Feast of Unleavened Bread current or obsolete!

 

Feast of Unleavened Bread current or obsolete!

I beg to ask the question, the Feast of Unleavened Bread is it current or obsolete?  Judging from how this feast is being perceived in our religious circle where the majority of professing Christians are not observing it or even know about it can lead one to the conclusion that this festival has been abolished or no longer important, but is it? Let us prove to see the status of this festival.

This festival was first introduced to the children of Israel when the Lord delivered them from the bondage of slavery in Egypt when the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron concerning the Passover and later said to them; “   'So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.”

“On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat --- that only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance.”

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread." (Exodus 12:14-20).

Let us first and foremost note carefully the conditions that are associated with this ordinance and taking into consideration the fact that Jesus Christ who gave the instructions to Moses and Aaron is the same yesterday, today and forever.

1. . The Lord instructed Moses and Aaron  saying“' So this day shall be to you a memorial”

What is a memorial?  A memorial is something designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, etc., In this case, it is to preserve the memory of the children of Israel deliverance from their bondage of slavery in Egypt.

2.      It is a feast to the LORD throughout your generations.

What is a feast?  It is a day set aside for celebration, in this occasion, it is a day set aside to celebrate and to give honor and glory to the Lord for His deliverance of the children of Israel from the bondage of slavery and this is to be observed throughout their generations.

3.      It is an everlasting ordinance

An ordinance is a piece of legislation enacted by a municipal authority, and this authority is no other than the Lord Himself who, on this same day brought the armies of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

4.      It is also a time to have a holy convocation

For thus says the Lord; “These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.'" (Leviticus 23:4-8).

Please note carefully the instructions, “seven days you must eat unleavened bread.” I therefore beg to ask the question, why are we who claimed to be believers in Jesus Christ who Himself gave all these instructions to Moses and Aaron are so antagonistic, disrespectful and irreverent to the Lord’s instructions? Are these instructions insignificant, vain, useless or even made obsolete?’

Let us find out the truth of the matter, some people will have us to believe that these everlasting ordinance is applicable only to the children of Israel, but is it? Please, let us bear in mind the fact that, Passover and days of unleavened bread including the children of Israel deliverance from their captivity in Egypt was a shadow of the reality.

The reality is Jesus Christ as we have been duly admonished saying; “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

The feast of Unleavened Bread therefore, has more of a profound meaning to believers today than what it means to the children of Israel. The children of Israel were delivered from the bondage of physical slavery, but we have been delivered from the bondage of sin and death. Let us therefore be honest with ourselves and ask ourselves this one very important question.

If the children of Israel because of their deliverance from physical slavery are to observe this period of time as a memorial, a feast, a holy convocation throughout their generations as an everlasting ordinance, should we not observe the day the Lord delivered us from sin and death as a memorial, a feast, a holy convocation throughout our life time as an everlasting ordinance?

The choice is left to each individual to decide for themselves; for we have been duly admonished saying; “Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it” (Romans 14:4-6).

We should also bear in mind the fact that, this day has brought peace between both Jews and Gentiles as we have been duly instructed saying; “ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:14-18).

So then, when it comes to the worship of the One and only true God, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus. And if we are Christ's, then we are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” Also, we are in the situation, “where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, neither slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all” (Romans 10:12; Galatians 3:28-29; Colossi ans 3:11).

Therefore, observing or not observing the Lords ordained festivals is a matter of love, gratitude and expressing our appreciation for what the Lord has done for us. But when one considers the amount of time, resources and passion we are willing to exert in celebrating our birthdays, anniversaries, and other public holidays it is a shame to see how irreverent , disrespectful and ungrateful we are to the Lord, what a travesty!

But truly, these times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.. Again, let me emphasize the fact that, this is all a matter of expressing one’s love, gratitude, reverence and appreciation to the Lord for what He has done for humanity.

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph