Nisan 16: Between Sabbaths, Love Prepares — The Second Day in the Tomb
As the High Sabbath ends and the weekly Sabbath approaches, the women prepare spices in silence. The Lamb remains buried. Prophecy counts down.
This is part of a 13 part series click here to start at the beginning.
Nisan 16 – Between Sabbaths, Love Prepares
Women buy and prepare spices. The Lamb remains in the tomb. The second day unfolds.
(Thursday evening to Friday evening)
As twilight faded on Nisan 15, and the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread concluded, Nisan 16 quietly began. In Jerusalem, life resumed its rhythm — shops opened, preparations were made for the coming weekly Sabbath, and families went about their day.
But just outside the city walls, in a sealed tomb cut from rock, the Lamb of God lay still. This was the second day.
Love in the Waiting
The women who had followed Yeshua from Galilee — Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome — waited faithfully through the High Sabbath. And now, as soon as it ended:
“They bought spices so that they might go to anoint Him.”
— Mark 16:1
They returned home to prepare the spices and perfumes with great care. It was their final act of love. But they knew they’d have to wait once more. As the seventh day approached, they would again lay their work aside in obedience to Torah (Luke 23:56).
What they didn’t realize was that even in the silence — heaven was moving.
The Second Day in the Grave
Yeshua had foretold this moment:
“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish,
so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth.”
— Matthew 12:40
This was the second of those days — the second full night and day in the tomb.
While the city bustled with preparation for the Sabbath, no one could see what was happening behind the stone. But in that stillness, prophecy was being fulfilled. The Lamb remained buried, the seed of resurrection hidden in the earth.
Two Sabbaths in One Week
This day — Nisan 16 — fell between two Sabbaths:
The High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread had just ended (Nisan 15)
The regular weekly Sabbath was about to begin (Nisan 17)
This overlap is crucial for understanding the Passion Week timeline. Yeshua was crucified on Nisan 14 (Wednesday), buried before sundown, and remained in the grave for three days and three nights, just as He said — a detail often lost in traditional Friday–Sunday interpretations.
The Silence of Fulfillment
The city moved. The women prepared. The countdown continued.
No sermons were preached. No miracles recorded. But heaven was not idle. Redemption continued unfolding — not with noise, but with perfect prophetic alignment.
That evening, as the sun dipped once more and the sixth day gave way to the seventh, the women laid aside their preparations. The Sabbath was coming again — and they rested.
They could not yet see what was rising.
✨ What Nisan 16 Fulfilled
Women purchased and prepared burial spices (Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56)
Yeshua remained in the tomb — fulfilling the second day and night (Matthew 12:40)
Bridge between two Sabbaths — High Sabbath and weekly Sabbath
Prophetic silence — the buried Unleavened Bread, waiting for Firstfruits