Second feast...

The information that follows was taken from Edward Chumney's book entitled, The Seven Festivals of the Messiah, (Shippensburg, PA: Treasure House, 2003 Sixth Printing). Introduction:  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is the 15th day of the month of Nisan, which is the day following Passover (Pesach). It is a seven-day festival to the Lord (Leviticus23:6-7). On the 15th of Nisan and for the next seven days, God forbade the people to have any leavened bread in their houses.  Our text for this lesson is Exodus 12:14-17. Passover. After the lamb was killed, the blood was to be put on the doorposts. The lamb was to be roasted in fire and eaten with matzah (unleavened bread) and bitter herbs. God gave a ceremony of searching and removing leaven from the house prior to the festival of Unleavened Bread in preparation for the festival. In Hebrew, this ceremony is called Bedikat HaMetz, which means "the search for leaven." The ceremony is as follows: The preparation for searching and removing the leaven from the house actually begins before Passover. First, the wife thoroughly cleans the house to remove all leaven from it. In the Bible, leaven is most often symbolic of sin. The spiritual application of Unleavened Bread... Spiritually, the believers in the Messiah Yeshua are the house of God (Hebrews 3:6; I Peter 2:5; I Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:19). Leaven (sin) is to be cleansed out of our house, which is our body (I Corinthians 3: 16-17; 6:19-20; II Corinthians 6:15-18). In cleaning the house, the wife is instructed to purposely leave ten small pieces of leaven (bread) in the house. Then the father takes the children, along with a candle, a wooden spoon, a feather, and a piece of linen cloth, and searches through the house for the ten pieces of leaven. By nightfall on the day before Passover, a final and comprehensive search is performed. At this time, the house is completely dark except for the candles. Once the father finds the leaven (bread), he sets the candle down by the leaven and lays the wooded spoon beside the leaven. Then he uses the feather to sweep the leaven onto the spoon. Without touching the leaven, he takes the feather, spoon, and leaven, wraps them in a linen cloth, and casts them out of the door of the house. The next morning (the 14th of Nisan), he goes into the synagogue and puts the linen cloth and its contents into a fire to be burned. More spiritual application... Spiritually, we are to cleanse the leaven (sin) from our houses (lives) by allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal to us, through the knowledge of Yeshua and the scriptures, the sin that is in our lives. It is only through God's Word that we are able to identify sin in our lives as it is written in Psalm 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." So the spiritual understanding of the candle is that it represents the Word of God. The feather represents the Holy Spirit. Even though we have the Word of God, we need the Spirit of God to illuminate the entire Bible to us (I Corinthians 2:11-14). Messianic fulfillment... The spoon represents the tree that Yeshua died upon (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). The leaven (sin) was swept on the spoon (the tree) as part of the ceremony. Likewise, our sin was swept or cast upon Yeshua (II Corinthians 5:21) when Yeshua died upon the tree. The leaven (Yeshua upon the tree) was then wrapped in linen and Yeshua was cast out of His house (His body) and went to hell, which is a place of burning (Luke 16:19-24). Yeshua fulfilled the part of the ceremony where the father took the linen cloth and its contents and casts it into the fire to be burned. Body:  The 15th of Nisan marks the beginning of a seven-day feast period when Israel was to eat bread without leaven in remembrance of their baking unleavened bread in their haste to escape Egypt. The primary theme of this feast is the purging out of leaven. Historically, there are two notable events that happened on this day. (1) The Exodus journey beginning from Egypt. In Deuteronomy 16:3. the bread is referred to as the "bread of affliction." (2) The burial of Yeshua after His crucifixion, who is the Bread of Life (John 6:35).  The festivals are fixed appointments (mo' ed) of God specifying what He will perform and the exact time He will perform it. The Jews had to hurry to put Yeshua's body in the ground because the Sabbath was drawing near. This Sabbath was a high Sabbath and the first day of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15). This can be found in (John 19:31). This would mean that Yeshua died on the 14th of Nisan, the day of Passover. Yeshua was in the sepulcher the day following His crucifixion, which was the 15th of Nisan, the first day of Unleavened Bread.  The feast of Unleavened Bread was so much a part of Passover that the names of Passover and Unleavened Bread were used interchangeably or almost synonymously (Luke 22:1).  The feast was to be kept seven days (Exodus 12: 15-19). Seven is the number of perfection or completeness. The believer who keeps this feast is to keep it fully unto the Lord and set himself aside completely to Him. This speaks of sanctification in a general sense.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a high Sabbath day. A high Sabbath in Hebrew is called a shabbaton. During Passover, there is an extra Sabbath besides the weekly Sabbath. These Sabbaths are called high Sabbaths. The high Sabbath of Unleavened Bread can be seen in John 19:31.  Unleavened bread is used for consecration and separation. It is also anointed with oil. The believers in the Messiah are to be consecrated and separated to do the work God has called us to do and to live a life that is holy unto Him. If we do this, the anointing of the Holly Spirit of God will rest upon our lives. Conclusion: Spiritually, the feast is kept in sincerity and truth. Sincerity involves purity and serving the Lord with a pure heart. It involves putting away the sin in our lives, and separating ourselves from all evil that has a corrupting influence in the life of a believer in Yeshua. Historically, Israel learned that keeping the feast meant a complete separation from Egypt's religion, bondage, food, and slavery, as well as its worldly glory, wisdom, and splendor. Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon. Pastor T.