When Is The Month Of Abib?

Name: Lilly
Question: Can you tell me how I can find proof of the Hebrew calendar to look up the first day of the year?

How do they calculate it? I’ve heard it is the spring equinox on the fourteenth or fifteenth day, (Passover). When did this start and why?

Answer: Thank you for the question Lilly.

We’re going to learn, the first month on the Hebrew calendar is Abib. Today, Abib begins at the spring equinox, this occurs near the end of March and spans into April. I’ll also provide some other important details for you as well.

The First Month Is Abib

Turn your Bible with me to,

Deuteronomy 16:1
Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.

God explained, Abib was the month passover occurred, and the month of Abib was when God freed the Israelites from their long Egyptian bondage.

Let us continue.

Exodus 12:2
This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Between Deuteronomy 16:1 and Exodus 12:2, we now know the Hebrew month of Abib became the first month of the year to the Israelites, the same month of passover.

Abib Occurs At The Spring Equinox

In order to identify when the month of Abib begins, we are going to look up the definition of “Abib” in the Strong’s Concordance which states,

To be tender; green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib or Nisan: – Abib, ear, green ears of corn.

Now ask yourself, when do ‘young tender green ears of grain’ appear?

Naturally, the time of year when nature comes back to life after a cold winter. In the spring, the time of the vernal equinox when day and night are approximately equal in duration across the planet. The time when the weather begins to warm, plants bloom, and God’s creatures come out of their homes.

The Webster’s Dictionary 1828 also helps us by explaining,

Abib… begins at the spring equinox, and answers to the latter part of March and beginning of April. Its name is derived from the full growth of wheat in Egypt, which took place anciently, as it does now, at that season.

So we now know, “the first month of the year” on God’s Calendar is the month of Abib. The month of Abib begins with the arrival of the spring equinox. The spring equinox occurs this year (updated: 2024, Northern Hemisphere) on March 19th, so March 19th is the first day of Abib.

Passover Is The Fourteenth Day Of Abib

Now we need to identify when passover takes place.

Turn your Bible with me to,

Leviticus 23:5
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.

There we have it.

We know the first month is Abib, so on the evening of the fourteenth day of Abib is the LORD’s passover.

In order to reconcile the Hebrew day with our day, we must remember the Hebrew day started at sundown. So one complete Hebrew day is counted from one sundown to the next sundown.

Understanding that, beginning with the evening of the spring equinox on March 19th, we count 14 days, this brings us to the evening hours of April 2nd, which begins the LORD’s passover.

To further clarify, the fourteenth day of Abib begins at sundown on April 1st, it continues until sundown on April 2nd when the spring equinox occurs on March 19th.

A Summary Of Passover

God instructed the Israelites to take the unblemished lamb they obtained on the tenth of the month, and sacrifice it “at even” on the fourteenth day of Abib. That begins the LORD’s passover, (Exodus 12:3-6, Leviticus 23:5).

The Israelites were to take the blood from the lamb, and place it over the lintel and on the two side posts of the door of their homes, and not leave until morning, (Exodus 12:22-23). This was done in obedience to God, and prevented the “destroyer” from entering their home and killing their firstborn.

Though the evening of the fourteenth of Abib was passover, it would transition into the night which began the fifteenth of Abib.

“In that night,” the Israelites were to eat the lamb they sacrificed with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, this was to be a seven-day feast, (Exo 12:8, 12:17-19, Eze 45:21, Deut 16:1-8).

This was the same night the “destroyer” came through the land of Egypt to kill the firstborn of every man and beast. However, the “destroyer” could not harm those who sacrificed the passover lamb, those who placed the blood over and on the side posts of their door.

Exodus 12:23, 29
23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

God sent the Ten Plagues on Egypt in order to make it known to the Egyptians, and through them, the entire world that He is the One True God. The non-existent Egyptian gods could not re-produce the plagues, nor could they prevent them.

This tenth and final plague God sent on Egypt was so severe, Pharaoh demanded Moses and the Israelites leave them in the middle of the night. Finally releasing the Israelites from bondage, (Exodus 12:30-32, 41).

Jesus Became Our Passover

Today, we no longer sacrifice lambs to protect us from the destroyer, atone for our sins, or protect our homes. Jesus Christ fulfilled this requirement when He became our Passover Lamb during the month of Abib. The time when He paid the ultimate sacrifice on the Cross.

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