Unleavened Bread Part 1

A Meal for Pilgrims

Lev.23:6

The Feast of Unleavened Bread followed the Passover. On the 14th day of the first month, the Jewish people observed Passover. Then from the 15th day to the 21st, they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This is described for us in Exodus 12: "They shall eat the flesh [the flesh of the lamb] in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden [boiled] at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance [inward parts] thereof. 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. 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" (vv. 8-11).

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the people were very careful not to have any leaven (yeast) in their dwellings. In our next chapter we will think about the cleansing of the leaven from the house, but now we want to focus on the actual feast.

First there is redemption (the blood is shed and the blood is applied), and then there is rejoicing. First we are saved from bondage and death, and then we are strengthened to live for the Lord. First the judgment is removed, and then we, in obedience to the Lord, remove sin from our lives. Redemption should lead to reformation and renewal.

In I Corinthians 5:7,8, we are taught very clearly that the Feast of the Unleavened Bread pictures the Christian life: "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast." Because we are Christians we have certain privileges and certain responsibilities from God. To discover these privileges and responsibilities, let's answer four simple questions about the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

I. Who Could Eat?

First of all, who could eat of this feast? The answer is given in Exodus 12:43-51. Moses makes it very clear that no foreigner could participate in the feast (v. 43). In other words, the Egyptians were not allowed to eat of this feast. No matter how wise, how well educated, how rich, no outsiders were permitted to eat of the feast. Only God's people could share in this feast. It was not a matter of morality, it was a matter of birth. If you were born into the nation of Israel, you were then privileged to share in this feast. A servant who was purchased by money could share in the feast provided he had been circumcised; that is, he belonged to the Covenant (see v. 44). "A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof," says verse 45.

The strangers and the outsiders (the foreigners) were not permitted to eat of the feast. And this is true today! The lamb is a picture, of course, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are outside the family of God, who have never trusted in Jesus Christ, cannot feed on Him. Those who have not been purchased by His blood, those who have not been marked by God who do not have the Holy Spirit of God in their lives cannot feed on Christ. They are excluded from the feast.

You may be asking, "What does it mean to `feed on Christ'? I don't understand that kind of lan­guage!" Well, your confession may be evidence that you are an outsider, a stranger, a foreigner. You may not be a fellow citizen in the household of faith. Perhaps you have never been born again into the family of God. Those who were in the house, protected by the blood, were the ones who were privileged to eat of this Feast of Unleavened Bread.

I want to ask you a very personal question: Are you feeding on the Lord Jesus? Some will reply, "Oh, yes, I am. I know what you are talking about. My daily delight is to feed on the Lord Jesus Christ." Others will say, "What in the world are you talking about? How can I feed on Jesus?" Well, if that is your response, then it means either you have never been taught in the Scriptures or you have never really entered into the family. It may mean you are not sheltered by the blood, that you are a stranger, an outsider. If you are not protected by the blood of Christ, you are under judgment.

Who could eat? Only those who were born into the family, or purchased, those who were marked by God and who were protected by the blood.

II. How Did They Eat?

Now, question number two: How did they eat? "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" (Ex. 12:11). You see, they ate this feast as pilgrims. They were ready to be called out at any minute. Egypt was not their home. Egypt was a place of bondage, a place where they were under the sen­tence of condemnation. Israel was destined for the Promised Land. That was their real home. They ate this feast as pilgrims who were ready to be called out at God's command. You and I must live the Christian life as those who may be called out at any minute.

For one thing, we don't know when we might die. Even more than that, we don't know when Jesus may return. We don't know the day or the hour. We want to be faithfully doing our task when the Lord returns. As Israel fed on the lamb, they were feeding as pilgrims who were ready for relocation. They also ate in haste. My mother always told me not to gulp down my food. We taught our children to eat their food leisurely and not to be in haste. But not so with this feast! These pilgrims ate in haste so they would not be caught lingering behind when the summons came to move out.

Some Christians today are living as though there is no crisis. I'm not saying we should become ner­vous and upset. Nor am I suggesting we should be running around like the proverbial chicken with her head cut off. But the suggestion is made here that, i just like Israel in Egypt, we are living in crisis times. A crisis was at hand in the land of Egypt, and the Jews were to eat in haste lest they be caught unpre­pared. Lot lingered, and the angels had to drag him out of Sodom. Then his wife turned back and looked in disobedience, and she was judged (see Gen. 19:15-26).

Are you eating in haste? I mean by that, are you keeping alert to the fact that Jesus may come? "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (I Pet. 1:13). They had their loins girded. We must have our minds girded for action. We must not allow our minds to get filled with all sorts of extraneous things. We should have the loins of our mind girded up. Pull your mind together, pull your thoughts together! Shoes on your feet, your staff in your hand, waiting to be called!

How did they eat? They ate as a family. The entire household was involved in this feast. If the household was too little for the lamb, then the neighbors came along and two households were joined. It was a family feast. All of the people of God, under the blood, fed on the lamb. It is a picture of God's people today, united as one family.

They ate the feast at night. You and I are living in a time of darkness. This world is dark. The light of God's Word is shining in this dark world, and it is the only trustworthy light that we have. We are living in a time of darkness and crisis, and we are feeding on Jesus Christ.

III. What Did They Eat?

Who could eat? Those who belonged to the family, those under the blood. How did they eat? As pil­grims in haste, as a family, waiting to be called. Now a third question: What did they eat? For one thing, they ate the lamb. They were not saved by eating the lamb. They were saved by applying the blood. Some Christians do not take time daily to feed on Jesus Christ, and they are missing a lot. They say, "Oh, yes, I'm saved by the blood, but I don't spend much time reading my Bible. I don't spend much time praying. I'm not feeding on the Lord Jesus." No wonder they lack strength for their pilgrim journey!

This lamb, you will notice, was roasted with fire. This speaks of the judgment of Calvary. They did not eat the lamb raw. People talk about the life of Jesus, the example of Jesus, the teaching of Jesus, but they don't mention the death of Jesus. They don't want the cross. But that is trying to eat Jesus Christ raw. (These, of course, are symbolic terms, but the lesson is very clear.) The lamb had to go through the fire, and Jesus Christ had to go through the fire of judgment for us.

I notice that they were supposed to eat all of the lamb. Anything that was left over was to be burned in fire. We need all of Jesus Christ, a whole Christ, and not just a part of Jesus. We need the whole Saviour. The Lord Jesus went through the fires of Calvary for us. His blood was shed for us, and we need to feed on all of the Lord Jesus—the warnings and the promises, the principles and the admoni­tions. We need all of the Lord Jesus --- His perfect life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension. We need all of Him, and as we feed on Him, we are obeying the Lord.

Exodus 12:4 makes it clear that everybody had his own particular capacity: "Every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb." Not every Christian has the same appetite. Some saints of God are so filled up with worldly things, they've lost their appetite for the Lord Jesus. But some believers so love the Lord Jesus that they feed on Him moment by moment.

They also ate the bitter herbs. This reminded them of their suffering in Egypt. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses over and over again says, "Now, you remember you were in bondage in the land of Egypt. Remember that God delivered you from that bondage." Alas, too often the Jews forgot. We are not supposed to remember our past sins—they have been taken care of and God has forgotten them but don't ever forget what your life was like before you met the Lord Jesus. The next time you think God has been hard on you and the Christian life is too difficult, just remember that you once were in bondage to sin and the Lord Jesus delivered you. They ate the bitter herbs to remind them they had suffered under bondage.

They also ate the unleavened bread. Leaven (yeast) is a picture of sin. There was not supposed to be any yeast in their homes for that whole week. They had to cleanse their homes and their lives of any leaven.

Now, please note that they were not saved by eating the lamb they were saved by trusting God and applying the blood. They were not saved by putting away the leaven they put away the leaven because they were saved. It is not by cleaning up your life that you are rescued from condemnation it is by trusting the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

IV. Why Did They Eat?

One final question: Why did they eat? They did not eat the lamb to be saved because they were saved by the blood. They ate the lamb because they needed the strength and the nourishment for their pilgrim journey. You and I are pilgrims on the way to glory (I Pet. 2:11). We need to feed on Jesus Christ through the Word or we will faint on the way. As we feed on Him, we are strengthened for our pilgrim journey.

Are you feeding on Jesus Christ, or are you one of the outsiders? Are you feeding on Him as a pilgrim ready to be called away? Are you enjoying all of the Lord Jesus? Have you put sin out of your life? Are you being strengthened day by day as you feed on Him? This is the meaning of the Feast of Unleav­ened Bread. Let us keep this feast to the glory of God as we feed on the Lord Jesus and wait expectantly for His call.

Be God's guest! You need strength for the journey!