parallel the work of the Holy Spirit in this season. The inaugural work of the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts was introduced by Jesus in John 16:8. Jesus referred to Him as the Comforter, whose role is to convict the world of three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment.
What does the Holy Spirit have to do with the three horses? They reflect His threefold operation.
The root word for the reddish-brown horse also means to shrill or hiss. In Zechariah 10:8, God says He will whistle and gather His redeemed ones. The reddish-brown horse signifies gathering. Through the preaching of the gospel, the remnant shall be gathered. On the day of Pentecost, multitudes were pierced in their hearts and asked Peter what they must do to be saved. It was an ingathering unlike anything the world had seen until then. Salvation had previously been limited to the Jews, but through the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin, this gathering became possible.
The red horse depicts another aspect of the Holy Spirit’s work: convicting the world of judgment. The red horse in Revelation 6:4 removes peace from the earth. When released, there is shaking among peoples and nations. When the Holy Spirit reveals that the ruler of this world has already been judged and condemned, the enemy reacts with fury. Persecution marked the early church, yet it did not stop the momentum of the ekklesia.
The picture is completed by the white horse. The white horse also appears in Revelation. In Revelation 19:11, John saw heaven opened and a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True, judging and waging war in righteousness. The white horse in Zechariah’s vision corresponds to the Holy Spirit’s work of convicting of righteousness. Righteousness is poured out upon those who believe in the Son. The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the finished work of Christ. The Spirit fully operates in a person only through the work of atonement in the believer. Without it, the Holy Spirit cannot work within that person.
The third Great Awakening will be the tangible work of the Holy Spirit in the world, accompanied by judgment and shaking.
The Great Harvest
Zechariah 1:10 says, “These are the ones whom the LORD has sent to go throughout the earth and patrol it.” There is a Holy Spirit tribe the Man of the Lord is sending throughout the earth. The Holy Spirit does not work independently of His people; He partners with the consecrated remnant.
The myrtle tree in the vision represents the humble yet protected people of God. Today, the church may seem lowly, standing among the myrtle trees. Yet YHWH is preparing to send you as His appointed ones throughout the earth. It began with the first sending in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”
The remnant church is the patrol crew with a divine assignment in this third Great Awakening. Though the earth appears at rest and at ease, that must not stop the work of the ekklesia. Do not wait for hardship before taking up your commission. Do it while it is day. Do not wait for the night.
Even in captivity, tightness, or when it seems God is withholding mercy, do not delay your assignment. Do the work of the Kingdom while you can. The Lord is at the door. He is jealous for His people with a great jealousy. While the nations feel secure, they do not realize that God is displeased with their oppression (Zechariah 1:15).
“God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29; Deuteronomy 4:24). This speaks of His holiness, purity, and righteous judgment. He destroys evil, refines believers, and cannot be approached with unholiness.
In this season of Great Awakening, He is ready to rebuild His ekklesia. He is using a measuring line again. Every building requires a plumb line—a cord with a weight used to ensure vertical alignment. Spiritually, it represents the divine standard by which God measures His people and prepares them for greater glory. Every block must be tested before another is placed upon it. In this awakening, He is holding the ekklesia to higher standards for greater glory. Jerusalem shall be rebuilt and restored to even greater glory. It symbolizes the standards by which God rebuilds His people.
The message of the Great Awakening is both comforting and strong. He chooses to show favor and compassion. His plans are not to harm us, but to restore us and not to forsake us. This promise is engraved in the Great Commission.
In Matthew 28:18 and 20 Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me… and I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Observe that the Great Commission verse is sandwiched between those two verses in Matthew 28:19. All the authority and comfort is given to the eklessia to fulfill the Great Commission today.
Is 2026 the year of the Great Awakening? Absolutely yes. It is time, in God’s timing, to possess our possession. If we do not act in the time given to us, we cannot presume upon tomorrow, for no one knows the hour of His coming or our departure.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise” (2 Peter 3:9). He is not slow, forgetful, or negligent. As long as the remnant holds the promise, it is time to possess it—first in prayer, then in proclaiming the good news.
Our times are in His hands, says the Psalmist. God acts in perfect timing and patience, but we must respond now. If we do not redeem the time, it can be taken from us. “My times are in Your hands; rescue me from the hand of my enemies” (Psalm 31:15). The enemy pursues the remnant constantly. That is why we are told to redeem the time, for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). This is not the time to sit on our past regrets or to keep licking our old wounds. Temptation can enter in a moment of time. That is why He taught us to pray every day that we may not be led into temptation. We must saturate our time with purpose as we move into this Great Awakening.
What could be greater than the Holy Spirit ushering in the third Great Awakening for the USA as a gift for its 250th birthday?
Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.