“Observe the month of Aviv, and keep Pesach to Adonai your God; for in the month of Aviv, Adonai your God brought you out of Egypt at night.”-Deuteronomy 16:1
Today begins a mini-study of that one singular event which defines the people of Israel as a set-apart nation for God and the very thing which stirs the depths of the souls of the Jewish people.
Of course, I’m talking about the Passover or in Hebrew PESACH.
In verse 1, Israel is commanded to observe the month of AVIV by offering a Passover sacrifice to the Lord.
Israel is told to do this because this was the awesome night that God rescued them from the clutches of Egypt.
Make no bones about it.
The act of God saving Israel from slavery in Egypt and then…
…setting them apart as His Chosen People…
…was the DEFINING moment that sealed the identity of Israel…
…for all time and forever.
Let’s talk a little bit about the month of AVIV in which Passover is to be observed.
The literal translation of AVIV is “new ears of grain“.
Again, this represents how the feasts are linked to the agricultural cycles that move in sync with Israel’s travels in the desert after they left Egypt.
Based on our modern secular calendar, AVIV would occur around Spring sometime in March/April and also happens to be the very first month of the Hebrew religious calendar year.
You might be thinking, wait a minute, I though TISHRIT was the first month of the calendar year?
No.
TISHRIT is the first month of Israel’s CIVIL calendar year and is not to be confused with the religious calendar.
According to the religious calendar, TISHRIT would actually be the 7th month (the Fall season).
This is why it’s so important to NOT mix up the Hebrew religious calendar with the Hebrew civil calendar.
And here’s a good reason why:
Although AVIV kicks off the start of the cycle of the religious calendar year, it is NOT considered New Year’s Day.
Instead, the Jewish New Year (ROSH HASHANAH) begins on the 1st day of the month of TISHRIT…
…which again is the 7th month according to the Hebrew religious calendar.
Got it?
At this point, one important question to ask is why did God decide to establish a separate religious calendar year with AVIV as the first month?
The answer is simple.
The reason is because the month of AVIV represents Israel’s official beginning as a nation set-apart for God.
AVIV was literally the beginning of Israel.
We’ll continue this discussion the next time we meet.
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