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The Days of Unleavened Bread
April 23, 2016

This week we will take a break from our study of the Book of Nehemiah to reflect on the Days of Unleavened Bread. Celebrated by the Children of Israel during the exodus and commemorated yearly thereafter, the Days of Unleavened Bread are a reminder to Christians to keep their spiritual ego in check. Notice the writings of Paul to the Corinthians and how much it might read like the script of a talk or reality television show.

1 Corinthians 5:1-8
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 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: Therefore 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.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that being a Christian never meant being enlightened to the point of forgetting fundamental values and embracing a lifestyle that even non-believers would find repugnant. As Christians while we are to forgive; we need not embrace and welcome sin into our lives. Because the Corinthians embraced sin they thought they were better than others, when they were the most in need. The Days of Unleavened Bread originated during the times we would equate with the Old Testament, with commands given in several books. Let's look at the Book of Exodus.

Exodus 12:14-20 
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

The Days of Unleavened Bread involved removing leaven and leavened bread from homes. Common leavening agents used in baking are yeast, baking soda, and baking powder. When used in recipes, these cause breads and cakes to be soft and filled with pockets of air, causing the bread and cakes to be puffed up. The first and last days, in 2016 today and next Friday, are Holy Days; no work is to be done as a reminder of the escape from Egypt by the Children of Israel. In addition to not eating unleavened bread, the Children of Israel also had an animal sacrifice as part of the observance.

Exodus 12:21-24
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.

Some may wonder what happened to the animal sacrifice from thousands of years ago. Remember from his writing to the Corinthians that Paul explained Jesus Christ is our Passover sacrifice. Because Jesus has died for our sins, no other sacrifice is needed. As Christians, we recognize the historical context that is commemorated by the Passover. We also recognize that as our Lord and Savior, Jesus died for our sins and is our Passover sacrifice.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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