The Shabbat (Sabbath) before Pesach (Passover) is called Shabbat haGadol (the Great Sabbath), because it commemorates when lambs were selected for the first Pesach, to protect the inhabitants of the home from the Heaven-sent Destroyer.
On one particular Lamb Selection Day, the fullness of that annual commemoration — Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) — entered Jerusalem as part of a mission to protect those in the ever-expanding house of God from the bondage of lives separated from Heaven.
As we prepare ourselves for the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, let’s focus our attention on the group of Psalms that are called “The Egyptian Hallel.” The phrase “Hallelu Yah” — praise the Lord — shows up frequently in these Psalms. That is why they are nicknamed “the Hallel.” These are the Psalms that Jews in New Testament times commonly sang during the Passover seder and we see in the Scriptures that Yeshua and the Apostles sang “The Egyptian Hallel” with Him for the last time before His death.
The Apostle John tells us that John the Baptist was the first one who proclaimed the primary purpose of Yeshua’s mission. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (Jn. 1:29, 36) But this Lamb did not show up the way the experts wanted and when Yeshua refused to fulfill the violent desires of the religious experts, they inflicted grave violence on Yeshua, but Yeshua expected that, and so did John the Baptist, even though he didn’t live to see it.
Lamb Selection Day is closely connected with Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement). Both occur on the 10th day of their respective months: first month for Lamb selection day and seventh month of Yom Kippur.
And the words of the herald for the Mashiakh (Messiah), Yokhanan the Immerser (John the Baptist), that Yeshua was “the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world” (Jn. 1:29) further connects these two memorials of God’s salvation plan.