God's Holy Days and salvation; Days of Unleavened Bread

God’s Holy Days And The Plan of Salvation;

Days of Unleavened Bread

"And ye shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread."

(Exodus 12:17-20 KJV)

Immediately after Passover begins the Days of Unleavened Bread; many tend to lump the two into one; someone when they mention Passover could be referring specifically to the Passover Sabbath or they could be referring to the period encompassing that day and the following festival known as the Days of Unleavened Bread. Similarly to how some tend to refer to the time from December 20^th to January 1^st as either Christmas, Christmas time or the Christmas season. When one sees a reference in the Bible to Passover it is important to determine exactly what they are referring to; the specific Passover day or the period of time that includes Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Initially the Feast of Unleavened bread memorialized Israel's deliverance from a life of slavery under Pharaoh.

"And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand The Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten."

(Exodus 13:3 KJV)

"Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which The Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that The Lord's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath The Lord brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year."

(Exodus 13:7-10 KJV)

"Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction: for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning."

(Deuteronomy 16:3-4 KJV)

However with the sinless life, death and resurrection of Jesus the observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread now takes on a totally new meaning; a more spiritual one.

Leaven and Sin

The Bible uses leaven as an analogy of sin;

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth."

(1 Corinthians 5:6-8 KJV)

"How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

(Matthew 16:11-12 KJV)

Further the Bible says that we are in bondage to sin;

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin

(John 8:34)

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

(Rom 6:16-18)

Christ has delivered us from sin;

"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

(John 1:29).

Christ and the Days of Unleavened Bread

And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

(Exodus 13:8-9)

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth."

(1 Corinthians 5:7-8 KJV)

While initially the Days of Unleavened Bread were to serve as a reminder to the Israelites as a reminder of their bondage under Pharaoh and God’s freeing of them from this bondage now it is to remind us of our bondage to sin and Christ’s sacrifice that frees us from this bondage. The broken unleavened bread is a symbol of his sinless body.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."

(Matthew 26:26)

The special bread called Challah is covered with a cloth while Kiddush is
recited. Then the cloth is removed from the bread and the loaves are lifted up while a blessing is said: “Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” In the same way, the Messiah was laid in the earth and covered with a cloth, And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulcher that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid (Luke 23:53). Then He was lifted up from the dead, brought forth from the earth, and exalted. The bread is broken and dispersed around the table.

The Sabbath blessings have not changed since before the time of Jesus. So when we read in the gospels that Jesus took a piece of bread, made the blessing, broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take it! This is my body,” we know what that blessing was: Blessed are you Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. It was a prophecy regarding his resurrection!

The wine represents his shed blood.

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

(Matthew 26:28)

In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.

(Luke 22:20)

Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

(1 Corinthians 5:8)

Closing food for thought

It is also significant that Jesus was born in Bethlehem which means “house of bread”. Seven days – the Hebrew word seven is shevah from the root word savah, to be full or satisfied, to have enough of. Israelites fed on bread without leaven (sin) – believers feed on Jesus, the Word, without sin

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world

(John 6:32-33)