Feast of Unleavened Bread
The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag ha‐Matzah in Hebrew) began on the fifteenth day of Abib (Nisan), immediately following the day of Passover and continued for seven days. Before the Day of Passover, the Israelites removed all the leaven from their houses, and for the eight days that includes Passover and Unleavened Bread, they eat unleavened bread (matzah) exclusively. In doing so, they remembered the fact that when they were delivered from Egypt, they had not had time to allow for the leavening of their bread. Hence matzah was called “the bread of haste” (Deuteronomy 16:3). The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also important because it celebrates the day of Israel’s actual deliverance from Egypt, which took place on the fifteenth day of Abib (Numbers 33:3).
By the time of the prophets, and particularly by the time of Christ, the Feast of Unleavened Bread had become so interconnected with the Feast of Passover that the entire eight days of unleavened bread came to be called the Passover, with the paschal event becoming the focus of the entire week of devotion to God (Ezekiel 45:21; Luke 22:1)
For Christians, the Feast of Unleavened Bread came to symbolize the work of Christ that removes sin from the lives of believers. Leaven in the Apostolic Scriptures was said to be symbolic of sin and false teaching (e.g., the leaven of malice and wickedness [1 Corinthians 5:6- 8], the leaven of Herod and of the Pharisees [Mark 8:15], the leaven of legalistic trust in one’s self-righteousness [Galatians 5:1-9]). Since the earliest Christians were all Jews, they understood that the interconnection of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover clearly demonstrated the need for atonement which removes sin from the lives of believers.
The traditional Jewish ceremony of the removal of leaven in each home is a good example of how God removes sin from the lives of believers. After the house is completely cleaned and all dishes and utensils have been boiled or passed through fire, the father hides ten pieces of leavened bread in the house and encourages the children to find those pieces. The children, however, are not permitted to touch the pieces of leaven when they discover them but bring their father to remove them from the house. The father takes a feather and a wooden spoon and gently removes the leaven from the house and later burns it with fire.
Christians can celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread by sharing the experience of eating matzah with the international Jewish community, first by celebrating the Passover and then by celebrating the week-long feast. Symbols that help to bring the celebration to life and serve as object lessons include the menorah, the shofar, the prayer shawl, and banners.
For detailed information about the Feast of Unleavened Bread, read Our Lost Legacy: by Dr. John D. Garr.
© 2009 Dr. John D. Garr, President, Hebraic Christian Global Community. This material may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the author.
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