Month 1: Moving Toward Our Destiny

Unlike the Gregorian calendar, where the beginning of the year marks the end of major holidays, the Lord starts his calendar with a bang.  Three of the Yehovah’s four Spring Feasts are in the first month. He wastes no time in jump starting his will in our lives.  As you will see, the first month is a prophetic time in his cadence with us.  Watch for his leading and align with the destiny he desires he has designed for you.

Exodus 12:2 tells us, “You are to begin the calendar with this month, it will be the first month of the year for you.”  The first day is New Year’s Day, and every year on the 14^th of this month is Passover.  Then the 15^th – 21^st is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And then there is the Feast of Firstfruits, in which the first sheaf of barley is brought to the priest, who waves it before Yehovah as an offering of Firstfruits.

In Exodus 13:4 Moses announces to the people of Israel that they will be leaving Egypt in this month, the month of the ripe grain, or “aviv” in Hebrew.  The older transliterations of this word often use “abib.” Both refer to the same thing.

The Meaning of Aviv/Abib

Exodus 9:31 is about the seventh plague before the Exodus – the hailstorm:  “The flax and barley were ruined because the barley was ripe (in the ear) and the flax in bud.”

In Hebrew this word ripe is “aviv.”  It’s a description referring to the stage of growth of grain or barley when the seeds have reached full size and are filling with starch, but have not yet dried.  It’s the point when the barley is ripe for eating.  It has come to mean springtime, as in the name Tel Aviv, which means “Spring Hill.”

The Exodus happened at the time the barley was ripe, the 14^th of this month.  And, at the time of the Exodus is when Yehovah commanded that this month be the first month of the year.

But here’s where it gets interesting.  In Hebrew, Aviv is spelled  ב ב י א  (Aleph, Bet, Yod, Bet).  Look at Aviv in the Paleo Hebrew:

א – Aleph  = a representing an Ox and meaning strength, leader, first

That makes sense as the first month, the leading month.

ב – Bet = b  representing a House and meaning tent, home, family

י – Yod  = y representing a Hand and meaning work, a deed, to make (action)

ב – Bet = b representing a House and meaning tent, home, family

This portrays a home, a dwelling place, then an action, then a second dwelling place.

This is exactly what happened at the Exodus.  The Israelites’ home was in Egypt, then by Yehovah’s hand/actions – the plagues – their address changed.  They were on their way to their new home, the Promised Land.

Even the specific season they were in depicts the Exodus.  That got my attention.  Then I found seven other relocations that happened in this month.

Month 1 – A Time of Relocation

2. Exodus 40:17, 34-35

^{17 “}So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year…

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

This is another relocation, and it happened on the first day of the first month – new year’s day.  This time Yehovah’s presence is moving from one place to another.  Yehovah’s presence dwelt in the heavenlies, then Moses set up the tabernacle, by the work of his hands (Yod) and Yehovah’s presence moved to its new dwelling place – the Ark in the Holy of Holies.  He’s now dwelling with man for the first time since the Garden of Eden.

3. Fast forward another 1500 years to Yeshua’s birth. In his DVD, “The Mishkan Clue”, Jonathan Cahn makes an argument for the first day of this month being Yeshua’s birthdate.  It would fit with this pattern of relocation we see during this month.  At Yeshua’s birth we have Yehovah’s Son relocating from Yehovah’s right hand to earth by a supernatural act – the virgin birth – an act of Yehovah’s hand.
4. We also see the same thing at Yeshua’s resurrection. On the 14^th of the month (Passover) Yeshua is crucified, leaving his earthly body by the hand of the Roman and Jewish leadership.  Three days later his body is transformed supernaturally to an immortal body.  That’s the kind of relocation I’m looking forward to!  He’s mortal, then he’s crucified, then he’s immortal – moving from one state to another.

We have these four major milestones in Yehovah’s plan all happening this month – the tangible presence of Yehovah moving from one place to another by supernatural acts.

Let’s look further into what we know took place this month.

5. Joshua 4:19, 23-24

^{19 “}On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho…

²³ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.”

This is on the 10^th day, just after the Israelites crossed over from the wilderness to the Promised Land.  Remember, the Levites had to wade into the Jordan River with the ark, then Yehovah supernaturally stopped the river from flowing, piling up the water on one side, so the 1.5 million Israelites could pass through.  This is a relocation by a supernatural act of Yehovah, moving from where they had been for 40 years to their new home.  It happened during this month.

This is a reminder of what Yehovah did for them 40 years previously at the Red Sea during their relocation from Egypt – which also happened in this same month.  They’re finally now moving on to their new home as they were meant to 40 years ago.

6. Also in this month, Ezra was sent by King Artaxerxes from Babylon to Jerusalem to teach the Torah.

Ezra 7:9 “[Ezra] had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was on him.”

(Read the full story: Ezra 7-8)

In this account, Ezra deliberately didn’t ask the king for soldiers or protection on the trip, because he had told the king that Yehovah would be with them.  It tells us that the trip was five months long.  Ezra soon realized he would be carrying all this loot from the king (millions of dollars’ worth of precious metal by today’s standards) with only the accompanying musicians, teachers and priests.  They had no defense, day or night on their five-month journey.  So Ezra instructed the people to pray and fast for protection before they left.

This is why he says several times in this story “The hand of our Yehovah was on us, and he protected us from enemies and surprise attacks along the road.”  This is the supernatural hand of Yehovah guiding them from one home to another.

7. Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’ personal attendant. 13 years after Ezra left for Jerusalem, Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem was in disrepair, the wall was in ruins, the gates had been burned, the people were hated by the Gentiles.

Nehemiah 2:1, 4-8

“And it came about in the first month, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king…

⁴ Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.⁵ I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time…”

It was during this month that Nehemiah was now relocating by the hand of Yehovah.  After he got to Jerusalem, he told the others in vs. 18 “the gracious hand of my Yehovah has been on me.”

This is the kind of thing that happens in this month – supernatural relocations.

The Chaff and the Wheat

Even the barley itself is pictured in the word abib.  When the barley is ripe, it’s harvested and made into food.  It’s relocated from the ground by the hand of man and brought into our bodies.

Look again at the Exodus.  On the one hand you have Yehovah destroying Egypt’s barley during the plagues.  Then fast forward 40 years, and the Israelites are crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land in this same month.  The scene they would have been greeted with is the new barley crop in Jericho.  (In the excavations around Jericho’s fallen wall, they’ve identified that one of the crops in their storage areas was barley.)

We have these references of Yehovah destroying the earth when the barley is ripe, and restoring new life at the same time of year.  Both the destruction and restoration have to do with separating out the righteous and punishment of the unrighteous.

This is “separating the chaff from the wheat,” which John the Baptist refers to when he says of Yeshua in Luke 3:17, “He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”

The barley plant has a hull that must be removed to eat the seed or to use the seed to make food.  The chaff or husk is destroyed when the barley is harvested.  This process mirrors the theme of the events that took place in this time of abib.

• In the Exodus, the Egyptians were ripe for punishment; the Hebrews were ripe for deliverance. We see the chaff removed and the seed brought out.
• Forty years later Jericho was ripe for punishment when the Israelites crossed the Jordan; the new generation of Israelites were ready to begin their new life.

In looking through all that happened in this month in the Bible, there were various other accounts of both relocation and removing evildoers ripe for punishment.

But as we look at the seven examples stated above, one more thing becomes clear: the theme of destiny.

Month 1 – A Time of Moving Toward Our Destiny

The barley seed itself is planted for the purpose of becoming food. That’s the barley’s destiny. This month is the time of harvesting to bring it to its intended purpose.

• When Yehovah destroyed the barley in Egypt as part of the plagues before the Exodus, it meant the Israelites would soon be moving toward their intended destiny – the Promised Land.
• When Ezra left Babylon, he began pursuit of his destiny. Restoring the Torah back to the Israelites in Jerusalem is what he’s known for, that’s the legacy he left us; that was his pre-ordained destiny.
• When Nehemiah left to rebuild the wall, that was his destiny Yeshovah put him in position to attain.
• When the Israelites crossed the Jordan into Canaan, that was the destiny Yehovah had desired for them from the beginning, when he promised that land to Abraham.

Think about the spiritual implications for us:  It’s during this month that Yehovah brought us out of bondage for our destiny of redemption and abundant life under his rule and lordship.

• The tabernacle was Yehovah’s dwelling place on earth. Moses’ assembling of the tabernacle on the first day of this month was the time in which Yehovah’s presence came to dwell on earth.
• If Yeshua’s birth was on day 1, his presence again came to dwell with us on earth at this time.

This speaks of our destiny – dwelling with him on earth during the Millennium and dwelling with him eternally after that.

This month is a time when we move closer to our destiny – moving out of bondage, dwelling with Yehovah spiritually.  It’s a time when milestones are reached that bring us a step closer to our destiny.

Summing up the theme of this month, we have:

1. The idea of moving from one place to another by the supernatural hand of Yehovah.
2. The unrighteous becoming ripe for punishment and the righteous ripe to step into their future.
3. Moving toward our destiny.

Preparing ourselves for the new year, Passover, our Passover Lamb, and Firstfruits – that’s what this season is about.  Yehovah designated this month as the first month and tells us over and over to observe it and tell the Exodus story, because it signifies everything he wants us to focus on:  moving from one dwelling place to another by Yehovah’s supernatural hand.

• First, the Exodus – a physical relocation,
• Then, from sin to righteousness – a spiritual relocation,
• And soon, from mortal to immortal – our eternal dwelling place.

It’s a time of separating ourselves from unrighteousness in preparation for the “winnower’s fork” separating the chaff from the wheat.  It’s a time of our cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s leading in becoming just like the barley during this month – ripe for our destiny.

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