We are in chapter thirty-four of Exodus with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. אָבִיב ears, young ears, ripe ears of grain, the month of the Canaanite calendar equal to Nisan now known as March - April. It is used 8 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used in the sense of a plant or the ear of the plant. The Holy Spirit writing through Moses describes the condition of the crops after one of God’s plagues against Egypt. Exodus 9:31-32 The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the אָבִ֔יב ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up. We also see our word used in this sense when the Holy Spirit writing through Moses to instruct the priests concerning grain offerings. Leviticus 2:14-15 If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits אָבִ֞יב fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. And you shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. The first time our word is used it is in the context of the original Passover during the exodus from Egypt. Exodus 13:3-5 Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today, in the month of הָאָבִֽיב Abib, you are going out. And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. This is how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 34:18 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month הָאָבִ֑יב Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. The reason God gives for keeping this feast in this specific time of the year is because that was the month that God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt. This reason is also given in Exodus 23:15 and Deuteronomy 16:1. This reminds us of the Lord Supper or Communion that Jesus sets up during the Passover that he was celebrating with his disciples. He likewise gives the same reason in that it is to be done to remember that God is rescuing us from being a slave to sin. I’ll close with Jesus words. Luke 22:14, 19-20 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer … And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
