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Exodus 12:14–20
“You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever” (v. 17).
Our Creator revealed to the ancient Israelites that they were to annually keep the Passover feast in order to remember how God had struck dead the firstborn of Egypt and passed over the firstborn Israelites, sparing their lives, at the time of the exodus (Ex. 11:1–12:13). Yet Passover was not the only feast the Lord instituted to commemorate the exodus from Egypt. As we read in today’s passage, God also determined that Israel must observe “the Feast of Unleavened Bread” (12:17).
Strictly speaking, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is different from Passover. But because the two feasts essentially coincided, it became customary for the ancient Israelites to regard them as one feast. The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was the same as the day of the Passover meal (12:3–6, 18), and this day is emphasized in Exodus 12:14. Since it marked the beginning of the seven days on which they were to eat unleavened bread (see vv. 18–19), making sure to start with Passover on the first day was absolutely essential to getting the entire chronology of the feast right. On the first and last days of the feast, the Israelites were to keep a Sabbath and hold a holy assembly or gathering of the people (v. 16), which would help them set the entire seven days apart as a special time of worship and dedication to God.
We have noted that not everything that happened on the very first Passover was repeated at each feast thereafter. In the case of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, much of what was prescribed could not take place in the period when the feast was first instituted but awaited Israel’s departure from the land. After all, there was hardly time in Egypt on the night God passed over the Israelites and struck the firstborn dead for Israel to completely rid their homes of leaven. In fact, the key requirement of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to stay away from leaven altogether. The Israelites could not eat leavened bread and could not even have it in their homes at all during the feast (vv. 15, 17–19). Leaven is often, but not always, a symbol for sin in Scripture, and that is its significance here. Getting rid of leaven reminded the Israelites of their need to leave behind the false religion and sins of Egypt and to continue putting sin away once they were in Canaan. This is the essential meaning Paul attributes to the leaven, calling believers to put sin away in light of the sacrifice of the true Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 5:6–8).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Matthew Henry comments, “All the old leaven of sin must be put far from us, with the utmost caution and abhorrence, if we would keep the feast of a holy life to the honor of Christ.” We keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread today not by removing leaven from our houses but by putting sin to death in our lives. In thankfulness to Christ, we are to set aside our sin and seek to do only what Jesus commands.
For Further Study
- Exodus 13:3–10
- Ezekiel 45:21–24
- Matthew 16:5–12
- Galatians 5:7–9