Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread
After four hundred and thirty years in Egypt, enslaved after the death of Joseph, the Eternal heard the cry of the Israelite’s and set into motion events that would free His chosen people from bondage.
God instructed Moses,
Leviticus 23:5-8
5. In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.
6. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
7. In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
8. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV
(1) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Today most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar named after Pope Gregory XIII introduced in October 1582, but the Sacred Calendar, Gods Calendar, is seasonal. Just like the progression of His plan for all of mankind is seasonal.
Exodus 13:3-4 KJV
(3) And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.
(4) This day came ye out in the month Abib.
Abib - (the month of green ears), God’s year starts in the spring when new life begins. Unlike mans new year that begins in the cold of winter.
The Eternal God continues,
Exodus 12:1-20
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,
2. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4. And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.
5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6. And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
8. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
9. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.
10. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.
11. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover.
12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.
13. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
(Note.7 days, not 8 days.)
16. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
19. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
20. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
The worlds churches look down on those who have the audacity to believe that the Old Testament is relevant today, and most have no idea that Christ was the God of the Old Testament.
But the Apostle Paul said,
Colossians 2:16-17 KJV
(16) Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
(17) Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The crucifixion of Christ corresponds perfectly with the Passover and days of Unleavened bread.
Christ was our perfect sacrificial Lamb and to eat unleavened bread symbolizes putting Christ in our lives.
Lets look at the chronology of the crucifixion during the time of Christ and the Apostles.
31 AD.
Tuesday Night the 13th---------------------------------The Lords Supper
Christ changed the practice of the Passover ritual because he was the actual Lamb of God.
John 1:29
(29) The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
And being the ultimate sacrifice, no longer needing to slay another lamb, He then instituted a new ritual called the Lords Supper observed the evening of the 13th.
Matthew 26:26-30
26. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
26. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
Wednesday Morning, the 14th the Passover and preparation day for the days of Unleavened Bread.
Matthew 27:1-2 KJV
(1) When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
(2) And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
Matthew 27:35-37 KJV
(35) And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
(36) And sitting down they watched him there;
(37) And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Wednesday evening the 14th--------------------- Christ Dies, He was the Worlds Passover Lamb.
Mark 15:33-47
33. And when the sixth hour (9 to 12am) was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34. And at the ninth hour (12 to 3pm) Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
35. And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down.
37. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
38. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.
39. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
40. There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;
41. (Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him;) and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
42. And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
43. Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
44. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
45. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
46. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.
47. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid.
Remember the 14th is when the Passover lambs were sacrificed and also the preparation day for the Days of Unleavened Bread. The Israelite's left Egypt on the first day of Unleavened Bread.
Numbers 33:3-4 KJV
(3) And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.
(4) For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments.
Matthew 27:62-66
62. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
63. Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
64. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
65. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
66. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Wednesday evening through Saturday evening, 14th - 17th, Christ was in the tomb.
Matthew 12:40
40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Saturday evening 17th------------------------The Resurrection.
Sunday Morning 18th----------------------------Mary discovers the empty tomb.
Mark 16:1-7
1. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
3. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
4. And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
5. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
6. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
7. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
Notice what Christ said about the only sign He would give.
Matthew 12:36-40
36. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
38. Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.
39. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
40. For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Satan has a counterfeit to this Holiday called Easter, and accepting this false holiday is to reject Christ’s only sign.
Tradition says that Christ died Friday evening and rose Sunday morning, two nights and only one full day. This is the inspiration for the Sunday sunrise service.
Here is what God truly thinks about the sunrise practice dating back to ancient Babylon.
Ezekiel 8:15-16 KJV
(15) Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
(16) And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
God shows His eternal plan through His Sabbaths.
The Passover and Days of Unleavened bread show these symbols and types.
Bondage in Egypt, ----------------------------a type of sin.
The slain lamp,-------------------------------a symbol of Christ.
The blood on the door post,---------------a symbol of the Lords Blood applied to us.
Leaving Egypt,--------------------------------a symbol of forsaking our sins.
Passing through the Red Sea,-----------------a type of Baptism.
Perhaps it is fitting that the first annual Holly Day season of the year deals with the first recorded sin in the Bible.
Jesus addressing the puffed up attitude of the Pharisees said,
John 8:44 KJV
(44) Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
There were perhaps three head angels in the heavens each in charge of one third of the rest of the angels. Michel, Gabriel, and Lucifer.
If this is the case it explains the importance to Satan’s church the false doctrine of the Trinity.
Revelation 12:3-9 KJV
(3) And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
(4) And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
(5) And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
(6) And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
(7) And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
(8) And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
(9) And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
This is our enemy, who works against us to try to get us to fail.
1 Peter 5:8 KJV
(8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Lucifer’s sin, the original sin was pride.
Ezekiel 28:12-19
(12) Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
(13) Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
(14) Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
(15) Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
(16) By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
(17) Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
(18) Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
(19) All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
Isaiah 14:12-15
(12) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
(13) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
(14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
(15) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Pride shows up at all the important events in history.
It was a factor in the fall of mankind.
Genesis 3:1-6 KJV
(1) Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
(2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
(3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
(4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
(5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
(6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
John puts all sin in three categories.
1 John 2:15-17 KJV
(15) Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(16) For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
(17) And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Pride was one of the so called temptations of Christ.
Luke 4:5-8 KJV
(5) And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
(6) And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
(7) If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
(8) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Time and again Satan said, if thou be the son of God.
Luke 4:3 KJV
(3) And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
Luke 4:9 KJV
(9) And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
Notice what the crowds said to Christ at his crucifixion.
Luke 23:35-37 KJV
(35) And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
(36) And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
(37) And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
It seams as if Satan was influencing that whole mob that was gathered there that day.
One of the main tools Satan uses against us, sadly, are the people around us.
Matthew 10:34-36 KJV
(34) Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
(35) For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
(36) And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Remember resistance is the key to overcoming Satan‘s advances.
James 4:7 KJV
(7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
God uses leavening as a symbol because that is what causes bread dough to rise, to puff up.
That is a symbol of pride, the original sin, the very opposite of what God wants us to be.
James 4:6 KJV
(6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Psalms 138:6 KJV
(6) Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
Psalms 12:3 KJV
(3) The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Malachi 4:1 KJV
(1) For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
We can never become perfect as long as we are in this flesh, but that should not keep us from striving towards perfection.
Never stop trying!
1 John 2:1 KJV
(1) My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Jesus also compared false doctrine with leavening.
Matthew 16:6-12 KJV
(6) Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
(7) And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
(8) Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
(9) Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
(10) Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
(11) How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
(12) Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
We usually associate leavening as always bad, but Christ also referred to the expansion of His Kingdom like leavening.
Matthew 13:31-33 KJV
(31) Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
(32) Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
(33) Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
God wants His family to grow.
There is coming a time when the whole world will be under the rule of Jesus Christ, and all sin and pride will be dealt with and put down.
A world where true love reins supreme.
So let us take to heart the inspired words of the Apostle Paul,
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 KJV
(7) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
(8) Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The Days of Unleavened bread symbolize us putting sin and pride out of our lives. To be like Christ.
Remember there is nothing evil about leavening. God only uses it as a symbol.
On the last day at sun down we can begin to eat and enjoy the leavened fluffy bread again.
But let us continue to endeavor to remain spiritually unleavened.
God Bless,
Aaron