Newsletter: 2011-03d On the 15h Day – Days of Unleavened Bread

Greetings from HomeWorship 101™

“…on the fifteenth day of the same month
is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to YHWH;
seven days you must eat unleavened bread.”
- Leviticus 23:6

The Days of Unleavened Bread begin on the 15th day (April 19 begins eve of 18^th, last day 25th), and are observed for seven days, with the first and last days a Holy convocation, verses 6-8. Death has passed - we are alive! We are justified in the eyes of GOD! Now we must purge out the leaven of sin and rejoice over the wonderful New Year ahead!

The symbolism of bread was very important to our CREATOR. In the Tabernacle/Temple it was to be displayed at all times (Exo.25:30). Yahshuas’ life continued this symbolism. He was born in Bethlehem, in Hebrew it is called Beth Lechem, meaning House of Bread. He continually used the image of bread and growing grain in His teachings.

In one of His most famous miracles, the feeding of the 5,000, Yahshua literally showed that He is the “bread of life,” and he who “eats the bread of life will live forever” (Jno.6:47-51). When He died, He was wrapped in white linen and buried in the earth, and managed to do it on this very Holy Day of Unleavened Bread. And finally, He rose, He was “brought forth from the earth.”

The term Holy convocation has added some confusion to this Holy Day season because, technically speaking, Passover is not a Holy convocation, it is the “night to be much observed” (Exo.12:42). Except for the nighttime, it is okay to work on the Passover day. The Bible says the fifteenth day is a Holy convocation. For some reason the ancient rabbis have ignored verse 5 and merged their Passover observance into the first Days of Unleavened Bread. They made it one seven day holiday period called the Feast of Passover, with all Jews performing a Seder on the first night, and some on the first two nights, beginning on the fifteenth day of the month.

~ The Curtain Rises ~

The history of the Days of Unleavened Bread is as long as Passover. The first day represents the time when the Israelites were finally freed from the terrible bondage of Pharaoh and embarked on their long trek out of Egypt to YAHWEH’S promised land. In the Bible, this age of Egypt is associated with leaven, sin, and a terrible life of bondage. HIS people were to be separate from Egypt and the world system they represented.

This was a day of great joy and surprise; the message is one’s life can change in the wink of an eye. The beginning of the exodus began in surprise. After the horrific Passover night the Hebrew people were finally freed. The very next morning the word was given, you are free! Pack your things together and get, while the gettin’ is good! The bread was made in “haste,” there was no time to let it sit and rise. This type of bread is called unleavened bread, and it was the main stay of life during the exodus. The example of the exodus represents that the Hebrews will put off “that old life,” including the philosophies and ways of sinful Egypt, and “live as separate righteous people unto YAHWEH.”

The seventh day, which is the last day of this Holy period, the people crossed the Red Sea to finally be free from the terrors of Egypt. After passing through the Red Sea, they completed their exodus. They were now separated and their sins washed away. They were baptized by the waters of the Red Sea and ready to receive the knowledge of the Kingdom.

The exodus is also symbolic of leaving this puffed up, phony material world behind, and start a new beginning of walking a GODLY path in ones life. YAHWEH is not only interested in your freedom, but also in your spiritual condition. YHWH is not just showing HIS plan of redemption for HIS creation HE is showing us how the individual must live in order to join HIS eternal Kingdom. HE is not a gotcha kind of GOD trying to keep you out of Heaven; He cares about what you are going to be. HE wants to teach you to transform your sinful condition, to be baptized and reborn into a new GODLY understanding.

Bread is ancient in its GODLY symbolism and is esteemed by all cultures. Everything done with it, from the sowing of seeds, to the baking of it, was done in reverence to GOD. Bread was called the staff and stay of life (Isa.3:1). It was universal, all classes of people, rich or poor, in all parts of the ancient world, understood the necessity of the bread of life.

The purpose of bread is to give life to the eater. This is the theme behind the spiritual lessons of bread, to give new life to the spiritual body. Just after the exodus, Moses and the people had their years of “wandering in the wilderness.” During that time YAHWEH sent the people bread from Heaven (Exo.16:4-5). It energized, enlightened, and encouraged the people. It was called “the bread of the mighty,” or “the angel’s food,” more commonly know today as manna from Heaven.

Some time later when Yahshua came and said, “. . . I am the bread of life . . . which cometh down from Heaven . . .” (Jno.6:47-51), His followers instantly knew the spiritual symbolism behind His statement.

~ Act Two, Scene Two ~

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.”
- John 3:16-17

The tragic drama continues as Yahshua - the “Bread of Life,” who was born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means “The House of Bread” - was wrapped in linen cloth was laid in a tomb just before this High Holy Day of Unleavened Bread began.

The curious prophetic words of John the Baptist when he first greeted Yahshua are about to be realized: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” John 1:29. True to the symbolism of a sacrificial lamb, which makes no noise when being led to slaughter, Yahshua, the innocent victim, gave no defense at his trial. The ruling establishment raised public opinion against Him, and the Romans crucified Him around 9:00 a.m. the following morning for crimes against the Roman state.

Crucifixion along the roadside, was a torturous slow-death, it normally took up to three days to die in such a manner. It was specifically designed this way to terrorize an occupied population. All the victims’ friends would pass by during the days’ routine and witness the slow and painful death.

Many theologians still debate if the cross Yahshua was nailed to was really a cross, a T shape, or just a straight stake. The Romans probably used all three styles, but for Yahshua who was the “King of the Jews,” He received the deluxe treatment. The cross style was needed for the plaque over His head and it was the heaviest for Him to carry.

Amazingly, Yahshua died around 3:00 P.M. later that Passover day (Mar.15:33-37), and that was odd. He was on the cross for about six hours. Most men would have lived at least for a day or two on the cross. To hasten death, the Roman soldiers would break their legs so their sagging bodies would eventually restrict their airway, causing the victim to suffocate. The soldiers broke the legs of the other two thieves crucified with Yahshua, but when they came to Him, they saw that He was already dead. As would happen many times, by not breaking His legs, a gentile - who could care less about the Jews - unknowingly fulfilled Hebrew prophecy (Joh.19:31-36; Ps.34:20). Yahshua was placed in a tomb before sundown (Luk.23:54-55).

Just claiming to be a peaceful messiah did not always guarantee a death sentence, the Judean hills were full of messiahs. Yet a hastily convened illegal court - a spectacle that has yet to be equaled, gave this innocent Prophet a torturous death penalty. Make no mistake; they (the religious rulers) killed Him because they were afraid of Him! Sadly, many people misunderstood the Messiah’s simple Kingdom lessons. Generally, the people did not understand why He allowed Himself to be arrested, tried and crucified on a cursed cross. When that happened, most of the people lost faith in Him as the promised Messiah, because His Kingdom did not overthrow Rome and did not restore Israel. Unfortunately, because of this most rejected their promised “suffering Messiah.”

After His death Yahshua descended to Hades, for three days, to minister to the lost souls in the discomfort side (Act.2:27; 1Pet.3:19). He told them of the hope of salvation at the Great White Judgment and how it is best to survive the discomfort of their confinement.

Then He went and told the comfort side of Hades, “. . . come it is time for you to inherit the Kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world . . .,” Matthew 25:31-34. He then took the comfort side - the saved souls of the Old Testament times - of Hades, to the third Heaven, (Eph.4:8-10; 2Cor.12:2).

“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
- Matthew 22:32

~ The Holy Day Preparations - Personal Sanctification ~

“When pride comes, then comes shame;
but with the humble is wisdom.”
- Proverbs 11:2

These Holy Days teach us to approach YHWH and Yahshua with humility. They teach us to be humble and temper our lofty pride and to curb our desire to be important. The lesson cautions us not to indulge in triumphalism, dogmatism, or overconfidence, and YHWH teaches us this through HIS Bible and home worship. Participating in the Holy Days means one is about to receive the Wisdom of YHWH'S Kingdom and that Wisdom cannot be misused, so these first Holy Days begin with a warning lesson about the sin of pride which was played out for all the world to see long ago in ancient Egypt between Moses and Pharaoh. The Divine message is: Be humble, and temper your lofty pride or you will wind up in ruin like Pharaoh (Exo.ch.13-15).

“Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled
and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Luke 18:14

The physical preparations for the spiritual lessons began on the 10th day when we were required to test the theology we follow, or test our method of achieving eternal life. The preparations for the next Holy Days of Passover and Unleavened Bread, is that we should clean out our dwellings of all leavening products. The spiritual lesson is that we should expel from our characters anything that puffs us up, and throw out any dark doctrines you might have picked up. The physical lesson is to clean the place in which you live. I know for some people the thought of spring-cleaning sends shivers up their spines. But there is a reason for it; good health responds well to the spiritual exercises of housecleaning with loved ones. YHWH is teaching us is that HE knows that some people may be less then meticulous in their personal habits, so HE wants to teach all humanity that being neat, orderly, and learn that living in a clean house has health benefits for the physical body.

“That such widespread misunderstanding should exist
about the word (sanctification) and its meaning, is a spiritual disaster.
If there is one New Testament term more than another
which calls for rescue it is that precious, expressive word, Sanctification.“
- Sidlow Baxter

The first moral lesson of the Holy season is showing humanity that pride is the worst sin of all, and must be brought under control before any spiritual learning can begin. Or you will never understand the mysteries revealed in HIS Spiritual Opera of Holy Days. The faithful are justified and sanctified through the Passover blood but they must learn how to remain that way. The Bible has many verses that teach humility because people cannot learn how to remain justified and sanctified if one is too prideful to heed YHWH’s teachings. To remind humanity of this, the preparation for these first Holy Days means removing all food leavening products from your house and diet. And while we are cleaning out our houses of puffed up foods, symbolically, we must make the effort to remove the leaven of prideful sin from our hearts because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.5:7-8); and we should also clean out the bad doctrines we follow because they will lead us astray (Heb 13:9).

“Therefore purge out the old leaven,
that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.
For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”
-1 Corinthians 5:7-8

This passage clearly shows Paul teaching that “keeping the Feasts” is not just for the Jews but also for the new Christians. Many people believe the sun shines through their bellybuttons. It is the center of the universe syndrome. The Apostle Paul was admonishing the congregation to perform a personal spiritual housecleaning, to humble ourselves, to purge out false teachings and redirect our spiritual path in the footsteps of our Messiah’s living example (1Pet.2:21). Some of the things to “put off” during the spiritual house cleaning are the sinful nature, “the works of the flesh,” a list is found in Galatians ch.5. Abstaining from eating leavened products depicts the ongoing personal responsibility of every Believer to abstain from sin; this process is called “personal sanctification.”

Preparing for this eight-day, Holy festival was normally completed before Passover. In the Bible leavening is symbolic of the sin of pride. Proud, vain, boastful, big ego, are the opposites of “walking humbly with your GOD.” All the people would understand the simple analogy of leavening - puffed up bread - is symbolic of puffed up people. This is a “biggie” message from our CREATOR. First at Passover, HE dazzles us with miracles while learning to fear spiritual death, and now we will spend seven days of our daily life in a spiritual “walk in the newness of life” (Rom.6:4). Tempering our personalities, through focusing on this ungodly characteristic of pride in humanity.

The leaven (sin) must be cleansed from our dwellings (and hearts). To physically commemorate the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread, all food items (except animal food) containing leavening products were put out of the house and not eaten during these Holy Days. Leavening is yeast, baking soda and baking powder, which are used in bread, cookies, cakes, etc. It takes some planning and preparation, the house must be cleaned, almost sterilized, of every crumb of bread or anything that has leavening in it - every speck of sin must be purged.

Removing sin from the house is a tough job. Everything is cleaned and scrubbed; it gives new meaning to the term spring-cleaning. The historical lesson is taken from 2Kings 23:19-22 where King Josiah raged through Israel like a tornado cleaning out the pagan altars from the land, even YAHWEH was impressed with his Passover preparation. This is serious deep cleaning; leavening must be removed from every hiding place, from every corner of the house, from the back of the cabinets, to behind the refrigerator, under the sofa, etc.

It may take a couple of days to thoroughly clean sin out of the house and it is a family affair. The husband does the heavy lifting, and the young children who are just learning ask, “why are we throwing out all the good stuff to eat?” The spiritual lesson begins for the children as a game of hide-and-seek. Search and find the little crumb of sin, catch it and throw it into the fire, then watch sin burn up (as it will be in the future judgment time).

~ The Health Benefit ~

This is spring cleaning for the spirit and the soul. It would be easy to dismiss all this housecleaning and say it is the purity of the heart that counts, but our CREATOR knows keeping your clothes and living quarters clean will help in promoting vigorous health. It is interesting to note that during the Black Death plague of Europe ’s middle ages, the rabbis passed the word to get the dwellings of the faithful Passover clean (Lev.ch.13-15). The Jews listened and cleaned out their slums. Their mortality rates were only 5-10% of the population compared to Europeans much higher numbers. Do you think the Christians opened up their Bibles and learned? Fahgeddaboutit! Do you think they would ask the Jews what they did? Fahgeddaboutit!! They figured the Jews were in league with the devil and promptly began to kill them. It only took about 3,500 years for the rebellious humans to learn the Biblical lessons of cleanliness and sanitation. It is a great example of how “governments will always do the right thing - after they have exhausted all other possibilities.”

I would even suggest taking your spring-cleaning one step further. Knowing that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.6:19), then during this time of eating unleavened foods, eat a little lighter, drink some cleansing teas, and maybe do a colon cleansing to restore your body’s health. When I began researching herbal healing I discovered that in the days before modern medicines and fast foods, people would eat light at the beginning of spring and drink some cleansing teas. When I mentioned this to some of my friends and relatives, they mentioned that they remembered when they were young their grandparents would always do something like this in the early springtime. I commented, what has changed in the human body in modern times? Nothing! What was good for the body back then is still good for today. And seeing today’s high incidence of colon cancer I would suggest that we all get busy cleaning out our temples along with our dwelling places.

Enjoy the journey of learning…
Ø Holy Day Dates: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_calendar.htm
Ø Spring Holy Days: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_spring.htm
Ø Spring Holy Days How To: http://www.homeworship101.com/holy_days_spring_observance.htm
Ø Christian Passover: http://www.homeworship101.com/NL_2006_05.htm

Please remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and for all those who stand with Israel (Ps.122).

Take care. Peace and blessings, Errol.
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Errol Mueller, chronicler extraordinaire
e-mail: errol@homeworship101.com
website: www.homeworship101.com
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WSC Newsletter 2011-03d, posted 04/16/11.

Copyright © 2011 Errol Mueller. All rights reserved. Short quotations, page copying, or redistribution for personal or non-commercial group study is permitted and encouraged, provided they are copied in total with no alterations or deletions. Author’s name, website address, and copyright notice must be included. If any other use is desired, written permission is required.

For information, email or call (334) 678-0913. White Stone Communications (Rev.2:17), Dothan, AL.
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.

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On the 15th Day - Days of Unleavened Bread