The First Month - Aviv/Nisan

L'shana tova!! That's Hebrew for Happy New Year!!

According to Scripture, today is the first day of the year on God’s calendar - the Biblical Calendar. (Exodus 12:2) This is the month of Aviv (Abib) which means “tender ear.” Since Israel's exile in Babylon, this month has also been called Nisan which means “their flight.” This is a month of great and miraculous deliverance into new creation life. It is the month of Passover, when God first redeemed His people out of slavery in Egypt with great plagues and acts of judgment. During these plagues, God distinguished between the people who were His and the people who were not. Israel became a nation in a day when they were delivered by the mighty hand of God through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Passover is celebrated throughout Scripture and is still celebrated every year to remember how God saved His people with great and powerful signs and miracles.

After one year in the wilderness, on the first day of the first month, the Tabernacle was erected and consecrated to the Lord according to the pattern God gave to Moses. The shekinah glory of God filled the Tabernacle for all to see but Moses was not allowed to enter until the rules were given for the sacrifices required for entering God's presence.

Forty years after the first Passover, it was in this month that Joshua led the Israelites to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land. They renewed their covenant commitment to God, circumcised the new generation, celebrated the Passover, and began to eat the fruit of the Promised Land. Most significantly, it was on the eve of Passover that Jesus was betrayed and crucified. Knowing in advance that this must happen, Jesus led His disciples in the Last Supper communion with broken bread and poured out wine. They sang the Hallel Psalms to rejoice in God's great salvation of His people. That night, Jesus was betrayed and events were set in motion. The world judged and killed the Son of God but He shed His blood as the eternal Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His sacrifice made the way for all who believe in Him to have direct access to God and enter into God's presence without limitation. Jesus' resurrection from death is God's greatest sign and evidence of God's love and redemption made available to all mankind. Jesus brings deliverance and salvation for all who put our trust in Him.

It is Jewish tradition to read the Song of Songs on the Shabbat of the week of the Passover celebration. The story of the lover and His beloved reminds us of God's love for His people, the journey of the Bride to maturity, and points us to the wedding feast of the Lamb that is yet to come.

Other significant Biblical events this month include the first day that the waters of Noah's flood were dried up to show the ground; Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Egypt by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; Daniel had a powerful vision of the Lord and end-times battles; Ezra and a group of exiles began their journey back to the Promised Land; Nehemiah stood sad-faced before the King before being granted permission to return to the Promised Land; and in Esther's time, Haman cast lots to select the date of the destruction of the Jewish people...the date which became the day of their very great deliverance. This is a month of new beginnings, fulfillment of long-awaited promises, renewed consecration, and new life. Therefore, in Jesus' name, may you be blessed this month with supernatural deliverance into new life, increased resurrection power, and the fulfillment of God’s promises according to His plans for you.

Optional Reading: Hallel Psalms 113-118

Traditional Jewish Reading: Song of Songs

Scripture References from the First Month:

Genesis 8:13 Exodus 12-14, 40:1-38

Leviticus 23:5-14 Numbers 9:1, 20:1, 28:16, 33:3 Deuteronomy 16:1-8 Joshua 4:19-24 1 Chronicles 12:15, 27:2-3 2 Chronicles 29, 35 Ezra 6:19, 7:9, 8:31, 10:17 Nehemiah 2:1

Ezekiel 29:17, 30:20, 45:18

Esther 3:7

Daniel 10:4

Matthew 21-28

Mark 11-16

Luke 2:41-50, 19-24

John 2:13-23, 6:4, 11:55, 12:1, 13:1, 18:28-39, 19:14

Acts 20:6

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

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Originally published as: "The Blessing of Abib/Nisan" - Reprinted from Blessings of the Biblical Calendar - Copyright © 2015 Wendy Bowen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE

Lamb Selection Day & the Triumphal Entry

Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. -Exodus 12:3

Today is the 10th day of Nisan, the day on which the Passover Lamb was to be set apart from the flock in order to be offered as an unblemished sacrifice to the Lord. Special care was to be taken of this lamb until the 14th of the month, the Passover, when the lamb would be slaughtered at twilight. On the original Passover, the blood of the lamb was smeared on the doorposts of every Hebrew home to distinguish them from the Egyptians and to protect them from the destroyer. The whole community of Israel professed their allegiance to God, but it would be this purposeful and individual act of obedience to God’s instructions which would set true believers apart to be delivered from bondage and spared from death. And when they were delivered, they would truly be God’s people, and God would be their God.

On this exact day in history, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in the Triumphal Entry*, presenting Himself as the unblemished eternal Passover Lamb of God. In the days that followed, He taught in the Temple, challenging and infuriating the religious leaders of His day with questions that they could not answer, until the 14th of the month when He would be betrayed and handed over to be killed. On this day as He entered the gates of Jerusalem, the people shouted for joy, declaring the fulfillment of the Psalms and the words of the Prophets Isaiah and Zechariah, affirming their faith in Jesus as the Son of David, the Son of God, their Messiah, and the King of Israel. Their words declared their faith that Jesus would deliver them from their oppression and that they would be called “The Holy People” and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.”

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He wept. He knew that, despite their professions of faith, in only a few days the people would all abandon and reject Him. He, too, remembered the words of the Prophet Isaiah, who said, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” Although the people professed their faith with their lips, it turned out that it was all talk and no action. They had abandoned true faith in God’s Word and trusted instead in their own traditions, rules, and regulations. These same people, only a few days later, would be the ones who stood in agreement with His crucifixion. He did not weep over His coming suffering and death, for this was His God-given purpose on earth. He wept over the hypocrisy of their proclamations of faith.

During His ministry on earth, Jesus taught about the difference between those who would profess faith and those who would put their faith into action through obedience to His teachings. He taught that everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice will be blessed. To them, He will be Savior and Messiah, their Prince of Peace, their Teacher, Counselor, and even their friend. But, anyone who professes their faith but does not put His teachings into practice, or places more faith in the tradition or philosophy of man, will be unstable in all their ways and cut off from God. These hypocrites, whose deeds do not match their words, will meet Jesus one day, and He will weep and say to them, “I never knew you.”

God still weeps over hypocrisy. What was true about genuine faith back then is still true for us today. If we genuinely believe the things that we say in faith, then we will put them into practice. Our purposeful acts of obedience are the distinguishing mark of what we truly believe. It is these acts of obedience, our putting into practice the teachings of our Lord Jesus which mark us for redemption, deliverance, and salvation and which smear the blood of the eternal Passover Lamb on the doorposts of our hearts. Put another way, faith without works is dead. We are saved by grace through faith, but our actions of obedience prove our faith to be genuine. If the Hebrews had not marked their doorposts in the original Passover, they should not have expected to be delivered from Egypt or spared from the destroyer. In the same way if we do not demonstrate our faith through our acts of obedience, then we should not expect to be delivered from our oppressors or spared from death by the blood of our Passover Lamb, Jesus.

Talk is cheap. Obedience is costly. If you truly believe that Jesus is your Savior, then you will walk in the obedience of faith. Today, with renewed commitment, willingness, and passion, declare again your faith in Jesus as your Savior and King, and your eternal Passover Lamb. Smear your heart with the blood of Jesus by putting into practice the things that He teaches. Then, you will be free from oppression, and you will be marked for salvation and redemption. God will be your God, and you will be His child.

Scripture References: Exodus 12, Psalm 118:25-26; Isaiah 29:13, 62:11-12; Zecharaiah 9:9; Mark 7:8; Ephesians 2:8; Matthew 7:21-23

The Triumphal Entry: Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19

Note: This is the day commemorated as Palm Sunday in some churches around the world.

Originally published as: "Faith Without Obedience" - Reprinted from The Obedience of Faith Blog - Copyright © 2013 Wendy Bowen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE

Passover (Pesach) The Last Supper

Tonight at twilight is the Passover, the night which recalls when God protected His people from death and delivered them from bondage. Tonight, as Jews all over the world enjoy the Passover Feast of roasted lamb and bitter herbs, the youngest child will pose the question, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The answer will be told in the recollection of the Passover story.

Life of Egyptian slavery had become very bitter for the Hebrews, and they groaned and cried out to their God for deliverance. God sent Moses, a Prophet or representative who speaks for God, to speak to Pharaoh and demand the release of His people so that they could worship Him freely. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he refused to release the Israelites; and in fact, he increased their workload of back-breaking toil.

God sent plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock, hail, locusts, and darkness. When Pharaoh still would not release the Hebrew slaves, God gave instructions for the first Passover. Moses and his brother Aaron, who became the High Priest of Israel, the one who mediated between God and the people, relayed God’s order to all the Hebrews in the land of Egypt.

“The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects. Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this firstmonth. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal. That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast. Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs— must be roasted over afire. Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning.”

“These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son andfirstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. when I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

The Hebrews did as God instructed through Moses and Aaron and when God passed through the land of Egypt with the angel of death, not a hair on any Hebrew head was touched. In fact, it was so peaceful in the Jewish section of Egypt that not even a dog barked. But as the destroyer destroyed all the firstborn Egyptians and even their firstborn livestock, the Hebrews were ejected out of Egypt and made their way into the wilderness. They had been released from their chains of slavery and redeemed out of their hard labor, sweat, and toil. They were free to worship God, and they looked forward to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey, which God had promised to them through their patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What does all of this have to do with us, especially if we are not Jewish? Well, perhaps your life has become very bitter. Perhaps you have been wounded, oppressed, or you toil like a slave but never seem to get ahead. If this is the case, then groan and cry out to God Almighty through the name of His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is our eternal Prophet, our eternal High Priest, and the one who, on this very night*, offered Himself as our eternal unblemished Passover Lamb to take away our sins and deliver us from bitterness and oppression. By God’s grace through faith in Jesus, we pass over from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom, from the sting of death to eternal life. Jesus was sent by God as His representative and to relay God’s instructions to God’s chosen people from all nations of the earth. The blood of Christ releases us from our chains of slavery to sin through God’s forgiveness, and by His grace, redeems us from the burden of working for our salvation. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever would mark the doorpost of their heart with the blood of the Lamb of God would not be destroyed but have eternal life. Through Jesus Christ, who mediates between His followers and His Father, we are now free to worship God, and we look forward to heaven, a place where there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, which God has promised as an eternal inheritance to all of us who believe in Him.

Yes, tonight is different from all other nights! Praise the Lord for His work of redemption and for His mighty hand and outstretched arm which He uses to deliver salvation to His people! Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered–to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Glory to God in the highest! Amen!

Scripture References: Exodus 11-15, John 3:16, Romans 8, Hebrews 4, Revelation 21:4, Luke 21:28, Revelation 5:12

The Crucifixion: Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19

Note: This is the day commemorated as Maundy Thursday in some churches around the world.

Originally published as: "The Night Different from All Other Nights" - Reprinted from The Obedience of Faith Blog - Copyright © 2013 Wendy Bowen – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE