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Unleavened Bread

A New Testament Festival
by Lani W. Finley

The Feast of Unleavened Bread has a very rich and joyful meaning for the enlightened Christian.  This annual holyday festival was revealed to mankind by Jesus Christ, Himself.  For it was Jesus who freed the Israelites, followed them by day and night, spoke to them on Mt. Sinai and instructed them in the ways of God.   

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;  2And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;  3And did all eat the same spiritual meat;  4And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.  5But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness (1 Cor 10:1-5) 

These scriptures demonstrate that it was Jesus Christ, who spoke to the Israelites.  For no man has ever head the voice of the Heavenly Father (John 5: 37).  Therefore, it could not have been the Heavenly Father‘s voice, which was heard by Abraham, Moses and the children of Israel.  God appointed Jesus to be the predominant spokesperson between God and man.  For that reason, the following command could only have been given by the one known as, Jesus Christ.   

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ….4These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.  5In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.  6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread (Lev 23:1, 4,5,6)  

It was the Lord Himself, who established and commanded the observance of Unleavened Bread.  It is not some ancient Jewish custom and it was not eliminated by the sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  The apostle Paul confirms this in his epistle to the newly converted members of the church in Corinth. 

“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:  8Therefore 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 Cor 5:7-8).

We must remember that most of the members of the church at Corinth were gentiles.  In these verses Paul is teaching the gentile members that they are now spiritually unleavened, which means they have been cleansed from all sin and unrighteousness.  Paul makes it clear that their new state of righteousness was achieved only through the sacrifice of the eternal Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.  He also exhorts these New Testament Believers to continue to observe this important feast day. (Note: If the Feast of Unleavened Bread had been abolished by Christ’s Crucifixion, or was simply an irrelevant Jewish custom, which was not binding upon New Testament Believers, then the apostle Paul missed a valuable opportunity to make this known to the newly converted gentiles in the church at Corinth.  Instead, he instructed them to “keep the feast”).   

The apostle also admonished the church for glorifying and tolerating sin within their congregation.  One of the church members was engaged in the sin of fornication.  Instead of the church condemning such behavior, it acted as if it was proud of the actions of this member (1Cor 5: 1-2).  Paul was trying to help these new Christians understand that Jesus had died to cleanse them and that they should forsake their old lifestyle of sin and unrighteous behavior and surrender their hearts and lives to the will of God.  The Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to warn all Christians of the treachery of sin. “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1Cor 5: 6) 

 In addition to eating unleavened bread, leavening agents such as yeast and baking soda are to be removed from one’s home. 

Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.  7Unleavened 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 Exod 13:6-7. 

During the seven days of this annual festival, leavening agents represent sin and its cunning ability to grow and multiply within the mind of man.  Sin unrestrained, will eventually consume one’s heart and thoughts, which will lead a person into a deeper state of immorality and disobedience.  The removal of leavening agents from one’s home symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus cleansing us from sin and its penalty of death.  It also represents a sincere desire to have God remove sinful thoughts and self-indulgent behavior from the Believers life.  This feast is a very appropriate time for each Christian to examine their lives and look for areas where sin may be hiding within their hearts.  

The following comments, which were taken from the Wycliffe Commentary, identify the nature of sin and explain the New Testament significance of this Feast.   

...Sin always spreads and contaminates if left alone, just as poison, weeds, and cancer do. Therefore, decisive action is necessary. “As ye are unleavened,” expresses the position of the believers, to which their condition is to correspond. Their cleansing is to be manifested in clean living.

…The background of the apostle's remarks is the Feasts of the Passover and Unleavened Bread. The Passover (Exo 12:1-28) prefigured Christ as God's Lamb, who would take away the sin of the world by his sacrifice on Golgotha (Jn 1:29). The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exo 12:15-20; 13:1-10>), during which the Israelites were to have no leaven in their homes (leaven referring, of course, to sin typically), continued for the week following the slaying of the lamb.  

This feast prefigured the life of holiness that should follow the slaying and eating of the lamb, seven days being a complete circle of time. The Passover, then, is typical and illustrative of the work of Christ, in dying for his own. …The Feast of Unleavened Bread is illustrative of the believer's walk in holiness, a continuous thing, and so Paul writes,  let us go on keeping the feast (v. 8; present tense, durative action). Emphasis Mine 

Observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread, by removing leaving from one’s home and eating unleavened bread for seven days is not reverting to Judaism, or participating in legalistic behavior.  These acts of obedience are simply physical observances, which the Heavenly Father has ordained, in order to remind His children that the forgiveness of their sins and the free-gift of righteousness was granted to them, because of the works of His Son, Jesus Christ.