Lesson #13

EXODUS 12:15-20
Lesson #13
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BREAD WITHOUT LEAVEN

• Memory Verse: Joh 6:35

• In our study of the ten plagues, we have seen where scripture specifically says that the Israelites were exempt from specific plagues, and in other plagues, the Bible does not say whether the Israelites were exempt or not. However, in the tenth plague, the Bible says that the plague of the firstborn would come on all. Why were the Israelites not exempt from this plague?
• The condemnation of sin is on all mankind, and this last plague is a type or prefigure of God’s judgment on sin that would bring redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
• Because Israel is God’s model, He demonstrates through them how He will provide a way of redemption for all the world, and not just Israel, by means of a substitute.That substitute is a lamb.
• In our study of the book of Exodus, we are at the place where God is giving Moses instruction about surviving the last plague, the plague of the firstborn.
• We have discussed the initial instructions about the night of the first Passover. As we have already seen, Passover was not just one day. The Israelites had to keep the lamb in the house for 10 days prior to the Passover.
• Remember 10 is the Biblical number for testing according to God’s standard. The lamb had to be tested to make sure it was without blemish.
• God did not exempt the Israelites from this plague in order to prove to the Israelites that redemption comes through faith in the blood of a lamb and not by the works of Moses.
• To be protected from this plague, the Israelites had to be obedient to God’s instructions. They needed to have faith in the blood of the lamb to cover them as they faithfully remained in their houses.
• The New Testament believer is saved by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ and not by his own works.
• Before we continue, we need to consider, in a more complete way, exactly how the Passover is a type or prefigure of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.

The Passover	Jesus Christ
The sacrifice must be a lamb (Exo 12:3)	Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God (1Cor 5:7)
The lamb must be without blemish (Exo 12:5)	Jesus Christ is without blemish (1Pet 1:18-19)
The lamb must be in the prime of life (Exo 12:5)	Jesus Christ was in the prime of life when He was sacrificed on the cross.
The blood of the lamb was shed so that the Israelites would have life (Exo 12:6-7)	The blood of Jesus Christ was shed so that all would have spiritual life (Joh 3:16)
The blood must be applied personally to the door posts with hyssop (Exo 12:7, 22)	The blood of Christ must be applied personally to one’s heart by faith (hyssop) (Rom 3:25-26 Rom 10:9-10)
The blood must be seen from outside the door. (Exo 12:7)	Christ must be openly confessed (Mat 10:32-33)
There was no safety except behind the blood-stained doors (Exo 12:22)	There is no eternal safety except under the blood of Jesus Christ (Mar 16:16)
In safety, the Israelites fed themselves on the lamb (Exo 12:8)	In the safety of a relationship with Christ, the believer must feed on Christ (Joh 6:53, 56)
The flesh of the lamb must be roasted with fire (Exo 12:8)	Jesus Christ needed to endure the suffering and God’s wrath as He judged sin. (Heb 9:26 2Cor 5:21)
No bone of the lamb was to be broken (Exo 12:5)	No bone of Jesus’ body was broken on the cross (Joh 19:36)
All the lamb must be eaten with bitter herbs. (Exo 12:8)	The believer must feed on Christ and remember with contrition the bitter cost of redemption. (Luk 22:19)
The Passover meal must be separated from leaven. (Exo 12:8)	The believer’s intimate walk with the Lord must be separate from sin (leaven). (1Joh 3:9-10)
The Israelites must maintain a pilgrim attitude. (Exo 12:11)	The believer must maintain a pilgrim attitude for this world is not our home. (1Pet 2:11 Heb 11:13)
The Passover lamb was killed at 3:00 p.m.	Jesus Christ died on the cross at 3:00 p.m. (Mat 27:45, 50)
No blood of the lamb was put on the threshold of the door. (Exo 12:7)	The blood of Jesus Christ is not to be trampled under foot. (Heb 10:28-29)

• Read Exo 12:15-20 The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6-8)
• This passage introduces us to a feast ordained by God that is not totally related to the night of the first Passover. It is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
• Remember that the Israelites were to eat the Passover meal the night the death angel passed over Egypt. It was in the darkness of the night that they left Egypt. They carried unleavened bread with them to eat in the desert.
• The instructions for the celebration of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are linked to the way the Israelites would celebrate the Passover every year after the first Passover because on the calendar it immediately follows the Passover celebration.
• Read Lev 23:4-8
• This feast was to begin on the fifteenth day of the month of Nisan (Abib). It was to last 7 days.
• The practice of this feast:

• “…ye shall put away leaven out of your houses…”

(15)

• The people were to clean their houses to make sure that they removed all traces of leaven from their houses. This meant the removal from the house of all breads, crackers, and alcoholic beverages in which leaven was used.
• What is leaven?
• Leaven is yeast that is used to make a loaf of bread rise before and during baking.
• With the removal of leaven, the people must eat unleavened bread for 7 days.
• What is unleavened bread? Why is it important?
• The Jews call it “matzo“. It is a flat cracker that has been beaten, pierced, and baked to make sure that it does not rise but remains flat.
• The matzo is in itself symbolic of Jesus Christ, who said that He was the bread from heaven. (Joh 6:32-33)
• The matzo is made from fine white flour = the purity of Jesus Christ.
• The matzo dough is kneaded and pounded = the beating Jesus endured before crucifixion.
• When the matzo dough is beaten enough to remove all air, it is rolled out to make it flat = Jesus Christ was laid out on the cross.
• The matzo dough is then scored into squares and pierced to ensure that all air escapes during baking = Jesus Christ was pieced on the cross.
• Then the matzo dough is then baked in a hot oven = Jesus Christ endured the wrath of God as the Father placed on His Son all the sins of the world and judged them to be worthy of death.
• “…whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”

(15)

• The Israelite was to eat unleavened bread beginning with the Passover meal and for 7 days after that.
• The Israelite that ate leaven in his bread was cut off. What does that mean?
• There are a variety of interpretations:
• It means cut off from fellowship with other Israelites.
• It means killed by stoning.
• It means cut off spiritually from the covenant promises of God.
• Spiritually speaking, the person whose sins are not forgiven by the substitutionary death of the lamb is cut off from God for eternity. How do we know this is what is meant? We know it by significance spiritual of the meaning of the word, leaven.
• The significance of this feast:
• The significance of this feast lies in the symbolism of the leaven.
• The Scriptural and spiritual meaning of leaven as a symbol:
• Through all the Old Testament and the New Testament, leaven was to symbolize the corruption of sin or evil.
• Read Mat 16:6, 11-12 (Luk 12:1)
• Jesus tells us in Luke that the leaven of the Pharisees is the sin of hypocrisy.
• Read 1Cor 5:6-8
• The removal of leaven from the house represents the removal of sin in the life of the believer after he has personally identified himself with Jesus Christ, his Passover lamb. Therefore, the person who does not personally accept the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, as his personal substitution cuts himself off from God’s forgiveness of sin.
• The prophetic fulfillment of the feasts:
• There are 4 prophetic feasts that God gave the Jews to represent Christ’s first coming to this earth.
• #1 = the Feast of Passover (14th day of Nisan)
• #2 = the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15th day of Nisan)
• #3 = the Feast of Firstfruits (17th day of Nisan)
• #4 = the Feast of Pentecost (50th day after Passover)
• Jesus Christ fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread just as He fulfilled the Passover.
• Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was crucified on Passover, the 14th of Nisan. (Lev 23:4-5) His sacrifice brings the believer into a relationship with God, the Father, through the forgiveness of sin.
• On the 15th of Nisan, Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, was in the tomb having made possible for the believer a new communion with God. (The Feast of Unleavened Bread)
• The Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:9-14) to begin on the 17th day of Nisan. Jesus fulfilled this feast on the day of His resurrection.
• Notice that one feast flowed immediately into the next feast. The Feast of Firstfruits began before the Feast of Unleavened Bread concluded. Why?
• The feasts were to be fulfilled in the first coming of Christ.
• The number 7 in the 7 days of the feast represents God’s perfect and complete communion with the believer through a perfect forgiveness of sin.
• Therefore Jesus Christ fulfilled the first 4 feasts of Lev 23 at His first coming:
• The Feast of Passover = The crucifixion.
• Feast of Unleavened Bread = In the tomb.
• Feast of Firstfruits = Resurrection
• Feast of Pentecost = Day of Pentecost.
• God’s purpose for the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

• “…for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.”

(17)

• An army:
• The Israelites were brought out of Egypt to be a nation of people.
• The Israelites were brought out to be a redeemed people of God.
• The Israelites were brought out to be an army. They were going to have to fight for their land in the promised land.
• The Israelites owned the land because God gave it to them through Abraham. However, they had to possess the land. Owning and possessing are two different things.
• We have a parallel with the New Testament believer. The believer owns the promises of God, however, he must fight a spiritual battle to possess those promises by faith. In that respect, believers are also part of a spiritual army.
• Like the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be celebrated forever by the Jews.
• To commemorate God’s redemption through the blood of a lamb that brought freedom to the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt so that the power of God could sustain them in the wilderness through bread from heaven.
• To point the Jews to Jesus Christ, the substituionary lamb of God that brings freedom from the wages of sin, the guilt of sin, the presence of sin, and the power of sin, so that the power of the Holy Spirit might be manifested in a life that feeds on Jesus Christ, the bread from heaven.
• Review and application:
• In verses 18-20 God repeats the pattern and importance of eating unleavened bread.
• When something is repeated in scripture, God is saying that it is important for us to notice.
• Because of this importance, we need to examine some New Testament concepts to obtain a full perspective of what God had in mind through the four feasts that eventually came to be called by one name, Passover. It is through an understanding of these feasts that we see the model of the Christian life.
• The Passover:
• The reality of freedom from the punishment of sin (leaven) through Jesus Christ (the lamb) (Isa 53:5 1The 1:10):
• By repentance and faith in the blood of Christ, the believer gains forgiveness (Col 1:14 Eph 1:7):
• …of all past sins (Rom 3:25)
• …of all present sins (Gal 1:4)
• …of all future sins. (Rom 8:38 1Cor 3:22 Eph 1:21 Heb 12:13)
• The reality of freedom from the presence of sin (leaven) through Jesus Christ (the lamb) (Rom 8:2):
• By faith in the blood of Christ, the believer gains victory: (1Joh 5:4)
• ….over the attraction of sin. (Rom 6:14 Gal 5:1)
• ….over the temptation to sin. (1 Cor 10:13)
• ….over the bondage of sin. (Rom 8:21)
• The reality of freedom from the power of sin (leaven) through Jesus Christ (the lamb) (1Pet 1:19-22a):
• By faith in the blood of Christ, the believer is able (Rom 5:17):
• …to resist sin. (Jam 4:7)
• …to overcome sin. (1Joh 2:14 1Joh 4:4)
• …to defeat sin.(1Joh 3:8 Heb 2:14)
• The Feast of Unleavened Bread:
• By faith in the power of the resurrection that raised our sinless (unleavened) Savior, Jesus Christ, from the dead (Eph 1:19-20),
• The believer gains:
• …acceptance before a Holy God. (1Pet 2:5 Rom 14:18)
• …communion with a Holy God. (2Cor 13:14)
• …assurance of his own resurrection from the dead.(Rom 15:22)
• The Feast of Firstfruits:
• By faith in the power of Jesus Christ, who was the firstfruit offering to God (1Cor 15:20-21)
• The believer gains:
• ….assurance of the acceptability and sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. (Heb 10:12-13)
• … inclusion into the fellowship of all believers. (1Joh 1:7)
• … sustaining power to maintain his faith. (Jude 1:24)
• The Feast of Pentecost:
• By faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, sent by Jesus Christ, (Joh 15:26)
• The believer gains:
• …the ability to receive the conviction of sin (leaven). (Joh 16:8)
• …the assurance of the forgiveness of sin (leaven). (1Joh 3:2-3)
• …the authority to live his Christian life without sin (leaven) (Rom 8:37-39)
• Therefore, the believer is saved by blood and by power.

HOMEWORK
EXODUS 12:21-28
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacherfor correction.

• Application of Exo 12:15-20
• In which area of your life do you find yourself failing to gain the victory that Christ purchased for you:
• Forgiveness of sins?
• Freedom from sin?
• Power over sin?
• In the last section of this lesson, under the title, “Review and application” find all 23 scriptures listed under the topic, “The Passover”.
• In prayer claim your authority as a believer in Jesus Christ who conquered sin for us.

• Preparation for Exo 12:21-28
• Read Exo 12:21-28
• Read Heb 11:24-29
• In which areas of the Passover is faith demonstrated?

• Memory Verse: Psalms 51:7