The Call to Holiness: Embracing the Unleavened Life

Call to Worship

Psalm 139:1–6 LSB

O Yahweh, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Yahweh, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And You have put Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

Psalm 139:13–18 LSB

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And intricately woven in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unshaped substance; And in Your book all of them were written The days that were formed for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

First Reading

Deuteronomy 30:15–20 LSB

“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and calamity; in that I am commanding you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. “But if your heart turns away and you will not listen, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your seed, by loving Yahweh your God, by listening to His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Scripture and Prayer

Luke 14:25–33 LSB

Now many crowds were going along with Him, and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? “Lest, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

Intro:

Bible Passage:

Exodus 12:14–20 LSB

‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute. ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ‘Now on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be done by you. ‘You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a perpetual statute. ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your places of habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

Summary: The Feast of Unleavened Bread observed in conjunction with the Passover serves as a powerful reminder for the Israelites to commemorate their exodus from Egypt, marking the transition from bondage to freedom, while also instructing them to lead lives of holiness and separation from sin, as leaven symbolizes corruption and decay.

Matzah is a flat, round, quick-baking bread made from flour and water with no leavening agent. The Israelites ate unleavened bread as part of the Passover meal and the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread that followed.

Application: This passage calls us to actively pursue holiness in our daily lives, to make intentional choices that reflect our commitment to God's standards, helping Christians navigate modern challenges by understanding the importance of living righteously as a reflection of our deliverance. We are called to actively cleanse our lives from sin and influences that corrupt, establishing a lifestyle that honors God's call for holiness.

Big Idea: Embracing the unblemished life of holiness leads us to deeper freedom in Christ, as we reflect God's character and bear witness to His transformative power in an unholy world.

1. Commence the Cleansing

Exodus 12:14–15 LSB

‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to Yahweh; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a perpetual statute. ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

EX:

V. 14

A memorial

Passover, discussed in the preceding verses and the Feast of unleavened bread were the first two holy days given to the nation of Israel.

Both were to be observed to remember their deliverance from Egypt by God.

These weren’t just chosen holidays that they chose to do. They were HOLY days given by God’s command to be kept throughout the generations.

v. 15

They were to eat unleavened bread for 7 days.

On the 1st day, they were to have a thorough cleansing.

Cleansing was an important part of Passover observance. Even today, observant Jews search their house prior to Passover in order to remove any vestiges of leavened bread.

Clinton E. Arnold

Passover and unleavened bread vividly symbolize:

a. God’s deliverance and their hasty departure

b. The importance of spiritual purity

During this feast, the consumption of unleavened bread is more than a historical reenactment. Unleavened bread (bread free of yeast) represents the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt. The absence of yeast is also symbolic of spiritual purity. 

God was calling them to be a unique nation.

They were HIS people. As God gives them the Law, their national and religious laws were going to be intertwined.

They were to be like a lighthouse.

They would serve GOD faithfully

He bless them and preserve them

The world would be drawn to HIM!

Penalty-

if anyone consumed leaven, they were to be “cut off” from Israel.

They would be excommunicated or excluded from the community of God's people.

This could result in various punishments, including being shunned from the community, losing the protections and promises of the covenant, and potentially even death, though it did not always explicitly mean execution. 

It signifies a severe consequence for disobedience, especially the failure to observe the sacred feast of Unleavened Bread, which symbolized purity and freedom from sin.

AP: We should remove the “leaven” from our own lives.

In Paul’s world, when people spoke of leaven in a metaphorical sense it was almost always a way of talking about a bad influence corrupting something that would otherwise be pure.

N. T. Wright

The initiation of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a call to remember the Israelites' hurried departure from Egypt, emphasizing the necessity to rid oneself of 'leaven,' representing sin.

This serves as a powerful metaphor for Christians today to reflect on our habits, thoughts, or influences that might hinder their spiritual freedom.

This aspect calls us to continual self-examination and purification, reflecting Jesus' fulfillment of a sinless life and our path to holiness.

1 Corinthians 5:6 LSB

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

 Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? (It is a spreading thing, and if any be left it will speedily multiply itself.)

Charles Spurgeon

Sin in our lives can spread, like yeast, and impact every area.

1 Corinthians 5:7 LSB

Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, also was sacrificed.

Remove sin! Don’t leave any room for it to grow, especially in areas of weakness

Be on guard against things which will derail our walk with Christ and damage our testimony.

2. Consecrate Sacred Spaces

Exodus 12:16–17 LSB

‘Now on the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be done by you. ‘You shall also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall keep this day throughout your generations as a perpetual statute.

EX: The feast was bracketed by holy days.

V. 16 No work to be done.

Similar observance as Sabbath

Special day set aside to focus on the memorial

V 17

The Lord reminds them again that this was to be an annual observance as a memorial.

They were to remember His deliverance and that they as a people were consecrated.

In a biblical context, "consecrated OT" refers to something set apart and dedicated to God's service and purposes in the Old Testament, which could be a person (like the Levitical priesthood), a place (the Tabernacle), or even the firstborn of a family or spoils of war. 

The Hebrew word for "consecrated," qadash, implies a separation from common or profane use to a holy or sacred use, signifying a profound commitment of a person or thing for God's use and satisfaction.

God had set aside Israel for HIS purpose.

AP: We too are consecrated!

John 17:15–18 LSB

“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. “As You sent Me into the world, I also sent them into the world.

To be holy is to be morally blameless. It is to be separated from sin and, therefore, consecrated to God. The word signifies “separation to God, and the conduct befitting those so separated.”

Jerry Bridges

We should follow the Biblical pattern and have a devoted time to God

It is import to set apart moments in our lives for spiritual renewal and dedication.

Every time we open the Scriptures should be that

Every worship service and Bible study should also serve to renew us

We are called to follow in Jesus’ steps. During His ministry, He modeled a life of devotion and service.

3. Commit to Consistent Compliance

Exodus 12:18–20 LSB

‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. ‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your places of habitation you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

EX: GOD regulated the observances

He gave the double feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread to remind Israel throughout the generations.

He was their deliverer

He had consecrated them for His purpose

He had a plan for them in the world.

Redemption through Jesus Christ was a part of God’s covenants

You could even say they were the POINT of the covenants!

We see it in what God said to Adam and Even, to Abraham and the Patriarchs, and now as He started moving forward, HE gave them visual reminders that pointed to Jesus

AP:

Strict adherence was demanded by God.

This signifies unwavering commitment to God's commands.

We must steadfastly maintain our spiritual integrity amidst worldly distractions, akin to how Jesus embodied perfect obedience to the Father.

Like Israel removing leaven, we must examine our lives and remove anything that hinders us.

We are set apart for God’s service and should live that way!

We must be fully engaged and obeying Him.

In Christ, our ultimate deliverance is secure, empowering us to live lives above reproach.

He makes it possible to live holy lives.

1 Peter 2:21–24 LSB

For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, who did no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His wounds you were healed.

Conc

Commence the Cleansing

Remove the leaven of contaminating influences from our lives

Consecrate Sacred Spaces

Set aside times, habits, and places for seeking God.

Commit to Consistent Compliance

Be faithful!