The LORD’s Passover. Besides the weekly holy Sabbath, it is the first of the LORD God’s annual
commanded feasts (Leviticus 23:5), it pictures for us the first of many
steps in the LORD God’s (the Elohim; the family of God – which at this
time consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ) MASTER PLAN for the
redemption of all mankind. It was Jesus Christ, “our Passover” (1 Corinthians
5:7), who was sacrificed for our past sins. Yet, just accepting the Lord and
His living sacrifice is not enough.
Once we have truly repented of our transgressions against the LORD God, been
properly baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
having received the gift of the Holy Spirit ── we must continually have
CHRIST IN US!
We must come out of this world and its religious institutions ──
“ …’ Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you
receive of her plagues.’”
– Revelation 18:4.
Just as the children of Israel left ancient Egypt ── used in God’s
living word as an analogy to represent the people of God’s bondage to
sin. We must strive to PUT ON CHRIST! That is our part in the LORD God’s
Master Plan.
The LORD God gave His begotten people the annual Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The keeping and observance of this glorious feast impresses upon us the great
need to daily imbibe within us God’s living Spirit.
Let’s understand.
1) What feast did the LORD God command the children of Israel to proclaim, to keep, and celebrate immediately after the LORD’s Passover?
“’ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the
Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; SEVEN DAYS you must eat
unleavened BREAD.’”
– Leviticus 23:6.
“’ So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day
I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you
shall observe this day THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS as an EVERLASTING
ORDINANCE.’”
– Exodus 12:17.
So, the children of Israel were to keep and observe this feast throughout all
their generations as an everlasting ordinance.
To help you understand who the successive generations are of the children of
Israel ── be sure to read our article
"Freedom ── A True Blessing From God."
Or,
"Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright"
by J.H. Allen.
2) How many days is the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Notice ──
“’ And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened bread
shall be eaten for SEVEN DAYS.’”
– Numbers 28:17.
“’ The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. SEVEN DAYS you shall eat
unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of
Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.’”
– Exodus 34:18.
Was the first day and the seventh day set apart as “holy” days on which God’s
people were to assemble together? Notice ──
“’ On the FIRST DAY there shall be a holy convocation, and on the SEVENTH
DAY there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be
done on them; but that which everyone must eat ── that only may be prepared
by you.’”
– Exodus 12:16.
The very first month of God’s sacred calendar, which the LORD God has
preserved through the Jews, though they don’t keep it accurate ── is called
Abib or Nisan in Hebrew. It corresponds to our pagan Gregorian calendar to the
time that falls during March and April. March is named after the pagan god
Mars. Interestingly enough, the Anglo-Saxons called April
ēastre-monaþ ── which The Reckoning of Time states that this
month ēastre is the root of the word Easter. Therefore, the Feast of
Unleavened Bread begins the evening of the 14th immediately after the
LORD’s Passover. It continues for seven days until the sunset of the 21st.
Both the 15th and the 21st are holy Sabbaths ── annual “holy convocations.”
3) Were the children of Israel to have no leaven (which means, leavened bread) in all their territory for those seven days? Notice ──
“’ You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out
of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you
came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4) And no
leaven [leavened bread]
shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, …’”
– Deuteronomy 16:3-4.
So, that’s very clear. During the Days of Unleavened Bread, you are to eat –
every day – at least some unleavened bread. And for those seven days, you will
not eat leavened bread. Now that’s all it said. It didn’t say, “Get down on
your hands and knees and look for old cookie crumbs.” It just didn’t say it.
It is not the Days of Unleavened Beer. You know, to make beer, you have to
have yeast. Yeast, the number one leavening agent in the history of mankind,
always has been and will be. It is not the Days of Unleavened Wine. It is not
the Days of Unleavened Toothpaste. Because some toothpastes have baking powder
in them. A lot of people think, ‘Well, I’m not supposed to eat leavening.’
You’re not supposed to consume leavened bread. Didn’t we read that?
4) Is leaven ever used metaphorically in God’s living word?
Yes. Our Lord Jesus did speak of leaven metaphorically ──
“Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to
take bread. 6) Then Jesus said to them,
‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the
Sadducees.’
7) And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘Is it because we have taken
no bread.’
8) But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them,
‘O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you
have brought no bread?
9)
Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five
thousand and how many baskets you took up?
10)
Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you
took up?
11)
How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning
bread? ── but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.’
12) Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven
of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
– Matthew 16:5-12.
The ‘doctrine’ of the Pharisees ──
• The importance of keeping rituals.
• The overwhelming desire to convert Gentiles.
• The Way to God was by obeying the physical Law.
• Extending Jewish practices into life outside the temple.
• Instilling greater piety in “the common people.”
To name but a few.
Additionally, they put significant weight on the “oral tradition,” or the
traditions of the elders, believing this interpretive framework helped clarify
the written Law. Ancient rabbinic sources and later compilations, such as
portions of the Talmud, reflect the Pharisaic influence in codifying and
teaching these traditions. This oral tradition functioned to address practical
questions about Sabbath observance, dietary laws, ritual purity, and other
facets of devotion.
Our Lord Jesus is showing us that His New Covenant does not match the
old rites of the Pharisees, which required a lot of fasting. Our Lord Jesus
taught against syncretism ── which is the mixing of beliefs, such as
Judeo-Christianity.
Having a show of piety, without true holiness, is like leaven in that it
gradually increases and spreads corruption, puffing up a person with vanity.
Indeed, friends, the very nature of leaven (or, rather, yeast) is to change
whatever it contacts. Yeast does its job slowly, secretly, and silently, but
no one can deny its effect on bread. Yeast is microscopic in size, and only a
little is kneaded into the dough. Yet, given time, the yeast will spread
through all the dough.
The ’doctrine’ of the Sadducees ──
• Rejection of the Resurrection and Afterlife.
• Adherence to the Written Law.
• Temple Worship and Sacrificial System.
The Sadducees’ interactions with our Lord Jesus were marked by theological
disagreements, particularly concerning their rejection of a resurrection. In
Matthew 22:29-32, our Lord Jesus addresses their unbelief by affirming that
there is a resurrection unto life and correcting their misunderstanding of His
living word.
5) Does the LORD God specifically command the people of God to consume unleavened bread during this feast?
Yes.
“’ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the FIRST DAY you shall
remove leaven [speaking of leavened bread] from your houses.’” – Exodus
12:15.
So, not only were the children of Israel to remove any leavened bread from
their houses, they were also commanded to eat unleavened bread during the
seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Why some want to make this
command complicated is beyond me! This act of eating a little bit of
unleavened bread every day of the feast symbolizes the imbibing of
CHRIST IN US!
6) Upon our proper repentance, proper baptism, and the laying on of hands, and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit ── our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice blots out all our past sins. And when the apostle Paul asks if we, as true Christians, should continue in sin ── he gives the answer!
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law [speaking of the Old Covenant]
but under grace? Certainly not! 16) Do you not know that to whom you present
yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether
of sin leading to death [speaking of the second death], or of obedience leading to righteousness?”
– Romans 6:15-16.
What was his admonishment for us to put on?
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to
fulfill its lusts.”
– Romans 13:14.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was tortured, beaten, and sacrificed so that
mankind did not have to pay the penalty of eternal death ──
“For if by one man’s offense death [speaking of the second death; eternal death]
reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness will reign in life [eternal life]
through the One, Jesus Christ.)”
– Romans 5:13-17.
7) Did our beloved Apostle Paul admonish us ── through the inspiration
of God’s Spirit ── to keep and observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Yes.
“Therefore purge out the old leaven, …” ── recall what the old leaven he is speaking of. False doctrines. “ … that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed
Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8) Therefore let us keep the
feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
– 1 Corinthians 5:7-8.
The unleavened bread of sincerity and truth is JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!
The Holy Days are all Christocentric! The Days of Unleavened Bread are
pointing us to one thing – Jesus Christ! He is that unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth!
The LORD God knows that to properly overcome and faithfully obey Them, we need
Their spiritual help! We must eat unleavened bread every day of the Feast of
Unleavened Bread to symbolize us imbibing the glorious Spirit of God ── Their
mind, Their strength! □
Additional Bible Studies
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