Passover & The Feast of Unleavened Bread
150 Bible Basics
Instituted in Exodus 12:1-13 (Passover) and 12:14-20 (Unleavened Bread). The Passover began on the night of the tenth plague as the blood of the sacrificed lambs protected the houses of all who applied it to the doorpost. The Feast of Unleavened Bread began immediately after the Passover as Israel removed all the leaven from their houses for seven days.
In the New Testament, leaven is a metaphor for influence (Matthew 13:33, 16:6) and it seems to have a similar purpose here. Israel was leaving Egypt, an action echoed symbolically by the purging of leaven from their houses.
These festivals prefigured the Lord’s Supper in a number of ways, including how the blood of the Passover Lamb brought safety to all those who had applied it. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 calls Christ “our Passover” and urges us to follow up our Passover by purging the leaven of sin.
They also foreshadow our delivery in Christ. In the Passover, God removed Israel from Egypt. In the feast of Unleavened Bread, God removed Egypt from Israel. On the cross He delivered us from our sins and their consequences, but in His resurrection and the new life, He is also delivering us from our desire for sin. As some have said, He saved us from both our sins and our sin.
This is entry #39 of 150 from my book, Sunday School Catch-Up. You can buy the book on Amazon, or…
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