Nissan is the first Hebrew month. It is sometimes known as Abib (or Aviv).
The first month was called the month of Abib (spring or barley) in the Torah because of the season in which it occurred.
Exodus 13:4 This day came ye out in the month Abib.
Exodus 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exodus 34:18 ¶The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the month Abib: for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.
Deuteronomy 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God: for in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.In the Bible it is most often called “the first month”.
The alternative Torah way of referring to this month is to simply call it “the first month” (just as Sunday is called simply “the first day of the week”)
Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Exodus 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
However, during the Babylonian captivity, it came to be called by the Babylonian name of Nisan, also spelt as Nissan. And this name continued in use after the Jews returned from captivity. For instance in Nehemiah 2:1, and Esther 3:7.
Nehemiah 2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nissan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Esther 3:7 In the first month, that is, the month Nissan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.
While the Nehemiah verse attests to use of the name Nissan in the Hebrew calendar, the book of Esther, identifies Nisan as the first month.
Although this name is technically of Babylonian origin, the Aramaic word Nissan is related to the Hebrew word, nitzan, meaning bud. In Song of Songs, King Solomon’s epic poem in which he depicts the love that bonds us to God, redemption is symbolically referred to as “the time that the buds were seen in our land,” which means that the inarticulate earth gave birth to a people who soon would flower. The first of Nissan is the New Year for (Jewish) kings and for the religious calendar (for festivals). Thus if a king ascended the throne during Adar, the next month would constitute the second year of his reign. Passover is the first festival of the year and thus the 1st of Nissan is the Rosh Hashannah of the festival year. In fact, Nissan, the month of redemption is considered even greater than Tishri, the month of that the universe came into being. God created the universe for His redeemed people.
It is a month distinguished by three things: buds, the Blood of the Lamb, and spring cleaning of yeast and foods made from fermented or fermentable flour or grain.
1. The tribe of Judah is associated with this month. Judah goes first (into warfare – see Judges 1:2; 20:18). Judah was also first in the order of procession while in the wilderness. “Judah” means “praise.” Start with attitude of thanksgiving and praise to receive all the blessings God has for you in Nissan..
2. The month in which spring starts; the time that the buds are seen in the land, the beginning of the month of direct light. Declare that your light is getting brighter. See Isa. 60; Luke 2:32; Isa. 49:6; Acts 26:18. Light also means revelation. Expect God to bless you by showing you paths and strategies you need in your circumstances.
3. The month in which the Tabernacle of God was set up. We learn from Exodus 40 that a most important event occurred on the 1st day of the 1st month according to the command of the LORD.
Exodus 40:2 On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation.
Exodus 40:17 And it came to pass in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was reared up.
The 1st of Nisan was the day when the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation, also known as the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness (Acts 7:44) or more generally as the tabernacle of the congregation. See
What exactly happened on the 1st Nissan?
Exodus 40 describes the detailed instructions that the Lord gave Moses concerning the raising of the Tabernacle and the consecration of Aaron and his sons. All the instructions were meticulously obeyed, and when the final instruction was carried out, the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.
Exodus 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
This is authentic glory, in the sight of all the house of Israel. This wasn’t the fake and cheap “glory” falsely claimed in the charismatic movement, s supposed glory of twitching, jerking, laughing, barking, galloping, all out of control and attributed blasphemously to the Holy Spirit.
The devil has plans to deceive if possible even the elect. We learn to recognize the false, by comparison with the true. Take good note of this and other revelations of genuine glory in the Old and New Testament so you will not be so easily impresed with false glory.
In Messiah’s Name, I plead.
Ask God for the blessing of a more obedient walk, and the blessing of the true glory of God in your life this month.
4. The Month of
Passover. (Passover is celebrated on the 14th of Nissan. and the week of unleavened bread runs from 15th to 21st Nissan) Ask God for the blessing of increasing depths of experience of all Jesus did for us by His death on the cross.
4.1. Deliverance. Thank God for the blessing of deliverance. Remember where we came from and that God took us out from that place. Say,
“Lord, Thank you for how you delivered me in the past, and for the many ways you will deliver me this year.”
4.2. Every Passover, expect a new level of deliverance. Peter was set free from prison in Acts 12.
4.3. Nissan is a time of “crossing over” (e.g., the Red Sea, the Jordan River in Josh. 4 -5).
4.4. Reproach is being rolled away (Josh 5:9).
4.5. A time of new provision (Josh 5:10-12).
4.6. New intimacy with the Lord, and new strategy.
Ask God to bless you with each of the blessings above.
5. A month of redemption. (A price has been paid for you to be unlocked out of every one of your prisons.) Read Ruth, and see how Boaz bought back the property that had been lost for Ruth and Naomi, and how this brought Ruth into her destiny. Declare that all is being unlocked and you are moving into your destiny. Jesus has bought back your destiny. Nissan is linked to the constellation “Aries” (ram, or the lamb) in which the sun is this month. Jesus is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). God provided a ram for Abraham instead of Isaac. He is Jehovah -Jireh. God will provide. Read Genesis 22. Expect to be blessed with unusual sources of provision.
6. The month of the beginning of miracles – (See Nehemiah 2:1; Esther 3:7) Ask for the beginning of any miracles you need in your life.
7. The month that sets the course for your future. Keep moving in praise, and ask God for the blessing of a clear vision of your future assignments from God.
8. The annual renewal of God’s “HEI” plan (corresponding to the number 5 currently in the thousand’s place. Every year, the spirit of God needs to blow on you during this month. Ask the Holy Spirit to blow upon you for refreshing, for new revelation, and for a quickened understanding of what God is doing.
9. The month kings go to war (2 Sam 11:1); “the new year for kings.” God wants to expand you. Make declarations that plans and new beginnings shall begin to take place. Do warfare over them to fully receive the blessing of those new beginnings and plans (2 Sam. 11:1).
10. The month of speech. If your speech is negative this month, it will negatively affect you 3-4 months later. Negativity will take root and pull you back, instead of your confession grabbing the wind and changing the atmosphere. Ask God for the blessing of a positive faith in His actions in your life. See 1 Peter 3:9; 1 Sam. 1:17; 2:20-21.
11. The month you need to learn to fish. If you can’t pay taxes, get a coin out of a fish’s mouth. Let the Lord give you new and unusual ways of supply (Matt 17:27).
12. The controller month, where you put your “best foot forward.” You need to “audit” yourself: assess where you are at and where you are going. Let your “best” go forward. Don’t wait or hold back. Move ahead confidently in God. Numbers 33:3 states, “… they came out of Egypt triumphantly and with a high hand.”
A side point that’s very interesting is that Nissan is the only month which is also a personal name. There are Jews who are named Nissan, and indeed, we know of someone in our circles whose name is Pesach. This illustrates a point often made by our Jewish friends, that God wants each Jew to not only commemorate Pesach as a memorial of the freeing of the Israelite nation from slavery, but something so personal that it’s as though each individual Jew of today has himself with his family come out of the oppression of Pharaoh.
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