By Andrew Williams
Series: The Year of the Prophet- Month 6: The Watchman on the Wall
Week 23: The Issachar Anointing (Times & Seasons)
Anchor Scripture: “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” — Song of Solomon 2:11–12 (NKJV)
The Teaching
In the natural world, seasons rarely change in a single moment. There is a gradual transition—a “shift” in the atmosphere. The wind begins to blow from a different direction, the barometric pressure drops, the light changes its angle, and the scent of the air becomes different. To the average person, these are just subtle environmental changes. But to the Watchman, these are Signals of the Turn.
In the spirit realm, God also works in seasons. There is a “Winter” (a season of hiddenness and stripping), a “Spring” (a season of new growth and planting), and a “Summer” (a season of harvest and heat). One of the most important functions of the Issachar anointing is the ability to discern the shift while the environment still looks like the previous season.
Elijah sensed the “shift” when the sky was still made of brass. He told Ahab to eat and drink because there was “the sound of abundance of rain.” He didn’t see a cloud; he sensed a change in the spiritual “weather.” To be a Prophet is to be a spiritual meteorologist. You are called to announce that the “winter is past” even when the ground is still frozen, or to warn that the “storm is coming” while the sun is still shining. This discernment allows the people to prepare their hearts for what God is about to do next.
Prophetic Insight
Spiritual shifts are often felt as a Divine Restlessness. You may find that things that worked for you in the “last season” suddenly feel dry or “heavy.” The prayers you used to pray no longer carry the same “weight,” and the methods you used to use no longer produce the same results. Do not mistake this for a spiritual “slump.” It is often a barometric shift in the Spirit. God is “closing the window” on one season to “open the door” to another. If you try to stay in the old atmosphere, you will become frustrated. The Watchman must be the first to recognize the turn so they can lead the people into the new climate.
The Activation
Perform an “Atmospheric Audit” of your spiritual life today. Look at your “internal weather.” Do you feel a sense of “Spring” (new ideas, excitement, bubbling hope)? Or do you feel a “Winter” (a need for rest, silence, and inward focus)? Ask the Holy Spirit: “Lord, has the wind shifted? Am I trying to live in a season that is already ‘over and gone’?” Write down any subtle changes you’ve noticed in your spiritual “gut.”
Daily Prayer: Lord God, I thank You that You are the Lord of the Seasons. I ask for the grace to discern the shifts in the atmosphere today. Sharpen my spiritual senses so that I can feel the change in Your ‘wind.’ Forgive me for clinging to the old when You are trying to lead me into the new. I choose to align my heart with the current climate of Your Spirit. Let me hear the ‘voice of the turtledove’ in my land today. Amen.
