Passover 2020 Calendar

Some of you are probably wondering why you are reading about Passover on a Christian website. Christians certainly do not sacrifice animals or dabble in blood sacrifice. However, Jesus Became Our Passover Lamb, (1 Corinthians 5:7). We can learn a lot about what that means by understanding the original passover which Christ fulfilled.

Before we begin, I want to explain the calendar below, and how we arrive at the date of Passover.

Passover 2020 Calendar
Passover 2020 Calendar

As you will learn in this study, God told Moses Abib would be the beginning of months to the Israelites, (Exodus 12:2). God further explained on the 14th of Abib, the Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb for passover. So that means in order to identify the 14th of Abib, we have to reconcile the Hebrew date with our own calendar. It means we must identify when the first month begins.

Abib Occurs At Spring

The word “Abib” means,

To be tender; green, that is a young ear of grain; hence the name of the month Abib.

When do green ears begin to appear in grain?

Obviously, when all plants begin to bloom which occurs in Spring.

Further, Websters Dictionary 1828 tells us Abib

Begins at the spring equinox.

So we have a double witness to the fact that, the beginning of the monthAbib starts at the Spring Equinox which happens to be today, March 19th 2020.

Therefore, we count to the 14th day of Abib which is how we arrive at the date of April 2nd, 2020 for the date of Passover this year. On the evening of April 2nd, nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ would make the ultimate sacrifice for us being crucified so we could obtain Eternal Life. This fulfilled the passover of old, and nailed blood ordinances to the cross, (see: Colossians 2:14).

Understanding these facts, we can now begin our study.

A Passover Lesson

Just before the passover of old, the Israelites would take a lamb “without blemish, a male of the first year” and kill the lamb on the evening of the 14th of Abib, (Exodus 12:5-6). The Israelites were then to ‘take of the blood of the lamb, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat the lamb,’ (Exodus 12:7).

Exodus 12:11
And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.

This was the night when the Israelites would become free from Egyptian bondage. This would begin their march toward their promised land. We see our Father calls this His passover.

Was the 14th of Abib passover?

Yes, but there is more to the story, (Leviticus 23:5).

What is important to understand is the Hebrew day goes from sunset to sunset. During the evening hours on the 14th of Abib which is the closing moments of the day, the passover lambs were to be killed. At sundown marked the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th of Abib.

So what happened that night, which was the beginning hours of the 15th of Abib? The same night the Israelites placed the blood of the lamb on and above their doorposts while they were eating the lamb?

Why is this event called, “passover” to begin with?

Please turn your Bible with me to,

Exodus 12:12
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

What about the blood of the lamb, why was it needed, and why was it placed on and above the doorposts?

The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,(Exodus 12:13).

If you had prepared your passover lamb at the end of the 14th of Abib (evening) and placed the blood of the lamb on and over your doorposts, the LORD would passover your home which took place on the 15th of Abib (hours after the evening of the 14th of Abib).

One more verse to sum it up.

Exodus 12:23
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.

During the opening hours on the 15th of Abib (during the night), our Father kept the destroyer who is Satan from killing the firstborn of the Israelites by passing over their homes, if they placed the blood of the lamb on and over their doorposts.

Today, we no longer perform these rituals as ‘Jesus Christ became our Passover Lamb’. As it is written, “worthy is the Lamb that was slain” for us when He died on the cross for our sins, (1 Corinthians 5:7, Revelation 5:12).

As we documented in our Bible Study, Jesus Became Our Passover Lamb, the passover lambs of old were killed on the evening of the 14th of Abib. Jesus Christ fulfilling this passover was also sacrificed for us at this time. An amazing fulfillment of the passover of old.

As the Israelites were able to overcome the destroyer who is Satan with the blood of the lamb, we too are able to ‘overcome Satan with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,’ (1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 12:11).

This year on the evening of April 2nd marks the moment in time when the passover lambs of old were killed (14th of Abib) and also marks the same moment in time when Jesus died in the flesh. This is Passover.

That night, which begins the 15th of Abib is when the death angel was unleashed on Egypt and passed over those who had the blood of the lamb.

Considering what our world is facing today, Passover could not come at a better time. I encourage you to stay strong and focused on God, especially during the hour we now find ourselves in.

Our prayers are with you all.

/* *** Print tooltip */ #printfriendly .underline.web-tooltip.web-tooltip-top:after { content: ' (' attr(data-tooltip)')'; font-size: 70%; font-style: italic; color: #777; } /* *** Font body of document */ #printfriendly #pf-body, ol, ul, dl, li { font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; font-size: 14pt; } #printfriendly #pf-title { font-size: 18pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; text-align: center; } /*dev*/ #printfriendly #pf-author { font-size: 9pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; font-weight: bold; color: #888; text-align: center; } /* *** Style Table of Contents */ #printfriendly .elementor-toc__header, .elementor-toc__body { background-color:#f1f1f1; border-radius: 5px; padding: 15px; width: 75%; margin:auto; margin-bottom: 10px; display:none; } #printfriendly .elementor-toc__header-title { font-weight: bold; text-align: center; } #printfriendly h2 { font-size: 16pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; text-align: center; } #printfriendly h3, h4, h5, h6 { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; text-align: center; } /*print link color, does not affect pdf*/ #printfriendly a, #printfriendly a:visited { color: blue; } /*remove reftagger link attributes, does not affect pdf*/ #printfriendly a.rtBibleRef, #printfriendly a.rtBibleRef a:visited { font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; color:#333; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-color: transparent; } #printfriendly p, ul { font-size: 14pt; font-family: Georgia, Arial, Tahoma; } /*style blockquote font size*/ #printfriendly blockquote { font-size: 14pt; } #printfriendly img { border-radius: 3px; } /*favicon*/ #printfriendly #pf-src-url img { border-radius: 0px; } /*print in footer*/ #printfriendly #pf-print-area:after { content: 'Visit: worldeventsandthebible.com, © World Events and the Bible'; font-size: 10pt; color: #777; display: block; text-align: center; }