The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (No. CB33)

Note: This paper is a new and updated edition of the former paper “The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread” from 2003, 2007.

Introduction

As we start each study it is important to remember who the One True God is and who we worship. As we have reviewed in previous studies, there is only one God and He alone created everything. It is through the knowledge of the One True God that we learn of His laws and His plan for mankind. By our obedience to His laws, He directs our thoughts (Prov. 3:6).

God’s Laws are based on the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments focus on our love for God and the last six focus on our love for mankind. The Fourth Commandment is about the Sabbath, which is a day set apart by God for man (Mark 2:27). Isa. 58:13-14 reminds us to focus on things of God on the Sabbaths and not our own business or pleasures. The fourth commandment is the basis for our observance of the Sabbaths, New Moons and annual Feasts of God. (For more information see The Sabbath Days of the one True God (No. CB133)).

God’s plan of salvation is outlined in the annual Holy Days. (For more information see God's Holy Days (No. CB22)). The beginning of His plan, pictured by the Spring feasts, Passover and Pentecost (and all of the important days within those Feasts), has been fulfilled by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit to God’s people. The rest of the annual Holy Days (Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles and The Last Great Day) have not yet been fulfilled. Those will be fulfilled after the triumphant return of Jesus Christ.

The Spring Feast season begins at the beginning of the biblical year which always occurs in the Spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. The Spring Feasts of God include the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost. (For more information see the following papers: What is the Lord's Supper (No. CB135), Passover, Night of Watching and Seven Days of Unleavened Bread (No. CB136), Wave Sheaf and the Count to Pentecost (No. CB137), and Pentecost (No. 138).

Deuteronomy 16:1-12 "Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover to the LORD your God; for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2And you shall offer the passover sacrifice to the LORD your God, from the flock or the herd, at the place which the LORD will choose, to make his name dwell there. 3You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction--for you came out of the land of Egypt in hurried flight--that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; nor shall any of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain all night until morning. 5You may not offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns which the LORD your God gives you; 6but at the place which the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. 7And you shall cook it and eat it at the place which the LORD your God will choose; and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. 8For six days you shall ye eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God; you shall do no work on it. 9"You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you first put the sickle to the standing grain. 10Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you; 11and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place which the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. 12You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

21 days of Sanctification

All things have a beginning or a start point; with God, the beginning of His annual calendar is in the spring with the start of the New Year. This is referred to as the first New Moon of the Year. The first day of the first month of the new year is a New Moon and the beginning of the 21-day sanctification period. It is one of the 12 or 13 New Moons of each year and it is a commandment of God and is to be observed as an ordinance forever. (For more information see The New Moon Sacrifices (No. CB134). Many important events happened on the first day of the New Year: Noah removed the covering of the ark (Gen. 8:13), Moses set up the Tabernacle on the first day of the first month (Ex. 40:1-2), the restoration of God’s laws by Hezekiah (2Chr. 29:12-17) and many other important events. This first day of the first month also commences or starts the 21 days of Sanctification. Sanctification is a big word that means being holy. God has set apart these 21 days as a time for us to reflect, prepare and grow closer to God. For more information on the details and importance of the 21 days of Sanctification please see 21-Day Sanctification Period (No. CB82). During these 21 days we see the first of the three times we are commanded to leave our homes to attend the feasts of God.

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; (RSV)

The preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 1st of the new year. Other important events that occur during these first 21 days of the New Year include: the 7th day fast for the simple and erroneous, The Lord's Supper, the Night of Watching, Days of Unleavened Bread, the Wave Sheaf, and the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, which is a holy day.

First Passover

The first Passover took place in Egypt when the Israelites were commanded to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood from the lamb on the doorpost and lintel of their homes. They were instructed to do this in order that the Angel of the Lord would “pass over” and spare the Israelites from the last of the plagues of Egypt, the death of the first born. At midnight, a cry went through the land for all of Egypt had lost their first born of man and beast. This sacrifice looked forward to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who is symbolically our Passover Lamb.

Passover in the New Testament

Symbolically, the annual sacrifice of the Passover Lamb looked forward to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). In the New Testament, on the night before he was crucified, Jesus Christ introduced the symbols of foot washing and the eating of the bread and drinking the wine for baptized members to renew their baptismal covenant yearly. This service is now called the Lord’s Supper and takes place at the beginning of the 14th day of the First Month in the evening.

Jesus Christ is the Angel of the presence in the Old Testament and he came to earth as a man to show us how to live God’s Laws and ultimately he paid the price for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God the Father. Therefore, following the Lord’s Supper service the prior evening, we have a service at 3:00pm on the afternoon of the 14th of the first month to commemorate Christ’s death.

Then that evening, after dark, begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The beginning of the 15th after dark is referred to as the Night of Watching. We have our Passover meal including meat from the herd (Deut. 16), unleavened bread, bitter herbs and salt. We celebrate remembering the past exodus and looking forward to the future exodus while explaining the meaning of the night and symbols to all present. In Deuteronomy 16 we see after the first Passover where they ate the lamb in their homes, the command is expanded to eat an animal of the herd or flock and we go to keep the Feast at the place where God places His name to be with likeminded brethren to obey and learn more about of God.

Unleavened Bread

The last seven days of the 21 days of Sanctification are referred to as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Historically this is the period of time when God, through Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt and slavery. For more information on the biblical account of this time period please see Moses and the Israelites Move on to Sinai (No. CB40).

As the name implies, during the days of Unleavened Bread we do not eat anything that is made with any leavening agents including baking soda, baking powder or yeast. We read in Ex. 12:9 that we are to put out all leaven from our homes. Here leaven pictures a type of sin and during these times we are reflecting and searching and praying for God to mercifully show us our sins so we can repent and become more like Him. Not only are we to remain unleavened, but Ex. 13 states you shall eat unleavened Bread for seven days. Each of the days of the Feast we make sure to eat unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1Cor. 5:6-8 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

The message here is that we are to focus daily on repenting and putting sin out of our lives as far as east is to the west and replacing it with sincerity and truth.

Wave Sheaf

The Wave Sheaf occurs on a Sunday during the days of Unleavened Bread. This is the day the High Priest would wave the first of the first fruits of the harvest. It symbolizes the ascension of Jesus Christ to his Father after his resurrection as the first of the firstfruits (1Cor. 15:20). Wave Sheaf has several important concepts. The first is it symbolizes Jesus Christ being accepted by God the Father as the perfect acceptable sacrifice for mankind and the fallen host. The second is that the Wave Sheaf begins the fifty-day count to Pentecost. Wave Sheaf Sunday is the first day of the count to Pentecost. Historically, during these fifty days, Israel travelled to mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments.

Pentecost

The second Spring Feast is the Feast of Weeks or Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost means to count fifty. We have seen the count to Pentecost starts with Wave Sheaf and we count 50 days to Pentecost. That means we have seven perfect sabbaths followed by Pentecost. We travel outside our gates and we arrive on the 48th day since we will have back-to-back Sabbaths (weekly Sabbath followed by Pentecost). In 30 CE, the year that Christ was killed, we see from Acts 2 that at 9:00am the disciples were gathered together and the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Church. For this reason we begin our Pentecost service at 9:00am Sunday morning.

Summary

In summary we have seen God the Father begins His Calendar in the Spring in the Northern hemisphere and many important events happen in the first 21 days of the first month. These Feasts picture Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection and ascension to the Father as our High Priest. We continue to count to Pentecost and celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit to God’s people.

That’s one reason why keeping God’s Holy Days is so wonderful. We are reminded of God’s plan through His holy days and His love for us and His love for His son, Jesus Christ who is our High Priest.

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