Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Eating Unleavened Bread
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Exodus 6:2-8
God says He is going to do all this, which has a direct connection to why we eat unleavened bread. "I, I, I, I"—all uttered by God about what He will do. But the Israelites did not agree because the persecution that they had received just prior to this had put fear into them. So what does God have to do? He could have thrown up His hands, but He said He would do these things. He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring Israel into the Promised Land. Since God does not go back on His word, He decided to do it anyway, even though they do not agree. So God, in His mercy, began to work in a way to bring them into agreement with what He wanted to do. He did not give up, even though they were resisting Him stoutly at this time. God had set His mind. Do we think God has made His mind up to save us? We had better believe He has! Nobody can resist Him! He will save us! But He will not save us until we come to the place where we really know that we did not do it. As hard as we might think it is, the part that we have to do—so tiny in comparison to what God does—He gave us the power to do! That is what Pentecost is about. We have to come to understand that God is our Savior. All we have to do is cooperate! When we cooperate with His will, it works! His way of life works, and what He is creating in us will be created. As we see here, Israel dragged its heels, just as we do from time to time, resisting Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Unleavened Bread and Pentecost
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Exodus 12:17-20
The fundamental reason God gives for the Feast of Unleavened Bread appears in verse 17: "for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt." In other words, this Feast is a commanded memorial of God's deliverance. Additionally, because it is a Feast, God intends it to be a time of rejoicing. Granted, the food we eat is somewhat unusual compared to what we normally associate with a festive occasion, but nonetheless, this Feast is an appointed time for us to remember God's deliverance. Physical Israel kept this Feast as a memorial of God delivering them from Egypt. Lot's deliverance from Sodom may also have taken place during this Feast (see Genesis 19:3). Spiritual Israel keeps it as a memorial of a far greater, spiritual deliverance from the power of darkness. Exodus 23:15 reiterates the basic reason for this Feast: You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty). Again, God ties the command to observe this Feast with His deliverance of Israel from Egypt. The context in which this appears is God's instruction to keep Feasts to Him during three seasons each year. Hitting the high points of the appointed times, He does not mention the avoidance of leavening. Its absence does not mean avoiding leavening is unimportant (as other verses show), but it indicates that God is emphasizing other things in this Feast. In all of God's instructions for this Feast, there are more references to eating unleavened bread than to putting out or avoiding leavening. The instructions, then, are weighted toward the positive aspect of eating rather than the negative aspect of avoiding. Even the name of the Feast gives us an obvious clue to what God intends the focus to be: eating unleavened bread, rather than avoiding leavening. Moses records a third witness of this in Exodus 34:18: The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the appointed time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. We see the same two elements here, and thus the same emphasis. Yet, we must be careful with the wording of these instructions, as it contains a detail that can influence the way we think about this Feast. Both this verse and Exodus 23:15 speak of coming out of Egypt. That is indeed what happened, but the wording obscures who was truly responsible. The effect of such wording can be like a child saying, "The milk got spilled," or "The rock accidentally went through the window." The critical matter of who caused these things to happen slides into the background, and we can understand why a child might prefer that. The Israelites literally "came out from Egypt"—they walked—but they did not cause themselves to leave it. God made it possible for them to walk away from slavery by decimating their captors, and then God Himself led them out of Egypt "by day in a pillar of cloud . . . and by night in a pillar of fire" (Exodus 13:21). We should never forget by whose hand these things occurred. Israel "came out from Egypt" only because of God's intervention. They had instructions from Moses to follow, and they had to make the effort to walk, but it was not by their efforts that they were delivered. As Exodus 12:51 reads, "And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt . . . ." The focus of this Feast, then, must remain on God's activity.
David C. Grabbe
Why Do We Observe Unleavened Bread? (Part One)
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Exodus 12:19-20
The instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Exodus 12:17; 23:15; 34:18 reveal the primary reason for its observance is to remember God's deliverance. Second to that is the instruction to eat unleavened bread every day for the duration of the Feast. These two elements of the commanded observance set the stage for what comes next. Exodus 12:19-20 gives a third, vital aspect of this Feast: We must eat nothing leavened nor have leavening in our houses. Applying this spiritually, we understand our responsibility to overcome and "not let sin reign in [our] mortal bod[ies]" (Romans 6:12). Whether we are speaking of the leaven of corrupt doctrine and practice (Matthew 16:12), the leaven of hypocrisy (Luke 12:1), or the leaven of malice and wickedness (I Corinthians 5:8), leaven is a symbol of corruption. A significant part of pursuing holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and going on to perfection (Hebrews 6:1) involves identifying sinfulness, removing it where we find it in our lives, and avoiding it where it tries to make inroads. Yet, from what we have seen, this aspect of avoiding sin—of overcoming—is not actually at the top of the list for this Feast. Certainly, it is on the list, and we dare not neglect it lest we be cut off (Exodus 12:15). But our ability to put all the corrupt things out of our lives entirely depends on the first two aspects of this Feast. In other words, if we overlook God's deliverance or neglect the eating of unleavened bread, we cannot perform the third aspect—the putting away of sin that God requires. Colossians 1:13 informs us that God "has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love." The apostle Paul writes in Galatians 1:4 that Jesus Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age." Numerous verses relate this in various ways. Because our life-debt has been paid, we are no longer under the sway of the one with the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). We have a new Master and a new lease on life. God purchased us, taking away Satan's dominion over us, so now we can be slaves of righteousness instead (Romans 6:18). This Feast, then, is a joyous remembrance of the difference God has made between us and those who are still under the spiritual Pharaoh—still enslaved to sin and death. Our deliverance is an indescribable and rare blessing, and it opens up avenues that this world can only dream of. As with Israel, we have this freedom only because of what God has done. Paul says something quite encouraging in his rebuke of the Corinthians: "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. Therefore let us keep the Feast . . ." (I Corinthians 5:7-8). He is writing to a fairly carnal group, yet even with their manifest weaknesses, he still tells them, "You truly are unleavened." It is another way of saying that righteousness had been imputed to them because of Christ's sacrifice. In essence, he says, because they truly are unleavened, they must start behaving like it. Since Christ's righteousness was imputed, they now need to conform to it to make it their own. In the same way, we "truly are unleavened" because we are in Christ. Our sins have been forgiven, and we have been delivered, so now we have the opportunity to walk in conformity to that unleavened state that has been imputed to us through our fellowship with Christ. But it all begins with what the Father and Son did on our behalf.
David C. Grabbe
Why Do We Observe Unleavened Bread? (Part Two)
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Exodus 13:3
This is the first mention of eating unleavened bread in context with the events of the day. It is not the first time that unleavened bread is mentioned in terms of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as that appears in Exodus 12. Here, Moses is inspired to write down that we are to eat unleavened bread because of what the Lord did.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Unleavened Bread and Pentecost
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Leviticus 23:6-8
God requires us to remove leaven from our homes and not eat anything leavened for the duration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (see Exodus 12:15; 13:3-10). The command refers specifically to yeast, which causes bread to rise, but modern chemicals such a baking powder and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), which do the same thing, fall under the spirit of the command. Leavening is a biblical symbol of corruption and sin. So, in this festival, God is emphasizing to us that, in the same way that He brought the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery, He brought us out of our bondage to sin, and we are now to live an unleavened life "of sincerity and truth" (I Corinthians 5:8). For this week, then, Christians must do without soft breads, donuts, muffins, buns, bagels, cakes, and any other breadstuff that contains leavening. Instead, we eat matzos or homemade unleavened bread each of the seven days. It is a daily reminder of what God has done and how we should be living before Him and this world.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
How Do We Keep God's Festivals?
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1 Corinthians 5:6-7
The symbolic act of taking leaven from our houses is expanded to include ridding leaven from our minds and attitudes. Many messages have been preached about the process of deleavening, emphasizing that, as we clean, we think about the symbolism of leaven and sin. We should try to strike a balance in our deleavening activities, knowing that cleaning every nook and cranny of crumbs does not sweep us into the Kingdom of God. God does not tell us to clean the attic if no one eating crackers has been up there the entire year. Still, it is useful to do if one has the time and ability. A more thorough cleaning, however, should not take away from spiritual preparation, such as prayer, Bible study, and fasting. Reducing clutter as we deleaven, a kind of “simplifying of our lives,” can be a useful tool in identifying aspects of the world that Satan uses to entrap us. The untidiness in our lives can be equated with a certain messiness in our minds. We need to ask ourselves what hooks this year have caught and bound us to the world? Have we formed any attachments to our stuff that could cloud our judgment? Can any of our stuff be given to charity or to others in need, or simply disposed of in some other way in order to simplify our lives? Our stuff is not evil, in and of itself. Certainly, my stuff is not! But we must have a clear notion of what is truly important in life—and it is not our cars, big-screen TVs, or cellphones! If the house were on fire, and once we made it outside, we looked around on the lawn and saw that all our family was safe, would there be any reason to run back into that burning home? Is any of our stuff worth our lives? We eat unleavened bread during the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a sign, a memorial to God's law and His deliverance of His people from Egypt. As Moses tells the Israelites in Exodus 13:3, “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.” Verse 6 tells us to eat unleavened bread seven days, and all leavening must be out of our homes and living spaces during that time. The reason appears in verses 8-9: And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, “This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.” It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. God brought His people out of a land full of pagan gods and sins of all sorts. He took them into a wilderness to teach them His laws and to build their faith. Egypt represented the world, and the Israelites walked away from it. In Genesis 45:16-20, when the king of Egypt finds that Joseph has family back in Canaan, he tells Joseph to bring them all to Egypt. The Pharaoh says in verse 20, “Also do not be concerned about your goods [kliy, stuff], for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.” In effect, he says, “Hop on the wagons and leave your stuff. I'll give you everything you need. Don't worry about it.” They probably brought some personal keepsakes, portable memories of one type or another, but whatever homes they had, full of stuff, they walked away from. A few centuries later, they do it again. Even though they became slaves in Egypt, they lived in homes, which held the contents of their lives. The Israelites walked away from those as well, but instead of seventy people leaving Canaan, a couple of million left Egypt. They took their wages in the form of jewelry, an easy way to carry wealth. Again, they likely grabbed some items from their homes that carried special memories for them, but mostly, they walked away from the bulk of their stuff.
Mike Ford
Stuff
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Hebrews 6:1
According to Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, the words let us go on mean "to carry some burden," "to bear with oneself," or "to move by bearing." It can also suggest "to endure," "to endure the rigor of a thing," or "to bear patiently one's conduct." Jesus says, "He who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13). It seems that the writer of Hebrews is warning that we may have to suffer a bit to reach perfection. This should come as no surprise since Jesus, the One whose example we follow, walked this road: "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10; see also Hebrews 5:8-9). What about the apostle Paul? He writes in Philippians 3:8, 10-14: Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ . . . that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. What is the goal? It is to be perfected in Christ Jesus! That is the heart and core of the lesson of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is why our primary focus needs to be on the eating of the unleavened bread. Unleavened bread is symbolic of that perfect unleavened bread from heaven, Jesus Christ (John 6:32-33, 48-51). In Psalm 138:7-8, David combines these two thoughts of suffering and perfection: Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; do not forsake the works of Your hands. This is why we eat unleavened bread. It is the message of Ephesians 2:10: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Eating unleavened bread reminds us that we are to become unleavened, to be purified, to be perfected! So, what are we to be perfected in? It can be summed up in one word: love. God is love (I John 4:8, 16). He is fashioning, shaping, and molding us into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ, changing our human nature, filled with lusts and sin, into His divine nature, which is love. Notice I John 2:3-5: Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. The apostle John states in I John 3:2 that when Christ returns for us, we will see Him as He is because we will be like Him. We will have been perfected in love! This is why our primary focus during the Feast of Unleavened Bread should be on eating unleavened bread, symbolic of that perfect Unleavened Bread of Life from heaven, Jesus Christ. Our eating of it for seven days also depicts perfection because, in Scripture, the number seven symbolizes perfection. In II Peter 1:5-7, Peter writes about adding virtue to our faith, knowledge to our virtue, and so on. It is a kind of outline of the conversion process. The final step he mentions is adding love. In the resurrection, when we are finally perfected in love and have received an incorruptible body, we will no longer sin because we will be love like God is love, and our perfect love will not allow us to sin, just as God does not sin. Won't that be wonderful? All the hard work we put into cleaning our houses and automobiles of leaven profits us nothing unless we put that symbolic act to work, doing our part to replace our sinful, carnal nature with God's divine nature, which is love. This is what the Feast of Unleavened Bread is all about! Remember the words of our Savior in this regard, "Therefore you shall be perfect [in love!], just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
Clyde Finklea
The Unleavened Bread of Perfection
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Revelation 10:9
"Take and eat it" sounds very much like what Jesus said to His disciples when He told them to eat the unleavened bread during the Passover service. Eating the bread symbolizes partaking of His flesh, that is, devoting ourselves to the life He lives, becoming one with Him as part of His Body, living as He lives. Eating the little book has a similar meaning.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part One)
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