TODAY IS DAY TWO of the FEAST of Unleavened Bread!
Why Should Christians Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
God instituted the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which immediately follows the Passover (Leviticus 23:6-8). Historically it commemorated the ancient Israelites fleeing from slavery in Egypt in such haste that they didn’t have time to leaven their bread or let it rise (Exodus 12:33-34).
God commanded the Israelites to keep this festival by removing leaven (such as yeast) out of their homes for seven days and to avoid eating any leavened foods during this time. The first and last days of this weeklong festival are set apart as holy convocations—annual Sabbaths—days devoted to rest and meeting together to be taught and to worship God.
Jesus identified leaven as a symbol of sin (Matthew 16:6-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1). Members of the Church started by Christ continued to celebrate this festival by putting leaven out of their homes for the week as a symbol of the sinless lives and attitudes God desires of His people. Paul, the apostle to the gentiles, even commanded the Church members in Corinth, “Let us keepthe feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8).
After accepting Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, we must follow His example in living a life of righteousness, striving to keep sin out of our life.
It was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread that Jesus was raised from the dead—a vital factor for us to be delivered out of sin and on the path to God’s Kingdom. Christians who celebrate this festival see that its meaning leads directly to the meaning of the third festival of God, the Feast of Pentecost.