The weeks between Purim and Pesach are ones of preparation for the Festival of Redemption that we experience during Pesach. The sages presented for us four weeks of special readings on Shabbat in which we take out an additional Torah Scroll for the final reading from the Torah—the Maftir section. The last of these is Shabbat Hachodesh—the Shabbat before the beginning of Nissan— emembering this commandment given to he whole people of Israel, to remember the new month, this being the foundation for keeping the sacrificial calendar.

Shabbat Hachodesh reminds us of the unique role Hashem gives to mankind in the creation. He brings the change of seasons, through the gravitational orbit of the Earth around the Sun. He directs us in the Torah that the festivals need to be kept in their proper season, and he directs man to recognize and confirm the beginning of the new month. Man must make sure that the months stay in sync with the seasons, which requires a balancing of the lunar and solar calendars. One without the other will create a calendar that will soon lose it’s purpose, as the various harvest festivals will be kept at times when there is either not a harvest at all or the wrong harvest. Imagine celebrating the barley harvest in the fall at the time of the fruit festivals. He leaves to us to work the festivals into this reality. In Exodus 12:2, he gives his first command to the people of Israel: “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.” Until now he had given commands to the Avot—the Patriarchs—as individuals, and here he begins to direct the people of Israel as a collective. The whole order of the Torah was dependent on the agreement of the leaders of the people as to when this month would begin.

For as many as are the promises of God, they all ind their “Yes” in him. For this reason we also utter “Amen” to God . . . (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Jews all over the world eat the Passover meal during this season to commemorate our deliverance from slavery in Egypt long ago. As we enjoy this meal together, the very food on our plates reminds us of the past. We read from the Passover Haggadah, a little book that tells the story of Passover and also gives us the order of the night’s events, including the blessings and prayers.

As Jews eat the unleavened bread and portions of bitter herbs, parsley and such, we are reminded of the sufferings we experienced in Egypt as a people, and of God’s deliverance. At a certain point in the evening, we read the words of the Haggadah thanking God for delivering us, as a people, from that slavery: “Blessed are You, Adonai our God, ruler of the world, who redeemed us and redeemed our ancestors from Egypt, and brought us to this night.” As with all Jewish holidays, we do not only remember the past, we also anticipate the final redemption that has been promised to us.  

For Messianic Jews, Passover has a special meaning. These promises, along with all the promises of God, ind their “Yes” in Yeshua. Yeshua does not only say “Yes” to the promises of God, but that “Yes” is embodied in him. Everything about Yeshua answers “Yes” to God and to God’s promises. Yeshua is “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29) whose “Yes” to God involved giving himself completely into God’s hands.