Feast Preparation Day—The 10th of Abib

Our first set-apart feast days of the year are Pesach/Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits — HalleluYAH, but our first commanded set-apart day of the year (after the Shabbat of course), is a day of preparation. Oh yes, the 10th day of Abib, is still a great day to set apart as a day of Feast Preparation!

Note: I am writing this at a time when many of us worldwide are preparing to keep Pesach & The Feast of Unleavened Bread, so IF you’re reading this during this same time, you are reading it right on time. And, IF you are reading this during another time of year, hopefully, these will be some fruitful considerations, especially before any of YAH’s future springtime & falltime feasts.

Now, let’s get back to the 10th of Abib and what we see about it in Scripture, first in simple English, let’s get into it:

So, before our ancestors ate their Pesach/Passover lamb, they as a nation of people, would be busy, four days before Pesach. Israelites everywhere would be busy carefully selecting & keeping watch over a perfect/blameless/spotless lamb for themselves and their households. Can you imagine it, neighborhoods full of people trying to get things right? It must have been a time full of high energy & anticipation, a time of inspection & hopefulness, a time of urgency & attention to detail. But before we go any further, let’s read more of the same passage from above to see the fuller commandments associated with the set apart-day of the 10th of Abib:

“And יהוה (YAH) spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim, saying, This new moon is the beginning of new moons for you, it is the first new moon of the year for you. Speak to all the congregation of Yisra’ĕl, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this new moon each one of them is to take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next to his house take it according to the number of the beings, according to each man’s need you make your count for the lamb. ‘Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats. ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same new moon. Then ALL the assembly of the congregation of Yisra’ĕl shall slay it between the evenings. ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ‘And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire – with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”‭‭

Shemoth (Exodus)‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭TS2009‬‬

So the commandments are clear, but let’s quickly build on this since thankfully, we live after The Messiah, The Perfect Lamb of The Most High YAH, was slain—for us—HalleluYAH! The Messiah/HaMashaich’s perfect atoning blood was shed once and for all and we no longer select, keep, and slaughter lambs… BUT the 10th of Abib can, and I would say, should still be a set-apart day for our own introspection & preparation. Yes, we do well to purge out the leaven in our homes, just as YAH commands us to do in Scripture, and on the weightier and deeper level (as other passages instruct), let us purge out every bit of sin which we find when examining our hearts, minds & souls.

As the ancient nation of Israel was busy back in the day on the 10th of Abib, seeking and keeping watch over unblemished & spotless lambs, we, even more so today, should be busy earnestly, fervently, and thoroughly examining every aspect of our hearts, souls, and minds and asking YAH’s Spirit to check our spirits and expose within us anything that is not pleasing to Him, so that we can remove it, like the leaven in our homes. Let us not dare to attempt to keep Pesach unworthily, much like we should not “take communion” unworthily (meditate on 1st Corinthians 11:27-29). Let us use this precious time wisely—Humbling ourselves, praying, seeking YAH’s face, and turning from our wicked ways (which is the definition of true REPENTANCE—2nd Chronicles 7:14).

Let us do everything in our power to be found blameless, and spotless in the eyes of YAH, let us work out our own salvation with fear & trembling, as we read in Scripture, and let us encourage each other in good works while praying for all of Yisrael near & far.

In addition to a time of introspection & self-examination, it is also a time of anticipatory rejoicing. We don’t focus on just any lamb, we remember The coming of The Lamb of YAH! We can imagine how our ancestors felt as Yahoshua HaMashiach came into town, on what is referred to as His “Triumphant Entry” (read Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19). And soon after, He was “inspected” in the Temple by the chief priests, scribes, and elders with their tests & questions (Matthew 21:23–27; Mark 11:27–33; Luke 20:1–8).., Of course, He was blameless, and the people were not.

The people during HaMashiach’s day shouted what is commonly translated as “Hosanna” (https://biblehub.com/greek/5614.htm) as the Blameless Lamb of YAH entered Jerusalem. While this timing beautifully aligns with the day the Passover lambs were chosen, what matters most is that we do not praise Him with our lips alone, as some of our ancestors did, but that we worship Him in spirit and truth!

Yahoshua HaMashiach is the blameless Lamb of YAH, presented in the Temple of YAH in perfect obedience to Torah—HalleluYAH! Family, let us walk after HaMashiach, let us walk in The Way! Let us do everything in our power to be found worthy to keep the Feasts and to feast with our King. Let us be washed clean in His Torah so that we too might be presented and found blameless before YAH!

Twice a year, YAH calls His people to come together in reflection and renewal—on the 10th of Abib and on the 10th of the seventh month, the Day of Atonement. Each feast season begins with a set-apart time of preparation: a call to attention, introspection, repentance, and atonement. This sacred preparation is then followed by a full week of rejoicing in the feast, celebrating YAH’s provision, mercy, and covenant with His people

YAH’s feasts are all about Him! His feasts are all pointed to and connected to The living Word of YAH: Yahoshua HaMashiach, so family, let us make ourselves ready to feast with The King—HalleluYAH!

May YAH shine His face upon us all as we prepare to keep His feasts. Today happens to be Friday, our normal Shabbat preparation day, and it’s also our Pesach preparation time—A true “good Friday” if I ever saw one (see this blog for more on that twisting https://whatishebrewing.com/2024/03/29/good-friday-easter-are-not-biblical/) . Preparation Day Blessings y’all. Let all of us read, pray, and meditate on scriptures like Psalm 51. And let each of us pray this:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be pleasing before You, O יהוה, my rock and my redeemer.”
‭‭Tehillim (Psalms)‬ ‭19‬:‭14‬ ‭TS2009‬‬

Give this song a listen

Until next time, shalom ✌🏾
~Yahrahn
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For more info about how to keep YAH’s springtime Feasts, click here https://www.facebook.com/100091674008993/posts/pfbid02U76Nw7Cwmdhv6sFi2GYmrjQuzJ2dh3vHmfok26XB9TzyWCpwzUQDDZXZCiQQS7Qxl/?

For more overall Feast Day info and to download & print a copy of the Feast Day calendar, click the pdf on The ARK’s Feast Day page https://www.arkcommunity.org/calendar