Post by Watchman on Apr 16, 2005 13:27:12 GMT -5
When God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt, He told His people: ";seven days you shall eat unleavened bread"; (Exodus 12:15). Verse 39 further explains: "And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual"
The leavening process, which makes bread rise, takes time. The Israelites had no time to spare when they left Egypt, so they baked and ate flat bread. What started out as a necessity continued for a week. God appropriately named this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), or Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:3).
When Jesus came to earth as a human, He observed this seven-day festival. Jesus kept it as a child and later as an adult (Luke 2:41; Matthew 26:17). The early Church kept it as well.
God gave His earliest instructions concerning this festival to the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt. ';And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. (Exodus 12:14-16).
Each year as the Israelites observed this feast, it reminded them of God's deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt. YHWH instructed, "And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever." (verse 17). The exodus from Egypt remains as a foundational reason for observing this feast today. Just as God delivered ancient Israel, He delivers us from our sins and difficulties.
Now notice Jesus Christ's teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast.
During Christ's ministry He performed two miracles in which a few fish and loaves of bread fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Jesus told them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
The disciples thought Jesus was referring to their lack of bread. However, He was using the occasion to teach them by calling on the symbolism of leaven. Christ asked them, "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 1How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?" Then the disciples "understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Matthew 16:5-12).
Some of the members of the religious establishment of Christ's day appeared to be righteous, yet they secretly practiced sinful behavior. Jesus let them know He knew their hearts. They may have appeared righteous to other people, "Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity (lawlessness)" (Matthew 23:28).
The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with God's help we must remove and avoid all types of sin-symbolized by leaven—in all areas of our life.
During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the apostle Paul taught the same spiritual lessons as had Jesus Christ, invoking the comparison of sin to leaven. In the context of reprimanding the Corinthian congregation for its divisions, jealousies and tolerance of sexual misconduct, Paul wrote: "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and God's help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. ("for whosoever eateth leavened bread...that soul shall be cut off ...")! The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes, lifestyle, and conduct and ask God to help us recognize and overcome our disibediance, so we can stand as faithful servants of the Most High God!
Paul spoke of this much-needed self-reflection in 2 Corinthians 13:5 when he told the Corinthian church: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
Paul explained the significance of the phrase "Jesus Christ is in you"; in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
As God delivered the ancient Israelites from enslavement to Egypt, so He delivers us from our enslavement to sin (Romans 6:12-18). Paul knew life itself is a battle with sin. The Bible speaks of "the sin which doth so easily beset us" (Hebrews 12:1). We have our own part to play in struggling to overcome sin. Yet, paradoxically, we must rely on God to help us. Paul explained this to the Philippians by telling them to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13.)
Our observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread helps us realize our need for Jesus Christ's help in overcoming sin and our worldly flesh. This feast is also a time for rejoicing because Christ freely gives us everything we need. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, thus unleavening, or cleansing, our lives. He continues to help us live obediently through God's Spirit dwelling in us.
The leavening process, which makes bread rise, takes time. The Israelites had no time to spare when they left Egypt, so they baked and ate flat bread. What started out as a necessity continued for a week. God appropriately named this time the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6), or Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 12:3).
When Jesus came to earth as a human, He observed this seven-day festival. Jesus kept it as a child and later as an adult (Luke 2:41; Matthew 26:17). The early Church kept it as well.
God gave His earliest instructions concerning this festival to the Israelites as they prepared to leave Egypt. ';And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. (Exodus 12:14-16).
Each year as the Israelites observed this feast, it reminded them of God's deliverance of their forefathers from Egypt. YHWH instructed, "And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever." (verse 17). The exodus from Egypt remains as a foundational reason for observing this feast today. Just as God delivered ancient Israel, He delivers us from our sins and difficulties.
Now notice Jesus Christ's teaching about leaven, which expands the meaning of this feast.
During Christ's ministry He performed two miracles in which a few fish and loaves of bread fed thousands of people. After one of these incidents, when His disciples had gone around the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring bread with them. So Jesus told them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
The disciples thought Jesus was referring to their lack of bread. However, He was using the occasion to teach them by calling on the symbolism of leaven. Christ asked them, "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 1How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?" Then the disciples "understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Matthew 16:5-12).
Some of the members of the religious establishment of Christ's day appeared to be righteous, yet they secretly practiced sinful behavior. Jesus let them know He knew their hearts. They may have appeared righteous to other people, "Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity (lawlessness)" (Matthew 23:28).
The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us that with God's help we must remove and avoid all types of sin-symbolized by leaven—in all areas of our life.
During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the apostle Paul taught the same spiritual lessons as had Jesus Christ, invoking the comparison of sin to leaven. In the context of reprimanding the Corinthian congregation for its divisions, jealousies and tolerance of sexual misconduct, Paul wrote: "Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).
Today removing leaven from our homes for seven days reminds us that we, too, through prayer and God's help and understanding, must recognize, expel and avoid sin. ("for whosoever eateth leavened bread...that soul shall be cut off ...")! The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a time of personal reflection. We should meditate on our attitudes, lifestyle, and conduct and ask God to help us recognize and overcome our disibediance, so we can stand as faithful servants of the Most High God!
Paul spoke of this much-needed self-reflection in 2 Corinthians 13:5 when he told the Corinthian church: "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
Paul explained the significance of the phrase "Jesus Christ is in you"; in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
As God delivered the ancient Israelites from enslavement to Egypt, so He delivers us from our enslavement to sin (Romans 6:12-18). Paul knew life itself is a battle with sin. The Bible speaks of "the sin which doth so easily beset us" (Hebrews 12:1). We have our own part to play in struggling to overcome sin. Yet, paradoxically, we must rely on God to help us. Paul explained this to the Philippians by telling them to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13.)
Our observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread helps us realize our need for Jesus Christ's help in overcoming sin and our worldly flesh. This feast is also a time for rejoicing because Christ freely gives us everything we need. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, thus unleavening, or cleansing, our lives. He continues to help us live obediently through God's Spirit dwelling in us.