"Therefore cleanse out the old leaven, so that you are a new lump,
as you are unleavened." - 1 Corinthians 5:7a |
"And on the fifteenth day of this month
is the festival of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh -
seven days you eat unleavened bread."
- Leviticus 23:6
is the festival of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh -
seven days you eat unleavened bread."
- Leviticus 23:6
The feast of Unleavened Bread is the first feast of the year that Yahweh commands His people to observe. It begins with Passover the day before and lasts for seven days. The commands for this festival include not eating anything with leaven and also to eat unleavened bread for the entire seven days. The first and last days of the feast are Sabbaths and kodesh gatherings.
These gatherings, set apart unto Yahweh, are part of His appointed times that He established for His people to meet
with Him throughout the year.
For more information on His appointed times and how burnt offerings figure into these for believers in the New Covenant
you can read it here.
In the middle of Unleavened Bread is the feast of Firstfruits which you can read more about here.
This feast of Unleavened Bread is about far more than simply removing leaven from our houses. To better understand how Yahweh wants us to keep His appointments we must look to the One that the feasts are all about - Messiah Yahshua.
Messiah said,
These gatherings, set apart unto Yahweh, are part of His appointed times that He established for His people to meet
with Him throughout the year.
For more information on His appointed times and how burnt offerings figure into these for believers in the New Covenant
you can read it here.
In the middle of Unleavened Bread is the feast of Firstfruits which you can read more about here.
This feast of Unleavened Bread is about far more than simply removing leaven from our houses. To better understand how Yahweh wants us to keep His appointments we must look to the One that the feasts are all about - Messiah Yahshua.
Messiah said,
"'Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'
Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware
of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the
Pharisees and Sadducees."
- Matthew 16:11-12
Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware
of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the
Pharisees and Sadducees."
- Matthew 16:11-12
Leaven, or yeast, is a very important ingredient when baking bread. Without it the dough will not rise up and become a nicely shaped loaf. However, while being puffed up is a good thing in bread it is an awful thing for us. The other thing about leaven is that it permeates everything else...just like sin does with us.
In the above passage our Messiah warned His disciples to beware of the "leaven" of the Pharisees and Sadducees. As they understood it we can see that Yahshua was not speaking of physical leaven but the doctrine (teaching) of these men.
What was their teaching?
Looking a little further back in Matthew 16 we see our Savior rebuking the religious leaders who were trying to trap Him. They asked for a sign from Him to prove that He was the Messiah. He answered with a simple observation and then said,
"'A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign,
and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'
And He left them and went away."
- Matthew 16:4
In the above passage our Messiah warned His disciples to beware of the "leaven" of the Pharisees and Sadducees. As they understood it we can see that Yahshua was not speaking of physical leaven but the doctrine (teaching) of these men.
What was their teaching?
Looking a little further back in Matthew 16 we see our Savior rebuking the religious leaders who were trying to trap Him. They asked for a sign from Him to prove that He was the Messiah. He answered with a simple observation and then said,
"'A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign,
and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'
And He left them and went away."
- Matthew 16:4
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and other religious leaders of the nation were constantly accusing Yahshua of breaking the Torah. He, being the Living Torah/Word of Elohim (John 1:1), could never have broken the written Torah or else that would have disqualified Him from being the sinless lamb of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 13). He had to live the Torah perfectly in order to be truly without sin thus being the perfect offering for us! So what law was Messiah breaking? Their law! The Israelites had the Torah of Yahweh and faithfully copied it down from generation to generation, but they had also added to it and taken from it by their own traditions
(Matthew 15; Mark 7). Adding to/taking from Yahweh's Word is direct disobedience (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32). In what probably began as far back as the writing down of the Commandments at Sinai, the children of Israel had accumulated oral traditions and commandments that many times opposed the written Torah. These man made traditions opposed the Creator's because they added to or took away from His Word. Even in christianity today we see traditions that have been added to the Word of Elohim (ie. Easter, Sunday-sabbath, Holy Communion, etc...) or things taken away from His Word (ie. His Sabbath, His feasts, His instructions on food, etc...). The practices of adding to/taking from His Torah are dangerous and diabolical.
The golden calf that was made while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Commandments was a perfect example of this type of hypocrisy. They made a graven image, which Yahweh had just told them not to do, and then proclaimed a feast to Yahweh! Worship of Him mixed with pagan, idolatrous things is wicked and breaking His Torah.
The "leaven" of the religious leaders was their traditions and teachings that opposed the pure Torah of Yahweh. Mixing their own lawlessness with His perfect Torah resulted in blindness and an inability to see their Messiah standing before them. Anything that our Creator says, gives, or otherwise institutes is perfect, and so when we try and "improve" on His ways we enter in to the sin of adding to His Word or taking away from it. This kind of teaching goes on rampantly today throughout those who claim to know Him.
(Matthew 15; Mark 7). Adding to/taking from Yahweh's Word is direct disobedience (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32). In what probably began as far back as the writing down of the Commandments at Sinai, the children of Israel had accumulated oral traditions and commandments that many times opposed the written Torah. These man made traditions opposed the Creator's because they added to or took away from His Word. Even in christianity today we see traditions that have been added to the Word of Elohim (ie. Easter, Sunday-sabbath, Holy Communion, etc...) or things taken away from His Word (ie. His Sabbath, His feasts, His instructions on food, etc...). The practices of adding to/taking from His Torah are dangerous and diabolical.
The golden calf that was made while Moses was on the mountain receiving the Commandments was a perfect example of this type of hypocrisy. They made a graven image, which Yahweh had just told them not to do, and then proclaimed a feast to Yahweh! Worship of Him mixed with pagan, idolatrous things is wicked and breaking His Torah.
The "leaven" of the religious leaders was their traditions and teachings that opposed the pure Torah of Yahweh. Mixing their own lawlessness with His perfect Torah resulted in blindness and an inability to see their Messiah standing before them. Anything that our Creator says, gives, or otherwise institutes is perfect, and so when we try and "improve" on His ways we enter in to the sin of adding to His Word or taking away from it. This kind of teaching goes on rampantly today throughout those who claim to know Him.
How Do We Keep The Feast?
As we already read one portion of keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread is to not eat any leavened food and to also eat unleavened bread throughout. Paul also points out in his letter to the (predominantly Gentile) believers in Corinth, that we are to keep the feast in sincerity and truth while casting away wickedness.
"So let us observe the Festival, not with the old leaven,
nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
- 1 Corinthians 5:8
The apostle Paul does not negate ridding the house of leaven, but points to what it pictures - the removal of sin in our lives. Since we are powerless to cleanse ourselves (though we have a part in the process by faith [2 Corinthians 7:1]) we must turn to the One who can, Messiah Yahshua! He, being without sin, is able to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
By observing the days of the feast we are proclaiming that His Word is true and that we rest in Him rather than our dead works.
By remembering His atoning offering of Himself, the sinless Lamb of Yahweh, for our sins we can partake not only of the feast of Unleavened Bread but of His mercy and truth!
"So let us observe the Festival, not with the old leaven,
nor with the leaven of evil and wickedness, but with
the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
- 1 Corinthians 5:8
The apostle Paul does not negate ridding the house of leaven, but points to what it pictures - the removal of sin in our lives. Since we are powerless to cleanse ourselves (though we have a part in the process by faith [2 Corinthians 7:1]) we must turn to the One who can, Messiah Yahshua! He, being without sin, is able to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
By observing the days of the feast we are proclaiming that His Word is true and that we rest in Him rather than our dead works.
By remembering His atoning offering of Himself, the sinless Lamb of Yahweh, for our sins we can partake not only of the feast of Unleavened Bread but of His mercy and truth!