In our modern society everyone knows that January First is the beginning of the New Year, Right? But what is really the beginning of the year, biblically speaking?

If you were to talk to a member of the Jewish community about their Rosh Hashanah, you would discover that holiday is the Hebrew name for the first day that begins every Jewish New Year in our Gregorian calendar month of September or October. It’s celebrated at the beginning of their month called Tishri, which is the seventh month according to the ancient Jewish religious calendar. So, that means that the month called Nisan (or Nissan.. ‘NEE-SAHN’) is the first month of the Biblical year. The month of Nisan is the very special time when the historic Feast of Passover is celebrated (it’s called Pesach in Jewish communities). Passover commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from slavery in ancient Egypt, about 3,500 years ago.

The Feast of Passover is the Biblical holy day for God’s people to celebrate the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery in the momentous event that portrays God’s redemptive power in the book of Exodus.

Exodus 12: 1-3:

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,

2 This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house:

Nisan is an appointed time for Jewish people to reflect on their Hebrew ancestors’ deliverance from slavery as they retell the historic biblical account of their Exodus from Egypt. The Passover Feast traditionally comprises many symbolic elements included in the annual celebration of the “Seder.”  That ceremonial meal uses specific foods and prayers to help families re-tell the story of the Israelites’ exodus and their newfound freedom to the younger generation. For the religious and cultural Jewish people, Passover reinforces Jewish identity, solidarity, and the belief that God is continuously involved in human history.

Seven weeks after Passover, the celebration of the fourth springtime “feast” of the LORD on the Jewish calendar, is Shavuot or Pentecost, meaning 50, because it occurred on day number 50 after Passover.  It’s when 49 days have elapsed between the Israelite’s departure from Egypt and God’s giving of the Torah at Horeb in the Midian desert of Arabia, the place often called Mount Sinai.

What is Passover as defined in the Bible word “Pesach?”

Think of how a brood of baby chicks might be in danger of being killed and consumed by a bird of prey. What do you suppose the mother hen rushes to do?  She immediately defends her chicks by hovering over them, spreading her wings as their vulnerable protector to rescue her young.

This imagery was used by God’s prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 31:5) to describe how God defends his people when they are under attack. And he uses a rare Hebrew verb, pasakh. ( פָּסַח pâçach, paw-sakh) to describe this act of protection. [Strong’s H6452: “pass over” (4x)]

“As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.” Isa 31:5

[A very memorable analogy from nature is told by Peggy Joyce Ruth in her short personal story of watching a mother hen gather her chicks to protect them from a circling hawk overhead. Read it at https://www.peggyjoyceruth.org/how-a-mother-hen-protectors-her-baby-chicks—psalm-91/how-a-mother-hen-protectors-her-baby-chicks-psalm-91 ]

This verb, pasakh, is seen only a few times in the Bible. However, its related noun, pesakh, is found dozens of times to identify one of Scripture’s most important of all the MOEDIM, or appointed times – Passover. So why is the word for the Passover “feast” the same word used for protecting, hovering birds?

The First Passover

Remember what the book of Exodus is all about?  Long after the pharaoh of Joseph’s time, a later generation of Israelites were made into slaves by another pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph. Because, God blessed His family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) with superior fertility, the jealous Pharoah saw that the population of Israelites might become more numerous than the Egyptians (Ex 1:12).  He treated them harshly and eventually became so brutally heartless that he commanded that newborn Hebrew sons be drowned in the Nile River (Ex 1:22). God guides a godly Hebrew mother, named Jochebed, to trust the Lord in protecting her new baby, called Moses. Then God raises up Moses, 80 years later, to confront yet another later Pharaoh, who refuses Moses’ insistence to “let my people go.” God strikes Egypt with nine plagues in a lengthy show-down demonstrating to the people that the nine major pagan gods of Egypt were mere idols, undeserving of their faith in them. The tenth is a deadly plague that will annihilate the firstborn son in every house in the land including the king’s, turning Pharaoh’s own heinous evil back onto himself, and proving that Pharaoh is no god.

But God provided a peculiar way for any family to endure this final plague without harm. Any household could select an innocent lamb for a sacrifice; roast it for a meal; and then smear its blood on the door posts and lintel of their house.  This humble act of obedient faith was promised to protect that house from the death, destined to every Egyptian family who did not simply follow the provision God gave. Moses tells the people that if they did this, God will pasakh that house – i.e. “pass over” and protect it.

Scripture records: “Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and He will see the blood on the doorframe and the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pasakh over the door. He will not allow the destroyer to enter into your houses to strike” (Exodus 12:23)

Yahweh’s Protection

Now, this word is sometimes translated as “pass over,” which might make you think of skipping over or going away from the house. But other translations render the same word as “protect,” which is how Isaiah used the word.

God will pasakh his people like that mother bird, hovering over the house and not allowing the destroyer, which is the plague, to enter and strike.

So, Passover, or “pesakh” in Hebrew, is the night when God’s protective love held back death. And after that first pesakh, Moses instructed the Israelites to observe this meal as an annual commemoration. And so, it has been celebrated every year since.

[Source: Understanding Pasakh – Bible Project

The Passover in Egypt is the signal event of the Bible that foreshadows God’s merciful redemption provided by His son, the promised Messiah for the whole world of humanity.

As we read in the book of Exodus, the LORD gave Moses instructions to tell the Israelites to sacrifice an innocent lamb and sprinkle its blood on their doorposts so that the destroyer would “pass over” their homes, sparing their firstborn sons (Exodus 12:23). This event symbolizes salvation through substitution.  The blood of the lamb serves as a substitute for the blood of the firstborn’s life. This would be an everlasting memorial for all God’s people, reminding all future generations of God’s mercy and justice (Exodus 12:12-13).

“Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent statute (חֻקָּה chuqqâh, khook-kaw’; feminine of H2706, and meaning appointed, custom, manner, ordinance, site, statute).” Exodus

In the New Testament, the bondage of the Israelites to their Egyptian slave masters is equated to the bondage of all humanity to sin. The sacrifice of an innocent lamb and the personal application of God’s faithful households applying its blood to the doorway of their home is equated to Jesus, who is referred to as the “Lamb of God” who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). His death on the cross is seen as the ultimate Passover sacrifice, fulfilling the prophecy and providing humanity with redemption for anyone willing to personally follow the divine instruction to apply the blood to the door of his own life.

Paul wrote to Corinthian believers about a decade after Christ’s crucifixion… (1 Corinthians 5:7).

“For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feast (meaning ‘of Passover’) not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor 5:7-8). New Testament believers actually continued celebrating Passover as a memorial of the redemption accomplished by Jesus in His death.

This divine foreshadowing is further shown during the Last Supper, where Jesus and his disciples were celebrating what we know as the “Passover Seder.”  Jesus introduced a powerful new dimension to the historic Passover feast that Moses recorded in the book of Exodus.  He explained profound meaning for the sacrifice of himself that he was about to endure, symbolizing his body and blood as the fulfilment of God’s new covenant (Matthew 26:26-28).

“While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.’” Matt 26:26-28

Thus, the historic Passover that really and miraculously happened in Egypt some 3,500 years ago, is foundational in pointing to the role of Jesus as the ultimate redeemer of all mankind.  (Exodus 12:11-14).

How Jesus Fulfilled the Passover – Salvation through Substitution 

source: How Jesus Fulfilled the Passover – Salvation through Substitution by Justin Dillehay for The Gospel Coalition

It’s a fact that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem on the day of the Jewish celebration of Passover… and he deliberately came to Jerusalem to celebrate it at that time as a Torah-obedient Jew.  He had a foreordained appointment that began with a public introduction three-and-a-half years earlier. Remember it?  It was at the Jordan River when Jesus’ cousin John, moments before He immersed Jesus in the water, announced it…

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

From that introduction of Jesus by the prophet, John the Baptist, at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus and all the observant Jews around Him were very aware that 1500 years of waiting for Messiah was about to come to an end.

That title – “the LAMB of God” – was a clear signal to everyone that connected with Passover. But what they didn’t realize in advance is that their Messiah had to die as a sacrificial lamb.

The reason he came to Jerusalem that final time wasn’t just to celebrate Passover, but to becomeour Passover.

They knew about lambs. But the blood of an animal could only cover their sins; it could not take them away. God spoke through a parade of many prophets over years, starting with Moses, to explain to His people that, one day in the future, a substitutionary human lamb would come who would deal with the problem of sin and death once and for all.

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the suffering this human lamb would experience. He wrote a very clear, graphic description, which is recorded in Isaiah chapter 53. It would be good to read that entire chapter in your remembrance of the meaning of Passover (Isaiah 53:1-12).

God sent one last prophet to help the people recognize Him. This prophet was John, the forerunner of Jesus who is called “the Baptizer.”  The day after John’s public baptism of Jesus, John introduced Jesus again to Andrew and another of his disciples, with the same words: “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36).

There’s no question that John identified Jesus as the human lamb that Isaiah spoke of who would give His life for the sins of the world. Jesus was born for this purpose (see Acts 2:22-23). Because of their religious sacrifices, the Jewish people immediately understood the significance of John’s statements concerning Jesus.

Reading the Bible record, we see the fulfillment of the Feast of Passover through the lens of Jesus’ crucifixion. Since this was the reason for His birth, Jesus’ entire life was predestined so that He would fulfill this purpose exactly as God had instructed the Jews to practice it for 1,500 years.

Jesus followed a schedule that was right on time

Jesus continually let His disciples know that His earthly life was planned according to His Heavenly Father’s schedule. 

As the time approached for Jesus to die, He deliberately arranged His schedule of personal activities around the careful rituals prescribed by Moses for the selection, testing, and death of the Passover Lamb.  That way, the Jewish people were able to understand who He was and what He was doing. They had acted out the drama of redemption in the Passover ritual through 15 centuries of their history. Jesus was prepared to be crucified on the exact month, day, and hour that the Jews had been handling the lambs for 1,500 years in keeping their Feast of Pesach.

Source: The Hour Had Come – Maundy Thursday in the Garden of Agony by David Mathis, Senior Teacher for Desiring God Ministries 

One example alluding to Jesus’ schedule is John 8:28

“So, Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”

As Jesus approached His final hours before His crucifixion, He said:

“The hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Mark 14:41)

Think of it… Through His entire life, Jesus anticipated this divinely planned hour. Through every careful part of unveiling the messianic secret; every spiritual investment poured into his disciples; every sign of his infinite compassion as he healed the blind, the mute, the lame, the demonized, and even raised the dead… All of it was according to Heavenly Father’s plan.

Now the hour has come… and all history hinges on this hour. We can’t imagine how utterly terrifying it was for His human frame. Jesus had to decide: Will he bow to his human nature of self-preservation, or will he submit himself to his Father’s perfect and painful will?

His dying had begun long before this hour, but now in Gethsemane, he must face the death to self that comes before the death at Calvary. Never has a human soul gone through such agony. Never has a man been so undeserving of divine wrath. Never has anyone else faced such horror, to be made sin on behalf of others — to put himself forward in our place.

The exact time when His Hour Has Come

Even as early as John chapter 2, when Jesus turned water to wine, he knew, “My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). But he acknowledged his hour would come. And it shaped him from the beginning.

When he went up to Jerusalem privately for the Feast of Tabernacles, he knew, “My time has not yet come” (John 7:6).

Once he began to teach publicly, it wasn’t long before “they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.” Why was he spared? John explains: “Because his hour had not yet come” (John 7:30).

Then again in John 8, during this same appearance in the holy city, “he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him.” Again, John explains his invincibility: “Because his hour had not yet come” (John 8:20).

But when Jesus finally came to this pivotal Passover week, he knew…

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23–24)

When Jesus reclined with his disciples in the upper room to prepare them for his departure, we read that it was “before the Feast of the Passover, (when) Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to the Father…” (John 13:1).

He knew this was the hour.  As he began his magnificent, high-priestly prayer that night, he prayed, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1).

How Jesus Fulfilled the Passover Feast

source: How Jesus Fulfilled the Passover Feast by Richard Booker for Destiny Image

Let’s see more of how the ancient prophetic ‘shadows’ are fulfilled in the New Testament.

When God established the Passover feast in Egypt, He instructed the Jews to set aside their lambs on the tenth day of the month of Nisan. In the New Testament we learn that it was the tenth day of the month of Nisan when Jesus entered Jerusalem to be set aside as the human lamb.

In John 12:1 we read that Jesus came to the town of Bethany six days before the Passover. John writes, “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany…” (John 12:1). Since Passover was celebrated on the 14th, this would mean that Jesus came to Bethany on the ninth.

John then gives us further information to show us that Jesus entered Jerusalem on the tenth. He says,

“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (John 12:12-13).

John informs us that it was the next day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was greeted by the cheering crowds. Since Jesus was in Bethany on the ninth, the next day was the tenth.

Jesus entered Jerusalem to be set aside as the human Lamb of God on the exact date that God told the Jews to set aside their lambs back in Egypt. Jesus was fulfilling in Himself the ultimate reality of the Feast of Passover.

The purpose of setting the lamb aside, days ahead of the sacrifice, was to observe it to make sure it was without spot or blemish. This lamb was to be offered to God. Since God is perfect, you certainly wouldn’t offer Him a lamb that was blemished. So, the Jews observed and tested the lamb for five days to make sure that it was faultless.

Likewise, Jesus, the human lamb, was observed and tested for five days by the religious leaders. They questioned His authority (see Matthew 21:23-27). They asked Him trick questions hoping He would somehow give a wrong answer that they could use against Him (see Matthew 23). They did everything they could to point an accusing finger at Him. They wanted to discredit Him so that He would not be an acceptable sacrifice.

But Jesus always responded to them perfectly. They could not find anything wrong with Him. Finally in desperation, they took Jesus to the Roman governor, whose name was Pilate, hoping he could find something wrong with Jesus. But after interrogating and beating Jesus, Pilate said of Him, “I find no fault in Him” (John 19:4). This all happened in the five-day period from the tenth to the 14th when the Jews were checking the lambs for sacrifice. Finally, Jesus was crucified on the 14th. He was not only crucified on the same day the lambs were killed, but also at the same time of day.

With thousands of lambs, it was necessary for the Jews to prepare them for sacrifice at nine o’clock in the morning on the 14th. They then killed them at three o’clock that afternoon so that the Passover could be completed before six o’clock, which would begin a new day.

At the exact hour when the Jews were preparing their lambs for sacrifice, Jesus was nailed to the cross. Mark wrote, “Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25). The third hour was nine o’clock in the morning Jewish time.

In fulfillment of the Feast of Passover and Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. The Lord God laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. Jesus was oppressed, and He was afflicted. Yet He opened not His mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter (see Isa. 53:4-7).

Then at three o’clock, as the people were praising God and slaughtering the lambs, Jesus died. Mark was careful to note the time and wrote that it was the ninth hour (three o’clock Jewish time) when Jesus breathed His last breath (see Mark 15:33-37).

All the many details concerning the death of the lambs happened to Jesus—the real Lamb of God. For example, His bones were not broken. Remember, God said not to break any bones in the Passover lamb (see Exod. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Ps. 34:20).

When a person is crucified, his body sags so that he cannot breathe. This causes him to push himself up with his heels just long enough to take a deep breath. To hasten the person’s death, a Roman soldier would break his legs; thus, he would not be able to push himself up to get air.

John records that the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves who were crucified next to Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they didn’t break His legs (see John 19:30-37). John saw this and wrote, “For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken’” (John 19:36).

God had specifically instructed the Jews to consume the whole lamb. Nothing was to be left over for the next day (see Exod. 12:10). This also was the case with Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders, not realizing they were carrying out God’s plan, hurriedly had Jesus’ body taken down before six o’clock.

John wrote, “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day – not the regular 7^th day Shabat), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31). Jesus, the Sacrificial Lamb, was not left on the cross the next day but gave His all on the 14^th as the final Passover sacrifice.

The blood of the Passover lamb was a visual aid, directing the Jews into the future when Jesus would come and establish the spiritual reality that the lambs could only symbolize. The blood of Jesus saves us from death and gives us the promise of resurrection.

Peter wrote, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ [Messiah], as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:18-21).

The apostle Paul made the same connection when he said, “For indeed Christ [Messiah], our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).

But what does that mean?

Remember the First Passover in Exodus 12

The setting is Egypt. The mood is chaos. The whole nation has just been devastated by a series of nine plagues. In a culture with keen awareness of competing gods in the unseen realm, people knew the conflict was more than bad luck – The Most High God is judging Egypt. More than that, He’s keeping a promise (Ex. 2:23–25). He had sworn to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their children would have the land of Canaan for an inheritance (Gen. 15:18–21), yet they’ve been stuck in Egypt more than two centuries. It’s time for God to get them out and bring them home. 

But first, there’s one last plague, the most severe of all. With all (or at least most) of the previous plagues, Israel has been exempted. Their cattle didn’t die (Ex. 9:6). Their crops weren’t hailed on (Ex. 9:26). Even their land didn’t go dark (Ex. 10:23). They haven’t done anything to avoid these other plagues; God has simply aimed away from them. 

The final plague will be different. God would be aiming at everyone this time. Apart from one unpredictable response, God would strike down all the firstborn in Egypt, including the firstborn of Israel.

Why? 

Because despite the fact that Israel is God’s chosen people, and despite the fact that they’ve been oppressed for centuries, the truth is they are sinners, too. Ezekiel 20:4–10 tells us they’d even been worshiping the false gods of Egypt! God can’t simply ignore that sin of idolatry. 

On that first Passover, God planned a way in which He could be both just and merciful at the same time. We might call it salvation through substitution, but there was another component… obedient faith to trust and obey God’s direction.  … “…just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.” Ex 12:28

The message of the 10^th plague is that God is holy and just. But the message of Passover is that God is also merciful to obedient faith.

Bonus Segment

In this bonus segment for our Reclaiming Your Legacy episode about the Passover and the month of Nisan, let’s briefly introduce some thoughts connecting the importance of our families in God’s family. And then, I suggest a secondary recording with a couple of very interesting lists you’ll want to hear or read at ReclaimYourLegacy.com  

Can you imagine the delightful joy of sharing your gratitude to Heavenly Father together with your blood-redeemed brothers and sisters in a compassionate community of koinonia-love, acceptance, and forgiveness?

With that thought in mind, consider your Heavenly Father’s desire to His children to live in the reality of the 16^th Psalm… that says…

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.Psalm 16:11

We all know, deep down, that life is best when sharing it together with others. Our Creator made it that way. So how do you think He was thinking when He established the memorial of Passover, in light of what we’ve been talking about today?

Can you think of some reasons why you and your family should include the observance of Passover in your annual schedule?  For my own family, I honestly had to ask myself, “how do we share with our close loved ones, meaningful sacred times… especially times of worship and joyous thanksgiving celebration before God?

It dawned on me that many of us might be seriously missing out on experiencing together, some special things that would delight not only our family members… but would also delight the Lord Himself. It should be common for God’s children to be excited about the fact that our Heavenly Father takes great delight in His children… when they are happily thriving together in unity and peace, daily expressing gratitude for all the blessings of life. He designed us to be part of a family. Could it be that, in today’s dysfunctional world, we can all do more to make greater effort to contribute our part, both to our natural families (if we have one) and to our Ekklesia family… that is the family of God?

How joyful are those who fear the LORD—all who follow his ways! You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful and prosperous you will be! Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table. That is the LORD’s blessing for those who fear him.

Psalm 128:1-4 (NLT)

Passover is fundamentally about remembering God’s faithfulness and deliverance. The celebration of Passover was designed by God to remember the freedom that gives the people of God inexpressible joy for which to express thanksgiving to God with the members of each of our individual families. God evidently saw Passover, from the beginning, as a deeply meaningful family time. What better place to openly share heart-felt expressions of gratitude for the profound mercies of God… even the little mercies that are new every morning?  Great is His faithfulness. (Lam. 3:23)

This practice of intentional remembrance at Passover is a spiritual discipline that can strengthen faith. The Passover command to remember and retell the story each year reminds Christians of the incomparable importance of passing down faith through generations.  With that in mind, I want to give you two lists that I think you’ll find worth keeping to share with your loved ones.

… You’ll find these resources on the webpage for today’s episode, titled “Nissan is the month of miracles and Passover.” Go to ReclaimYourLegacy.com and scroll through the transcript for the show. You’ll be able to read and click on the audio recording for the extra information. I believe you’ll find it worth sharing with your family and friends who appreciate using materials of this kind to in their conversations with others.

— — link to extension segment of the Bonus for today’s episode — —

Thanks for checking in to this bonus segment of Reclaiming Your Legacy.  This recording is an additional bonus for the episode I’ve called, “Nissan is the month of miracles and Passover.”  If you haven’t already heard the main complete episode, you can find it at ReclaimYourLegacy.com… where you can, if necessary, use the search bar on the webpage to key in “Nissan and Passover Bonus Lists.”

Remember how we began today, noting how the month of Nisan is such a memorable month for miracles?

The month of Nisan, is significant in biblical history for a number of miraculous events – not just Passover.

• The miraculous Creation of the World according to Jewish tradition happened in Nisan: According to the Talmud, the world was created in Nissan.
• Noah’s Ark came to rest as the year-long Flood was coming to an end: Genesis 8:4 reports that on the 17^th day of the 7^th month – according to the civil year that begins in the fall month of our Sept/Oct.  This equates to the 1^st month of the religious calendar… Nisan.
• God’s land Covenant with Abraham: God made a covenant with Abraham, promising to bequeath the Land of Israel to his descendants.
• Jacob’s Wrestling Encounter with the Angel: Jacob wrestled with an angel all night until dawn, after which the angel blessed him and changed his name to Israel.
• Moses’ Call in the wilderness of Midian to Let God’s People Go Free: Moses received his divine mission to redeem the Israelites from Egypt while shepherding the flocks of his father-in-law at the foot of Mount Sinai in Midian.
• Exodus Preparation: Two weeks before the Exodus, God instructed Moses regarding the lunar months of the Jewish calendar and taught the mitzvah of sanctifying the new month.
• God’s special Tabernacle was set up in the Wilderness for the first time: The Tabernacle was erected in the desert, and the heads of the Tribes brought their offerings for the dedication of the altar.
• The Israelites Entered the Promised Land: The Israelites, led by Joshua, crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land.
• The Assyrian Army was miraculously Destroyed: The Assyrian army of Sennacherib, which had threatened Jerusalem, was destroyed.
• God’s people began returning from 70 years of exile in Babylon: Nissan marked the beginning of the return to the Land of Israel from the Babylonian exile under Ezra and Nehemiah.

Lastly, let’s take a short tour of some of the powerful symbolism and foreshadowing about Passover that is missed… or not-fully understood… by most believers because they simply don’t know much about Jewish culture or the biblical Appointed Times called “feasts.” All seven of the feasts point to the Messiah, but no other feast foreshadows his death except the Passover.

Passover Types and Shadows

The Passover has been celebrated for over three thousand years. Some of the long-held traditions were adopted before Christ, even though they were not specifically commanded in the original Torah texts about the event. Let’s see some of the ways Christ’s death was foreshadowed in the Passover, and how it was fulfilled.

• First, the Passover lamb, had to be a young and perfect male – without any spot or defect. They couldn’t offer an old sheep. Was not Christ perfect and totally without sin, in shedding his blood for us?
• Second, Passover is linked with the feast of unleavened Bread, which lasts 7 days, and during that time they couldn’t use… or even have… any yeast/leaven in their homes… because yeast is symbolic for sin. In any area of our lives, how can any of us truthfully hide sin from God? [There was a practical purpose for this, as cleaning out the yeast, was known to help prevent disease spread by mice and rats.]
• All the families who sprinkled the lamb’s blood on their doorposts were spared from the death of the firstborn. Even gentile Egyptian families, who put the blood on their door posts, were also spared. Is this not a reminder that Christ’s sacrifice is for the whole world – Jew and Gentile alike?
• Christ was literally on the cross – crucified at the exact time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the temple in mid-afternoon. For years, special observances, like the Seder meal, have become part of Passover celebrations, kept by Jews around the world. Do they point to Christ?
• The Matzo is pierced and broken. Look at a Matzo cracker. It’s pierced with many holes. In the Seder, the Matzo is broken into three pieces. Three is the number of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Do you wonder why they pick the middle piece [Not the 1^st, on top, nor the 3^rd , on the bottom?  Who is the 2nd person of the trinity?  The Son.
• Then, this matzo is literally wrapped in cloth and hidden. Was Christ wrapped in linen cloth and hidden away in a borrowed tomb?
• Then, a ransom is paid for this hidden piece of matzo. Children in the family celebrating the Seder look for the special matzo.  A small coin or prize is given to the finder. This piece is called the Affikoman – and it literally means “that which we look forward to.” Isn’t Christ the one we look to, and look forward to his return?
• There are four cups of wine in the Seder. One of these is the cup of redemption. With his sacrificial death on the cross- Christ paid the ransom, redeemed us, and atoned for the sins of the whole world, reconciling us to God.  The last word on the cross was “Tetelestai.” The translation in many English Bibles says “It is finished.”  But many archaeological discoveries from the 1^st Century, suggest this widely-used accounting term literally means “Paid in Full.” [see: https://www.abiblecommentary.com/blog/2014/07/22/the-greek-word-tetelestai/]
  Christ was crucified on Passover; in the grave for the Feast of Unleavened bread, for 3 days and nights, as the perfect lamb without sin. And then He rose on the day called “First Fruits.” Does this enlarge our appreciation for how Passover gives us symbols, or ‘shadows’ of things to come?

Let the LORD’s Holy Spirit guide you to share these insights with your loved ones as He gives you opportunities.  I think you’re going to experience a rich blessing of God’s presence when you do.

source: 10 Reasons Christians Should Observe Passover – Robin Sampson https://www.biblejournalclasses.com/blog/10-reasons-christians-should-observe-passover  the 7^th reason in this list is a good way to introduce this episode, asking “Why should we celebrate Passover?”

Source: Understanding Pasakh – Bible Project https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/what-is-passover/

source: How Jesus Fulfilled the Passover – Salvation through Substitution by Justin Dillehay for The Gospel Coalition  https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-jesus-fulfills-passover/

Source: The Hour Had Come – Maundy Thursday in the Garden of Agony by David Mathis, Senior Teacher for Desiring God Ministries https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-hour-had-come

source: How Jesus Fulfilled the Passover Feast by Richard Booker for Destiny Image at https://www.destinyimage.com/blog/richard-booker-how-jesus-fulfilled-the-passover-feast