"Great Shabbat" = 1320 (Reverse Sumerian)
"The Great Shabbat" = 137 (Ordinal)
"The Great Shabbat Yom Kippur" = 1409 (Latin)
"Yom Kippur" = 144 (Ordinal)
In the Hebrew calendar, Nisan 10 and Tishri 10 are two of the most spiritually significant dates of the year. They serve as bookends for the sacred year, focusing on redemption and atonement, respectively.
Nisan 10 (The Month of Redemption)Nisan is the first month of the biblical year. The 10th of Nisan is a day of preparation, beginnings, and miracles.Lamb Selection Day: On Nisan 10, according to the Torah in Exodus 12, the Israelites were instructed to select a spotless lamb to be sacrificed for the first Passover.Entering the Promised Land: After wandering in the desert, the Israelites miraculously crossed the Jordan River on Nisan 10 to enter the Land of Israel.Miriam’s Passing: It marks the traditional date of the passing of Miriam, the prophetess, which resulted in the well of water drying up in the desert.
Tishri 10 (The Month of Atonement)Tishri is the seventh month of the biblical year but marks the beginning of the civil year (Rosh Hashana). The 10th of Tishri is the holiest and most solemn day of the entire Jewish calendar.Yom Kippur: Tishri 10 is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is a day dedicated to prayer, self-examination, and spiritual fasting to seek forgiveness from sins.The High Priest and the Holy of Holies: On this day only, the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies in the Temple to make atonement for all of Israel.If you are exploring the Hebrew calendar or biblical holidays, let me know if you would like to know about the Nisan 10 Passover preparations or how the Tishri 10 Yom Kippur fast is observed today.
Jesus, as all Christians know, was the “lamb of God” (John 1:29, 36). He was foreknown of God to be the redeemer of mankind, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Jesus would die thousands of years after Adam. Sometimes in the scriptures a “day” represents a thousand years (Psalms 90:4). Perhaps the fact that Jesus was selected by God to be the redeemer of mankind long before he would come to earth, is reflected in selecting the Passover on Nisan 10, some days before it was to be offered.
In practical terms, selecting a gentle lamb days ahead of Passover would tend to endear the little lamb to the family for which it was selected. Jesus also was endeared to those who knew and followed him, making all the more traumatic his necessary death for the redemption of all.
Jesus Anointed By Mary
It is commonly recognized that Jesus died on Nisan 14, the same day specified for offering the Passover lamb in Israel. Jesus also died on a Friday, and it is unusual for Nisan 14 to fall on a Friday — this is one means of identifying the year 33 AD as the year of Jesus’ death.
The day termed “Passover” in the Gospels usually refers to day 15. That is the day that the lambs offered on day 14 would be eaten by the Israelites in their homes. That is, the evening beginning day 15. Thus in John 12:1, when “Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead,” this refers to Nisan 9, six days before Nisan 15. However, the evening or close of that day when Jesus arrived, introduced Nisan 10. On that evening “they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him” (John 12:2).
Mary and Martha would have generally welcomed Jesus and provided hospitality for him and his disciples. But all the more was that so in this case, for not long before, perhaps a few months, Jesus had raised their brother from the dead. This was very much in the heart of Mary when, in the next verse, Mary took “a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment” (John 12:3).
What a precious moment for Jesus. Even more precious than others knew. For Jesus knew that in a few days he would give his life on Calvary’s cross. “Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this” (John 12:7). We note with interest that Jesus was thus anointed for his approaching death on Nisan 10, the same day that Passover lambs were selected.
Jesus Riding Into Jerusalem
“On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:12, 13).
The “next day” in this case means the next morning, but this was still, numerically, the same day, Nisan 10. Thus, Nisan 10 was the day the crowds acclaimed Jesus “King of Israel.” This was a day of great triumph in one sense, a remarkable acclamation by crowds of Israelites. But Jesus knew the meaning of the day, Nisan 10. Thus, in this day of apparent triumph and adulation, Jesus had on his mind, his approaching death. “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour” (John 12:27).
A few verses later Jesus was even more explicit. “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die” (John 12:32, 33).
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