Happy New Year to you and those you love! May the Lord richly bless you with peace and the joy of His salvation. I have a “trivia” question for you: “When did the calendar we use begin?” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_calendar will help you appear smarter than most people you know. Try it.
When did the Jewish calendar begin? You may have noticed that while holidays such as Hanukkah and Passover have been added to our calendar, they originated in the Jewish calendar. We celebrate the New Year on January 1, but this was not the Jewish New Year. So, when did the Jewish New Year begin? The answer is found in Exodus 12:1-18, the text for today’s post, where we resume our study of some of God’s great promises in the Bible.
God has exhausted His patience with Pharaoh and is ready to kill the firstborn of all the Egyptians. Here is how Exodus 12 begins:
” Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you.” Exodus 12:1-2.
Exodus 13:4 identifies the month of their departure as Abib, corresponding to March on our calendar.
Moses, Aaron, and the Jewish people are on the threshold of a new beginning, a new year marked by a deliverance they have yearned and prayed for many years. The bonds of slavery and servitude to an evil ruler are about to be broken by the mighty hand of Yahweh! Indeed, a New Year is about to begin!
Preparing for a New Year
To avoid the curse God is about to bring upon the Egyptians, and prepare for their deliverance, God’s people must prepare. Isn’t this the way God works with us, His people? He gives us instructions, telling us how to cooperate to receive what He wants to do for us. As the Bible tells us, we are blessed when we obey His word.
His instructions to the enslaved Jews in Exodus 12:3-11 are:
- Each family is to choose an unblemished one-year-old lamb or goat on the tenth day of the month. vv.3-5.
- The animals are to be kept until the fourteenth of the month, when they will be killed at twilight by all the Israelites.v.6.
- They are to take some of the animal’s blood and put it on the doorposts and lintel of the house in which they will eat the passover meal.v.7.
- They are to roast the meat and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.v.8.
- They are to eat the meal “in haste,” prepared to leave Egypt at a moment’s notice.v.11.
What is God’s New Year promise to the Israelites?
As you read Exodus 12:12-13, think about His promise.
“For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments–I am the Lord. And the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
The promise related to the blood of the sacrificial animal foreshadows the great sacrifice Jesus made to free us from the bondage of sin and eternal separation from God. The Bible is clear: just as the Israelites were saved by applying the blood of the sacrifice to their doorposts and lintel, we are saved through the sacrificial blood of Jesus for us on the cross. Have you accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins? Are you under the protection of His blood?
Celebrating a New Year and a New Life
God wants His people to celebrate Him and the victories He provides for us. He wants us to set aside times to give thanks and remember specific ways He has blessed us. Look at what He says to the Israelites about this:
“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 ordinance.v.14.
“You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance.” v.17.
No question about it: God wants us to celebrate Him and the new life He has given us in Christ! How will you do that in this New Year He has given you? What are some actions you will take to cause you to remember His blessings, to celebrate what He has done and continues to do for you?
Happy New Year!