SHALOM!

Numbers 28:11-13 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Rosh Chodesh: New Moon

¹¹ “On the first of the month you are to present to Adonai a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven flawless male lambs a year old, ¹² with three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with each bull, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering with the ram, ¹³ and with each lamb a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to Adonai.

ROSH HA SHANAH/HEAD OF THE YEAR (a.k.a NEW YEAR’S DAY)

Month of the Roaring of the ROYAL LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH!

Month of MIRACLES & REDEMPTION:

A Time to Align for ABUNDANT HARVEST

“Rosh Chodesh Nisan” is not just the start of a new Hebrew Month but also the start of a New Hebrew Year as per Exodus 12:1-2.

We are currently in the Month of Nisan/Nissan/ Abib/Aviv – the MONTH OF MIRACLES as that was when YAH delivered our descendants from Mitzrayim / Egypt years ago. It is also the same month in which Haman’s judgement was executed. Haman was the villain in the PURIM story in the Book of Esther in the BIBLE.

In Biblical times, the Children of Israel always entered a new month in Praises and Worship unto Almighty YAH/ELOHIM (a.k.a GOD)! It was a FIRST FRUITS Principle because it was believed that if you put YAH first, then you will be prosperous in everything you do.

In the Hebrew Calendar, Nisan which can also be spelt as Nissan and called Abib or Aviv is the very first month in YAH’S yearly cycle of feasts/festivals. The cycle begins with:

• the Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits)

followed by

• the Summer Feasts (Weeks/Pentecost)

after which comes

• the Autumn/Fall Feasts (Rosh ha Shanah, Day of Atonement and Tabernacles),

and finally comes

• the Winter Feasts (Dedication & Lights and Lots).

On the Gregorian Calendar, the Nisan usually begins in March and spills over into April. See image below:

This may seem confusing. Biblically, the New Hebrew Year begins in Autumn/Fall (turning of the year):

Exodus 34:22 Names of God Bible (NOG)

²² “You must celebrate the Festival of Weeks with the first grain from your wheat harvest, and the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the season.

Leviticus 25:9 Names of God Bible (NOG)

⁹ On the tenth day of the seventh month, the special day for the payment for sin, sound rams’ horns throughout the country.

….However, you don’t start counting the months of the year until the Spring time.

BIBLICAL TIME always begins with a HIDDEN SEASON, a  TIME OF “PREGNANT” PREPARATION!

A NEW LIFE begins at CONCEPTION and for 9 LONG MONTHS, that life is HIDDEN in the WOMB!

Then, AT BIRTH, we begin COUNTING the BABY’S AGE! Even though the baby has been alive for 9 months before it was born, we say, he or she is 1 month old, 3 months old, 6 months old, 9 months old, 12 months old, etc….!

It is the same with the hours of the day! As per the Holy Biblical Scriptures, a New Day begins at Sundown!

“THERE WAS EVENING AND THEN MORNING,

• THE FIRST DAY,
• THE SECOND DAY,
• THE THIRD DAY,
• THE FOURTH DAY,
• THE FIFTH DAY,
• THE SIXTH DAY,
• THE SEVENTH DAY!”

Genesis 1:8

Genesis 1:8 Names of God Bible (NOG) 8 Elohim named what was above the horizon sky. There was evening, then morning—a second day.

 

Genesis 1:13  

Genesis 1:13 Names of God Bible (NOG) 13 There was evening, then morning—a third day.

 

Genesis 1:19

Genesis 1:19 Names of God Bible (NOG) 19 There was evening, then morning—a fourth day.

 

Genesis 1:23

Genesis 1:23 Names of God Bible (NOG) 23 There was evening, then morning—a fifth day.

 

You go through the long dark of night then at SUNRISE, you start counting the hours of the day and the DAILY ACTIVITY BEGINS THEN.

Even though a day begins in the evening, the 1st hour of the day comes in the morning!

This is what happens in YAH’S yearly calendar. A New Year begins in the Autumn/Fall on ROSH HA SHANAH. Then you go through the long cold winter when nothing much seems to be happening. Then in Spring, you start counting the months! NISAN IS THE FIRST MONTH!

NISAN is like the MORNING OF THE YEAR, that is to say when the YEARLY ACTIVITY actually BEGINS!

In YAH’S Calendar, Nisan is a very SIGNIFICANT MONTH! The root word for NISAN is “NISSIM” which means “MIRACLES!”

EXPECT MIRACLES THIS MONTH!

“NISSIM means “REDEMPTION”

NISAN is the Month of PASSOVER – A TIME TO CELEBRATE REDEMPTION BY THE BLOOD OF YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH (a.k.a JESUS CHRIST/YESHUA), our PASSOVER LAMB and the MIRACLE of HIS Resurrection!!!

EXPECT REDEMPTION THIS MONTH!

The Orthodox Jews also call this month the MONTH OF ABIB/AVIV.

In the Hebrew language, the word “ABIB” or “AVIV” means: “SPRING TIME!” 

We have come through a long winter season and now it is time for LIFE to SPRING FORTH!!!

SPRING is a very SIGNIFICANT SEASON/TIME in the physical/earthly/natural realm as well as the Spiritual/Unseen/Invisible Realm!!!

Another word for SPRING is “TESHUVAH” which means and/or is the Hebrew word for “REPENTANCE”!

SPRING TIME is a picture of REPENTANCE!

REPENTANCE is turning away from the cold, dead season and moving into the SEASON OF LIFE!

So if you have been going through a LONG COLD DEAD SEASON, you can REPENT!!!

AVIV is the month or season in which to be CLEANSED FROM ANYTHING THAT HELD YOU BACK or held you locked IN AN OLD SEASON, SO YOU ARE FREE TO MOVE FORWARD into YAH’S Promise!!!

Remember that part of the PESACH/PASSOVER Season is going through your house to remove defilement so you are ready to move on with YAH!

NISAN is the MONTH OF FIRST FRUITS!

The BARLEY HARVEST took place in NISAN! Barley was planted in the Autumn/Fall and was the very first crop to be harvested in the SPRING!!! However before the Barley could be eaten, 2 sheaves had to be taken to the TEMPLE OF YAH thereby being presented unto YAH Almighty on FIRST FRUITS Offering which is on the 3rd day after the very first day of the beginning of the Feast of Uneleavened Bread, that is to say, PESACH/PASSOVER!

Crops ripened all through the year:

• BARLEY in early Spring
• WHEAT in early Summer
• GRAPES in the late Summer
• OLIVES in the Autumn/Fall

The Children of Israel would make a FIRST FRUITS OFFERING for every crop! There were FIRST FRUITS OFFERINGS throughout the year! But BARLEY WAS THE FIRST OF THE FIRST OF ALL THE HARVESTS OF THE YEAR! So the FIRST FRUITS of the BARLEY HARVEST was the FIRST of the FIRST!!!

It was the FIRST FRUIT which guaranteed all the HARVESTS FOR THE YEAR!!!

So, as they presented the FIRST FRUITS OF THE BARLEY HARVEST, the Children of Israel, they were proclaiming that:

THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE MANY GREAT HARVESTS TO FOLLOW!

This is one of the reasons as to why YAH chose that day for tone of the greatest events in history which is YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH’S Resurrection!!!

YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH died on the Feast/Festival of PESACH/PASSOVER and rose again three days later on the Feast/Festival of FIRST FRUITS!

The Hebrew Month of NISAN is associated with the ISRAELITE TRIBE OF “YAHUDAH/JUDAH”!

Why is that the case?

Well, because YAHUDAH/JUDAH always went FIRST or AHEAD!

It was always the first Tribe!

• When going through the Wilderness, YAHUDAH/JUDAH always went FIRST!
• When going into Battle, YAHUDAH/JUDAH always went FIRST!

Note that Dawid/David was from this Royal Tribe of YAHUDAH/JUDAH and he went ahead to fight Goliath who represented the Philistines. Through his bravery and victory over Goliath, the Philistines were conquered!!!

Judges 1:1-4 The Message (MSG)

1 A time came after the death of Joshua when the People of Israel asked God, “Who will take the lead in going up against the Canaanites to fight them?”

² And God said, “Judah will go. I’ve given the land to him.”

³ The men of Judah said to those of their brother Simeon, “Go up with us to our territory and we’ll fight the Canaanites. Then we’ll go with you to your territory.” And Simeon went with them.

⁴ So Judah went up. God gave them the Canaanites and the Perizzites. They defeated them at Bezek—ten military units!

The order of going into battle was as follows:

• YAHUDAH/JUDAH
• YISSACHAR or YISSAKAR/ISSACHAR
• ZEV’LUN/ZEBULUN

THE TABERNACLE OF MOSHE/MOSES

• REUVEN/REUBEN
• SHIMON/SIMEON
• GAD

THE HOLY THINGS

• EFRAIM/EPHRAIM
• MENASHSHEH/MANASSEH
• BINYAMINI/BENJAMIN
• DAN
• ASHER
• NAFTALI/NAPHTALI

If we understand YAHUDAH/JUDAH, then we will get a feel of the Season NISAN!

• The symbol of YAHUDAH/JUDAH is that of a LION!
• It was the KINGLY Tribe of Israel!
• It was the Tribe of the MASHIACH/MESSIAH!

YAHUDAH/JUDAH was the TRIBE OF PRAISE!!!

YAHUDAH/JUDAH comes from the Hebrew word, “YADAH”

The root word for “YADAH” is “YAD” which means “HAND”.

YADAH literally means “TO EXTEND THE HAND”.

It came to mean “TO PRAISE YAH WITH LIFTED HANDS”!

It is the most repeated instruction throughout the Holy Biblical Scriptures. We are to lift up our hands unto the LORD YAHUVEH in order to honour HIM!!!

It is like a picture of a child running to her mother or father with her hands lifted high in excitement saying, “Dad, Mum, I love, I need you, Pick me up and hold me close”.

YADAH also means more than that. In the Hebrew language, the HAND is a symbol of POWER and STRENGTH!

Lifting up hands to YAH is also GIVING TO YAH YOUR STRENGTH AND ABILITIES, PUTTING YOURSELF IN YAH’S HANDS!!!

So PRAISE is important this month!

This is the Month to draw close to YAH and commit your life into HIS HANDS!

YAHUDAH/JUDAH means PRAISE! But YAHUDAH/JUDAH has a second aspect:

It can mean to extend hands in PRAISE but also mean to extent hands in BATTLE!!!

In warfare, YADAH meant to extend the hand, that is to say,

TO THROW A STONE, A SPEAR or USE A WEAPON TO DEFEAT THE ENEMY!!!

     

YAHUDAH/JUDAH is also the TRIBE OF WAR!

In the Spiritual Realm and as seen through the Holy Biblical Scriptures, PRAISE AND WARFARE are always connected!

Psalm 149:1-6 Names of God Bible (NOG)

Psalm 149

¹ Hallelujah!

Praising YAH is an act of War!!! So expect Warfare this month!

So as this is the MONTH OF YAHUDAH/JUDAH, expect WARFARE this month!!!

BE PREPARED TO STAND AGAINST THE ENEMY IN GOD’S POWER.

Israel had an enemy!

….But in Nisan, the power of Egypt was overthrown and YAH’S people were set free!!!

The following image summarises what the TRIBE OF YAHUDAH/JUDAH is and how it relates to the Hebrew Month of NISAN:

 NISAN IS THE MONTH IN WHICH TO ALIGN YOUR LIFE TO RECEIVE ABUNDANT HARVEST!

YAH’S goal for your is harvest!

YAH also wants you to see:

• a HARVEST OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

and

• a HARVEST OF SOULS!

YAH wants your barns to be filled and your vats to overflow…. to experience the fullness of HIS promised blessing.

THERE IS A TIMING FOR YOUR HARVEST! The clue to the answer to this is found in Psalm 1:

Psalm 1:3 Names of God Bible (NOG)

YAH wants you to be like a flourishing tree that brings forth its fruit….IN ITS SEASON!

Additionally, Ecclesiastes says the following:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-9 Names of God Bible (NOG)

Everything in God’s Own Time

3 Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven:

….there is a TIME AND A SEASON FOR EVERYTHING…. A TIME TO PLANT SEEDS, and a time to REAP HARVEST!

If you try to harvest and you are in the wrong season, then you will not harvest anything!

PLANTING and REAPING must be in the right timing!

The country of Ukraine has the best farmland in the world but at some point in history, the country went through a very bad famine/drought because of wrong timing for planting and reaping.

YAH is speaking to HIS people concerning ALIGNMENT!

To experience the harvest we desire for, we must be ALIGNED….

• With HIS leaders,
• With HIS people,
• With HIS TIMING,

and

• With HIS Glory!!!

When YAH brought Israel out of Mitzrayim/Egypt, they were a rabble…mixed multitude! They were free from Mitzrayim/Egypt … but not ready to move forward as YAH’S people and accomplish HIS purposes.

YAH therefore led/took them to Sinai where HE taught them ALIGNMENT!

• HE aligned their camp PHYSICALLY!
• He aligned them with HIS LEADERSHIP!

THERE IS POWER IN ALIGNMENT!

YAH wants you to be aligned!

YAH aligned HIS people physically. YAH ensured that HE aligned the tents of the Tribes of Israel in such a way that the Mishkan/Tabernacle of Moshe/Moses was in the Centre. Additionally, they were all able to face the Ark of the Covenant! Remember that the Ark of Covenant represented the Presence of YAH in the Mishkan/Tabernacle. HE needed HIS Children to have access to HIM and HIS Divine Presence. The Children of Israel were all aligned to each other but most importantly, they were all aligned to the Ark of the Covenant. It is a great picture for understanding that when you put YAH in the centre of everything in your life, you will enjoy HIS abundant blessings.

When they were all well aligned, they created a place for HIS GLORY to dwell.

YAH not only aligned them physically but also with HIS TIMING! While they were camped at Sinai, YAH began teaching them HIS times and seasons!

YAH gave them A WHOLE NEW CYCLE OF LIFE. 

• Every 7 days, they were and are still required to take a day to rest and enjoy YAH’S goodness.
• Start every month celebrating with YAH!
• 3 times a year, at YAH;S appointed times, they were to meet with YAH and allow HIM to do something special in their lives.

In all of that, YAH was teaching them to think of life in terms of YAH’S seasons! That’s important! YAH never changes, but his seasons do! What worked last season won’t always work this season!

If we want to prosper in life and experience HARVEST we need to understand the season we are in!

This is seen in the Natural/Earthly/Physical Realm, for example, we have to wear clothes appropriate to the weather throughout the year.

YOU CAN PROSPER IN ANY SEASON BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW WHICH SEASON YOU ARE IN!

EACH SEASON HAS ITS OWN PURPOSE!!!

SPRING TIME IS ALSO A TIME FOR WAR

SUMMER IS A TIME TO TEND CROPS

There are some crops harvested BUT IT IS PRIMARILY A TIME TO WORK AND WAIT IN EXPECTATION OF THE HARVEST THAT’S TO COME!

AUTUMN/FALL IS A SEASON OF FULFILMENT! 

It’s a season to BRING IN THE ABUNDANT HARVEST! It is also a time for JOY and THANKFUL CELEBRATION!

WINTER IS A TIME TO ENJOY THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOUR!

Also, a TIME TO PREPARE FOR PLANTING AGAIN!

Each month has its own flavour, its own mood, and its own prophetic significance!

YAH grouped months in their seasons so that as we walk with YAH from month to month, we move forward into DESTINY!

If you want to walk in YAH’S blessing, then you need to understand where we are in YAH’S TIMING! That’s why we have our MONTHLY FIRST FRUITS CELEBRATIONS! A time to seek the LORD YAHUVEH (a.k.a YAHWEH) for the new month!

Each month has a different:

• Colour
• Flavour
• Fragrance
• Emotions
• Activities

The Cycle of Months sets an order for our lives!

The wordly cycle of months is out of sync with YAH and as a result it is difficult to fully prosper in YAH’S designed way.

YAH wants you to experience three key events as you go through each year: THEY ARE APPOINTMENTS WITH YAH ( a.k.a YAH’S Appointed Times)!

The Messianic Communities (also known as Churches) which existed during the time of YAHUSHUA’s last 40 days on earth and afterwards actually followed YAH’S Calendar as designed originally however as time went on, YAH’S calendar was forsaken by believers in YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH (a.k.a JESUS CHRIST/YESHUA) as a result of persecution from the Roman Government of that time. YAH is restoring HIS yearly set Calendar in these end times!

One of the purposes of YAH’S Appointed Times, is to align with YAH’S Timing! They help us in sync with rhythm of YAH! To be at the right time and right place!… So we don’t miss our windows of opportunity.

In conclusion,

IN THIS MONTH OF NISAN, LET YAH/ELOHIM (a.k.a GOD) ALIGN YOU WITH HIS TIMES TO EXPERIENCE THE FULLNESS OF HIS HARVEST in YAHUSHUA’S NAME, AMEN!

HISTORICAL EVENTS (Source – Wikipedia and other Jewish Literature):

Holidays and observances

• 1 Nisan – Kha b-Nisan – the first day of the New Year
• 10 Nisan – Yahrzeit of Miriam the prophetess, sister of Moses and Aaron^[1]
• 10 Nisan – Yom HaAliyah – Aliyah Day, Israeli national holiday
• 14 Nisan – Fast of the Firstborn – on 12 Nisan when the 14th falls on Sabbath
• 15–21 Nisan (22 Nisan outside of Israel) – Passover
• 23 Nisan – Mimouna – Maghrebi Jewish celebration of the end of the Passover prohibition on eating chametz, on 22 Nisan within Israel
• 26 Nisan – Traditional yahrzeit of Joshua^[2]
• 27 Nisan – Yom HaShoah – on 26 Nisan or 28 Nisan when the 27th falls on Friday or Sunday respectively, interfering with Shabbat

In Jewish history and tradition

• 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 is given to the Jewish people (Exodus 12:1–2)
• 1 Nisan (circa 1455 BCE) – Mishkan inaugurated; death of Nadav and Avihu^{[citation needed]}
• 1 Nisan (1772 CE) – Birth of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
• 1 Nisan (1892 CE) – Death of Rabbi Elimelech Szapira of Grodzhisk
• 2 Nisan (1920 CE) – Death of Rabbi Sholom DovBer Schneersohn (“Rashab”), the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe. His last words are recorded as, “I’m going to heaven; I leave you the writings.”
• 3 Nisan (1492 CE) – The Alhambra Decree orders the expulsion of Spanish Jews from Castile and Aragon (but not Navarre).
• 7 Nisan (circa 1416 BCE) – Joshua sends two spies to Jericho.
• 10 Nisan (circa 1417 BCE) – Death of Miriam, 39 years after the Exodus.
• 10 Nisan (circa 1416 BCE) – The Israelites cross the Jordan river into Canaan (Joshua 4)
• 11 Nisan (1270 CE) – Death of Nachmanides
• 11 Nisan (1902 CE) – Birth of 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
• 13 Nisan (circa 474 BCE) – Haman‘s decree to annihilate the Jews is passed.
• 13 Nisan (1575 CE) – Death of Rabbi Joseph Caro, author of the Shulchan Aruch.
• 13 Nisan (1866 CE) – Death of Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe of Chabad.
• 14 Nisan (1135 CE) – Birth of Maimonides
• 14 Nisan (1943 CE) – Warsaw Ghetto uprising begins. The uprising would last until Iyar 3, and is now commemorated in Israel on 27 Nisan.
• 15 Nisan (circa 1713 BCE) – Birth of Isaac
• 15 Nisan (circa 1456 BCE) – The Exodus from Egypt
• 15 Nisan (474 BCE) – Esther appears before Achashverosh unsummoned and invites him and Haman to a feast to be held the same day. During the feast she requests that the king and Haman attend a second feast the next day.
• 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 regarding his plot to annihilate her nation. Achashverosh orders his servants to hang Haman.
• 17 Nisan (circa 24th century BCE) – Noah’s Ark came to rest on mountains of Ararat^[3]
• 17 Nisan (circa 474 BCE) – Haman hanged after Queen Esther‘s second drinking party.
• 21 Nisan (circa 1456 BCE) – The sea splits, allowing Israel to escape the Egyptian army.
• 26 Nisan (circa 1386 BCE) – Death of Joshua
• 28 Nisan (circa 1415 BCE) – Conquest of Jericho by Joshua (Book of Joshua ch. 6).
• 29 Nisan (1620 CE) – Death of Rabbi Chaim Vital, a Kabbalist and a disciple of Rabbi Isaac Luria.
• 29 Nisan (1699 CE) – In Bamberg, Germany during a commercial crisis in 1699, the populace rose up against the Jews, and one Jew saved himself by throwing prunes from a gable-window down upon the mob. That event, the 29th of Nisan, called “Zwetschgen-Ta’anit” (Prune-Fast), was commemorated by a fast and a Purim festivity until the extermination of the Jewish community there.^[4]

In the New Testament

• 9 Nisan – Jesus was anointed at Bethany by Mary (John 12:1)
• 10 Nisan – Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem (John 12:12)
• 14 Nisan – After Jesus celebrated the Passover, Jesus was crucified (Leviticus 23:5 says Passover is Nisan 14)
• 16 Nisan – (Morning of the third day) Jesus rose from the dead (John 20:1,9)