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THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
(Ro15:3-6,2 Tim. 3:14-17, Hosea 12:10, 1 Cor 10:1-11)
1. When the children of Israel departed from Egypt they gathered up their dough before it was leavened. They did not have the opportunity to leaven it, because they had to leave in haste (Ex. 12:3’9).
2. Egypt is a symbol of Satan’s kingdom and Pharaoh is a symbol of Satan. Leaven is a symbol of sin which results from failure to keep -God’s law either through rebellion, indoctrination or ignorance’ (Jer. 17:9-10, 1 Cor. 5:6-8, Matt. 16:5-12, Ro. 10:3).
3. Jesus is the unleavened bread, the Word of sincerity and truth. Daily we are to eat of that bread of life so that the chains of bondage to Satan and his system through rebellion, indoctrination and ignorance might be broken (John 6:47-53, Matt. 11:28-30, Lk. 9:23-26, Matt. 6:9-15, I John 2:1-6, Eph. 4:11-16).
THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
The Feast of Passover and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were so closely associated that the two events were regarded as one (Matt. 26:17, Lk. 22:1). However, the Feast of Unleavened Bread continued from the fifteenth day of the first month, Nisan, until the twenty-first day, seven days in all.
“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the feasts, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (I Cor. 5:6-8). The penetrating and spread mg characteristics of leaven make it a fitting type of sin which requires repentance. Paul likens the persuasive and corrupting influence of the Judaizers upon the Galatians to “leaven” because of their ignoring of the new and improved contract, insisting on the prolongation of the old one which had already been cancelled. “This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump 0£ dough. ” (Gal. 5:8-9). Again, the Lord Jesus-likens the doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees to “leaven” because of their hindering, limiting influence. “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matt. 16:6). The doctrines of the Sadducees were definitely false, for they denied the resurrection of the body, the existence of angels and spirits and many other truths found in Scripture. They were the predecessors of our modern false religions. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were quite orthodox in their teachings. In fact, Jesus commanded His own disciples to observe and do what they said. (Matt. 23:1-12).
However, it was evident that they did not put into practice what they preached. What they said was all right, generally speaking, but their works gave the lie to their teachings. So it is with many of the modern Pharisees in the orthodox Christian denominations and in non-denominational Christian groups. They speak many things which are true but much evidence of the personal application of these principles in their lives and in the lives of the members of their congregations is not to be found. Those who take it upon themselves to seek after and live more truth than is immediately available in the Christian Organizations often find themselves severely criticized. This is regrettable but unavoidable if an individual is sincerely interested in appropriating what has been made available from the Lord. It is the Word in its fullness, which divides and there is no escape from this (Matt. 10:34, Eph. 6:17, Heb. 4:12-13).
Therefore, to participate in the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the true sense is to repent and learn to live a life, which is free from the corrupting influence of sin acquired either by indoctrination or by the leading of self-will.
In such haste did the Israelites leave Egypt that there was no time to secure leaven for the dough which they had brought (Ex. 12:39). So must each individual make haste on his own to leave Egypt and its Pharaoh or the bondage to sin and Satan and continue in his walk toward the mountain or kingdom of God, never looking back. Lingering along the way and remembrance of the good old days back in Egypt will inevitably allow leaven to penetrate and spread, resulting in the loss of spiritual perception and a hindering of spiritual growth (Pro. 29:18). Thoughts of and the desire for the journey toward and up onto the mountain of God are to fill the mind and heart, leaving no room for the things of Egypt. Every thought and emotion is to be taken captive to Christ, or disciplinary action will inevitably result to impel away from Egypt (2 Cor. 10:3-5, Phil. 4:8).
When an individual, an assembly or a group of assemblies settles back in self-complacency, satisfied with their condition and content with the thought that they have arrived at the Truth, stagnation immediately sets in, and the leaven begins to function producing pressure and distortion. When spiritual leaven is discovered there must be immediate repentance and avoidance of that error in the future.
Once an individual, in the initial stages of an awareness of God’s plan for him, realizes he has at his avail a Savior or Preserver, he will also become aware that he faces a most important decision. The decision to move ahead in God’s plan involves an absolutely sincere repentance or a turning and walking away from the world’ s rule with the absolutely sincere intent of turning and complete dedication to Jesus Christ and His purposes. This will initiate the experience of regeneration. However, sincere repentance must come first.
“Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works. . . . ” (Heb. 6:l).
By Mikkel Dahl
