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The Feast of Unleavened Bread
April 7, 2012

Most Christians will be celebrating Easter without even thinking why the celebrate Easter. Many have been told that Easter is the right day to observe and this is linked tothe resurrection of Jesus. Have you ever wondered why Easter and Christmas are not mentioned in the Bible? Stories that people link to these holidays are in the Bible, but the words Easter and Christmas are not found except when mistranslated. So how is it that those who contributed to the writing of what we today call the New Testament, overlooked these holidays. Think about it. Paul had no problem debating why circumcision was no longer needed, and was able to debate this among people who previously were Jews. If there would have been a big issue of these new holidays way back then, don't you think there would have been some record of the debate much as there is for the debate regarding circumcision. There is no definitive verse that shows this debate. There are verses that appear that some may cite as an example of the change to Easter and Christmas, but these verses are not definitive. So what we are going to do is take a look at the circumcision debate, the verses that some cite as proof that we have new holidays, and will reflect on what is today the First Day of Unleavened Bread, and what this means for us.

Romans 2:25-29
For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

This was such a huge debate that this is mentioned multiple times by Paul in his writings in various different books. What Paul was showing to his mostly gentile audience, those who were not born Jews, was that to God it did not matter how we outwardly appeared to man, but how our heart appeared to God. Paul showed that even a person who was circumcised was considered to be like a gentile if they didn't obey the law. He debated that the uncircumcised, the gentiles, who obeyed the law should be given equal consideration as being a Jew. Though Paul may not have been as clear in this passage, what he was getting at was the idea that obedience of the heart to God was important, and that outward signs of obedience like circumcision was not important. Notice what Paul told the Corinthians.

I Corinthians 7:19
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

There are those who will use the whole circumcision debate to toss out the need to obey God. What Paul shows in the verse from I Corinthians is that keeping the commandments of God is everything. And with an absence of Easter and Christmas from the Bible, the holy days that are mentioned in the Bible include the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the year of our Lord 2012, today, April 6th, is the first day of Unleavened Bread. So why do so many keep Easter? Because some cite verses that show to them we can choose whatever day we want to choose, and again this comes from the writings of Paul.

Colossians 2:16
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

There are those who will use this verse to show why they can do whatever they want to do. This verse only shows that other people do not have the right to judge us when we obey God. From the weekly Sabbath, to month after month, through the season scattered with Holy Days, and the feasts that these are, we are not to give in to others who might want to pressure us to do something else. Paul knew that only God can judge us, and if our heart was obedient to God, God would judge us to be righteous, and in a world where people live and die, and often only have their words to back them up, how totally cool is it to have God on your side, and when you obey God, God is on your side. There are those who keep Sunday, Easter, and Christmas. The Bible shows that these people are wrong in their thinking. Out of fairness, these people think that individuals like me, first-century apostolic Christians, are also wrong, and to anyone who wants to keep Sunday, Easter, and Christmas, even though I think you are wrong, I wish you peace. I believe we need to keep the Holy Days as listed in the Bible, and that these show how God works with mankind to bring all to salvation, except for the small few who prefer the lifestyle of evil. The first Holy Day is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the first day is a Holy Day and the last day is a Holy Day. Sometimes Holy Days fall on the weekly Sabbath and sometimes they don't. While the first day of Unleavened Bread falls on the weekly Sabbath, the last day falls on Friday, April 13th. So this year two Sabbaths will occur back to back, the last day of Unleavened Bread followed by the weekly Sabbath.

So what is the Feast of Unleavened Bread and how do we keep it? Let's look at a few verses, one from the writings of Paul, and one from the Old Testament to begin.

1 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.

Paul knew there was the need to keep the feast of Unleavened Bread, but not in a way that would inflate our ego by making us think we were doing something really big, and not because we just wanted to show others we are different, but because we know God expects us to and we choose to obey him. With the thought of obeying God, how would God have us keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread? Let's look at the Books of Leviticus and Exodus for some details.

Leviticus 23:6-14
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. 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. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

So those who keep Easter will quickly say what about the sacrifice and offering. Simply stated, the offering and sacrifice of Jesus fulfills this requirement. From Leviticus we know that the first and seventh day are holy days when no work is to be done, and that during this time we must eat unleavened bread. There are some who will debate what is meant by you must eat unleavened bread. We will find out that it means instead of eating leavened bread with our meals we are to instead eat unleavened bread. Notice further instructions from Exodus.

Exodus 13:6-7
Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

In addition to eating unleavened bread, during this time we are to get rid of leavening and leavened bread from our homes. So if you run your house this can be easy. If you share an apartment or even your home with those who do not believe, you only can control what you can control. If you only have control what happens in your bedroom, then you are responsible for your bedroom. If you share rooms, then you are responsible for your part of the bedroom, and if you are a child, this may only be your bed, dresser, and nightstand. If you are living by yourself, it's all yours. The rule is get the leavened bread out, and get anything out that leavens like yeast, baking soda, and baking powder. And what are welearning from doing this? We are learning what it means to be sincere and true. Leavening inflates the size of bread. The chemical process of leavening causes air bubbles to puff up the bread giving it a different appearance. God wants us to learn to be true, true to ourselves and true to him through obedience.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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