What is the significance of unleavened bread?

This feast flowed out from the Passover as its consequence, but though it immediately followed, it will be seen how different they were. The Passover was God acting typically in righteous grace in relation to His people on the ground of redemption. The Feast of the Unleavened Bread was the answer that God expects from His people in their practical ways on earth. Leaven had to be put out of their dwellings, that is evil has to be refused on their part.

Connected with the Passover is the FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. It was kept for seven days, during which all leaven had to be put away. The first day and the seventh day were holy convocations, on which no servile work was to be done. This feast was intimately connected with the Passover: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 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 unleavened bread sets forth that sense of grace, through faith, in the Christian, in which, apart from influences of the flesh and old associations, he can be habitually in the appreciation of, and in communion with the sacrifice of Christ, so that his whole life is consistent therewith.

The Passover was to be kept once yearly, on the 14th day of the first month. It was attended by "the feast of unleavened bread," kept up from the 15th day for seven days. It is considered one feast, for sometimes it is called "the feast of the Passover" (Ex.34:25; Luke 2:41; John l3:1). Unleavened bread was to be eaten seven days, for the Passover speaks both of sins forgiven by the blood of the sacrifice and of sin condemned by the death of Christ. For leaven is symbolical of sin, and the seven days speaks of its complete judgment by the death of the Lord Jesus.

Linked closely with the Passover was the feast of unleavened bread. Israel was to eat no leavened bread for a week beginning with the Passover. Leaven speaks of sin in its corrupting character. For if, on the one hand, the Passover teaches the wonderful positive value of the sacrifice of Christ, on the other hand the abstaining from leaven is negative, emphasizing that in the cross of Christ sin is fully judged. The least allowance of sin would be gross contamination where the sacrifice of Christ is concerned, for that sacrifice involved the total judgment of sin.

With the Jews, then, the calendar is a small chart, annually renewed, of future history. The first great event is the solemnisation of the Passover which is expressly stated in 1 Cor. 5:7-8 to be typical of the atonement of Christ, and immediately connected will it is the Feast of Unleavened Bread which in the same verse is shown to be typical of a course of life devoid of evil. The apostle says, "Christ our passover has been [lit.] slain for us; therefore let us keep the Feast [or holy-day, — he means, of course, the Feast of Unleavened bread which began at the Passover] not with the old leaven, [i.e., in this connection, the horrible profligacy that characterised the Corinthians' heathen worship] neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness [elsewhere we read of the leaven of Herodians — political religiousness; the leaven of the Pharisees which was hypocrisy, etc.] but [keep the feast] with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." The Feast of unleavened bread must not be divorced from the Passover, nor must the acceptance of the atonement of the true Paschal Lamb be separated from a pure and upright course of life.

But then the second feast which follows immediately after the passover which was celebrated on the fourteenth of the first month was in verse 6 the day the feast of unleavened bread which started on the fifteenth day of the first month of the holy year and which lasted for one complete week. And having opened I Corinthians 5 we can just continue in verse 8 "So that let us celebrate the feast not with old leaven nor with leaven of malice and wickedness but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." So we have in these two verses, 7 and 8, the full explanation of the two first feasts of Jehovah, the passover which was one day, reminiscent of the memorial of the freedom from judgement by the blood of the lamb, and then this seven day feast of unleavened bread. Well, these seven days, one week, speak of a period, seven being the divine number of perfection, completion, which shows that, and it is exactly in this way that Paul by the Holy Spirit explains this, it is an image of our life 'let us celebrate the feast' is not to be understood to celebrate the feast of the Supper as sometimes is being said. No, the feast is here the feast of unleavened bread which is the whole week which follows the passover, the whole week and week after week after week, it is an image of our, a type, of our entire lives, life marked by unleavened bread. Now, leaven in the New Testament and also in the Old Testament, is always, if it is taken typically, a type of sin, of sin allowed in one's life and not judged. And it was absolutely forbidden to have any leaven in the house of a Jew for one week after the passover and so God says in I Corinthians 5 that it is not apt for the Christian to have any leaven of old leaven which speaks of our lives of the old man, our lives before our conversion nor with leaven of malice and wickedness, we still have our old nature, the old man has been crucified, Romans 6, verse 6, but the flesh is still there and the flesh has not changed the law, and it has no right of existence, put it away, self judgement is the thing for our everyday life. And so we can see that we have to put away this leaven of malice and wickedness and to live our lives with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, things which were represented in perfection by the Lord Jesus and we are to follow Him. So this second feast of Israel or the feast of Jehovah rather is a type of the entire life of a believer.

And let us not forget the duration of this feast, "Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread" (Ex. 12:15-20). This marks a complete period of time and typifies the whole period of our life here as saints. The feast of unleavened bread immediately followed the partaking of the Passover — indeed the two are identified in Luke 22:1 — "the feast of unleavened bread which is called the passover." The type, in its interpretation, suggests a truth of profound practical importance, that holiness in thought and in walk is incumbent upon all who are sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb. The true character of saints is to be unleavened; the complete exclusion of every element of corruption and inflation belonging to our old estate as pertaining to all that was judged in the cross of Christ.

But how was this lamb to be eaten? "With unleavened bread and bitter herbs." Leaven is, invariably, used, throughout scripture, as emblematical of evil. Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is it ever used to set forth anything pure, holy, or good. Thus, in this chapter, "the feast of unleavened bread" is the type of that practical separation from evil which is the proper result of being washed from our sins in the blood of the Lamb, and the proper accompaniment of communion with His sufferings. Nought but perfectly unleavened bread could at all comport with a roasted lamb. A single particle of that which was the marked type of evil, would have destroyed the moral character of the entire ordinance. How could we connect any species of evil with our fellowship with a suffering Christ? Impossible. All who enter by the power of the Holy Ghost, into the meaning of the cross will, assuredly, by the same power, put away leaven from all their borders. "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: 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." (1 Cor. 5:7-8) The feast spoken of in this passage is that which, in the life and conduct of the Church, corresponds with the feast of unleavened bread. This latter lasted "seven days;" and the Church collectively, and the believer individually, are called to walk in practical holiness, during the seven days, or entire period, of their course here below; and this, moreover, as the direct result of being washed in the blood, and having communion with the sufferings of Christ.

The Israelite did not put away leaven in order to be saved, but because he was saved; and if he failed to put away leaven, it did not raise the question of security through the blood, but simply of fellowship with the assembly. "Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eats 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." (Ver. 19) The cutting off of an Israelite from the congregation answers precisely to the suspension of a Christian's fellowship, if he be indulging in that which is contrary to the holiness of the divine presence. God cannot tolerate evil. A single unholy thought will interrupt the soul's communion; and until the soil contracted by any such thought is got rid of by confession, founded on the advocacy of Christ, the communion cannot possibly be restored. (See 1 John 1:5-10) The true-hearted Christian rejoices in this. He can ever "give thanks at the remembrance of God's holiness." He would not, if he could, lower the standard a single hair's breadth. It is his exceeding joy to walk in company with one who will not go on, for a moment, with a single jot or tittle of leaven."

The feast of unleavened bread is appointed in connection with the passover. (vv. 14-20.) It was not kept in the land of Egypt, for on the same night that God smote the firstborn the children of Israel commenced their journey. But the connection is preserved to show its true typical significance. It is the same in 1 Cor. 5, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: 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." (vv. 7, 8.) Leaven, as before explained, is a type of evil — evil which spreads and assimilates the mass through which it spreads to its own character. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (1 Cor. 5:6.) To eat unleavened bread therefore will signify separation from evil — practical holiness. Mark, too, that the feast was to last for seven days — i.e. a complete period of time. The lesson, then, in its interpretation is that holiness is incumbent upon all who are sheltered by the blood of the Paschal Lamb throughout the entire period of their lives on earth. This is the import of the connection of the feast with the passover. If we are saved by the grace of God through the sprinkled blood of Christ, our wretched hearts might reason — we might indulge in sin that grace may abound. "No!" says the Spirit of God, "but as soon as you are under the value of the death of Christ, you are under the responsibility to be separate from evil." God thus looks for an answer in us, in our walk and conversation, to what He is, and to what He has done for us. It was to enforce this truth that the Israelites were enjoined to keep this feast "by an ordinance for ever;" first, indeed, to remind them that God had on this self-same day brought their armies out of the land of Egypt, and then to teach them the obligations under which they were thereby brought to maintain a walk in accordance with their new position. And may we not add that believers of the present day need to have this obligation recalled to their minds? The one thing to be pressed upon the consciences of all now is the responsibility of keeping this feast of unleavened bread. Looseness of walk, evil associations, and worldliness, are ruining on all sides the testimony of God's people. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." (John 17:16-17.) May this prayer of our blessed Lord be more manifestly answered in the increasing separation and devotedness of His people!

Here is another feature to be noticed. The passover was followed immediately by the feast of unleavened bread. Not a single day was allowed to intervene. For as an ordinary rule, there was a space between these different feasts; but here is a plain exception to the rule. Let me ask who could, save by God's power, have appreciated the force of this beforehand? Now that it is revealed, we may follow. Like Moses from the cleft of the rock, one can see Him as He passes before us; but who can go before Him? The passover was followed immediately by the feast of unleavened bread. There was not the lapse of a day between them — one being on the fourteenth, the other on the fifteenth, of the same month. As the feast of unleavened bread in the New Testament is treated as beginning with the killing of the paschal lamb, the immediate response of the Christian to Christ's blood is to walk in holiness. Henceforth God will not have him to claim a single day to himself. At once he is called by the grace of God to own his responsibility to put away all leaven. We know from 1 Cor. 5:7 that leaven is symbolic of corruption. "For also Christ, our passover, was sacrificed for us; wherefore let us keep the feast." What feast? That of unleavened bread.