Why the Feast of Unleavened Bread
In ancient Egypt the Israelites were commanded by YHWH, the God of Israel, to keep a feast of unleavened bread seven days following the Passover of YHWH.
YHWH commanded Moses to tell the children of Israel:
Exodus 12:15-20
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. 16 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. 17 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 for ever. 18 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. 19 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. 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
Exodus 13:1-10
¶ And YHWH spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. 3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand YHWH brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day came ye out in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be when YHWH shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to YHWH. 7 Unleavened 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. 8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which YHWH did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that YHWH’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath YHWH brought thee out of Egypt. 10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.
God stated that no leaven will be found with any blood Sacrifice.
Exodus 23:14-19
Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year. [15] Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:) [16] And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field. [17] Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before YHWH God. [18] Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. [19] The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of YHWH thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
While its clear the Israelites followed the commandment of YHWH for fear of being cut off from Israel, they did not fully comprehend why God commanded them to eat unleavened bread other than what YHWH said to them about this feast. They simply followed the law of YHWH and had no idea of its actual reason in a future sense of Israel’s salvation.
Indeed, even today nearly 2000 years after Jesus’ sacrifice in 33AD, the Jewish Rabis and Jews of Judaism have strict Talmudic rabbinical laws regarding the removal of leaven from houses and their places. In Jerusalem they even gather leavened bread together and burn it to keep their tradition (Jesus fulfilled the law on the cross) alive.
However, the Passover of YHWH, as we know today, was a huge type and shadow of what was to come in Jesus the Christ, our lamb of God who died and bled his atoning blood on the cross to remove the sins of Israel and all mankind who would have faith in Jesus the Christ.
Just as the Passover was a shadow of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the feast of unleavened bread was also a huge type and shadow of Christ’s putting away of sin.
This unleavened bread served as a type, or a shadow, of that which was holy and not of sin.
Leaven therefore, was a type or a shadow for sin.
Exodus 12:15
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.
Leviticus 6:17
It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.
Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
Matthew 16:6
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Matthew 16:11-12
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? [12] Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
1st Corinthians 5:6-8
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? [7] 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: [8] 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.
The ordinance was for holding a feast of seven days after the Passover, when the children of Israel had to kill the Passover lamb. This was essentially a huge type or a shadow for Seven days putting away of Sin.
The number seven is a very Sacred number, used throughout the Holy Bible by God. The Hebrew root meaning for the Hebrew word sheba‘ to mean Seven, actually means "a full sacred One." It also encompasses the idea of “completion.”
So, the seven days following the Passover completed a perfect sacred cycle and therefore was a single act that put away all sin.
These seven days, or feast, was one completion of putting away of sin immediately followed the Passover.
Jesus was our Passover of lamb who put away all sin, when God placed all the sins of the world upon Jesus his only Son who died on the cross and took away the sins of the world. Jesus was a perfect sacrifice to YHWH to atone for the sins of Israel and all men and women and children the world over.
In this feast we have the complete cycle, or completion, of the end of sins through our Lord Jesus the Christ.
We also have a complete cycle of bringing in that which is holy, for unleavened bread is holy and represents the holiness of God.
It is Jesus the Christ’s death that removes sin and makes one holy before God.
This is why we commemorate the feast of Unleavened Bread. It has nothing to do with leaven or bread, rather God’s act of putting away of sin and bringing in holy righteousness through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We also know that Jesus is the bread of life.
John 6:35
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Praise God that Jesus the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life, the savior of the world died on the cross that you might be set free of your sins to be made holy and righteous before God! If you would only believe in Jesus the Christ; he died on cross for you and bled for your sins to remove sin from your soul and all peoples.
As you commemorate this holy week be mindful of sacrifice of Jesus and God’s plan which put away all of our iniquity so that you can be seen righteous before God, justified in your faith of Jesus and saved form the wrath of God which will come upon all those who know not the Lord Jesus the Christ of God nor are written in God’s book of life.
Do you want God to remove your sins?
Do you want to be holy and righteous before God?
Do you have faith in Jesus?
Do you know Jesus?
He died for your sins!
Are you washed in his blood the blood of the lamb?