Today’s Topic: Feast of the Unleavened Bread
Scripture: Exodus 12:15-20; Leviticus 23:6; Deuteronomy 16:8;
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The Feast of Unleavened Bread was ordained by God to follow the Passover Feast. Let’s look at it scripturally for clarification.
Exodus 12:15
God gives them a timeframe to observe this feast. For seven days the children of Israel were to eat unleavened bread and put all leaven out of the houses from the first day to the seventh day. Now if a person did not observe this, they were cut off from Israel.
Exodus 12:16
On the first day there is to be a holy congregation. A holy congregation is an assembly of the people to hear God. In addition on the seventh day there should also be a holy congregation. Now no work is to be done during this feast. So in other words there is to be no labor and a holy meeting of the people with God on the first and seventh day of the feast.
Exodus 12:17
God informs the children of Israel to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the same day that I have brought your armies out of the Land of Egypt. So, therefore observe this day in your generations forever.
Exodus 12:18
In this verse the day of observance is given. It is to be in the first month (Abib or Nisan) on the fourteenth day in the evening (Nisan 14) and eat the unleavened bread until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening (Nisan 21). So from Nisan 14 to Nisan 21 only unleavened bread is to be eaten. Now you may say well that is eight days but remember they ate unleavened bread on the day of the Passover. Israel celebrates the Feast of Unleavened Bread on Nisan 15 and it runs until Nisan 21 so that it is a separate feast from the Passover.
Exodus 12:19-20
In these verses God warns that for seven days there should be no leaven in the houses of the Israelites. Leaven represented evil or sin. Sin works just like leaven in the sense when you add a little leaven to dough, then the entire lump of dough is affected by the leaven being spread throughout it. Sin works the same way in the body. Just a little sin corrupts the entire body.
Now what does this mean for the saints? What does the Feast of Unleavened Bread mean for us? The Feast of Unleavened Bread is to symbolize that Jesus was the sinless perfect and accepted sacrifice for our sins. Now remember unleavened bread represented purity from sin and leaven represented sin and this is why they were to eat unleavened bread because the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus was without sin. In addition, there was no decomposition of the body of Jesus as his body laid in the grave after the crucifixion. God the Father would not allow the Holy One (His Son Jesus) to see corruption. So the feast also proclaims that Christ physical body would not experience the ravages of death while in the grave because He was sanctified by God the Father.
This feast was fulfilled by Jesus now do we have to celebrate this particular feast? Not in it natural form but we should celebrate the sinless lifestyle Jesus lead in order to free us from an eternal death. In addition we could celebrate by re-committing our lives to the lifestyle Jesus lead.
The next feast we will look at is the Feast of the Firstfruits.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
