THE STORY
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the SECOND STEP in our walk with God entailing:
SANCTIFICATION (being transformed by the Holy Spirit into the moral image and likeness of Jesus and enabling us to live holy and separate lives)
When we accept Jesus as our Messiah, Lord and Savior as the Passover Lamb of God who died for our sins, God declares us “not guilty.” This is called: JUSTIFICATION – God imputes or credits the perfect righteousness of Jesus to us (see Romans 3:24 & 28, Romans 4:5-8, Romans 5:1 & 8-9, Gal 2:16 and 2 Cor 5:21). God therefore DECLARES us to be righteous through Jesus and we now have peace with God. This is JUST THE BEGINNING of our exciting walk with God. God is not only interested in our position but also in our condition. He is interested in every part of our lives. He wants to CHANGE our lives and TRANFORM us into the MORAL IMAGE AND CARACHTER OF JESUS and this is the spiritual teaching of the FEAST of UNLEAVENED BREAD.
Historical background
God give instructions in Lev 23:6-8 to eat unleavened bread for seven days with the first and last day to be celebrated as a Sabbath wherein no work should be done. The 15th (see John 19:31) and 21st of Nisan on the Hebrew or Biblical Calendar (falling in March/ April on the Western Calendar) was therefore regarded as High Sabbath Days. On these days people had to refrain from work and meditate on the greatness and goodness of God. Passover on the 14th of Nisan was the Preparation Day for the 1st day of Unleavened Bread on the 15th.
When God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt, He brought them out with such a haste that they did not have time to bake their bread with leaven. Over time leaven became symbolic of the Hebrews’ old life of bondage in Egypt under the Pharaoh and the Egyptian’s world system, which was contrary to God. The Feast of Unleavened bread was to be kept as a memorial to their separation from Egypt. No leavened bread could be eaten during Passover on the 14th and neither on the 15th to 21st of Nisan (Exodus 13:3 & 7). Before the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread could be celebrated ALL leaven had to be removed from the Hebrews’ houses. This required a great amount of spring cleaning. Everything in the house was thoroughly washed, scrubbed and cleaned and thereafter the head of the home thoroughly searched the house for any leaven that was possibly left behind. When any was found it was scooped up and burned outside. Finally, he would say a prayer, asking God to forgive the family for any hidden leaven they may have overlooked. With the leaven had been purged from the household, the family is ready to celebrate Passover and Unleavened Bread.
It served as a REMINDER to the Jewish people that God called them to be a separate people unto Himself. It was a permanent memorial of their DELIVERANCE from Egypt and the BONDAGE, OPRESSION, SORROW and SUFFERING that was part of their OLD LIFE.
Fulfilled by Jesus
Jesus fulfilled the feast as the BREAD OF LIFE from heaven who had no sin (leaven) in Him (see 2 Cor 5:21 & 1 John 3:5). Because of the fermenting and permeating nature of leaven, it is often used as a metaphor for sin.
Isaiah gave a preview of the Messiah who would be smitten, bruised and pierced for our sin (Isaiah 53:4-5 & 8-10). Jesus pointed to Himself as the fulfillment of this feast when he used the miracle of the multiplication of the five loaves of barley and two fishes, as a sign to tell the people of their need to come to Him as the TRUE BREAD OF GOD who would give them eternal life (John 6:32-58).
Jesus was crucified on 14 Nisan (a Wednesday), His body was taken down just before six o’clock that evening, which would begin the next day (15 Nisan) on the Hebrew calendar. Jesus the UNLEAVENED BREAD of God from heaven, took on all our leaven of sin and was buried on the same day the Jews celebrated this feast for centuries. While the Jewish people were removing the physical leaven from their houses, Jesus removed the spiritual leaven of sin from our houses – that is our lives. Jesus took our LEAVEN OF SIN, in HIS SPIRIT, our LEAVEN OF SORROWS in HIS SOUL and our LEAVEN OF SICNESS, DISEASE and DEATH in HIS BODY (see Ps 103:1-5). He who knew no leaven (sin, sickness and death) became leaven for us. Our WORDLY ATTITUDES and SINFUL WAYS were buried with Him. The bondage, oppression, sorrow, suffering, sicknesses and diseases that were part of our old lives went with Him to the grave. He took the full burden of all the liabilities of our human condition with Him.
Personal significance
We as believers are to “put off” the old leaven of sin (our sin nature inherited from Adam) that was crucified and buried with Jesus (Eph 4:22). The sinful nature or inclination toward sin keeps us from having an intimate relationship with God, brings sorrow and heartache to our soul, and brings disease and death to our body. As long as our old nature is the ruling force in our life, we will commit outward acts of sin. Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23 “For from within, out of the HEART of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride and foolishness. All these things come from within and defile a man.”
Paul warns us to PUT OFF the “ Lazarus grave clothes of the flesh”, which he also describes in Gal 5:19-21 as the works of the flesh: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Jesus took this old man of sin or old garment of the flesh (with other words the desire to sin) with Him into the grave and that is why we can PUT OFF this old garment of the flesh. In this way the POWER OF SIN HAS BEEN BROKEN. When we realize this, God begins to work change in our life. He changes our: CONDITION, our CHARACTER and we are TRANSFORMED into the MORAL IMAGE and LIKENESS OF JESUS.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is therefore a visual picture of separating from Egypt; representing the world of sin we live in – a world with philosophies and ways contrary to the Word of God. God has CHOSEN US to be a PEOPLE SET APART and DIFFERENT from the world. We are to be IN THE WORLD but not OF THE WORLD. This is the biblical meaning of being “holy”.
Paul request us to take serious note of this in Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” And in 2 Corinthians 6:17 he said: “Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord.”
John wrote in 1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Peter said in 1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”
Prophetic aspect
God worked through John and Charles Wesley, two brothers, to restore the SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE of the Fest of Unleavened Bread.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread relates to our condition – that is our character. God used the Wesley brothers to show us that there is much more to being a Christian than just having our sins forgiven. John and Charles Westley were born in England to devoted religious parents and both attended Oxford University where Charles started a small gathering of like-minded men called the “holy club” who desired to live a disciplined life for the purpose of developing INWARD HOLINESS. John became the leader of the group and as he meditated on the Word of God, he began to see that TRUE RELIGION was SEATED IN THE HEART and that GOD’s LAW extended to ALL OUR THOUGHTS, WORDS and ACTIONS. The two brothers’ preaching focused on the NECESSITY for PERSONAL HOLINESS in the lives of those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Information based on: CELEBRATING JESUS IN THE BIBLICAL FEASTS – Dr. Richard Booker
Animated Story Board: Created by Danelle Harmse for He Brews Coffee Roastery
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