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A study about the spiritual meaning of the Days of
Unleavened Bread
Behold, Eat & Walk
Behold
John 1:29, “Behold,
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” This is a BIG statement, “Behold,” the word in Greek is extremely emphatic. Verse
14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.” This goes against the
prevailing idea, the philosophy of the time with the Jewish religious leaders, that taught that God is some distant, uninvolved
being.
This
is where the week of the Days of Unleavened Bread began, 1st Corinthians 5:7, “Purge out therefore the old leaven,
that ye may become a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed
for us:” So the days of Unleavened Bread started here for us, with the
Passover observance, which portrayed the Passover sacrifice of Jesus
Christ. Exodus 12:5-11, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the
first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the
goats: and ye shall keep it up until the
fourteenth day of the same month: and
the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening. And they shall take of the
blood, and strike it on the two side
posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat
the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat
not of it raw, nor sodden at all in water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance
thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it
remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye
shall burn with fire.” The Old
Testament Passover saved all the firstborn of Israel, later
on that will be enlarged to an event that will save the world. John
3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God gave up a Son. None of us would do that.
Eat
If
we just stopped at the Passover observance, at just “Behold,” and don’t go forward and “EAT” we are missing the rest of
this incredible plan of Salvation God has for us. John
6:32-33, “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave
you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from
heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” Jesus, the Bread of Life, gives life to
the world. This goes beyond the mere
observance of Passover. Unless we put
life back in, once we’ve deleavened our lives, putting sin out [which btw, is
an ongoing process], but unless we are replacing the old leaven of sin and the
world with the Unleavened Bread of Life, there will be a vacuum in our lives,
and you won’t survive, spiritually speaking. Legalistic obedience with no Holy
Spirit life of Christ in us is this vacuum kind of spiritual existence, of just
accepting Christ as our Passover that many Christians sadly exist in, where
they never go on in their lives to EAT that Bread of Life, filling that vacuum
left by putting the leavened bread of sin and the world out. Verses
35-40, “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me,
and believe not. All the Father giveth
me shall come to me [cf. John 6:44, 65]; and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent
me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life: and I
will raise him up at the last day.” Jesus describes himself as “the
Bread of Life” and the word “life” in the Greek has the definition
of ‘One
who is possessed of vitality.’ “Vitality”
is the Greek connotation for the word “life” here. Jesus is about to say some very difficult to
understand things here, which really threw the Jews whom he was talking
to. But hang in there, we’ll see what he
is talking about, verses 47-58, “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness,
and are dead. This is the bread which
cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from
heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the
life of the world. The Jews therefore
strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. [verse 53] Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is
meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live
by the Father: so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is the
bread which came down from heaven: not
as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” Notice in verse 53 here he was stating
emphatically that those who wanted to have life, spiritual life leading to
eternal life, had to “consume him.” Matthew 26:26-28, “And as they were eating,
Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and
said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new covenant,
which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Where was Jesus teaching this? He continues his dialogue on this incredible
theme about the Days of Unleavened Bread, and eating the Unleavened Bread of
Life John 6 verses 59-65, “These things
said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they
heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When
Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the
Son of man ascend up where he was before? [cf. Acts 1:9-11] It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe
not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man [or woman] can come unto me, except it were given
unto him of my Father.” So, the
Passover event is not a stand-alone event, even to the Israelites who were
saved by it, but it was attached to the Days of Unleavened Bread, just as we’re
seeing the Passover is spiritually attached to the Days of Unleavened Bread in
our spiritual walk with Jesus. Leviticus 23:4-8, “These are the feasts of
the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall
proclaim in their seasons. In the
fourteenth day of the first month at
even is the LORD’s passover. And
on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven
days: in the seventh day is an holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.” These
Days of Unleavened Bread teach us that we cannot just be satisfied with the
Passover alone, accepting Jesus alone, without “consuming the Unleavened Bread
of Life.” Unless we eat this heavenly
bread he gave us to eat, we will have no life in us. Daily bread, day by day eating of the Bread
of Life is what is being talked about here.
The Bread Of Life, The
Bread Of Truth, Is The Word Of God
1st Corinthians 5:8, “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Let’s
focus on the word “truth” in this verse. We are to keep the Feast of Unleavened
Bread with the unleavened bread of truth. “What is truth” Pilate asked
Jesus, John 18:33-38, “Then Pilate
entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art
thou the King of the Jews? Jesus
answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of
me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have
delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be
delivered to the Jews: but now is my
kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore
said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should
bear witness unto the truth. Every
one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?…” Jesus tells us what this “bread of truth”
is in John 17:16-17, “They are not of
the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy
word is truth.” This statement
by Jesus, found in this prayer of his just before being taken captive, reveals
something important about this “truth” being spoken of. According to Jesus here, the Bible, the Word
of God is truth, the written word of God. Jesus is also the Living Word of God, John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.” Here we see
Jesus was talking about himself. John
showed us who Jesus was here in John
1:1-15, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light
of men. And the light shineth in
darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for
a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that
Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received
him not. But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth. John bare
witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom
I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.” Everything that exists in the universe, and on earth came about because of this Living
Word of God, who is synonymous with truth. Jesus Christ embodies truth, it was who he was, it was what he did (and
it is who he is, yesterday, today and forever). We are to absorb the Word of God, eat it daily. There is no vitality, no life without
it.
Walk
John 8:31-32,
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in
my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The
King James word “continue” in my German Bible is the word “bleib” which means
“to remain, to stay,” we’re told to “remain, stay in God’s Word.” Jesus in his account of his encounter with
Satan tells us our eating of the Unleavened Bread of Truth, the Word of God, is
to be a daily occurrence, Matthew 4:4,
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” You eat bread every day to live, and what
Jesus is saying here is that without the Living Bread of Life being consumed
daily, just like we consume bread daily, we will not have the strength to walk
in his way. John 6:63-64, 66, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh
profiteth nothing: the words that I
speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe
not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not, and who should betray him…From that time many of his disciples went back,
and walked no more with him.” The
members of the early Church of God in Judea were walking in, living in, what
was termed “The Way” of God, so much
so that it was actually called “The Way.” They were called ‘The people of The Way,’ so much so that it was on their arrest
warrants, Acts 9:1-2, “And Saul, yet
breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,
went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the
synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.” The Holy Spirit is also called “the
Spirit of Truth.” The way they walked,
that “Way” merited an arrest
warrant. Exodus 14:11-12, “And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast
thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to
carry us forth out of Egypt?” Don’t
we do this ourselves? Verses 13-14, “And Moses said
unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD,
which he will shew to you to day: for
the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye
shall hold your peace.” The
message to them, and us, was and is, ‘Go forward, WALK in the Way.’
Behold, Eat, Walk, And Inherit The Kingdom Of God
Romans 8:14-16,
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God:” We become what we believe. We do what we actually believe. It changes what we do, verse 17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together.” No other religion in the world offers this solution, ‘BEHOLD,
EAT, WALK, and inherit the Kingdom of God.’ [This is based on notes taken from a sermon
given on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, 6 April 2018, given by John Miller,
United Church of God]
[Comment: So, eating the Word of God, which is the
Bible, Jesus in print, involves our daily study of God’s Word, the Bible
(along with daily prayer, of course). There are various Bible reading programs, but I found the simplest one
was taking the number of pages in my King James Bible, dividing that by 365,
and I came out with the number 3, approximately. So by starting at Genesis 1:1 and reading
three pages a day, I’d reach Revelation 22:21 in one year. If I added to that reading one chapter of
Proverbs a day, for a month, and repeating the cylcle, I’d read through the
Book of Proverbs once every month—which is the wisdom of Jesus Christ given to
Solomon through the Holy Spirit. Proverbs is wisdom for daily walking in the Statutes of God. This website (http://www.unityinchrist.com)
is also filled with incredible expository Bible studies going from one end of
the Bible to the other.]
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