First Month commonly called Nisan
In the Bible God has named the first month of HIS Biblical Calendar as simply, FIRST MONTH. The names “Nisan or Aviv” for the first month are used on the Jewish Calendar and was likey was adopted after the Babylonian exile, likely around the 5th century BCE. Before the exile, the months were referred to by number (e.g., “First Month”).
In Hebrew, the word “Aviv” (אָבִיב) means “spring season ” or “ripening of grain crops in Israel”, particularly referring to the stage when the barley crop reaches full size but is not yet dry. It is the name given to the first month of the biblical year in the ancient Hebrew Calendar. In the Babylonian Calendar, the equivalent of the month of Aviv was named “Araḫ Nisānu”, or “Nisan” in Akkadian, which translates to “month of beginning”. While Aviv isn’t a direct Babylonian word, the term holds significance in understanding the calendar and agricultural practices of the ancient Near East, including Mesopotamia, where Babylonia was located. The Babylonian Calendar and its month names, like Nisan, were adopted by the Jewish calendar during the Babylonian captivity. Essentially, the concept of “Aviv” (ripe barley,beginning of spring) in the Hebrew context is associated with the month of Nisan in the Babylonian system, according to Wikipedi encyclopedia.
The biblical name of “First Month” is established by God in Exodus 12:1-2, it is simply called, “the First Month of your year.” It is a spring month of 30 days and usually occurs from mid-March until mid-April on the Gregorian calendar we use in the USA. God’s First Month is one of the holiest times on the Biblical Calendar, it contains four Appointed Times of GOD.
The First Month is packed with monumental works of GOD. The 10 plagues that struck Egypt and destroyed the so called power of their pagan gods. The lamb’s blood on the door post that saved the lives of the Hebrew’s first born children, the very first Passover. The massive exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt led by Moses. God choose the First Month for the death and resurretion of Yeshua the Messiah and the launch of the Risen Messiah’s walk on the earth for 40 days!
Passover / Pesach
Yeshua’s Crucifixion
14th Day of the First Month
Nisan/Aviv (March-April)
Jesus is crucified, dies around 3pm and buried in the tomb before sunset
Feast Unleavened Bread
-7 Days
15th-21st Days of First Month
Nisan/ Aviv (March-April)
“This is my body (unleavened bread), which is being broken for you; do this in memory of me.” Luke 22:19
Counting of the Omer
begins count of 49 days
16th Day of the First Month
Nisan /Aviv (March-April)
The Resurrected Savior walked the earth for 40 days during the Counting of the Omer.
Feast of First Fruits
Yeshua’s Resurrection
17th Day of the First Month
Nisan/ Aviv (March-April)
The Messiah has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
(1 Corinthians 15:20)
In the Torah the first month is called Aviv. “The word aviv also refers to a particular growth stage of barley, at which point it is not yet golden but just ripe enough (in Israel) to be suitable for the “Feast of First Fruits” offering following the Lord’s Passover. I want to point out which may not be obvious to some; God’s calendar and reckoning time are based on the land of Israel. His Word, is written to His covenant people of Israel with detailed instructions for the land in which they lived at that time. Here are some of the biblical events that occurred in the First Month.
- 1 Nisan(circa 3761 BCE) – Creation of the Universe according to Rabbi Joshua‘s opinion in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 10b-11a).
- 1 Nisan (circa 1638 BCE) – Death of Abraham according to the Talmud
- 1 Nisan (circa 1533 BCE) – Death of Isaac according to the Talmud
- 1 Nisan (circa 1506 BCE) – Death of Jacob according to the Talmud
- 1 Nisan (circa 1456 BCE) – First mitzvah (commandment) is given to the Jewish people (Exodus 12:1–2) Exodus 12:1-2 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) 12 Adonai spoke to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt; HE said, 2 “You are to begin your calendar with this month; it will be the first month of the year for you.
- 7 Nisan (circa 1416 BCE) – Joshua sends two spies to Jericho.
- 10 Nisan Anniversary of the death of Miriam the prophetess, sister of Moses and Aaron[1]
- 14 Nisan On this day the Messiah was crucified. Yeshua (Jesus) was nailed to the cross around 9 a.m. and died around 3PM. His body was placed in the tomb at twilight. Passover began at sundown.
- 14 Nisan – Passover this year (check the Jewish Calendar for current date).
- 14 Nisan– Passover is the foundation that Christians use to create the observances of Good Friday and Easter Sunday . The Judeo-Christian religion grew out of Judaism when the early Jews who followed Yeshua (Jesus) and proclaimed him the Messiah. Today, the Jews who continue to follow Yeshua (Jesus) are called Messianic Jews however their congregations include gentiles and together they observe Passover in the same way that Yeshua (Jesus) did.
- 15 Nisan The first day the 7-day Festival of Unleavened Bread. The Messiah’s tomb is guarded and it had already been secured with a stone.
- 15 Nisan (circa 1713 BCE) – Birth of Isaac
- 16 Nisan – With the annual Sabbath now over, the women bought and prepared spices to anoint Yeshua’s body.
- 16 Nisan(circa 1273 BCE) – The Children of Israel stop eating Manna, six days after entering the Holy Land.
- 16 Nisan (circa 474 BCE) – Esther‘s second feast during which she accuses Haman of planning to annihilate the Jewish people. King Achashverosh orders his servants to hang Haman.
- 17 Nisan-The weekly Sabbath. The women rested on the weekly Sabbath. Yeshua (Jesus) rose around sunset, exactly three days and three nights (72 hours) after burial, to fulfill the sign of Jonah and authenticate His messiahship.
- 17 Nisan (circa 24th century BCE) – Noah’s Ark came to rest on mountains of Ararat[3]
- 18 Nisan- The women brought the prepared spices early in the morning while it was still dark. When they arrived, they found that Yeshua (Jesus) had already risen from the grave.
- 21 Nisan (circa 1456 BCE) – The sea splits, allowing Israel to escape the Egyptian army.
- 21 Nisan King Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls of the city. Nehemiah 2:1-2
RESOURCES:
WIKIPEDIA – Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisan
CHABAD.ORG is a division of the Chabad–Lubavitch Media Center. (https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/871715/jewish/Passover-2019-Pesach.htm).
A ROOD AWAKENING International is a non-profit ministry dedicated to restoring the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. (https://aroodawakening.tv/biblical-feasts/about-the-feasts/. Michael Rood has new calculations which show the dates for Holy Days or Appointed Times. “Through careful study and reinstated practice of ancient time keeping, along with the help of modern technology from the likes of NASA, the Biblical Hebrew Calendar (not ancient jewish calendar) has emerged as the most accurate calendar for observing time and the Feasts of the LORD in the way that the Almighty originally intended in the Garden of Eden.” For more see his Astronomically and Agriculturally Corrected Biblical Hebrew Calendar!