April (Nisan), the Month of Salvation

The first of April is commonly known as April Fools’ Day, a day when people lie to one another. It is also the beginning of the ancient Syrian year, or what is known as the Assyrian year or the ancient Aramaic year.
However, there is a great event concerning April (Nisan) in the Holy Bible that has been obscured through the ages and is more important than any other event. April is distinguished not only in the Old Testament but also in the New Testament, and it is considered the month of salvation.

In the Old Testament:
The story begins with Joseph, who was sold by his brothers to the Egyptians and who was imprisoned. After he came out of prison, his status grew before Pharaoh, and he became the second most powerful man in Egypt. He saved an entire people from famine. Joseph died and was buried, and the Pharaohs succeeded one another in ruling Egypt. Generation after generation, the Israelites had settled in Egypt. For the family of Joseph—his father, his brothers, their children, and their grandchildren—all lived in Egypt, and they held a prominent position because of Joseph’s role.
However, after Joseph and after many Pharaohs had taken power, they forgot Joseph and what he had done. They humiliated the Israelites in Egypt. They made them work without wages, treated them as if they were unclean, and forbade them from raising livestock. The Egyptians’ enslavement of the Israelites continued for four hundred years. So, the people of Israel cried out to the LORD God, and the LORD God visited His people through Moses.
Here comes the wonderful story of Moses. When he was an infant, his mother left him by the river out of fear that the Pharaohs would kill him, for humiliation of the Pharaoh against the children of Israel had reached the point that no male Israelite was allowed to live. But Moses was saved through the wisdom of his mother, for the daughter of Pharaoh saw him, loved him, and adopted him.
Moses grew up, and God appointed him to deliver the children of Israel from the bondage of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. God supported him with signs and wonders so that the people would listen to him. But when Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to let the children of Israel go free to worship the LORD God, the ten plagues began to come upon Pharaoh: the plague of frogs, the plague of gnats, the plague of flies, the destruction of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn. The hand of the LORD God was very mighty, and He hardened Pharaoh’s heart even more, to prove to all the nations of the earth that the God who is worshiped is the God of the children of Israel. As for the last plague, it occurred in April, and it was deliverance for the children of Israel. The LORD God commanded Moses in the Book of Exodus 12, that on the tenth of April (Nisan), which is considered the first month for the Jews and the Hebrews:
1- And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2- This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3- Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4- And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5- Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6- And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7- And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8- And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9- Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10- And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
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.
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.
13- And 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, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14- And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.”

And indeed, when they awoke in the morning, there was not a house in Egypt without a dead—every firstborn of Pharaoh, from the king down to the prisoner in the jail, and even the livestock. But the Israelites had not lost a single firstborn, not even among their livestock.
Pharaoh then drove them out and gave them cattle and sheep, and he did not want them to stay any longer lest the rest of the Egyptians perish because of them. For this reason, April is considered the month of salvation for the children of Israel.

In the New Testament:
April (Nisan) also remains significant in the Gospel, where the LORD Jesus Christ ate the Jewish Passover with His disciples. But He gave us that He Himself would be our Passover instead of the sacrifice of the lamb, the unleavened bread, and the wine. He gave us His body and blood on the cross, saving us from the bondage of sin, which is worse than Pharaoh, and granting us a freedom greater than the one the Israelites received. He bestowed upon us the heavenly Jerusalem, which is greater than the inheritance of earthly Jerusalem.
Christ is our Passover. Thus, in April, at the exact time of the Jewish Passover, when the LORD Jesus ate and drank the Passover with His disciples, He asked that we do this in remembrance of Him. (I invite you to watch the episode “The Holy Communion”, where you will find a full explanation of the meaning of eating and drinking the body and blood of the LORD Jesus: ( Click here to watch ⇒ )
Today, thanks to the great redemption of Christ, we no longer need to sprinkle the blood of lambs and goats on the upper doorposts and side posts of our homes. It is enough to say: “The blood of the LORD Jesus Christ is on my house, the blood of the LORD Jesus Christ surrounds my house, the blood of the LORD Jesus Christ is on my side posts, the blood of the LORD Jesus Christ is on my doorstep. No unclean spirit, no destroyer, no ruin, no death, no sickness shall come near this house in the name of the LORD Jesus Christ.”
Thus, we have spiritual, heavenly salvation. We have redemption, we have the Great Sacrifice. And indeed, this month is the month of salvation, so that we can always say together: “Christ is risen!”

April / 2 / 2021