So Moses told the people, “Remember this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; for the LORD brought you out of it by the strength of His hand. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. Today, in the month of Abib, you are leaving.” Exodus 13:3-4
The Hebrew calendar begins in the month Abib (also known as Nisan which is the Babylonian term) and goes for 12 months to the month of Adar. The Hebrew word abib is mentioned six times in the Bible. It means “in the ear,” or “green ears of grain.” Abib is a term for the stage of growth of grain when seeds have reached full size. The time of the year when the ears of grain begin to grow was in the spring (Abib goes from April 9-May 8) which starts with the spring equinox.
On this first day of a new year, it is good to go back and learn
some key facts about this month and especially the first day of
the month.
First, each month in the Hebrew Calendar is linked to one of
the twelve tribes of Israel. The month of Abib is linked to the
Tribe of Judah. Just as Abib was the first month, Judah was the tribe that goes first in all the battles of Israel. Judah was known for praise to the Lord. This is our first lesson about the first month of the new year – it should be a time we praise God that we are His people and that He is in control of the days that lie ahead of us.
The second lesson we learn is that it was on the first day of Abib that Haman cast lots to determine the date that he would once and for all exterminate the Jewish people. God, of course, is in control and the lot fell 12 months from that date in the month of Adar. Thus as we go into this year we are to member we are in hostile territory. We are hated because, like in Esther’s day, we will not bow down to any other than the Lord God. As result the world wished to silence us and to destroy us and the message we carry from our Savior. Thus in this month we remember who we serve and that we are pilgrims here.. This is not our home nor are its treasures what we desire. In this month we should check our priorates to be sure we are aligned with God’s priorities.
The third lesson we learn is that on the first day of Abib the Tabernacle was inaugurated. The Israelites had been in the wilderness for a year. Moses had met God on Mount Sinai and gotten the instructions for the Tabernacle which was to be built to God’s design.
God told Moses in Exodus 40:1-3, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the new year. Place the
Ark of the Covenant inside, and install the inner curtain to enclose the Ark within the Most Holy Place.’” From that day in the wilderness when God’s presence entered the Ark until the days Of Ezekiel when the idolatrous rebellion of God’s people grew so great that he spirit of God reluctantly left the ark, then the Temple then the city. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel drove out Emmanuel through their hardened hearts. The new year reminds us to obey God dwells with us.
What can we learn? On this new year’s day we remember when God entered into our lives. Emmanuel, “God with us” became personally real to us. Unlike in the Old Testament God’s promise to us in the New Testament is that He “will never leave us no forsake us”. Today even our hardened hearts will not drive Him away but we can grieve Him greatly. So on this New Years day we should remember the
entrance of God into our lives and renew our desire to live this year fully to please Him,