The Sunday Mail
Reverend Titus Murefu
Description of the Feast
◆ It is part of the Passover celebration, the first part of the entire celebration. Passover is the 14th day of the First month (Abib, or April)
◆ The feast of the Unleavened bread began on the evening of the 14th and proceeded for 7 days until the 21st day of the month (Leviticus 23:6-8 Exodus 12:15-19)
◆ The Head of the household would cleanse the house of leaven for seven days. No leaven was to be seen or brought into the house.
◆ Leaven represents (spiritually) the aspect of corruption or sin. (I Corinthians 5:1-13)
Overview of the feast
1. Unleavened bread played an important role in the Old Testament.
◆It was used in consecration of the priest to ministry (Exo 29:2 & 23) (Leviticus 8:2 & 26)
◆ It was used in the vow of separation of the Nazarite – (Numbers 6:1-12)
◆ It was used in the food of the priests, meal offerings and peace offerings (Leviticus 2:4-5 Leviticus 6:14-18 Leviticus 7:11 – 13).
◆ It was used in all the feasts of Israel except in the one loaf at Pentecost.
◆ It was used by the angel who called Gideon into service – Judges 6:11-24)
◆ It was used in the Passover as a picture of their separation from Egypt (Exodus 12:17 31-34)
2.All Leaven was to be put away during this feast (Exodus 12:15, 19-20)
◆ Leaven in the “natural” sense is yeast or sour dough and is used in the batch of dough for fermentation, and it causes the loaf to “rise “and get “puffy”. It works secretly and gradually penetrates the entire lump of dough once it is applied in any quantity.
◆ Leaven in the spiritual sense is used to represent that which is corrupting to the purity of the body of Christ. It represents false doctrine, false practices and evil.
There are several types of leaven described in the Bible:
a) THE LEAVEN OF HEROD (Mark 8:15, 6:14-28)
Herod was sly and manipulative. A worldly man though he feared the Word of God in John the Baptist he was not willing to repent. He represents the spirit of worldliness.
b.THE LEAVEN OF THE SADDUCEES (Matthew 16:6-12)
The Sadducees did not believe in the supernatural, in spirit, in the existence of angels, or in the bodily resurrection.
a) THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES (Matthew 16:6-12) (Luke 12:1) – Hypocrisy is the leaven of the Pharisees, not practicing what they preach.
b)THE LEAVEN OF CORINTH (I Cor 15:1-13)
The leaven is the sin of sensuality.
c) THE LEAVEN OF GALATIA (Gal 5:9)
This is the sin of legalism or the leaven of legality.
The date of the feast of unleavened bread according to the Jewish Calendar was the 15th of Abib from the evening of the 14th. In the modern calendar it is approximately on the 15th of April.
THE FEAST EXPLAINED:
(Exodus 13:8-9)
No food would be served which contained leaven or yeast. All yeast was to be taken out of the house prior to the start of Passover, a sort of clean-up that took place.
The Jewish bread, hard and flat, (without leaven) would be taken by the head of the house – the father, who would lay three pieces of bread on the table. The middle piece would be broken (this speaks of Jesus) into two pieces, with one piece being wrapped in a napkin (burial) and hidden, while the other piece was left with the two whole pieces.
The middle piece represented Jesus who was pierced and striped for the forgiveness of our sins and the healing of our bodies.
