Comments are off for this post

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Feast of Unleavened Bread

The Feast of Unleavened Bread: Jesus our righteousness and life is raised from the dead to give life to us. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 says “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”  Click here to download “Celebrate The Feasts of The Lord” to learn more.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread – also called the Days of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Passover, and sometimes just Passover (which can be confusing) – is a seven-day feast that occurs immediately after the day of Passover. The first and seventh days are set apart as holy days of rest where no customary work is to be done. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a celebration that occurs because of the work of the Passover Lamb. Historically, the Israelites began their exodus out of Egypt immediately after Passover, during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Exodus 12:39 says of the Israelites, “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves.” Exodus 13:3, 6-9 says, “And Moses said to the people: ‘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… Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 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.” Does it seem curious that God would have the Israelites celebrate their freedom from slavery by having them abstain from all leaven, and eat only unleavened bread for seven days? He is showing us something so significant. What they normally ate was going to change. Leaven, a common ingredient in bread, was to be removed, and something completely different was to be eaten.

In freeing the Israelites after 400 years of bondage, God was taking them out of everything they knew… away from oppression, away from slavery, away from their homes, away from their normal food, away from all the gods of Egypt. Passover changed everything for the Israelites. God was now taking them out of their comfort zones to build a relationship of faith and trust in Him. He would now be their God, to lead and guide them through the wilderness. God would be their provision, their source of protection, their leader and guide. In the same way for us today, the work of Jesus Christ in Passover changes everything in our lives. The Apostle Paul showed us much of the spiritual meaning when God inspired him to speak about keeping this feast. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 says, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 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, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Having been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, we now find in Him the meaning of life. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Now, having found salvation from sin in Him, we are no longer to walk in sin (Romans 6:11- 16). In Jesus Christ, we are to come out of all we have known in this world, in decisions we have made according to the desires of our eyes, the desires of our flesh, and our pride (1 John 2:15-17). Now we find all our life in Him, apart from sin and selfishness, giving ourselves completely and wholly unto God. Romans 12:1- 2 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

In the Feast of Unleavened Bread we celebrate not only the complete removal of sin in our lives, but the blessing of Jesus righteousness imputed unto us. We rejoice that we live by faith and our choices begin to reflect our faith. We celebrate that we have been made “unleavened” by Jesus work and we no longer eat of the leaven of malice and wickedness, but we eat of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. That is, in our heart and in our thoughts, we live pure, sincere lives; we put off any malice. And in our actions and words, we live true and holy lives; we put off any wickedness. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). The reality of this happens as we come out of the world to live a new life in Jesus. The scriptures refer to this as repentance. It is the goodness of God, and His work through Jesus, that leads us to repentance, to turn from our old ways to His perfect way. Just as Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for us, we are now to lay down our lives as a sacrifice for Him. And as we now look to Him above all other gods, and above all other things of this world (money, food, house, career, power, fame, etc.), we find a life completely different than the one in which we were comfortable before we knew Him. 1 Peter 4:1-4 says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.”

As we celebrate this feast and the new life we have in Jesus, we look ahead to a time when not just believers in a world of non-believers will know, but all will come to know the LORD and His truth. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” A time is coming when all will know the Lord. He will teach mankind to put down all malice and wickedness and learn how to truly consider one another in sincerity and truth. Micah 4:1-3 says, “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, so God brings us out of slavery to the ways of this world and sin. Are you embracing the new life found in Jesus Christ? Are you celebrating the fact that by His sacrifice and resurrection, He not only freed us from sin, but He shows us how to live a new life in Him? Let’s look upon Him and be changed (2 Corinthians 3:18)! In this feast we celebrate the liberty and the new life we have in Christ Jesus. And we celebrate not only what God has done for us, but what is yet to come, a time when all will know God. It is a time when malice and wickedness will be put away and all will walk in sincerity and truth.

Join Rock Valley Christian Church worship services every Saturday @ 10:30 am PST

Watch Live Online: https://rockvalley.co/watch-live-service/

Watch more sermons at https://rockvalley.co/sermons/

If you would like to know about Jesus visit us on our website:  https://rockvalley.co/

If you would like to give, click the link below:  https://rockvalley.co/giving/

Connect with us on our social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockvalley_church/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockvalleychurch/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RockValleyChristianChurch

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/rockvalleymarketing/pins/

Comments are closed.