Today (April 1st) is the 14th of Aviv, the day of the Sacrifice of the Passover Lamb (Korban).

The day of sacrifice is not a Chag (Feast) nor a Moed (Appointed Time/holiday/Shabbat) but it is the eve of the Passover Shabbat, which begins today at sunset (15 of Aviv = Shabbat of Pesach)

Korban (Sacrifice) – “Your animal must be without defect, a male in its first year, and you may choose it from either the sheep or the goats. “‘You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and then the entire assembly of the community of Isra’el will slaughter it at dusk.” Sh’mot (Exo) 12:5-6

The hebrew word for dusk on this verse is “bein haarvim” which means “between the nights”. It is interesting to think that Yeshua was slain on the 14^th of Aviv at 3 pm, after 3 hours of darkness and 3 hours before the sunset (another time of darkness):

‘From noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, all the Land was covered with darkness. At about three, Yeshua uttered a loud cry, “Eli! Eli! L’mah sh’vaktani? (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)” But Yeshua, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.‘ Mattityahu (Mat) 27:45-46,50

Erev Pesach (Passover Eve) = ‘They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the two sides and top of the door-frame at the entrance of the house in which they eat it. That night, they are to eat the meat, roasted in the fire; they are to eat it with matzah and maror. Don’t eat it raw or boiled, but roasted in the fire, with its head, the lower parts of its legs and its inner organs. Let nothing of it remain till morning; if any of it does remain, burn it up completely. “‘Here is how you are to eat it: with your belt fastened, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand; and you are to eat it hurriedly. It is Adonai’s Pesach [Passover]. For that night, I will pass through (Passover) the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both men and animals; and I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt; I am Adonai. The blood will serve you as a sign marking the houses where you are; when I see the blood, I will pass over you — when I strike the land of Egypt, the death blow will not strike you. “‘This will be a day for you to remember and celebrate as a festival to Adonai; from generation to generation you are to celebrate it by a perpetual regulation.’ Sh’mot (Exo) 12:7-14

Yeshua is the korban of Pesach, it is through His blood (blood of sacrifice) that we have access to eternal life.

Yeshua was taken down from the wood (cross) before Shabbat (of the feast, not the weekly).

This was so that the Word of God would be fulfilled:

‘“If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree, his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God — so that you will not defile your land, which Adonai your God is giving you to inherit.’ D’varim (Deu) 21:22-23

Yeshua was sinless, but He was condemned as such, on the tree He took upon Himself all our sins. In order not to defile the land, He was removed and buried before nightfall.

“Jewish Tradition: Out of respect for the deceased, burial should take place as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours, avoiding the Sabbath.”

‘There was a man named Yosef, a member of the Sanhedrin. He was a good man, a tzaddik; and he had not been in agreement with either the Sanhedrin’s motivation or their action. He came from the town of Ramatayim, a town of the Judeans; and he looked forward to the Kingdom of God. This man approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body. He took it down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, that had never been used. It was Preparation Day (14 of Aviv) and a Shabbat (of the Feast – 15 of Aviv) was about to begin. The women who had come with Yeshua from the Galil followed; they saw the tomb and how his body was placed in it. 56Then they went back home to prepare spices and ointments. On Shabbat (of Pesach) the women rested, in obedience to the commandment;’ Luke (Luk) 23:50-56 – other references: Mt 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; John 19:38-42

‘For just as Yonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea-monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the depths of the earth. ‘ Mattityahu (Mat) 12:40

We believe that on that year, the 14th of Aviv was a Thursday, so that the prophecy of 3 days and 3 nights would be fulfilled:

• Aviv 14 – First day (Thursday from 3 pm to sunset) – korban (sacrifice) / Aviv 15 – First night (Erev Pesach/Shabbat of Pesach)
• Aviv 15 – Second day (Friday) / Aviv 16 – Second night (Shabbat of the week)
• Aviv 16 – Third day (Shabbat) / Aviv 17 – Third Night (Motzei Shabbat/Night after Shabbat of the week) – Yeshua is risen, HaleluYah!! Aviv 17 in the morning (Yom Rishom/Sunday morning) The tomb was already empty.

Beloved, let us celebrate this Pesach with Biblical understanding of the Lord’s times and seasons, remembering that we celebrate the FEASTS OF THE LORD, not Jewish or Christian feasts. The Bible when revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, opens our eyes so that we can truly honor the Lord. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

‘For what I received from the Lord is just what I passed on to you — that the Lord Yeshua, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and after he had made the b’rakhah he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this as a memorial to me”; likewise also the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant effected by my blood; do this, as often as you drink it, as a memorial to me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord, until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the Lord’s bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of desecrating the body and blood of the Lord! So let a person examine himself first, and then he may eat of the bread and drink from the cup; for a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. This is why many among you are weak and sick, and some have died! If we would examine ourselves, we would not come under judgment. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you gather together to eat, wait for one another. If someone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it will not result in judgment. As for the other matters, I will instruct you about them when I come.’

May the Spirit of the Lord give us grace and wisdom to understand His times, His feasts, how to celebrate, when to fast, how to pray, and how to Praise and Worship Lord Yeshua haMashiach, The only one worthy of all Honor, Glory and Praise.

May God bless us in this moed (His Appointed time) in Yeshua’s Name.