The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a “High Shabbat” a “no workday” that begins on April 6th and another “no workday” on April 12th; therefore, it ties in with Passover as explained last week, which is why we start eating unleavened bread the night of the 5th which is the start of the 6th, with the Passover meal. I will include a copy of a link to a resource that lists all types of leavening agents that need to be disposed of on the first day of the feast of unleavened bread.
Paul observed Feast of Unleavened Bread
Acts 20:6-7
“And we departed from Phillipi, a city of the Macedonians, AFTER THE DAYS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD; and proceeded by water and arrived at Troas in five days, and remained there seven days. And on the first day of the week, when we assembled to break bread, PAUL spoke with them, because he was to depart the next day; and he continued his discussion till midnight.”
Paul observed Passover as I mentioned in the message last week, and here we see that he also observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread that follows it. Paul was with the group observing The Feast of Unleavened Bread and we see that they did not even sail until AFTER the Feast was over, so again just a reminder to all Christians that the holy days apply to you all as well to be grafted in with the native-born Israelites and be one within the body of Messiah.
Instructions
John 19:31 (Parenthesis mine)
“Therefore, since it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the stake on the Shabbat-for that Shabbat was A HIGH ONE (1st Day of Feast of Unleavened Bread, 15TH DAY OF 1ST MONTH).
If you have not read the message I did a few months ago titled “When was YESHUA crucified?” You will see that YESHUA was crucified on Wednesday which was the 1st Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; and John mentions that the first day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a High Shabbat; meaning a kodesh (holy) day of no work which is commanded in the Torah, which further proves that the Torah was kept in the New Testament. YAHWEH instructs us to eat unleavened bread for 7 days and do no work on the 1st day and no work the 7th day of The Feast of Unleavened Bread because they are High Shabbats (Holy Days), so this year that would be April 6th and April 12th.
Leviticus 23:6-8
“And on the FIFTEENTH day of the same month (1st month) is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to YAHWEH; for SEVEN days you must eat unleavened bread. On the FIRST DAY you shall have a holy convocation; you shall DO NO MANNER OF WORK THEREON. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to YAHWEH seven days; on the SEVENTH DAY is a holy convocation; you shall DO NO MANNER OF WORK THEREON.”
Exodus 12:14-20 saying:
“This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to YAHWEH---a LASTING LAW. For seven days you are to eat bread made without leaven. On the first day remove the leaven from your houses (April 6th), for whoever eats anything with leaven in it from the first day through the seventh day must be cut off from Israel. On the FIRST day (APRIL 6TH) hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the SEVENTH DAY (APRIL 12TH.) Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat---that is all you may do.”
Exodus 34:18
“Guard the Festival of Matzah (Feast of Unleavened Bread). For seven days you eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the Appointed Time of the month of Abib, because in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.”
Numbers 33:3
“So they departed from Ramses in the first month, on the 15th day of the first month (Feast of Unleavened Bread), on the MORROW OF THE PASSOVER, the children of Yisra’el went out with a high hand before the eyes of all the Egyptians.”
Remove leaven from your homes
YAHWEH also commands us to remove ALL leaven from our homes on the 1st Day of the Feast (April 6th). The definition of leaven is described below titled “What is leaven?”
Exodus 12:17-20 (Parenthesis mine)
“Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. 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. Seven days there shall be NO LEAVEN FOUND IN YOUR HOUSES; for whoever eats that which is LEAVENED, that person shall perish from the congregation of Yisra’el, whether he is a STRANGER (gentile) or NATIVE OF THE LAND.” You shall eat nothing leavened in all your habitations you SHALL EAT UNLEAVENED BREAD.”
What is leaven?
Leaven or (Se’or in Hebrew) are leavening agents that cause dough to rise:
Firstly, we have the natural form of leaven in bread which is called Sourdough bread. This is what the scriptures were originally referring to, when it says that they did not have time for the dough to rise.
Exodus 12:34
“And the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their garments on their shoulders.”
Sourdough bread is defined as: Sourdough is an old form of bread LEAVENING. It relies on a mix of wild yeast (from the air) and lactic acid bacteria that are naturally present in flour, RATHER than baker's yeast, to leaven the dough. It is fermented bread that begins to leaven the longer it sits. An article titled “What is Sourdough? The bread that rises without yeast” written by Alice Zou says “Sourdough is the oldest form of leavened bread, dating back to Ancient Egypt. BEFORE the use of commercial yeast, ALL BREAD was either unleavened or sourdough. It is thought that sourdough bread was first made on accident when unleavened bread dough was left sitting out, and wild yeast began to grow in the dough. In modern times, sourdough is still popular, and many artisan bakeries still make sourdough bread.”
Then there is the chemical/commercial leavening agents the world is accustomed to today such as: (Yeast, baking powder, baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, horn salt etc.)
When leavening agents are combined with flour it becomes Chametz (Ha-mets) which is baked bread that has risen due to the leavening agents. We are to dispose of any Chametz that you have made yourself including sourdough or any store-bought baked breads, cakes, cake mixes containing leavening agents, also beware of matzah ball soup mixes because they contain sodium bicarbonate which is a leavening agent that we should not be eating during this feast.
Also, all of the leavening agents must be thrown away on the FIRST DAY (April 6th) and to be found NOWHERE in your homes, for example I put everything in the trashcan and take it to the street which is not on my property/borders. And do not give the chametz/baked goods or the leavening agents to a neighbor to get them back after the feast is over. Throw them away as YAHWEH commanded and He will provide the provisions for being obedient as always. Trying to find loopholes to circumvent the commandments of YAHWEH because one finds them to be burdensome is not the spirit of Torah, as 1 John 5:3 says YAHWEH’s commands are not burdensome.
We are to eat Matzah, which is called unleavened bread, for seven days which does not contain anything to make the dough rise or the original leavened sourdough bread. Simply flour, water, and maybe oil is all that is required to make unleavened bread.
Wine is popular to drink on Passover, though I personally opt for grape juice as the fruit of the vine, because most wine contains ADDED yeast or a leavening agent during the fermentation process, which would break the command of no leavening agent. So, if you can find a wine that doesn’t break the command then you should have no problems, otherwise I would drink grape juice. I only bring this up for awareness purposes so that each person can do their own research and follow the instructions as closely as they can.
We are commanded not to possess Chametz or leavening agents because leaven is a representation of sin. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8:
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old leaven that you may be a new batch without leaven—
Once you allow a little sin to enter your life it will grow, spread, and rise like yeast or leavening agents, because the sin/yeast will spread through the entire batch of dough/body, the same way the leaven of the Pharisees and their false doctrines will do. I’ve heard it said and know it to be true, is that sin is contagious.
YAHWEH tells us in Exodus 13:7-9:
“Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; and WHATEVER IS LEAVENED IS NOT TO BE SEEN WITH YOU, AND LEAVEN IS NOT TO BE SEEN WITH YOU WITHIN ALL YOUR BORDER. On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what YAHWEH did for me when I came out of Egypt.” And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes, that the Torah of YAHWEH is to be in your mouth, for with a strong hand YAHWEH has brought you out of Egypt.”
Jubilees 1:26
“And you shall write down for yourself all these Words which I declare unto you on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to be in all the divisions of the days in the Law and in the Witness and in the Shabbats and the Jubilees FOREVER, UNTIL I DESCEND AND DWELL WITH THEM FOREVER.”
As always let us stand up and be obedient to our Father YAHWEH and His Son and our Messiah YESHUA in truth. May our Father YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!