For those who may not know, one of God's annual festivals is currently underway: the Days of Unleavened Bread (DUB). This particular observance commemorates the saving power of God. For the Israelites, God delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Likewise for Christians, God has delivered us out of slavery to sin, which is often dubbed "spiritual Egypt." Part of the requirement for the feast is that all leaven (i.e. yeast, baking soda, etc.) must be removed from your home before the feast begins, and your home must remain leaven-free throughout the 7 days of its observance. Additionally, you cannot eat any leaven during those 7 days. Tonight begins the 7th DUB, on which no work may be done until sundown tomorrow night.
In this post I would like to share an analysis of the references to unleavened bread in the bible. While this is not a comprehensive list of every occurrence (you can get that by doing a simple search for "unleavened" and "leaven" on biblegateway.org), I have categorized the main contexts in which unleavened bread appears and provided key scriptures.
#1 - God and angels have eaten unleavened bread
The first clear occurrence of unleavened bread in the bible is found in Genesis 19, when the two angels go to warn Lot and his family to get out of Sodom. Lot made unleavened bread for them, which they sat down and ate. Recall that Abraham had also made food for these same angels along with the Angel of the LORD (who did not appear to Lot), but the text does not actually specify whether Abraham made unleavened bread as part of the meal on that occasion.
Later, in Judges 6, the Angel of the LORD appears to Gideon in human form, but Gideon did not know for sure that it was God. Gideon prepared a goat and some unleavened bread for Him, after which God caused fire to come up out of a rock and consume the meal as He left Gideon's presence.
There are no instances of God or angels ever consuming bread made with leaven.
#2 - God commanded that ONLY unleavened bread be used in sacrifices
There were many sacrifices that consisted of bread - namely, the grain offering. On many occasions, God required that unleavened bread be added to various other offerings as well, but He stipulated quite clearly that leaven was never to be used in an offering of any kind:
Exodus 23:18Today, the sacrifices that we offer to God are not made by physical fire, but the Fire of the Holy Spirit. We present our lives - all of our actions - as offerings and sacrifices to God.
You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.
#3 - God likens sin to leaven
Although you might be tempted to attribute this idea to the New Testament writings, such as 1 Corinthians 5, the first time that God compares sin to leaven actually occurs in the book of Hosea:
Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers. Like an oven heated by a baker - he ceases stirring the fire after kneading the dough, until it is leavened.
Sin permeates and corrupts our lives slowly over time the same way that leaven permeates and puffs up bread - it doesn't stop until the bread is totally leavened! Passages in 1 Corinthians 5 and Galatians 5 echo this symbolism by saying "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." In the gospels, Christ also warned of the "leaven" of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod - each of which had their own problems that we must be mindful of.
1 Corinthians 5:8
Therefore, let us keep the Feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
In light of the connection between leaven and sin, it is no wonder that God commanded only unleavened bread in sacrifices and offerings - our actions are not acceptable to God unless they are sin-free, being both sincere and truthful!
#4 - God commands His followers to eat unleavened bread: past, present, and future
Israel was commanded to eat only unleavened bread when God delivered them from Egypt, and God commanded that they would also eat only unleavened bread for 7 days each year to commemorate their coming out of Egypt. Moses summarized the purpose of this requirement nicely:
Deuteronomy 16:3
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.
Scattered throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites, during brief snippets of national obedience to God, celebrated the DUB (Joshua 5, Ezra 6). Christ, having kept the law perfectly, would of course have kept the DUB His entire life, and was actually put to death on the Passover; therefore, His resurrection would have been during the DUB (Luke 22). References to observance of this feast by the early Church are found in Acts 12 and 20 as well as 1 Corinthians 5. Additionally, Ezekiel 45 states unequivocally that the DUB will be celebrated in the future, as we find the following in the midst of the discussion of the future temple that will be built:
Ezekiel 45:21
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.
These are the main contexts in which unleavened bread appears in the bible, but there is much more to consider! For instance, it is likely that manna was unleavened, as well as the showbread in the Temple. Unleavened bread represents the body of Christ - sincerity and truth - which we eat at Passover. God wrote all of these things for our learning that we may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work! Therefore, let us observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread - having been delivered from sin, which is leaven, to partake of the true Bread of Life, Jesus Christ - the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth!
If leavening represents sin to God, why does God think it's okay to eat it at other times, and proscribe it for a few specific times of the year?
ReplyDeleteWhile leaven is most often used as a physical reference for how sin spreads, leaven does not always strictly represent sin in the bible. In fact, Jesus likened the Kingdom of God to leaven in Matthew 13:33, which says, "the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing inherently wrong with leaven, but God uses it in certain instances as a teaching tool for us (if you ever spend time trying to get all of the crumbs out of your house/car to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread, you'll find that the physical process holds A LOT of spiritual meaning!)
As a final thought, consider that God commands that we "afflict our souls" by fasting on the Day of Atonement, but that certainly doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with eating and drinking under normal circumstances.
Leaven was used 17 times in the New Testament, and 71 in the OLD, always it has a negative or sin connotation. The teachings of the Pharisees had leaven or tradition above truth, while the Sadducees had denial of the supernatural or evolutionists of today is it's equal. The leaven of Herod is worldliness. A woman in scriptural context represents a kingdom, city or church. So, thus I say that woman hid (Occult, Satanic) the gospel with three types of sin: That woman is the Romans Catholic Church. Her leaven or sin, while hidden from the world, God sees it's growth in thone three forms. Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. He's coming soon with his reward for His people with his name, and not the trinity titles. He that ears to hear, let him hear. God bless you.
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