Deuteronomy 16:3

It is commonly held that Unleavened Bread is about putting sin out of our lives. And while that is an aspect, if we were to go through all of God's instructions for Unleavened Bread, we would see that His reason and emphasis are different. What God overwhelmingly emphasizes is His deliverance, not our work of avoiding leavening and thus sin (Exodus 12:17; Exodus 13:3, 8-9; 23:15; 34:18; Deuteronomy 16:3).

The overarching reason for that feast, and the reason we eat unleavened bread for seven days, is to remember God's deliverance. When we get to the New Testament, Jesus identifies Himself as the bread of God - the bread of life. He was entirely unleavened.

Further, Paul tells us in I Corinthians 5:8, Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Christ is the embodiment of sincerity and truth. He is the One who delivered us from this present, evil age, from spiritual bondage, from the power of darkness. And it is through the strength that He supplies that we have the means to overcome sin. And that strength comes from ingesting His word and beseeching Him to live His life in us every day.

The unleavened bread that God says we must eat for seven days represents Christ Himself. To miss eating the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth is to miss out on the divine connection with our Savior. Our minds should rebel at the thought of skipping that.

In the same way, we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days by eating unleavened bread each day and not merely avoiding leavening. Consider what neglecting to eat the unleavened bread of life every day would signal to God. The symbols matter.

Now, we will continue to compare and contrast these feasts. Just as both feasts have dwellings as a significant aspect, so also both feasts focus on eating. The Feast of Unleavened Bread has food in its name. The Israelites left Egypt with little time to prepare, so they could not make bread like they normally would. God calls it the bread of affliction, in part because of their affliction in Egypt, but also because, physically, unleavened bread is simply not as satisfying as bread that has time to rise.

The instructions for Unleavened Bread mentions houses, which implies some stability, if not comfort. However, the bread itself is lackluster because it has not risen. Most of us are relieved to return to normal bread.

That feast keeps us somewhat off-balance regarding our diet. Hardly anything touches us like food does, so a restricted diet affects a major portion of life. When our diet is missing something we normally enjoy, it is impossible to ignore. Each time we have to think about what we are eating or not eating, we have to turn off the auto-pilot and remember what the seven days are about. So, being a little off-balance is part of God's education of us.

Ecclesiastes is often part of the reading for Tabernacles, yet this lesson also relates to Unleavened Bread. Unleavened Bread teaches that true satisfaction cannot come from anything physical. Lasting satisfaction only comes from the Bread of Life. To the world, that perfect Bread of Life seems lackluster, and even revolting. Carnal man cannot imagine the benefit of being strengthened by Christ and letting go of sin. Like leavening, sin seems normal. For the unconverted, it is a shock to think about going without.

But those who know the Father and the Son experience the sense of well-being that comes from a growing relationship. That relationship delivers the contentment, the joy, peace, and satisfaction that eluded even Solomon.

But where they overwhelmingly meet together and reinforce each other is in the centrality of Jesus Christ. He is our Deliverer from spiritual Egypt. He is our Unleavened Bread of sincerity and truth. He is the source of strength that we must seek every day. He is the one guiding us on our pilgrimage, leading us in ways and … . . .

Deuteronomy 16:3

Again, "the day that they came forth out of Egypt." But we are going to look at the word "therewith" which they have translated in this Jewish Publication Society Bible. I believe in most English versions it will be translated "with it." What does the "with it" or the "therewith" refer back to? They refer back to the Passover offering in verse 2, that no leavened bread was to be eaten with that offering (whatever offering was being talked about).

Look at verse 3 carefully. Notice it says, "seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it." Now wait a minute here! If it is talking about the Passover lamb, what was supposed to happen to the lamb? It was supposed to be burned up immediately after the meal was done. How in the world could you possibly eat unleavened bread for seven days with it? The answer is obvious. It is not talking about the Passover lamb sacrifice at all. It is talking about the sacrifices that were made during the Days of Unleavened Bread. With those you could eat unleavened bread for seven days. That makes seven differences.

Deuteronomy 16:3-4

Another place where this is reinforced is Deuteronomy 16:3-4. You may remember from the sermon on the last Sabbath that these verses do not pertain to the Passover itself, the festival, but rather they apply to the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

If we are going to get anything valuable from this experience it is going to come because it has affected our memory of the spiritual things that are involved with this day, because if we do that then it is going to be a more vivid object lesson. That is what the putting out of leaven is for us, it is an object lesson for you and me, something that we are told to actively do in order to enforce the teaching that is there.

Deuteronomy 16:1-3

Now again, we are reminded that what I mentioned earlier is of course not wrong. Part of eating unleavened bread for seven days is to remember the Exodus and what God miraculously has done for His people. The part that I usually overlook, and it may seem small, is in verse 3, where I read, "seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction." Certainly leaving Egypt was an affliction. It was not an easy thing to do, even though they were escaping a truly terrible situation.

Deuteronomy 16:3

This cannot be Passover, because you do not sacrifice the Passover sacrifice itself "from the flock and the herd." It had to be a kid of the goats or a sheep—not from the herd, not from the cows. He is talking about something that was sacrificed on the first day of Unleavened Bread.

We are talking about the first day of Unleavened Bread—not Passover.