Exodus 12:14-20
“AND THIS day shall be to you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations... Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away lean out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”
Not only was unleavened bread to be eaten on the night of the Passover, but it was ever after to be an annual feast, associated with the remembrance of the Passover. They were to observe the feast of unleavened bread a full seven day period each year. As remarked earlier, leaven is a type of evil (1 Cor. 5:8), and so there was to be complete separation from evil following the eating the Passover. Evil has no place at all in the life of a Christian. As we think of what it cost Christ our Passover to bear our sins, surely we too will want to be in separation from this present evil world and its ways. But the Christian is not only to feed on what is free of defilement but is also to put evil entirely away from his life. The new nature that grace has provided with salvation will prosper only if we continue to keep the feast “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” To turn again and to indulge the appetite of the old nature with the things of the flesh and of this world, which God has judged, is a barrier to spiritual growth and is not behavior acceptable before a holy God.
Furthermore, nothing was to interrupt the annual feast. “And in the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and in the seventh day ... no manner of work shall be done in them.” verse 16.
The seven days, a full cycle of time, speaks of the full lifetime of the believer. He is called to separation from evil continually. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with his devotedness to Christ. There is no provision whatsoever made for even “a little leaven” in his life. Not only was the use of leaven forbidden, but it was not even to be found in their homes. May the Lord give each of us the needed exercise before Him, and the grace to put away out of our houses, out of our rooms, all that is not pleasing to Him.
It is well to remember that the putting away of leaven out of his life is not the Christian’s standing before God that is in view, but that which affects his communion. Once one has found Christ as his Saviour, his standing as a child of God will never change. Praise God that it is so. But while one may have a deep sense of the value of Christ as the Lamb of God, and be fully trusting in His blood, he might yet allow sinful ways to enter his life. When this is so, communion with the Father and with His Son is broken. Nor can he walk in true fellowship with other believers. May we be found more in that pathway of full separation from the world and all that is contrary to God. “Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way.” Psalms 119:35-37.
ML-03/23/1969