The Biblical History of Unleavened Bread

Well, as we begin the Days of Unleavened Bread this year, I believe it's important that we review or remember, we could say, its history and its importance. As I mentioned during the announcements, we have some newer brethren who will benefit from this knowledge today. We have some folks who have returned after being away for a while.

We have a brand new baptism. We have a teen who's going to be going to ABC this fall. So we have a whole new generation of teens that are just becoming aware of what they're hearing. They maybe grew up in the church, and they've been listening on and off since they were knee-high to a grasshopper, but now they're coming of age and they're beginning to pay attention and actually listen to the things that are being said. So I'd like to talk about God's holy days today, particularly the days of unleavened bread.

I believe that for us to fully appreciate the meaning and what God's original intention was for these days, we need to understand that they predate the time that God gave his holy days to ancient Israel, as we all are aware of in Leviticus 23.

And we'll get to Leviticus 23 in just a few minutes. So as we celebrate this holy day together, let's look at the history of God's festivals and what his intentions were from the very beginning and see what we can learn in the lessons in the history about not just God's holy days, but specifically zeroing in on unleavened bread. We're going to begin in the book of beginnings, Genesis chapter one, if you will turn there, and we will begin at verse 14, Genesis chapter one and verse 14, a rather unfortunate translation in the New King James Version, because they use translated in English the word seasons here, where that Hebrew word in most other places is translated feasts.

So it kind of muddles, it hides what the scripture is saying. Here's what it says in the New King James Version, then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years.

The Hebrew word that is translated, that we translate into English as seasons, is the word moed, and this word is translated feast in most other areas of scripture's words used, including Leviticus chapter 23. Again, we'll get there shortly. I want you to notice how different Bible translations translate this verse. I'm going to quote from God's word for today.

Here's what it says regarding this verse 14. Then God said, let there be lights in the skies, let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days and years. So it's a very creation. God aligned the heavens so that man could be able to worship God. That through the instruction of God, humanity would be able to count and know when God had specific zones of time that were sacred to him. So one of the purposes of the sun and moon and the stars was to mark time in order to observe religious festivals.

Now think about this rationally. Who is religious festivals? Do you think God did this so that so that they can determine when Halloween is? I'll align these so that they can determine when the immaculate conception of the virgin takes place. Well, of course not. God obviously put the purpose of these heavenly bodies to mark times to worship him.

Do you think the creator God did this with the intent that humanity has done what we did and that is to create our own religious days to worship other things that we have in mind? No. God did this for a reason. And before the holy days were revealed to ancient Israel, you'll find some other interesting events in the life of Abraham. So we want to go there next.

We've seen that from the very beginning that God said the purpose of the stars and the moon and the sun was the marked time in order to celebrate religious festivals.

Keep that in mind. Let's go now to Genesis chapter 18. Forward a few chapters. Genesis chapter 18 and verse 6.

You may recall this story of the three angels who show up. Abraham is sitting in his tent and suddenly they appear. And actually they're on their way. They're just stopping by to visit Abraham for a short time on their way to Sodom. And that's the context of what we're about to read here. And one of these three angels is the Lord God himself who's cloaking himself as a messenger, as an angel, so that Abraham can relate to him and understand him. So Genesis chapter 18 and verse 6.

So they arrive and it says, so Abraham hurried into the tent of Sarah and said quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a tender and good calf and gave it to a young man and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared and set it before them and they stood by them under the tree as they ate. So he stood by them under the tree as they ate. Abraham is hospitable here. He wants to provide a rushed, very rushed but prepared meal for his divine guests. And he does this because he knows they're merely passing through. They're just visiting for a short time to have a conversation with him. So let me ask you a question. What kind of bread do you get when you quickly grind it, knead it with water, make cakes and rapidly apply heat to it?

The kind of bread you get is you get unleavened bread. There would have been very little time for the bread to be leavened and rise. Let me ask you another question, just food for thought. Why didn't Abraham already have loaves of leavened bread available?

Why isn't there leavened bread that was made yesterday that's readily available to share with these divine guests that show up? Why is no leavened bread on hand at all?

Let's continue to verse 16. Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, Abraham went with them and sent them on the way. And the Lord said, shall I side hide from Abraham what I'm doing, since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation. And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I have known him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, and that they keep the way of the Lord to do justice, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him. So, brethren, do you think there's a coincidence that after eating a meal together that included unleavened bread, that the very words of God are about Abraham's obedience and Abraham's commitment of teaching righteousness and justice to future generations, generations of his children? Verse 18, and the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to me, and if not, I will know. Verse 22, and then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood before the Lord, and Abraham came near and said, would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? And we're going to stop there because our our context today isn't the negotiation that Abraham had with God and what he would do to spare the city. I just want to ask this question, is it a coincidence that after eating unleavened bread together, a discussion begins contrasting sin and righteousness? The sin of Sodom and the righteousness that is being attributed to Abraham that God says he will teach his descendants and will teach his own children. I want you to notice the theological connection here between unleavened bread that represents the righteous presence of God, because he's literally there in the form of an angel, and in contrast the wickedness that exists in Sodom. Now we don't know exactly what time of the year that this was, but a day or so later, let's continue here in Genesis chapter 19. Again, let's connect the dots here and take a look at the event when these two angels arrive in Sodom.

He says, now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom, and when Lot saw them he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face towards the ground, and he said, here now, my lords, please turn into your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet that you may rise early and go on your way. And they said no, but we will spend the night in the open square. That's the last thing that Lot wanted them to do, because he knew that, frankly, their lives were in danger. If he didn't yet know or figure out that they were angels, he didn't want them staying the night in the square. That was not a safe place to be. And verse 3 says, but he insisted strongly, so they turned into him and entered his house, and he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. So I can't automatically tell you this was during the days of unleavened bread, but I can tell you that when they show up at Abraham's place, there's no bread to give them. There's certainly not a loaf of leavened bread to cut up and offer to them with their meal. They have to quickly rush and make what obviously has to be unleavened bread. Then during the same time, they come to Lot, and what does Lot do? It says he baked unleavened bread. Again, the symbolism here is remarkable. Lot, the one man who will be spared from this city, makes unleavened bread, and they sit down and they eat the bread that later on will become known as the righteousness of Christ. Is it a mere coincidence? Or are there underlying symbols of Christ and God's plan in these biblical events? Why didn't Lot already have a loaf of leavened bread to offer these visitors? What's the spiritual lesson in this event?

Well, the spiritual lesson is this. The antidote to wickedness is the bread of life.

Wickedness is represented by leaven. Righteousness is represented by unleavened bread. The presence of God is in this story, literally in Abraham's case, talking to Abraham.

So that is the lesson here. The antidote to evil and wickedness is eating, digesting, the bread of life. Now let's go to the instructions given to the children of Israel regarding these holy days. Exodus chapter 12. Let's go there and see a little bit of history of why these are called the days of unleavened bread. Exodus chapter 12, and we'll begin in verse 31.

The context here is soon after the death of the firstborn, which was the final catastrophic plague to occur that woke Pharaoh out of his lethargy. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 31. Then he, Pharaoh, called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go! Serve the Lord as you have said, and take your flocks and your hers as you have said, and be gone. And bless me also. Pharaoh is saying, Get out!

I don't even want to look at you anymore. You've ruined my nation. I'm emotionally exhausted. I'm heartbroken. My own death in my family. Go! Just go! Take whatever you want and go!

And bless me also. Verse 33. And the Egyptians urged the people that they might send them out of the land and haste. Please go and go fast! For they said, We shall all be dead.

So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes and on their shoulders. Now the children of Israel had done, according to the word of Moses, and they asked from the Egyptians, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing, and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

In essence, they were paid back for hundreds of years of oppression and slavery.

Verse 37. And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramesses to Sukkoth, about 600,000 men on foot beside children, a mixed multitude, meaning some native Egyptians, some other Semitic peoples, went out with the Israelites. It was a mixed multitude. Went up with them also, and flocks and herds, a great deal of livestock. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. So here we see that the reason that these are called, literally, the days of unleavened bread, as the Israelites only had unleavened bread to eat after they were leaving Egypt. They were rushed. This short amount of time did not allow, much like we saw in the story of Abraham and his visitors, a short amount of time did not allow for the leaven starter to be mixed in the bread to rise, as Mr. Lee has so eloquently described that in a sermon a few months back. People would have a jar that would have their starter in it, and they'd pull a little lump out of it, and they would take the grain that they had just mixed together, and it was doughy, and they would put that starter in there, and they would massage it in, and then you had to let it wait while it would rise, become puffy, and become edible.

And it would take time to do that, and because they were leaving Egypt in a rush, they didn't have time to do any of that. But as we've seen, this event was really no accident. We saw that in our previous scriptures about Abraham and Lot. This really is not an accident. It's there to teach you and I something. It's there for us to remember something and an action that we can take with that remembrance. The unleavened bread pictures God's righteous presence, in this case, God's righteous presence, leading them out of pagan Egypt and a corruptible culture of sin. And they were to remember that, and the way that they were to remember that is that throughout their generations, they would not eat leavened bread for seven days that God would designate. Let's take a look and read that in Leviticus chapter 23 and verse 1. Leviticus 23 verse 1.

It says, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, speak to the children of Israel and saying to them, the feast of the Lord. God says these are his feast, the feast of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as holy convocations. Another word for that is a holy convention. We have a holy convention going on here today. All of us have assembled according to God's instructions, and we're having a religious service during this convention. These are my feast, God says, six days, and he begins with the first and most obvious feast is the weekly Sabbath day.

Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.

You shall do no work on it. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all of your dwellings. These are the feast of the Lord. It says once again, convocations, holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. Remember the scripture we read in Genesis chapter one and verse 14, why God said the sun, moon, and stars existed as appointed times for religious observances.

And God is about to instruct them with how to worship the Creator God during those very special zones of time that can be determined by looking up at the heavenly host.

Three times in four verses we're told that these are God's feast. He doesn't say that these are Israel's feast. He doesn't say they're Jewish feast. He doesn't say they're Hebrew feasts.

God says these are my feast. I'm going to read this verses one through four from the new century version. The Lord said to Moses, tell the people of Israel you will announce the Lord's appointed feast as holy meetings. And that's what we're having here today. These are my special feasts. Verse three, there are six days for you to work, but the seventh day will be a special day of rest. It is a day for a holy meeting. You must not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your homes. These are the Lord's appointed feasts, the holy meetings which you will announce at the time set for them. So here is the very God who would later come to earth and be known as Jesus the Christ instructing the Israelites. And when these very special feasts are to be observed, dropping down to verse five, the feasts that we're celebrating now. On the 14th day of the first month at twilight is the Lord's Passover, and we celebrated that recently. And on the 15th day of the same month, beginning last evening, is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord. Because remember, these are His feasts. Seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. That's what we're doing today. And you shall do no customary work on it, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. Now we no longer do animal sacrifices, but we come here as living offerings, as a living sacrifice for Jesus Christ, willing to give up whatever we need to give up, to be living sacrifices for Him. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation. We will be observing the seventh day of unleavened bread with our brethren in North Canton next week. You shall do no customary work on it. So the very first of the annual feast listed immediately following the Passover is the seven days of unleavened bread.

Again, notice the instruction on eating unleavened bread. The command isn't just to remove leaven from our homes, which is elsewhere in the book of Exodus and Leviticus. The instruction here is on eating unleavened bread. And why is that? Well, because it pictures the righteousness of God's presence. They were carnal. They certainly needed God's presence in their lives.

We certainly need God's presence in our lives, and we eat that unleavened bread, seeking the righteousness of Jesus Christ to be within us, to be inside of us. As the disciples of the same God who originally instructed this festival, we too need God's presence in our lives, as symbolized every day by eating that unleavened bread during these feast days.

Let's go to Judges 6 and verse 1.

In time, the Israelites, as they always did, stray away from God. And they come into the promised land, and they go through cycles of forgetting about God, being oppressed, crying out to God, God having mercy on them and sending a deliverer. And then they go into sin. The cycle just goes over and over again. And we're going to read about one of these situations in which the judge was called. So let's take a look here at verse 1, Judges 6.

Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel, because of the Midianites. Now the Midianites were the children of Abraham to his later wife, Katorah. So they were actually related to the Israelites. You could call this a sibling rivalry.

And they usually didn't get along. There were a lot of conflicts between the Midianites and the other descendants of Abraham, whom we know of as Israel. It says, The children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds, which are in the mountains. And so it was, whenever Israel had sown, when they planted their crops, Midianites would come up, and Amalekites and the people of the east would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land as far as Gaza and leave no sustenance for Israel. Neither, not only the crops, neither sheep, nor ox, nor donkey. So these people are on the verge of starvation. It doesn't take too many smarts to figure out when crops are going to be just about right. And that's when these wicked peoples would show up to destroy the crops or steal them and butcher, kill the animals. And obviously Israel is in dire straits here. As I said, this is one of the many cycles mentioned in the book of Judges. Sin, they go into oppression, they cry out to God, He has mercy on them, He sends them to deliver, and once again they go into sin after a period of time. This cycle occurs over and over again. They never seem to learn. And God, in His great mercy in this case, decides to spare the Israelites from starvation using a man named Gideon. So let's take a look here at verse 11. Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree, which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abazaiite and his son Gideon. By the way, Gideon was the fifth major judge who ruled about 40 years.

The time here is about 1170 BC, approximately 1170 BC, when this is going to happen. And he threshed wheat in the wine press in order to hide it from the Midianites. So he's using a wine press, you obviously would normally use to make wine, but he's trying to use it for grain crops to keep it away from his enemies so they wouldn't come and steal it. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor. And Gideon said to him, Oh, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all his miracles, which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. So he doesn't get it. He doesn't understand that this is the result of sin and punishment. In essence, he's blaming God for not doing his job protecting the Israelites. We could say at this point, he lacks faith. He lacks confidence in this messenger from God. Then the Lord turned to him and said, Go, in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? Isn't my word good enough? The fact that I'm God and I say, Go and do? Isn't that good enough for you to go and do?

The answer is no. Verse 15. So he said to him, Oh, my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh. And I'm the least in my father's house. And the Lord said to him, Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man. Then he said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that is, it is you who talk to me. He lacks faith. He says, If you're really God, and if you really, really want me to go on this mission, which I don't want to do, then show me a sign. Show me something. Maybe he was from Missouri. Who knows?

Verse 18. Gideon says, Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to you, and bring out my offering and set it before you. And he said, God said, the angel says here, I will wait until you come back. So I want you to notice how there's a reference here to Israel leaving Egypt. That was in verse 13. We just read that. Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? Gideon had said to him. So there's a reference. Israel leaving Egypt. Israel has sinned and is being punished by God. So what we're about to read next is not just some ancient accident or coincidence. Gideon doesn't understand much, but he understands the presence of God.

A divine being is waiting for him to come back, and he's going to show him a sign.

And I want you to ask yourself, of all the things that Gideon could have used, why he uses the following two types of sacrifice. Verse 19. So Gideon went and prepared a young goat. Now if you go back to Exodus chapter 12 and verse 5 for the Passover, it said you could choose a lamb or a goat. That's exactly what Exodus chapter 12 and verse 5 says. Either one. So he went and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in the pot, and he brought them out to him under the turbinthe tree and presented them.

And the angel of God said to him, take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay it on this rock and pour out the broth. Get rid of it. And so he did. And here we see that Gideon symbolically provides an offering that represents Jesus Christ in two ways. The bread of life, the unleavened bread that he makes, and the shedding of blood of this animal to atone for sin.

These are the same symbols of the Passover. Now this isn't the Passover. This probably is not even the time of the Passover. But I'm asking you to make that connection between the righteousness of God represented by that unleavened bread and the need for blood to be shed in order for Israel's sins and Gideon's sins as well to be atoned for. Verse 21, and the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread and the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. Slow learner, but he gets it.

I mean, it kind of is impressive when a fire comes down and goes, and everything's gone and burned up and disappeared. Kind of gets your attention, doesn't it? So Gideon said, Alas! Oh, Lord, God, I believe now. I get it. For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. Then the Lord said to him, Peace be with you, do not fear, you shall not die. So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and he called it, The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still in Oprah of the Abizites. I want you to please again notice this connection between Israel's sin, the present wickedness that they're living in, and the connection in these verses with the original Exodus, brought up by Gideon himself, and Gideon making unleavened bread and a goat as part of this offering. Again, the Lord speaking here is the very God who would later walk on earth and be known as Jesus Christ. I'm not going to make the bold claim that this very event occurred during the days of unleavened bread. It's possible. I'm not certainly not making that claim.

However, what I will say is this, is that the answer to wickedness is the bread of life, pictured, represented by unleavened bread. That's something God wants us to remember.

And the action to remember that is for the next seven days to eat unleavened bread, and realize and acknowledge that the answer to wickedness and evil, the opposite of that, is the righteousness, the righteous presence of God in our lives.

And that's why we need to eat unleavened bread.

Jesus Christ came to earth, and of course, he observed the feast days, many instances of that in the Gospels, including the Passover and the days of unleavened bread, and he told his disciples the very final scriptures of Matthew 28. Matthew 28. Here's what it says. Final words of the entire book. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Did Jesus teach his disciples to observe the Passover? Well, of course, he even set a ceremony of washing feet that they should follow that example. Jesus supported the holy days.

Jesus worshipped on the holy days. One of the first things he told them to do before he ascended to heaven is to wait here until the day of Pentecost, and when that day comes, I want you to celebrate the day of Pentecost. And it was on that day that they received God's Holy Spirit.

Brethren, God's holy days are not offered from God as a smorgasbord. God's holy days aren't buffet-style. Oh, I like this one. It sounds lamby. So I'll observe this one. Oh, this one I'm not supposed to eat. Ooh, I don't want to keep this holy day. No, God's days are not offered buffet-style. They reveal a plan. They reveal God's system of salvation and the step of his plan to ultimately bring everyone into an opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have their sins forgiven. Paul himself got that message, and that's why he taught believers to observe the holy days. Let's go to Acts chapter 20 in verse 1 and see what the Gentile Luke wrote here in one episode of Paul in Ephesus, doing what Paul did often, and that is causing a riot, causing problems, causing trouble. The power of the gospel often has that result.

Acts chapter 20 in verse 1, leading up to this, Paul was preaching in Ephesus, but he was hurting the silversmith's trade. They were making these darling little temples of the God of Ephesus, and when Paul started preaching the gospel and people were accepting the good news of the coming kingdom of God, the sales of the silversmith temples went down, and they caused trouble, and obviously there was a little bit of a mini-riot, so we're going to pick it up here in verse Acts chapter 20 verse 1. After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Now, when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece and stayed three months. And when the Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia in verse 4. And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia, also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Titicus and Trophimus of Asia. These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas. Again, this is Luke writing who was a Gentile. Verse 6, But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. So why would a Gentile like Luke be mentioning that they used or observed the days of unleavened bread? Why did they wait until after the feast was over to resume their travel? Could it be because they wanted to stay and observe the holy day and not be traveling during that period of time? You know, it was during this same time that Paul wrote the Epistle to the Corinthians. In Acts chapter 19, just a chapter before, he's residing, and he wrote the first epistle to the Corinthians while he was staying at Ephesus. He's residing there at Ephesus. Again, the year is 55 AD. So we see here that the Gentile Luke is referring to the days of unleavened bread almost 25 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ. Why? Why would a Greek, a Gentile, be referring to the days of unleavened bread 25 years after the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven? I think that's a fair question. This is also six years after the ministerial conference of 49 AD when the subject of circumcision came up and there were issues and problems.

So during this same time at 55 AD, let's take a look at 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 2, because before we get to a very important scripture in chapter 5, I think we need quickly to go here to chapter 12 and see the context. So there is no question on who Paul is writing to.

Is he writing to Jewish people who keep the holy days? Is he writing to Hebrew people who have always kept the holy days? Who's he writing to? Chapter 12 verse 2, you know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols however you were led. So who's Paul writing to here?

Is he writing to Jewish people? Nope. I liked that.

Is he writing to Hebrew people? Nope. Wow, I'm gonna have to remember that. No, he's not writing to them at all. He is writing to Gentiles. So with that understanding, now let's go to chapter 5 and verses 6 through 8. Why is this so important? Because brethren, the holy days just being in Leviticus 23 are not valid enough to observe under the new covenant alone. There are lots of things in Leviticus 23 we don't do. There's lots of things in Leviticus chapter 1 through 22 we don't do. But the new covenant, as Paul is teaching here, takes the holy days and observes them with a new, enriched, enlightened meaning and understanding centering around the role of Jesus Christ.

That's why we continue to keep these holy days. So he writes this to this Greek Gentile congregation and to use modern terms, they had issues. They had lots of issues and they boiled down to lots of conflict among the congregation and they were they had their favorite ministers, a lot of disunity, a lot of problems going on. So Paul wants to get to the heart and core of it. He says your glorying is not good. Thinking you're better, sitting better and smarter than the person next to you is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lumpet only takes a pinch of that starter dough and mixing it in and pretty soon the entire loaf is rising and is puffed up and that puffiness representing vanity and people being too much into themselves. 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. Now, talking about an action, the word that Paul uses for purge out is the Greek word ekathiro, ekathiro, and it means to purge, to cleanse thoroughly. This is considered a very strong word in Greek. It's the kind of word you would use if you drank something in order to force yourself to puke, to use a rather graphic word. That's what this word means. It means a violent expulsion. So he doesn't use a word that says, kindly set aside your challenges and issues. Right? He says purge out the old leaven, that sin that we're still struggling with, those issues that we're still dealing with, that you may be a new lump since you are unleavened. And that could be, again, we can't prove it, that could be the fact that they might have been observing the feast when Paul wrote this letter in the spring of 55 AD.

Don't know that for sure. For indeed, Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Let us Gentiles. Let us Jewish converts. Let us everybody keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the same old habits and dysfunctions and just being comfortable in our misery, but purging out, getting serious and purging out that old leaven from our lives. Nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread that's possible through the Spirit of God, that is of sincerity and truth.

So what is Paul thinking here? What's wrong with Paul? Doesn't he know that the Holy Days are now obsolete? Why would he be telling a Gentile congregation to keep a feast? How can they keep the feast? You know, in Corinth, everything they do violates Leviticus chapter 23. Everything they do is a violation of what the instructions were in Leviticus 23 to keep the feast. There is no temple or tabernacle in Corinth. There are no Levites. There's no approved altar to sacrifice animals, as are all mentioned in Leviticus 23 regarding the feast days. So how could they keep the feast? The answer is in a new covenant observance, eliminating all the rituals, which are no longer necessary, but focusing on an expanded meaning surrounding the sacrifice and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the fact that we all need the righteous presence of God in our lives, represented by eating unleavened bread for seven days. By his own personal example, Paul is still celebrating the Passover and the days of unleavened bread in 55 AD. There's no denying that. You know, I've read commentaries of reading a Protestant commentary last week, and I purposely went to chapter 5 verses 6 through 8. This man, in intimate detail, covers verse by verse of Corinthians up to this period of time. And like the Nixon tapes, there's a missing gap. He doesn't even comment in verses 6 through 8. It's so embarrassing being here that he chooses not to even try to dance around it or to come up with some kind of excuse on why he wouldn't or wouldn't suggest people be observing the Holy Days today.

Brethren, I think that's important for us to appreciate and understand.

Paul is instructing this Greek Gentile church to remember the spiritual significance of the Passover and to observe it. He's telling them to celebrate the days of unleavened bread because this festival season would remind them of the personal covenant they made at their baptism, and the festival would remind them of the purpose of Paul's letter. Put sin out of your life and replace it with the righteousness of Christ. The righteous presence of God is the antidote to sin and malice and wickedness.

And the righteousness of God going all the way back to Abraham making unleavened bread for his divine visitors, going all the way back to Lot making unleavened bread for two of the divine visitors, always related to the righteousness of God, in contrast to sin and wickedness.

And it's remembering that and the action for the next seven days eating unleavened bread that God wants us to appreciate and celebrate and understand. Put sin out of our lives and replace it with the righteousness of Christ. And we do that symbolically with each bite of that unleavened bread that we partake of. God wants us to move forward with new growth to reach our full potential. Final scripture today, John chapter 6 and verse 47. John chapter 6 and verse 47.

Christ speaking here, most shortly I say to you, he who believes in me, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ain't man in the wilderness and are dead. That was just physical. This is the bread which comes down from heaven. That one may eat of it in Nakdai. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. And if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. So, brethren, we will eat unleavened bread for the next seven days as a symbol of our desire to receive the bread of life, to receive the righteous presence of God in our lives. The days of unleavened bread have a long and ancient history.

And long before Israel was commanded and instructed to observe it, we saw events that linked unleavened bread as a contrast to sin and wickedness. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is the antidote to sin, and his righteousness is pictured by that unleavened bread that we eat throughout this feast. Paul understood this. He understood the rich meaning of this New Testament festival and encouraged Gentiles to observe it. So, brethren, Jesus Christ is in us, and hopefully he's living in us. And by eating unleavened bread, we show by our actions our desire to live by every word of God and to take that next step in our personal growth in our own journey, so as becoming more like God in his way of life. Our Savior is the bread of life, and he is the living bread. Because of him, we will live forever. Let's celebrate this truth for the next seven days.

I wish all of you a wonderful festival of the days of unleavened bread this year.