The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Today is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Some may ask what this is. Well, it's a seven day festival. In the Old testament, Leviticus 23:6-4, this is a seven day period in which leavening or yeast is put out of dwellings and is not eaten.

Yesterday, I briefly discussed the Passover sacrifice of Christ. It is through his sacrificial death that we are justified, forgiven of our past sins and "made right" in relation to God---if we believe and confess such. But even though we are now forgiven our past sins, how will we become "overcomers" and put sin completely out of our lives? The Festival of Unleavened Bread provides the answer. It pictures the next step in God's plan.

Right after commanding the Passover, God told Moses: "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. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation (Sabbath), 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. 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 12:15-17).

How does this apply to us today? Egypt is a symbol or "type" of sin. Jesus warned his disciples to "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees" (Matthew 16:6). Literal leaven or yeast causes bread to rise or puff up, just as the attitude of sin or self will and indulgence causes us to puff up with pride and do our own thing instead of what God wants us to do.

Paul commanded the Church: "Therefore let us keep the Feast (of Unleavened Bread), not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1Corinthians 5:8).
                                                                        

         
During the next seven days, while you root out leaven and products that contain it, it is symbolic of rooting out sin and evil in our heart and minds. Let us use this time to examine ourselves against the Lord's Ten Commandments as the standard. Where will we find hidden flaws and things within ourselves that we know in our hearts is not right and need to be corrected? We'll only know when we make the effort to search them out, be honest with ourselves and trust the Lord to give us the strength and means to make the changes necessary.

I pray you have much success on your endeavor.

Be blessed!