Studies on the festival of Matzot (Unleavened Bread), which runs for seven days from the 15th day of Israel’s first month (Abib; March/April) through the 21st day. Shortcut: hallel.info/matzot
The seven-day Chag Matzot (Festival of Unleavened bread) is an annual memorial of and spiritual reflection on our redemption, reformation and restoration into the Kingdom of God. Part of the lesson of purging out leaven during the festival is mastering the malice and wickedness that is beckoning us to open our heart’s door to them. Rather, we should let in Yeshua (Jesus) to our hearts and, thus, lives as He knocks.
Standing up to a bully is never easy. It’s not easy for an adult to do, but it’s even more difficult when our children have to stand up to those who would bully or persuade them to distrust their creators — their parents.
God, though the plagues of the Exodus and the drawing Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, defended ancient Israel against the bullying of Pharaoh and his nation. Mitzraim (Egypt) taught Israel to deny their Creator, but God put Egypt in its place.
And on the Day of the LORD, God again will defend Israel and all those adopted into her from the bullying into apostasy.
We are being called to stand up to the government and the wealthy oligarchs who want our children to deny their parents and their Creator. That’s a key lesson from the memorial of the seventh and final day of the Festival of Matzot (Unleavened Bread).
To those of us who have not grown up on a farm, a donkey is merely a beast of burden, and a stubborn, cantankerous one at that. For those who have lived on farms and have raised donkeys, they know that donkeys are more brains than brawn. They are intelligent and protective of their territory and those who live on it.
It also holds a unique position among the unclean animals listed in the Torah. It’s the only animal that the Torah requires the owner of to redeem its firstborn. What makes the firstborn donkeys so special that they have to be redeemed or killed in connection with Passover? Why is a donkey connected with the Messiah in the Prophets and Gospels? It’s all about our iniquities that the Lamb of God took upon Himself.
There are a lot of symbols in the Bible that God blended together for the redemption of the first-born of the womb, not only of human beings but also donkeys. They all point to the first and only born of Heaven: Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ).
The first part of this Bible study on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread looks into two major lessons from four types leaven. This second part focuses on important lesson of redemption of the first-born.
What is the big deal about unleavened bread during Passover time? If it was only about the practicality of eating on the go during Israel’s exodus from slavery in Mitzraim (Egypt), why does matzah show up in the offerings of God’s House, the teachings of Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) and in apostle Paul’s writings to early believers?
The first part of this Bible study on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread looks into two major lessons of matzah.
What does “the Lord’s prayer” have to do with Moshe’s (Moses) asking God to show him “Your glory”? You might be surprised. And what does Pesakh (Passover) have to do with tithing, remission of debts every seven and 50 years, and pilgrimages to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) for Pesakh, Shavuot (Pentecost) and Sukkot (Tabernacles)? Here’s the thread through all of these and topics: We are to remember from Whom our sustenance and wealth come and from Whom our freedom comes from the things that hold us captive.
When the LORD is moving you out of your old life, it’s a one-way trip, like the first exodus celebrated at Pesakh (Passover). There is no looking back or carrying a lot of baggage that would tie us to that old life. Part of Pesakh is the spiritual discipline of eating מצה matzah (unleavened bread), through it and with the counsel of the Lamb of God and apostle Paul, we find out the remaining parts of our old way of life — the “old leaven” — God wants to drain out of us.