Remembering and the Days of Unleavened Bread

Well, today we have gathered in Holy Convocation in accordance with God's instruction in Leviticus 23, and we will turn there and read about that in just a moment. Now, most of us have been observing God's feast of unleavened bread for many years, decades, some longer than I am old, and some for their entire lives, some of our young ones born in the truth. We may feel personally very well acquainted with these days and why we observe them, and that's wonderful and that's good.

Yet nonetheless, God created and ordained His feast and His holy days to be observed on an annual basis every year, every year, so that we will remember Him, that we will remember and grow to understand even more deeply His plan of salvation.

Remembering is of great importance to God, and so must it be for us. Dennis Prager, a well-known Jewish scholar and lecturer, agrees with the importance of remembrance. In his commentary on the book of Exodus, he says a few things about remembering, and I thought I'd share a few of his quotes with you today. The first quote about remembering, Prager says, remembering endows history with meaning and significance. Remembering endows history with meaning and significance, and we would certainly agree with that. That is certainly true of the history we read about in Scripture. In fact, let's recall Paul's statement over in Romans 15 verse 4. In Romans 15 verse 4, Paul wrote, for whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. And these days some unleavened bread do give us hope as we look back and think of their origin. And as we'll see today, that remembering about the days of unleavened bread does give us that additional comfort and hope that is eternal that we have in God. Now, one more quote from Dennis Prager about remembering appropriate for this day. He also said this, he said, remembering links us with those who came before us and reminds us that we are a part of an ongoing people and or ideal.

Remembering links with those who came before us reminds us that we were part of an ongoing people or an ideal. We're part of a continuum, as it were. And I think he's right. Just as Scripture reveals, those whom the Father calls and who commit themselves to Him, they are linked together by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. We understand that. We each become a part of the church, the body of Christ, because of God's interaction in our lives. We are part of something much greater than ourselves, and we know that we are taking part in God's great plan, the salvation of humanity, which His holy days and feasts reveal. So God does want us to remember His plan of salvation, both His part and our part, that each holy day and feast represent. God wants us to understand and to remember what He and we are ultimately all about. And so today, we will remember that what the days of Unleavened Bread depict and how we are to live our lives after God has forgiven our sins through Christ's sacrifice. We'll be considering the days of Unleavened Bread and what they reveal about how we are to live our lives after God has forgiven our sins through Jesus Christ. So let's now turn to Leviticus chapter 23.

Leviticus chapter 23, and we'll be reading verses 4 through 7. These scriptures succinctly state God's command to keep the feast of Unleavened Bread. Leviticus 23 verse 4, these are the feasts of the Lord. I can't tell you how many commentaries and I've heard people talk about those Jewish holy days. They are not Jewish holy days, they are God's holy days. These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the 14th day of the first month of twilight is the Lord's Passover, and on the 15th day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. Seven days you must eat Unleavened Bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall do no customary work on it, but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. And so, last night at sunset marked the beginning of the 15th day of Abib, of the Hebrew calendar, and we are indeed meeting today in holy convocation. We do this based on the authority of God's Word, His Scripture, and our faith and obedience to God. Now, turning to Exodus 12. In Exodus 12, if you've been reading the book of Exodus and reminding yourself as you've prepared for these holy days, there's a lot to read and a lot of very interesting history. No matter how many times you read it, there's always more that seems to pop out at us than we read. But let's look at Exodus 12, verses 19-20. Here we'll be reading from God's earliest instruction to Israel about the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And God gave this instruction to Israel before that very first Passover in Egypt occurred. In particular, let's note the specific directions in Exodus 12, verses 19-20. It reads, For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or native of the land. And then verse 20, You shall eat nothing leavened, in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread. Now I want to draw our attention to some of the statements here in these two verses first. Notice that in verse 19, that those who ate leavened bread during these seven days were to be cut off from Israel. They were to be cut off from being among God's people. That Hebrew word for cut off is karoth, and it does not denote exile. You might think, well, they'll be put outside the camp, cut off from the people that way, exiled. But that's not what the word seems to mean. Scholars say in this particular verse, that is not the exact meaning. The meaning of karoth cut off in this case more directly means complete destruction. And so this tells us that God took this offense seriously. If they ate leavened bread during those seven days of unleavened bread, they would be cut off. They would be completely destroyed from among the people. That will have something for us to think about. That will give us something to think about as we consider some of the ramifications of this as followers of Christ and part of the New Covenant. Secondly, let's notice the two-part direction in verse 20. You probably noted it. They were to eat nothing leavened, and they were to eat unleavened bread.

In other words, they could not simply abstain from eating unleavened bread. They had to quit eating leavened bread, and they had to eat unleavened bread every day. If you look back up in the same chapter, if you're still in Exodus 12 verse 15, it's very clear. It says, seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. Each day they were to eat unleavened bread.

Now let's address the next question. Why this injunction against leaven?

Well, leaven typically is yeast and other leavening agents. Yeast and other leavening agents cause fermentation. That's what makes the bread dough to rise or puff up. But it does take time for bread dough to rise, and time was not what the children of Israel had when they fled Egypt.

Now after God struck the firstborn of Egypt at midnight, the Egyptians wanted the people of Israel out of Egypt. Pronto. Quickly. And if we read now Exodus 12 verse 33 through 34, we get that impression very easily. It says, and the Egyptians urged the people that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, we shall all be dead. And so the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. Skipping down to verse 39. And they baked unleavened cakes of 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. And so the people of Israel did not have the luxury of time. They were in a hurry. They did not have the luxury of time to add leavened, pinched off from older lumps of bread dough, and to let that new dough rise. God's delivery of their lives from Egypt required them to forgo the leaven and eat flat, unleavened bread instead.

Now let's pause here just a moment to think about God's foreknowledge. Think about what was going on. God's foreknowledge and all the many intricate details of events that he had to orchestrate, and he actually did orchestrate, so that the children of Israel would not have leavened bread.

God's use of leaven and unleavened bread was not by accident, but it was by design.

Now I've tried to think all that had to have worked out just so, so this happened, and it easily boggles my mind. Maybe not yours, but it certainly does mine. It was by design. We understand that even more so when we remember how Jesus expanded the meaning of leaven and the feast of unleavened bread, as we'll touch upon in a little bit later. Then, as a hint of meaning to come, there's an interesting fact I'd like to share. Some of you know this, but maybe not all of us. There's an interesting fact about how leaven acts in bread dough that chefs and bakers know quite well. Leaven such as yeast causes bread dough to rise through fermentation. We've mentioned that, but fermentation is a form of decomposition. Fermentation is a form of decomposition. And here again, I'd like to refer to Dennis Prager. He offers us a Jewish perspective about this process of leavening. Prager writes, leavening involves the fermentation of dough. Fermentation is a form of decomposition and therefore represents decay and death. He continues, Egypt was known for its obsession with death. The greatest symbols of ancient Egypt are pyramids, which we know from Discovery Channel and many other sources, were giant tombs.

The Torah, the Hebrew Bible, in contrast, Prager says, is rooted in the affirmation of life.

The Bible is rooted in affirmation of life. Thus, the avoidance of leaven may be seen as a symbolic rejection of the Egyptian preoccupation with death. Much Torah law in teaching is a rejection, he writes, of the values of Egypt. And that certainly agrees with what we have long preached and taught about Egypt and its representation of sin. Now, so I thought that was interesting, more traditional Jewish view of leaven. I thought it was meaningful, and especially in light of its New Testament meaning as a symbol of sin. As a symbol of sin, leavening represents the results, as a symbol of sin, the results of which lead to death.

And so leaven was not to be seen among Israel nor eaten for seven days, starting with the sunset of the 15th of Abib and ending with the sunset on the 21st. So now historically, remember, we're supposed to remember. Historically, what might we remember about these seven days as they relate to the Exodus?

Our study of Scripture in the sequence of events following the death of the first born of Egypt confirmed that Israel left Egypt by night on the 15th of Abib. Let's note Exodus 12, verse 40 through 42. Exodus 12, verse 40. Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years, and it came to pass at the end of the 430 years. On that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went up out of the land of Egypt. Verse 42, it is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night to the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

And so last evening, the beginning of the 15th, we observed in our homes. We missed having people over in our house this year, and certainly miss being in some of your homes too. I think we're definitely missing that part. But nonetheless, we observed in our homes the night to be much observed. Night to be much observed. I'm hoping everybody was able to have a nice meal, as is our tradition, and I hope we are able to remember God's deliverance of his people, both anciently in Exodus and also understanding God's plan of deliverance for all humanity now through Jesus Christ, our Savior, and remembering Christ's sacrifice as well. Back during the time of the Exodus, let's continue on. Let's read now in Exodus 12, verse 37. We read that that night they journeyed, apparently it reads, they journeyed from, well, it doesn't apparently read, it reads that they apparently journeyed from Ramses to Succoth. Scholars think that's about a 20-mile journey.

Chapter 12, verse 37. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also in flocks and herds, a great deal of livestock. Now, scholars suggest it could have been as many as two to three million people. Other scholars want to argue it wasn't that much, but in any case it was a huge mass movement of people out of Egypt that night. Then what happened after that? Well, during the week, during that week of seven days, we understand that God led Israel from Succoth to the edge of the wilderness and then on to the Red Sea. Let's look at Exodus chapter 13 now, Exodus chapter 13, verse 20 through 22, Exodus 1320. And let's also notice here how God led them. Exodus 1320, so they took their journey from Succoth to and camped at the edge of the wilderness, and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. And so God made his presence visible to them by day and by night as a pillar. It's interesting to recall that a pillar is also a means of support and strengthening. We might also add that to our thoughts as we imagine in our mind's eye that pillar leading people of Israel out of Egypt. And then if you'd also hold your place here in Exodus, I want to turn back and read 1 Corinthians 10 verse 4. It's interesting, he led them by this pillar. He manifested his presence as a pillar. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 4. Paul identifies Jesus Christ as the one who, it says here, followed, but it can also be translated as accompanied. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 4. And all drank that same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, referring to the children of Israel. They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Of course, a rock is a source of strength and protection as well.

Now let's go back to Exodus 14. We believe it was on the 21st of Abib that God divided the Red Sea, and during the night, he divided the Red Sea at night, and during the night he led the children of Israel over dry land and through the sea and then destroyed Pharaoh's pursuing army. Let's read in Exodus 14 verse 9. I'm just going to pick up some of the highlights of this much longer narrative. Exodus 14.9. So the Egyptians pursued them and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi, Hireoth, before Baal, Zephan. Verse 13. And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see no more forever. God was going to take care of their current problem. Now down to verse 21. And then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on the right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Verse 24. Now it came to pass in the morning watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he troubled the army of the Egyptians. And it's interesting, he made their wheels fall off. Some scholars said maybe he caused a slight earthquake to disturb the horses and make them bunch up together, and the wheels jammed. And in any case, he confounded the army of Pharaoh. Verse 27. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. And so the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And so it seemed then that in the morning's light, on the 21st of Abib, the children of Israel saw the Egyptian army destroyed and the dead on the seashore, and they celebrated the song of Moses, song of Miriam. There's great celebration on that day. And it's interesting then to remember that although the Egyptian army was destroyed and their dead was on the seashore, Israel had passed through the waters from death to life, but they only did so with the saving help and power of God. They did not do it on their own. And so far we then we've recalled God's command to observe the feast of Unleavened Bread annually as a reminder of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. We should take heart in remembering that history, for just as God delivered ancient Israel from slavery and sin and death in Egypt, so God delivers us from slavery to sin and death through the same one who delivered Israel. And God's use of leaven and unleavened bread relative to this feast was no accident. It was no accident for Jesus Christ expanded the meaning of leaven. And let's look at a bit of what he did, turning now to Matthew 16.

Let's turn to Matthew 16.

Excuse me. And in Matthew 16, we're just going to kind of cut to the chase of this part of the narrative. In Matthew 16 verse 5, we learn that one day the disciples had forgotten to bring bread along to eat. And then reading in verse 6, then Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They and they reasoned among themselves, saying, Is it because we have taken no bread?

But Jesus was not talking about physical bread. He was using the occasion to teach them about sin by using the symbolism of leaven. And Jesus asked them in verse 11, How is it in verse 11, How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread, but to be aware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees? And then they understood that he did not tell them to be aware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Well, these groups of people, the Pharisees and Sadducees, taught their own doctrines and traditions, some of which were quite contrary to God's law. And certainly, their attitudes were quite contrary to God's law. Their doctrines puffed them up with pride and arrogance and self-righteousness. And of course, such sin is also sin itself, and it's an aspect of death. Sin leads to death. Jesus said to them, speaking of their attitudes of Pharisees and Sadducees' attitudes, how they are puffed up with pride and arrogance, he told them one point, he says, "'Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.' They had their own doctrines and traditions." He says, "'Hippokrits, well, did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, "'These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips.

But their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" And so at this point, Jesus was using leaven to teach a spiritual lesson for all of us to know and to remember about avoiding sin, sin such as pride and arrogance.

Now let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, years later, and during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Paul taught the Corinthians about sin, and he used the same imagery of leaven that Jesus had used. In 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1 through 2, Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1 through 2, "'It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as it is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife. In your puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from you.' And so it seems the Corinthians thought they were being rather righteous in their tolerance of this man in his sin.

Though they had kept the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it seems that their hearts and attitudes weren't quite right with God." Let's notice Paul's words in verse 6 through 8. He said to them, Paul said, "'You're glorying,' another word we could put in there, "'Your boasting or your pride 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.' Verse 8, let us keep the feast." He's telling them, keep the feast, not to, but keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." And so Paul's references here, referring to Passover, the idea of removing the old leaven, keeping the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, it all indicates that the Corinthians, which were predominantly, it seems, a gentile congregation, were keeping the feast of unleavened bread.

But they weren't grasping its deeper spiritual significance. They had room to improve. Perhaps they were removing leaven from their homes, but they still, it would seem, needed to put it out of their hearts. And I think that's something we can all relate to. We always have more to do to remove sin from our lives. And so Paul urged them to examine themselves more stringently for the spiritual leaven of pride, self-righteousness, and other sinful attitudes and ways.

It's these sort of sins, and sin in general, that ferment in us and that can cause death spiritually. And as in the case of the people of Israel not to eat leavened bread during the days of unleavened bread or suffer being cut off, sin cuts us off from God. Sin destroys us spiritually. And so what is key, then, is repentance. Repentance, casting out the leaven of sin. That is key to our lives, staying right with God. Just as removing physical leaven from our homes takes much effort, so even more so does removing sin from our hearts and minds.

Striving to live without leaven for seven days reminds us that we can't do it alone, that we can't do it without the extra help and guidance and intervention of God and Jesus Christ in our lives. Only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ can we be cleansed from sin can we have that right relationship with God. We cannot do it alone.

Our observance of the days of unleavened bread reminds us, again, that idea of remembering. Our observance of the days of unleavened bread reminds us of our vital need for Christ's help in overcoming our weaknesses. And this is reflected in that second aspect we read earlier of how God commands that this feast be observed by eating unleavened bread, not only avoiding leavened bread, but by eating unleavened bread throughout the seven days. So God's instruction in Exodus 12.20 was clear, you shall eat nothing leavened, and all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread. And again, as we read from 1 Corinthians 5.8, we need not only to eat physical unleavened bread, but to feast partake of that unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. To remove sin from our lives, we must then be replacing our carnal human ways, our ways with the sinful bends and leanings within us. We must be replacing that natural nature with something much better.

And what is that something better?

I can hear you, I think. We read about it at the Passover service. We must eat the bread of life.

We must eat the bread of life. Unleavened bread represents Jesus Christ Himself.

Let's be turning to John 6. I just want to remind us of some of those scriptures. For those of us that partook of the Passover service that night, baptized members, but the rest of us, I'm sure, have been reading these scriptures this week.

Well, let's remember these. John 6, these are very vital scriptures. John 6, let's look at verse 32-33. John 6, 32-33. It should ring very familiarly in our ears. Verse 32, Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. Verse 33, For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Let's also read verse 35. Jesus said to them, His disciples, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. Also verse 51, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. And then finally verse 57, As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. And so the lesson here is that just as physical bread is essential for physical life, Jesus Christ, the bread of life, is essential for our spiritual life. Without Him we do not have and cannot have eternal life. We have to take Him into our lives. We must partake of this bread every day. And we mentioned that. I remember Dr. Ward speaking on that Passover. That means you must study God's word and seek to learn from Him so that we can better follow His example, such as laying down our lives for our brethren. We need to build and retain a close relationship with God every day through prayer and Bible study. We need to spend more time thinking on God, trusting Him, and doing what He says, and give less time to caving into our own sinful attitudes and ways. That's part of the exercise we should conscientiously consider and do during these days of Unleavened Bread.

Our goal must be to truly mean it when we say, God's will be done. God's will be done. And so upon repentance and excising faith in the shed beloved of Jesus Christ for our sins, we commit ourselves, many of us committed ourselves, through baptism to living a new way of life in Christ. And our commitment to God at baptism is likened to burying our old, sinful self in a grave and rising up to a new life. Let's turn and read here one scripture from the book of Romans, Romans 6, verse 4. Paul writes, Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death. We often talk about the watery grave. I've learned that phrase from Dr. Ward, the watery grave of baptism. We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. May remind us, just as the children of Israel trusted God and walked from their old ways of life, that life of fear and death, and through the Red Sea, and then on to a new life following God. So must we commit ourselves totally to a new life of believing and obeying God. Paul elaborates further on this new life. We are to live in Christ. Let's read a few scriptures now in Colossians chapter 3, verse 1. In Colossians 3, verse 1. Here Paul writes, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, for Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

And so with Christ living in us through the presence of God's Holy Spirit in us, we will be resurrected into a new glorious life upon Christ's return when He establishes God's kingdom on earth.

Let's continue reading here and note the attitudes and ways of our sinful human nature. This is the way of the leaven of sin. This is what we must be focusing on in putting away, not just during these days of unleavened bread, but every day of our life. Let's look now at Colossians 3 verse 5. Therefore, Paul writes, put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all of these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. We must be putting off, putting out of us, this leaven of sin, putting out that spiritual leaven that is sin. In its place, we must put on the mind and ways of Christ. We must put on that bread of life. Continuing now, verse 12. Verse 12. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and loved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful. You know, reading there what mind, ways of Christ were to be putting on, these stay-at-home orders are keeping us much closer to our families and restricting us. Perhaps we may feel this week upcoming. We have even more need to draw close to God, even more need we find being revealed to us where we need to improve, where we need to let more of Christ live in us. And so it is, yes, we must put on the mind of Christ. We must eat always of the bread of life. And so the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to make us, to help us remember. The Feast of Unleavened Bread reminds us that God wants us and all people to reject the spiritual leaven of sin, which leads to death, and to feast fully of that true and living bread through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. And once we have partaken of that bread of life, we must continue to do so always and unto the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation in the kingdom of God. And so as we remember and eat unleavened bread during these seven days, let's remain humble and teachable. Let's remain repentant so that we can be quick to remove sin from our lives and so better love God and our brethren. And may we all always, with hearts repentant and filled with sincerity and truth, give our praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father for His Son Jesus Christ, that precious bread of life.