The Feast of Unleavened Bread

by Pastor Charles Cooley

“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” (Ex. 12:15)

 

Leaven (hametz – Heb) means “sour”. It is yeast or baking powder used to produce fermentation in bread dough, thus making it rise, or puff up. In Scripture, it is most often symbolic of sin.

It begins the day after Passover and is often combined with Passover as an eight-day feast. These two feasts were given and kept before the Exodus from Egypt (Ex. 12:14-20). Because they had to leave Egypt in haste, there was no time for the dough to rise. So, this feast first of all commemorates their escape from bondage in Egypt. But, there is a much deeper meaning as well.

God ordained this feast to follow immediately after Passover to teach us that the blessing of Passover can never fully be realized in our lives unless we first remove the leaven (sin) in our lives! Paul warns the Corinthian church about the consequences of unjudged sin in their midst –

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles - that a man has his father's wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. ... Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 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 5:1-8

No leavened bread was to be seen in all your quarters – Exodus 13:7. We are not to even have things in our houses that are impure or that represent uncleanness. David writes, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; [it] shall not cleave to me.” (Psalm 101:3). How often do you go to movies, or watch videos that exult sinful practices? As David rightly understood, such things cause those that entertain them to ‘turn aside’ from God’s path.

“And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days.” – Deuteronomy 16:4. We are responsible no only for ourselves, our houses, but also for our country. We should do what we can to see God’s morality as the standard throughout the land. It once was. There was a time when no politician could even consider getting elected if he did not at least verbally agree with God’s standards. Now even ministers of the Church agree with politicians who flout the morality of God (show the article about the Pentecostal woman minister in charge of the Democratic faith forum). What can we do about it now? Pray; Speak; Vote; vote with our money by boycotting those who are against God’s ways.

The Lord also taught His disciples, “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees (erroneous doctrine).” – Matthew 16:6, 12. Teaching and/or believing false doctrine is as deadly as practicing sin in your life. False doctrine is as deadly as sin, because it leads to death just as sin does. Paul warned in Thessalonians 2:9-12

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6.  There is only one way to salvation and to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ, yet George Bush says Moslems and Christians serve the same God? Even though Islam proudly proclaims “Allah is God alone, and he has no Son!”  The Apostle John writes that whoever denies the Father and the Son is antichrist (1 John 2:19-23; 5:6, 7). Barack Obama confesses that while he is a Christian, there are many ways to God. The Crystal Cathedral in CA holds a “Rethinking Conference” last year which attempts to unite Moslems, Christians, Hindu, and Buddhist. You would be surprised at those who came to speak: Former President George H.W. Bush, Chuck Colson, Kay Warren (wife of Rick Warren), to name a few. Ophrah Winfrey teaches a Course in Miracles (a New Age Philosophy course) and thousands of Christians flock to hear her. Jehovah’s Witnesses attack by sowing doubt – “Did you know that the Trinity is not in Scripture?” While the word 'trinity' is not found in Scripture, the concept certainly is.

Trinity:

And I (Jesus) will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper (Holy Spirit), that He may abide with you forever – John 14:16 

When the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized: and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased. – Luke3:21, 22

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. – 1 Corinthians 1:21, 22

Jesus also warned us, “For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible even the elect.” – Matthew 24:24. As we get closer to the end of the age, we should expect an increase in this kind of activity.  The Church has succumbed to a Jezebel spirit which leads both men and women to usurp power and authority Christ has not given. For example, many churches now have women pastors and women in positions of authority over men but Scripture teaches differently: “I permit not a woman to teach (teach men), nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness” (1 Tim. 2:12) and “A bishop (elder) then must be blameless, the husband one wife (not divorced) …” 1Timothy 3:2.

In other cases, the church is seen as a business with the pastor as the head CEO, even though the historical church of Scripture was thought of as a “body” and not a business and there were always elders (plural) appointed to lead the local churches. There is such a false spirit of competition between churches today that they appear to have forgotten that the true Church only has one head – Jesus! In most churches today, there is little opportunity for the “body” of Christ to function – there is no time to pray for the sick, or deliverance, very little ‘giving to the poor’ even if they are in that local church, no time for the Spirit to bring forth His ministries (such as prophesies or messages in tongues, etc), and seldom time for communion. But, there is always time for an offering!

There are plenty of so-called revivals sweeping the land, but they are not revivals of the Holy Spirit, which lead to repentance and changed lives. They are often shows in which the so-called evangelists kick people in the face, tackle old women, and promise Jesus is going to physically appear on the stage. People may bark like dogs, fall “under the spirit”, shout and scream, but they are no more successful at bringing the presence of God than the prophets of Baal were with Elijah. Remember, the devil can produce signs and wonders, but only God can produce a changed life and that is the real proof of a true revival.

Jesus fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread. He was without sin (no leaven) and as He was placed in the grave, His body did not decay. Hebrew prophets spoke of His burial: “And they made (appointed) His grave with the wicked, but (was instead) with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence (wickedness), nor was any deceit in His mouth” – Isaiah 53:9. King David prophesied of the Messiah: “For you will not leave my soul in) the grave), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” – Psalm 16:10. Jesus was placed in the grave at the beginning of Unleavened Bread but He rose in three days on the Feast of First Fruits, which occurred in the middle of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

What happened to the last half of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? I suspect the last half (3 ½ yrs) remains for us, His body to be purged of all leaven – perhaps that is what the 3 ½ year tribulation is all about?

Lastly, as the Hebrews carried out God’s commandment for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they would go throughout the house with a candle searching for any crumbs of leavened bread that may remain in what is known as the Bedikat Hametz, or Search for Leaven Ceremony. All that was found would be taken outside and burned, along with the spoon and feather that were used to sweep up the leaven crumbs. Even the feather and spoon were counted as unclean because they had touched the leaven. This of course is symbolic of the truth that even a little sin that is left can corrupt our lives and all that it touches. We each have been given a lamp with which to search our house – it is our spirit.

“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” – Proverbs 20:27

“For what man knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:11, 12

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105

 The Feast of Unleavened Bread is given to remind us to be diligent in purging out all sin from our lives. While none of us is sinless, we do have a propitiation by His blood through faith (Romans 3:25), which means God's wrath toward sin is appeased because of the sacrifice of Jesus for us and our appropriating it through faith. However, that does not relieve us of the obligation to repent, purging the sin from our lives. Jesus did His part of our blood covenant as our Passover Lamb and we must do our part by keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Spirit and truth.

As Unleavened Bread is completed, perhaps in the last 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation, the Bride of Christ will emerge as a spotless clean bride. I pray you and I will be part of that group of believers. Amen!