Why Observe Unleavened Bread Today?

So we are here today worshipping the Great God and celebrating the first day of Unleavened Bread together. So why are we doing this in the year 2024? Why? If your answer is that God instructs it in Leviticus 23, you're only partially correct. Do you realize that? Yes, the original instruction is in Leviticus 23, and yes, God Himself does command it there. But there are a lot of things in Leviticus chapter 23 that we don't observe. And there are a lot of things in Leviticus chapter 1 through 22 that we don't observe. There are a lot of things in Leviticus chapter 24 through 27 that we don't observe. So why do we of all people at the Church of God observe a series of special days that we call the Days of Unleavening, or the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread? And the reason I bring this question up is anyone who has a religious mind who might ask you, well, why do you keep these days? Aren't they Jewish days? They're already saying to themselves, if you tell me Leviticus 23, the first thing I'm thinking of is there's a lot of things you're not doing in Leviticus 23, 1 through 22, 24 through 27. So there's got to be more. There's got to be a greater reason for having a convincing argument on why in the 21st century the Church of God continues to observe these days of unleavened bread. Let's begin by going to the book of 1 Corinthians 12. We're going to take a look at verses 1 and 2. 1 Corinthians 12, verses 1 and 2.

Here's what Paul wrote. Now concerning spiritual gifts, he says in this book, Brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols however you were led. Okay, so here's a question.

This is not a trick question. I just want you to tell me verbally out loud who this letter is primarily written to. Tell me. Gentiles. That's not hard to figure out. That's right. The book is written to Greek Gentile believers who believed and lived in the vicinity of Corinth, the city of Corinth. And like most of Paul's congregations, there may have been a few Jewish converts, but Paul himself tells us that this letter is addressing Gentile converts.

So now that we understand that and we've got that, now let's go to chapter 5 in the same book, the same apostle talking to the same group of people, and let's see what he tells them in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 6. And this is why we observe the Holy Days in the year 2024. Paul writes, your glorying is not good. If you read the rest of the letter, you'll see that Paul is struggling with people who have highly inflated egos.

They're very talented, but unfortunately they know it. And that's a problem. Some of them are extremely tolerant of sin and deviancy. There's even someone committing incest in the congregation, and they just allow that individual to come and fellowship every Sabbath as if that's okay. So that's a context of Paul writing here.

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. And there's some indication that this was written in the springtime, and they may literally have been physically unleavened.

But that's not really important because they were in Christ, and Christ who makes us righteous, in a spiritual sense they indeed were unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, Gentile believers in the city of Corinth, let us, me, you, everyone, let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, not the old way, primarily the way the Jews did it with the rituals, not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So Paul says we're going to continue to observe these holy days in a new and special way. After all, you're new creatures in Christ? We're going to take these old festivals that were part of Leviticus 23, and we're going to focus on Christ, Jesus Christ, in these festivals, and we're going to observe them in a new and a powerful way. And that's the way that we live and act. That is sincerity and living and conducting ourselves with truthfulness. Verse 8 from the New Century Version, so let us celebrate this feast, another translation, but not with the bread that has old yeast, the yeast of sin and wickedness.

Let us celebrate this feast with the bread that has no yeast, the bread of goodness and truth. And if you're a historian, you will clearly see that this scripture was written around 55 AD, 24 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and about six years after the Jerusalem Conference of 49 AD. Paul mentions that he was an Ephesus when this was written. And again, I want to emphasize that Paul is speaking to a Greek church that's mostly Gentile in background. So let's ask a few more questions. How would they even know what leaven represents? How would they even know that leaven represents something bad like sin?

Well, you know, Paul doesn't need to explain these terms to them in this letter. They obviously already know, because Paul has been teaching this Gentile congregation Corinth that it is important for them, as it is for us, to understand why we continue to observe the days of unleavened bread for them in 55 AD for us in the year 2024.

And in that brief phrase that we just read, Paul instructs these Gentile believers to observe the New Covenant days of unleavened bread. And unlike what Leviticus 23 said you needed to do and instructed, there was no Hebrew tabernacle in Corinth. There were no Levites in Corinth to offer sacrifices, because that no longer matters when you're living under the New Covenant. There's no longer the usage of animal offerings by fire. There were no offerings suggested by Paul, and there were not giving with an animal, because we are now all living sacrifices.

We're making sacrifices in our lives. That's what the New Covenant is all about. So what does matter in the New Covenant observance is not old rituals, not tabernacles, not Levites, not animals, but the Christian walk of sincerity and truth.

This New Covenant festival has a focus on removing spiritual sin and its replacement with something that is fresh and new in our lives. Again, Paul believed that people who had been called and received God's Holy Spirit were a new creation. Therefore, they had a new purpose for the Holy Days. Not to simply try to duplicate what was done in Leviticus 23. And that's what a lot of our critics say.

I've had discussions with people that say, you can't keep the days of unleavened bread. Not unless you build yourself a tabernacle, because that's what it says. Not unless you have an official Levite, because that's what Leviticus 23 says. Not unless you offer animals, because that's what Leviticus 23 says. You see, they'll come back with you on that. And the answer to that is we're not trying to observe the New Covenant Holy Day like it was in Leviticus 23.

As new creatures in Jesus Christ, we are taking the same day and expanding upon the same meaning of the rituals and the metaphors of this day, as we're going to read about for the rest of this sermon. And they're all about Jesus Christ, and they're all about the Church of God and our role and what God wants us to do and how He wants us to live. This is another way of contrasting the works of the flesh from Galatians 5.19, which would be similar to the old leaven that Paul talks about.

Think that somehow you're observing and making God happy while you're demonstrating the works of the flesh, in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5.22, which he calls the New Lump. So again, we are to be a new lump. We are new creatures in Christ. It matters that we understand the powerful spiritual metaphors taught by observing the days of unleavened bread in the 21st century.

So today I want to explore some of the simple but powerful analogies as we begin the days of unleavened bread this year. We're going to go back to Exodus 6. That's where we're going to start, so I encourage you to turn there. Exodus 6. And we will begin in verse 2.

It says, God is a covenant-making God. And he tells Moses right here that the patriarchs had a very limited relationship with God. They didn't even know his name. That's what he just told Moses.

They had a limited covenant with him. What became the old covenant was based on mere physical promises. If you obey all these things, you'll get to stay in the land, you'll have good crops, you'll get rain in due season, you'll get to live a long life, and then, aw, you're dead forever. There were no promises of eternal life in the old covenant. They were all physical promises, physical blessings for obedience. That's what the old covenant was about.

Now, in contrast to that, in reason, as Paul would say, that we observe these days in sincerity and truth, Hebrews 8 and verse 8, let's go there together. Hebrews 8 and verse 8. And we are the Church of God. We're living under the new covenant now. But it will only come in the full bloom, shall we say, when Jesus Christ returns and establishes the kingdom of God on earth. And then, after the thousand years, there will be a massive resurrection, and everyone will have the opportunity to participate in the richness of this new covenant. Let's read about it.

They disobeyed. They didn't even receive those mere physical blessings very long, because almost from the get-go, they're given God trouble. They're complaining. There's all lack of water. They're out in the desert complaining about lack of meat. And on and on and on. Verse 10, for this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts. You know what that's a metaphor for? The Holy Spirit. I will give people my Holy Spirit. They will want to obey me. They won't feel forced to obey me. They won't fear me. They will love me and want to obey me, because my laws are written in their hearts and minds.

It becomes a way of life to them. And I will be their God. And they shall be my people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none, as a brother, say, know the Lord. For all shall know me. And as I said, there's going to come a time after that great white throne judgment after the thousand years have finished when there's going to be universal access after the thousand years so that all have a chance to know God. And the blinders will be taken off their eyes, and they'll understand the truth, and it'll make them free.

It'll make them fulfilled. From the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. In other words, God says, I will provide them a Savior. That Savior happens to be Jesus Christ, the one that we celebrated and the one that we participated with in the Passover the other evening.

And their sin and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more. Because the Lamb of God shed His blood. We have forgiveness and reconciliation, and if we stumble and we make a mistake, we can go back immediately and ask God for His forgiveness and for His love. So again, I'm just trying to contrast the original covenant with what Paul was teaching in the New Covenant, what we are under, and how we should think and how we should approach God with the blessings of the New Covenant. Now let's go back to Exodus 6 and verse 5. See some more metaphors here.

Exodus 6 and verse 5. God says, And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. Egypt was representative of a society of sin. Many of the pharaohs, if you're an amateur historian, you'll see that many of the pharaohs were the result of incest. They had very lax sexual morals. They had hundreds of God. As a matter of fact, during the plagues, most of the plagues affected Egypt's God, so-called gods. God was mocking the weakness of the Egyptian gods during many of the plagues that were poured down upon Egypt.

Egypt, again, is a metaphor of sin, and bondage, being in Egypt and in bondage, is a metaphor of being a slave to sin, because they were slaves to sin with no hope. Let me tell you, let me ask you, if you're a weak minority people, and you're totally dominated by the greatest superpower on earth at that time, how are you ever going to get your freedom? It's impossible! Not with God. With God, all things are possible.

He says, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore, say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgments. Let's take a look at our individual lives. Before God called us, we were also in bondage. We were slaves to sin in this world. Satan is the God of this world. And we were all enslaved to him, to our own desires and our own wants, our own knee-jerk decision-making that oftentimes came back to haunt us and hurt us or those whom we love.

We were in spiritual bondage, but God provided us a Redeemer. God redeemed us with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. His judgment was, I am calling you, the Father said, and I'm going to redeem you through my Son, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. Verse 7, and I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. And then you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Only God could call us and free our minds under the burden of Satan, the God of this world, and in an entire culture that is stacked against us, no matter where you live on this earth.

Verse 8, and I will bring you to the land which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord. So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not heed Moses because of anguish, of spirit, and cruel bondage.

They were afraid to even respond. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, go in, tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let the children of Israel go out of his land. So again, let's connect some of the doubts, some of the metaphors. Egypt here equals sin. It was the land they were in bondage to. For us, it's the world of sin. This great Pharaoh that we know of is Satan, who's a control freak, who's autocratic, just like Pharaoh was. He also burdens people, burdens the whole human race with sin. And the burdens the people experienced were the punishment for sin.

And if you live a life of dysfunction, if you're making very terrible mistakes, ultimately they're going to pile up and add up, and you're going to live a very unhappy, unfulfilled life that feels like a continual burden. They lived in slavery without hope or freedom. But verse 7 said that the Lord your God brings you out. There was no chance that they could face a superpower and become free by themselves.

They needed the direct and divine intervention of God for that to happen in a similar way when we were called. We can't fight against the God of this world. We'll see how powerful he is in just a few minutes. We needed the Lord our God to call us and to put divine protection around us and to begin working with us through his Holy Spirit because before it was in us, it was working with us and giving us the strength and the courage and the determination to resist the God of this world.

Pharaoh, again, is Satan's control over the world. If you don't think Satan has control over the world, I'd like to remind you of Matthew 4 and verse 8. Before Jesus begins his ministry, he confronts Satan the devil. And one of the temptations that Satan puts before him, you may recall, is it says in Matthew 8 and verse 8, he went on an exceedingly high mountain. And he said, Jesus, look at all the kingdoms of this world. All you have to do is worship me and I give them to you.

You know, Jesus didn't say, liar, liar, pants and fire, because Satan was exactly right. It's his to give. All you have to do, I want you to understand how great this temptation was. You don't have to go through a three and a half year ministry teaching clods.

You don't have to experience a crucifixion. You don't have to have nails ripped through your hands and your feet. You don't need to have a crown of thorns slammed on your head, people mocking you, humiliating you, a sword stabbed in your side. All you need to do this moment is fall down and worship me, and I'm instantaneously going to give you the control of the nations of the earth, because after all, I'm the master puppet right now. I ultimately pull the levers and take care of everything that goes on in this sick world, and you can have it now at a discount price.

And thankfully, we had a Savior who said, no, thank you. No, I'm not going to do that. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8.

Peter writes, Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Who am I going to eat next? Whose dream am I going to snuff out next? Whose hopes am I going to destroy next in this world as I control them, as I take over their thoughts, as I manipulate their lives, dangling off of a string from a puppet master? Who's next on my list? Verse 9. Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. We're all facing those temptations. We're all facing those inner struggles. We're all battling against our own human nature in one way or another. Verse 10.

What is that suffering? That suffering is us defending ourselves against that roaring lion. Who's trying to devour us. Who's trying to take away that hope that we have in our hearts about the kingdom of God, about remaining faithful to the end of our lives. You see, we're all going through a personal plan of growth, and God is using, he's actually manipulating the roaring lion to be that resistance, like someone who lifts weights. It's that resistance that strengthens their physical muscles. God is allowing and using since the time in the Garden of Eden. He's allowing that enemy to be our resistance, to strengthen us. That's all part of his plan for our growth. After you have suffered for a while, then God will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. How? Through all the suffering, through everything that you're going through. Now, anciently, Pharaoh was worshipped as a god. He was a bully, and he was oppressed. He oppressed his enemies. And Pharaoh is just simply, as I said, a metaphor for Satan himself. In 2 Corinthians 4, Satan is referred to by Paul as the god of this age. As I said, he's a control freak. He seeks to destroy our relationships with one another, and he seeks to destroy our relationship with God. Exodus 12 and verse 3. Let's continue. Exodus 12 and verse 3.

This is a physical lamb, representing Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.

If the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of persons so they could all share a lamb. God didn't want a lot of waste. According to each man's need, you shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish. Again, Jesus Christ was perfect, unleavened. A male of the first year, you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, so you would separate it on the tenth day. And then on the fourteenth day, you would kill it. That happens to be equal three and a half days, that equaled to three and a half years of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

So you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the month. Then the whole assembly, the congregation of Israel, shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two-door posts, on the lentil of the houses where they eat it. And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted with fire, with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. So let's notice what they did originally, and the analogies and metaphors for us today.

I want you to notice what they did in the original Passover. Number one, they shed the physical lamb's blood and they put it on the door post, and that gave protection, divine protection, to the firstborn within each home who were condemned to death. The second thing they did is they ate the flesh of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Now how did that change in 31 AD? Well, the Passover that Jesus established, which happens to be a new covenant Passover, happened in 31 AD.

Some of the symbols were changed and some were eliminated. The actual physical lamb is eliminated. There's no need for a physical lamb anymore because Jesus Christ, the ultimate lamb of God, completely fulfills the original role of that earthly lamb. And that's why just says something very quickly. Supper being ended and then Jesus introduces these symbols. There's no detail about eating lamb or the traditional Hebrew Passover at all. It's just fluffed over, immediately gets to what Jesus Christ introduces. The physical lamb's blood, originally, that was put on the door post, is replaced with wine, which represents the shed blood of Jesus Christ to forgive those who take it to wash away our sins.

The eating of the flesh of the physical lamb is replaced with eating unleavened bread, and unleavened bread was even part of that original Passover celebration. The unleavened bread represents the body of Jesus Christ, broken, so that we can be made whole, we can be healed completely. The lamb of God is himself righteous and perfectly represented by unleavened bread.

Then there's one other thing that I think we often overlook. Anciently, there were bitter herbs, and the bitter herbs that were eaten were to represent oppression and burden. Life is hard! Life is miserable! Oh, look back at all of our ancestors who went through. Look at all this suffering. They were slaves.

Look back and look at all this stuff. It was terrible. But they're not mentioned in the New Covenant Passover. Instead, here's what's mentioned instead of bitter herbs. John 15, 11, These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you, and your joy may be full. Not just a little bit of joy, not just some joy, but filled to the full with joy. These are some of the final words of Jesus to his disciples.

John 16, 33, Be of good cheer. Well, it's a little difficult to be wallowing in the past, thinking about how bad and hard times were back then, and also to be of good cheer at the same time. John 17, 13, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. You see, brethren, the Old Covenant Passover looks backward in time. The New Covenant Passover looks forward in time. It's positive. It's futuristic. It's about what God is doing in your life and in the world today, and what he's going to do in the world tomorrow. That's a big difference.

Now, let's see what they experienced on the end of Passover and then the following, the night to be much observed. Chapter 12, verse 11, So why this? Why would you eat the Passover with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff on your hand? They were there for a while because they couldn't even leave their homes until after midnight. And then, of course, Moses had to travel to see Pharaoh, and he had to have a meeting with Pharaoh, and then he got back the next day.

And so, some time passes before this actually happens. But why would God say, Eat it fast with your belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, your staff on your hand? Because he's saying, Be ready to move forward in your life. You are a new creature!

Be ready for some changes. Be ready for an adventure called your calling at a theater near you.

This is what God is saying. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike the firstborn in the land of both Egypt, and man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be assigned for you in the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. You will be physically spared your firstborn because of that shed blood of that physical lamb. Jesus said in Mark 16, verse 15, And he said to them, Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, and he who believes in his baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. Anciently, in the original Passover, physical protection was because the blood of the physical lamb stopped the death angels from entering that dwelling and condemning the firstborn to absolute death. The firstborn needed salvation, or they were automatically condemned to death. Very similar to in our world today, everyone needs Jesus Christ as their Savior. Everyone ultimately needs to accept the Lamb of God, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, as their Savior. And until we do that, we are condemned to death. That's what Jesus said in Mark 16. He who believes in his baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. That is the default state of the world. Just like it was the default condition of the firstborn, if they didn't put the shed blood of that physical lamb on the doorpost. And yes, God calls people at different times, and most won't be called until a thousand years have ended after Jesus Christ returns. But when that opportunity comes, and it eventually comes for each and every human being, we must accept the shed blood of the lamb for our deliverance and our protection, just like they needed to back there in ancient Egypt. Exodus 12 and 14.

On the first day, there should be a holy convention. 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 for you, so we don't do our regular jobs, but we can work. Quotation, to prepare a nice meal to feed ourselves. And some have lovingly done that, so we can have a nice meal later today that's permitted. Verse 17, 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. And here we are in the 21st century, thousands and thousands and thousands of years later, reading these scriptures, and in a new covenant observance, understanding and respecting what God is teaching. Verse 18, in the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at even. For seven days no leavened 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 a native of the land, you shall eat nothing leavened, and all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread. There's no need to make this complicated. It's a very simple and powerful principle. Remove leavened products and leavening from our homes. And number two, eat some unleavened bread every day, because there's a symbolic, powerful metaphor there. Eat unleavened bread every day during the feast. We remove leaven because it's symbolic of sin. It's usually invisible to us, much like our sins are. But like pride, it puffs up the complete lump of dough. If we just have one little thing we're still struggling with, and we don't deal with it, it's going to affect our whole being. Someone who's got some personal problem with pornography or some thing they know they shouldn't be doing, and they may have been in a church for 60, 70 years, if we haven't dealt with that, it's rippling throughout our lives and affecting the whole self, just like yeast does in a lump of bread. Jesus said, in Matthew 16, verse 6, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. You see, they happen to be hypocrites. They were very meticulous in some ways and had high expectations of others, but when it came to their own conduct, not so much. Now, what about eating unleavened bread? Eating unleavened bread every day during the feast is symbolic of our desire to internalize the righteousness of Christ into our lives. We don't eat unleavened bread because we think we're righteous. Our righteousness can only come from Christ. Our own righteousness are like filthy rags. Our righteousness comes from the presence of Christ dwelling in us through His Holy Spirit.

So, again, eating unleavened bread every day during the feast is simply symbolic of our desire to internalize Christ in every aspect of our lives. Jesus said in John 6, verse 32, Most assuredly I say unto you, Moses, did not call or did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus is referring to Himself. He draws an analogy here from the manna given to the Israelites in Moses' day. It came down from heaven, and they ate it, and it provided physical nourishment and extended physical life for only a few days. That's all physical manna could do for them. But since Jesus is the true bread that came from the Father, came down to earth and walked as a human being, He offers eternal life. Not just additional life for a few days. The true bread from God offers eternal life.

So now let's go back to the example of the Apostle Paul. We're going to go full circle. We're going to conclude the sermon going back to Paul. We're going to go to Acts, chapter 20 and verse 1. I want to emphasize again that during this festival, Eating on Love and Bread, pictures our desire to spiritually digest Jesus Christ, to digest His words, to digest His example, to digest His righteousness that we need so desperately inside of us. He alone gives us spiritual nourishment and eternal life. So now we'll go to Acts, chapter 20, beginning in verse 1, again, also recorded by Luke, who, by the way, was a Gentile. And he wrote this about 56 A.D. And here's the narrative. And after the uproar had ceased, just another day in Paul's life, causing an uproar in his city that he preached in, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia. Now, when he had gone over the 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. And so, Pater of Berea accompanied him to Asia, and also Erestarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians and Gaius of Darby and Timothy and Titicus and Trophimus of Asia. These men going ahead waited for us at Troas. So Paul's with a large group of people, and a big part of that group, they go ahead, and they're waiting for Paul.

Any time now, Paul, let's read the rest of the story. These men going ahead waited for us at Troas. But we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days. So question number one, why would Luke, who himself was a Gentile, mention the observance of the days of unleavened bread in surely church history? It can only be because he had been taught by Paul that the days of unleavened bread were very important. I'm going to give you some chronology. This is recorded about seven years after the Jerusalem Conference in 49 A.D. Why did they wait until after the days of unleavened bread to travel, especially knowing that there were people waiting for them? So why did they wait? Well, the answer is really very simple. It's because they were observing the Holy Days in Philippi until they were completed. The feast was so important to Paul that he wasn't going to travel during the Holy Days. He was going to celebrate the seven days of the Holy Day, even knowing that people were waiting for him. He was going to take the time and observe the Holy Days. Why and how would a Gentile like Luke know about these Holy Days? Because they were taught by Paul himself, and they continued to be honored and observed by the authentic and early Church of God. We saw Paul's comments in 1 Corinthians 5. Additionally, we see Luke's comments here that we just read.

So, brethren, today we have looked at the reasons why we continue to worship on these designated days that indeed were originally appointed by God.

Today we've reminded ourselves of the powerful and abiding metaphors that the Passover represents because Jesus instituted new symbols. That the days of unleavened bread represent because we're no longer interested in tabernacles, Levites, sacrifices, or any of those things. What we are interested in is a new covenant focus on Jesus Christ because he is the heart and core of every one of God's Holy Days. So let's continue the next seven days joyfully observing this period of time. Not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, not worrying about old rituals, old covenant symbols, things that no longer have any application to us at all. But let us celebrate these days with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.