Discern the Times Before It’s Too Late: 3 Steps to Unlocking Spiritual Discernment
Excerpted from The Spirit of Elijah.
Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Understanding the time and season you are living in is, according to Jesus, the opposite of hypocrisy, and it is a requirement.
Jesus mentioned this with direct clarity in Matthew 16:3 by saying, “…Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” When referencing the sons of Issachar, most have an idea that they were the ones who knew the times or could indeed read the signs of the times. A point of interest is that the uniqueness of their ability to discern the signs of the times had two additional and crucial aspects to their operation.
Who Were These Sons of Issachar?
Issachar in Hebrew is yiśśaśḵār. He was Jacob’s fifth son by Leah (Genesis 30:17-18; Genesis 35:23) and the seventh son of Obed-edom. He was a doorkeeper to the temple, and his name carries the meanings “man of hire” and “he will bring a reward.” As a side note, Issachar is often paired with Zebulun (Genesis 49:13-14, Deuteronomy 33:18- 19) and his wealth with maritime riches.
Issachar had four sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron (1 Chronicles 7:1). Through these four sons, the tribe grew, as is indicated in 1 Chronicles 7:1-5.
The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four in all. 2 The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house. The sons of Tola were mighty men of valor in their generations; their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred. 3 The son of Uzzi was Izrahiah, and the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Ishiah. All five of them were chief men. 4 And with them, by their generations, according to their fathers’ houses, were thirty-six thousand troops ready for war; for they had many wives and sons. 5 Now their brethren among all the families of Issachar were mighty men of valor, listed by their genealogies, eighty-seven thousand in all (1 Chronicles 7:1-5).
It Could Be Said Issachar Helped Get David to the Throne
These sons of Issachar were those who navigated the signs of the times. They were not necessarily in conflict with whichever administration was in power. Instead, their knowledge and understanding prepared them for the proper king to come. They prepared and awaited David’s reign in the instance of Saul and David. That is, they were capable and intelligent men who understood the signs of the times, were well- versed in political affairs, and knew what was proper to be done in all the exigencies or current pressing, even urgent issues of human life in their generation, and during the time of Saul and David. These perceived that it was both the duty and in the best political interest of Israel to advance David to the throne. You might say they, with all their abilities, helped get David elected!
Traits of Issachar—Understanding the Times
According to the Targum, this extraordinary tribe had a unique and specialized set of skills. They had an understanding of the times. In 1 Chronicles 12:32 where it says, “of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know,” the Hebrew word for “had” and “know” is yāḏa‛ H3045: A verb meaning to know, to learn, to perceive, to discern, to experience, to confess, to consider, to know people relationally, to know how, to be skillful, to be made known, to make oneself known, to make to known.5
All these insightful and prophetic traits gave them a unique and highly trained ability to read the terrain of the current and upcoming seasons and their general narrative.
The Targum offers insights into the set of skills and points of operation by which the sons of Issachar operated. Consider the importance of what these traits mean and how they might, in some form, help us understand our generation’s times and what to do about them.
Twelve Issacharian Traits as They Apply to Their Season
Able to learn
Able to perceive
Able to discern
Able to experience
Able to confess
Able to consider
Able to know people relationally
Able to know how
Able to be skillful
Able to be made known
Able to make oneself known
Able to make to know
The Door of Revelatory Understanding
Empirically, through their eyes and experiences, they would learn from the world around them, observing patterns and trends through their developed and trained mechanisms of discernment. One of the Hebrew pictographs for this Hebrew word, again observing the Hebrew word yāḏa‛, we see that it also represents a door and an eye, meaning the door of the eye.
The eye is the window into the human’s very being. Experience and discernment are often gained through visual observation. Knowledge is achieved through these experiences, and revelation is acquired for those who have ears to hear.
How to Develop Discernment
Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:5).
When referencing the sons of Issachar, most have an idea that they were the ones who knew the times or could indeed read the signs of the times. A point of interest is that the uniqueness of their ability to discern the signs of the times has two scriptural and crucial aspects to their operation.
We must avoid hypocrisy to better discern the signs of the times. Jesus didn’t call those who could not discern the signs of the times blind, sinners, or some other name; He called them hypocrites.
The word here for “hypocrite” means one who acts pretentiously, a counterfeit, a man who assumes and speaks or acts under a feigned character.
Hypocrites or Actors on A Stage
My dear friend and Greek expert Rick Renner has defined Jesus’ use of the word “hypocrite” to refer to actors on a stage. The word “hypocrite” means one who wears a mask or walks in a pretense. It was used to denote actors on the stage who acted the part and did anything for the applause of the crowd but were different behind the mask they wore.
The term “hypocrite” was a reference Jesus would have gained while working in Sepphoris alongside his earthly father, Joseph.
Sepphoris had a very modern and active culture. It was a city on a hill.
When Jesus was still a child, there was an uprising against Archelaus, Herod’s son, who had to summon the Roman army. The Romans destroyed Sepphoris and crucified two thousand Jews in the process. It is this uprising that Gamaliel refers to in Acts 5:37.9
Here is an excerpt about Sepphoris from my book Breaking Hell’s Economy:
After the destruction of Sepphoris, it was rebuilt and needed builders like Joseph to reconstruct the ruined city. Joseph was raising Jesus in Nazareth, which was about an hour’s walk from Sepphoris, so Joseph, being a builder, would take Jesus with him to work there. It was during these trips that Jesus learned about business and money. He was exposed to the world of theater in this once-again booming town where entertainment was vibrant, with people performing on stages along the roadsides.
Actors on a stage were referred to as “hypocrites” while performing. This was terminology Jesus used while speaking to the Pharisees. Applying this cultural under- standing, Jesus said, “You hypocrites!” or “You actors on a stage!” He also crafted lines such as “A city on a hill that cannot be hidden” during His teachings. This came from seeing Sepphoris, the city on the hill with its lights and vibrancy while living in Nazareth. Jesus had all these examples in mind because he helped His earthly father with his business.
Jesus saw a lot of things at Sepphoris. Imagine Jesus as a young boy, potentially walking past those rebels who were crucified in town by the Romans. He likely saw the bodies of those rebels nailed on crosses, knowing deep within Himself that something similar awaited Him. History doesn’t tell us much about the young life of Jesus; neither does the Bible. However, by combining historical narratives with the Bible, you can discover otherwise elusive information about the childhood of Jesus.
High-Level Discernment Means Remove the Plank!
Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:5).
Walking at the highest level of discernment means removing the plank from your eye. Much of this involves the idea that you are something more than you are. Or you are holding yourself in a high place when you ought not to do so. That is what Paul called deceiving oneself.
For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself (Galatians 6:3).
Extracting hypocrisy and stepping into clarity means removing the plank of self-centeredness and self-exaltation, pretending to be something you are not, and taking it out of your life. Selflessness and loving your brethren are the most significant foundations of clarity.
One final thought on hypocrisy being the opposite of discerning the signs of the times is noticing that hypocrisy involves a plank in the eye. Jesus could have used a variety of metaphors when speaking about hypocrisy. Still, He chose to reference a plank in the eye—the area of sight being blocked—no vision, no clarity, and only using one eye. When only one eye is in use due to a plank being in the other, it cuts a person’s range of view down by at least 50 percent.
It could be that Jesus was saying hypocrisy will cause you to see with one eye but not the other, or you can see in the natural but not the spirit. Remove the plank of hypocrisy, begin discerning the times, and open the part of you that should see what is happening in your generation by the spiritual sight God has given every person who believes in Jesus and will exercise their spiritual senses (see Hebrews 5:14).
Three Main Things the Sons of Issachar Did
Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command (1 Chronicles 12:32).
The sons of Issachar understood the times, knew what Israel should do, and had the proper alignment and structure to act. Interpreting the times involves more than simply recognizing what is happening worldwide. Proper alignment and a plan of action are also required. They had their chiefs and brethren at their command—these were their people. They knew who their tribe was, which allowed them to carry out what needed to be done.
I often say, “God doesn’t call you to live wherever you choose. You must make sure you are where God has called you. If you do not know, seeking Him over His will for your life is vital.”
God can supernaturally align you to who, what, where, when, and how you are to walk out the times and seasons in which you live. Start seeking Him today, re-sensitize your heart to His Word and what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. It’s only forever!
