English: "Holyland" brand matzah, machine-made in Jerusalem and purchased at Trader Joes in the United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
by Wayne Blank
"And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt [see Rock Of Ages]: therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as an ordinance for ever. In the first month [see Bible Months], on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for if any one eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land." (Exodus 12:17-19 RSV)
The Passover marks the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread. What was the purpose of the seven-day observance?
- "Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand The Lord brought you out from this place; no leavened bread shall be eaten." (Exodus 13:3 RSV)
- "Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. And you shall tell your son on that day, 'It is because of what The Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt." (Exodus 13:7-8 RSV)
- "You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction – for you came out of the land of Egypt in hurried flight – that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning." (Deuteronomy 16:3-4 RSV)
What relevance do the Days of Unleavened Bread have to Christians? The Feast of Unleavened bread memorialized Israel's deliverance from a life of slavery underPharaoh after the slaying of the Passover lamb, but it also now represents the Christian's deliverance from a life of sin under Satan (see Who Still Rules The World Today?) after the slaying of Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of God."
- "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." (1 Corinthians 5:7-8 RSV)
There was, and is, nothing wrong with eating things containing yeast at other times, but for the purpose of the Days of Unleavened Bread it was used as an symbol of sin. It was also sometimes used as a metaphor for sinful pride and hypocrisy: Read the rest here