Working Through the Unleavened Bread Issues–Part Four
The legitimacy of the spring holy day season as Christian doctrine cannot be overlooked or discarded. Certainly, the observances of Christ’s memorial and the related days of the festival of unleavened bread are credibly within the practices and personal teachings of the apostles and Jesus. When the time came for the Exodus from Egypt the blood of the Passover sacrifice was carefully placed on the lintels and doorposts of the houses. Then following the Passover meal—hurriedly eaten with unleavened bread—the people of Israel anxiously waited until morning when they would begin their departure from Egypt, which suggests to us something about the days of unleavened bread. For we find that the dough used to make bread for the Passover meal was unleavened, and the dough they took with them was also unleavened. So at no time did the Israelites make provision for eating leavened bread as the families assembled for their departure out of Egypt, which leads us to consider the historical circumstances surrounding Israel’s exodus, and the eating of unleavened bread on the 14th of Nissan (Ex. 12:8, 34, 39). Bringing us to this question Was the day of the Passover sacrifice and festival also a commanded observance for eating unleavened bread? Now, the framework for the Spring festivals is established in Scripture, which designates the 14th of Nissan as the day for the Passover sacrifice, and this day is also to be memorialized, making it a day of observance (Lev. 23:5-6). “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 forever” (Ex. 12:14). Then in addition to the Passover observance, the Festival of Unleavened Bread is stated to be on the 15th of Nissan, and it is associated with two holy convocations and seven consecutive days of eating unleavened bread when leaven is also to be removed from the houses (Ex. 12:15-16). This makes for an interesting pattern established in Scripture. This same pattern is found in Numbers where we read: “And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the Lord. And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. In the first day shall be an holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of servile work therein:.. And on the seventh day ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work” (Num. 28:16-18, 25). Still another example is found in Deuteronomy, which states it this way: “Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning” (Deut. 16:2-4). Here the distinction is carried further by separating the Passover sacrifice on the “first day at even” from the following seven days of unleavened bread when leaven is not to be found in places of residence within the settlements. (Traditionally the Passover is understood to be the day that comes first in respect to the two distinctive festivals (Deut. 16:1).) So the intention was to “eat no leavened bread” throughout the Passover festival as it is an extension and memorial of the Passover sacrifice, or simply, the seven consecutive days of eating unleavened bread are in addition to a day of eating unleavened bread that falls on the 14th of Nissan, when the Passover was sacrificed. Let’s look at this pattern again in a different context, because it is fundamentally the way the season of unleavened bread and the Spring festivals are expressed in Scripture. In Exodus we read that God instructed Moses to sanctify: “all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine” (Ex. 13:2). This particular service has been referred to as the sanctification of the firstborn, and its establishment is based on the terrible event that took place in Egypt—the death of the firstborn. However, a commonly accepted conclusion places the sanctification of the firstborn on the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This conclusion is generally drawn from commentaries that place the Passover on the 15th of Nissan, and from the assumption this sanctification occurred about the time the people of Israel departed Succoth. (Dating the sanctification of the firstborn according to the journeys creates unsupported conclusions because the Israelites probably left Succoth on the 16th of Nissan or later.) Therefore, we should take a closer look at this issue. Now, Moses explained to the people of Israel that the sanctification of the firstborn was to be observed as an ordinance from year to year, and it was to be kept as a memorial for continuing generations. The significance of this memorial is found in what God was willing to do in order for the people of Israel to be freed from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 4:22-23; 13:9-10). In this way future generations could explain how this was “done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt” (Ex. 13:8). [Author’s emphasis throughout.] What we need to examine then is the ordinance carried out by Moses who commanded the people to “keep this service in this month [Abib/Nissan]” (Ex. 13:5). So, what service or function did Moses and the people perform that sanctified the firstborn as God commanded, which became an ordinance from year to year?