The
Feast of Unleavened Bread
The Feast Unleavened Bread was to remind Israel of the speed
of their Egyptian deliverance. When the Lord passed over the land of
Egypt, all the
first born died,
except for the house of Israel, where the blood of the lamb marked the door
posts and lintel. Pharaoh was outraged and demanded
Israel leave Egypt at once; Israel did not have time to wait
for the bread to rise before they baked it (Exodus 12:31-37).
39
And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of
Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could
not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. Exodus 12:39
3
You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened
bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the
land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of
the land of Egypt all the days of your life. Deuteronomy 16:3
How was the Feast Celebrated?
The instructions to keep the feast are listed in Leviticus
23:8 and Numbers 28:19-24. First Israel was to rid itself of Leven
before the 7-day feast.
In the Temple, the Priests were to offer special
sacrifices. The people were to do no work on the first and seventh days,
they were Sabbaths, and
they were also to hold a sacred gathering on the first and
seventh day. Yeast was strictly forbidden to even be in the midst
of the homes. In six
specific places the prohibition on yeast is emphasized
during this feast (Ex. 12:14-20; 13:6-8; 23:15 34:18; Lev. 23:6; Dt. 16:3,8).
The punishment for leaven was severe; the person was to cut off from Israel.
There was no tolerance for disobedience in regards
to this feast and keeping the house and area free from
leaven.
4
And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor
shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight
remain overnight until morning. Deuteronomy 16:4
7
Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen
among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. Exodus
13:7
15
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove
leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day
until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. Exodus 12:15
What is Yeast?
Yeast is a micro-organism that is defined as part of the
fungi family; they produce asexually and do not require sunlight. They
digest sugar and excrete carbon dioxide and alcohol as by products. They
yeast cells
population will begin to multiply rapidly as long as there
is enough food (sugar) and the conditions are right such as temperature and
moisture.
When yeast is put in warm dough it begins to digest
the sugars and multiply. The yeast produces/excretes carbon dioxide. The carbon
dioxide
bubbles are trapped in the dough. Alcohol is also
produced but in the baking process, the alcohol is burned off. The bread
is puffed up with air
pockets created by the yeast after it is baked allowing the
bread to be fluffy and substantial rather than flat. When Israel
was leaving Egypt they
did not have time for the yeast to raise their dough.
Yeast is also used to create alcoholic wine by letting the yeast cells digest
the sugars in the grape juice and excrete alcohol.
Yeast cell naturally appears on the grape skin and in the
environment. They along with other micro-organisms are involved in the
decaying process of life. For example, animals eating
decaying fruit have been known to become drunk from the alcohol that naturally
is produced from the yeast on the skin. When fruit ripens in
the warm sun they can become alcoholic. Yeast has a decaying affect on life therefore the Bible uses it as a
metaphor for sin. The picture of searching your house for yeast is a great
analogy for us to search our lives for any hidden sin. (my emphasis and underline)
Israel was to the take the yeast and rid it from their
midst, in the same way we should rid our lives of sin, removing it from our
life like the yeast.
6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you
know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get
rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really
are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore
let us keep the Festival, not with
the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without
yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
1 Corinthians 5:7
11How
is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on
your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12Then
they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in
bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew
16:11-12
Modern Observation
The Passover and Unleavened Bread Feasts are both celebrated
as feast, so preparations for both feasts coincide together. The
observant
Jewish house will be cleaned prior to Passover, this
includes washing and painting walls, boiling cooking items, carpets are
cleaned, and clothes are thoroughly washed inside and out. Special china is
brought out for the week in preparation of the holy days.The night before
Passover is a special day it is a preparation day, the fathers of each
household perform a ceremony known as Bedikat Hametz or “Search for
Leaven” ceremony. The term used in Hebrew for Leaven is hametz,
meaning sour.
Bedikat Hametz: Searching for Leaven[1]
The
night before Passover, immediately after sundown, one begins the search for
leaven (Code of Jewish Law, Orach Chayyim 431:1).
The
aim of the search is to be sure that no leaven has been left behind after the
cleaning of the house.The procedure includes these items: a candle; a feather,
which acts as a broom; and a wooden spoon into which the pieces of bread will
be scooped. First, a candle is lit, and the following benediction is recited:
Barukh
atah adonai eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu al
be’ur chametz. Praised are You, Adonai our God,
Sovereign of the Universe, who has made us holy by mitzvot
[commandments] and instructed us concerning the burning of the hametz.
Since
by this time the house has been thoroughly cleaned and the chances of finding
any leaven are minimal, it has become customary to put a number of crumbs of
bread in places where they can be easily found in order to prevent the
recitation of a benediction in vain.
The crumbs of bread that are found and the
leaven left over from breakfast should be guarded lest a new search become
necessary.
After
the search for leaven, one recites the following formula of annulment: “All
leavened food and grain fermentation that are in my possession, that I have not
seen or removed, shall be null and considered as the dust of the earth.”
Be’ur Hametz: Burning the Leaven
The
following morning, usually sometime between 10 and 11 o’clock, the leaven is
burned, and again the formula for the removal of hametz is recited, with a
slight variation:“Any leaven that may still be in the house, that I have or
have not seen, that I have or have not removed, shall be as if it does not
exist, and as the dust of the earth.”
We were destined to die without hope because of the fall of
Adam and Eve. We would decay and rot in the grave (Genesis 3:19).
Paul uses this powerful image of searching for Leaven as we
should search for sin. The believer has power over his sin through the
work of the Holy Spirit.
For
the Full Article see above web page
And just in case you would like to see that part of our video again, I found it on You Tube:
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If you got home and anything else spoke to you from our first study of Sabbath Space, please feel free to post your thoughts here so we all can share.
