The apostle Paul uses the object lesson of purging leaven out of the home for the Feast of Unleavened Bread in one of his most shocking statements on discipline for immorality in the congregation in Corinth — purge out “malice” and “wickedness.”
Food for thought from the recorded discussion
What does the Feast of Unleavened Bread represent (Exodus 12-13; Matt 13:33; Matt. 16:6,11-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; Luke 13:21; Gal. 5:1-15)?
- Eating unleavened bread for a week?
- Cleansing your heart?
- A sign on our forehead, between our eyes and in our hands that we are His people?
- A celebration?
- A shadow picture of good things to come and not have come?
Why is unleavened bread called the “bread of affliction” (Deut. 16:3)?
- Because when they fled Egypt, they fled affliction, and it’s a remembrance of that affliction?
- Because the dryness of the unleavened bread is a culinary affliction in and of itself?
If Messiah Yeshua hadn’t taken on “affliction” for us (Isa. 53:7) we would have to bear that affliction. Because of the affliction and suffering Messiah Yeshua endured, we need to live our lives with the spiritual nourishment we receive when we live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. When we live this way, our friends, our enemies and even our families won’t like it and will reject and shun us. Since the Messiah endured far more than we ever will, shouldn’t we be able to handle the smaller challenges we face? It won’t always be easy or pleasant—He never said it would be—but we can get through it.
When Compassion Compromises Holiness: Paul’s Warning to the Church
In 1st Corinthians 5:1-7, Paul finds himself having to address the congregation in Corinth for their arrogance, vanity and their tolerance of immorality and acceptance of wickedness. The regular assembly of the Messiah is not there primarily as a place to hug sinners and ignore their sins. Whether you refer to your congregation as a church, an ekklesia or a synagogue, that meeting time is a time for the righteous body of Messiah to acknowledge and worship their Creator. To be holy before God, we must prepare ourselves to be united with the Messiah. That means removing all sin and pride from our lives. We must be cleansed completely, because God is holy—and He calls us to be holy too.
We are trading on thin ice if we find ourselves accepting and toleration actions that God considers an abomination. Rather than letting our compassion bite our tongues, Paul tells the Corinthians they should be deeply grieved—heartbroken—that this man’s sinful actions caused separation from the community. That’s what they should be mourning, and that’s where their sorrow should come from. This marks the beginning of the first two moments of silence he refers to, emphasizing that their response should be one of mourning, not indifference. Paul had to make a judgement because the congregation refused to do so. Paul wanted them to be responsible for their own walk that to do that which was true and right, and when it’s forced to, he, as a leader of this group had to do it and make the decision.
Paul say he “judged” the immoral man in 1st Cor. 5:3, they Yeshua said, “Do not judge, or you will be judged” (Matt. 7:1)? Paul explains that the immoral man must be removed from the congregation. In today’s world, we see that as harsh or unkind—we’d rather send him to therapy or counseling. But Paul says to hand him over to Satan—not to be cruel, but so that his sinful nature can be destroyed, and his spirit might ultimately be saved when the Lord returns.
God’s most effective tool for dealing with our sinful nature is actually the devil. That may sound surprising, but even Paul says it. And if we think Paul is wrong about this, then we’d have to question all his teachings—and go our own way instead.
A little sin can affect the whole group—just like leaven spreads through dough. When Paul says they’re “puffed up,” he means they’re proud of being accepting when they should be grieving. Instead of removing the person who sinned, they glorified themselves for showing love and inclusion. But God says that’s not acceptable. We’re accountable not only for our own sins, but also for the ones we tolerate.
“Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7 NAS95)
They had already celebrated Passover, and now they were in the Days of Unleavened Bread—a time for purging sin. Paul doesn’t focus on the Passover itself, because Christ is our Passover. Instead, he says we are now unleavened, meaning we must remove sin from our lives. That includes both personal and congregational responsibility. As believers, we must be prepared to deal with difficult matters within the community, even if it’s uncomfortable.
“Therefore let us celebrate 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 5:8 NAS95)
Consider the definitions of sincerity, truth, malice and wickedness. It’s very important that we understand how God defines those terms since He is commanding us to live our lives in sincerity and truth and to avoid malice and wickedness. How do you know what’s sincere and true? You look to the Torah and the rest of the Scriptures—they explain and define it clearly.
We’re more blessed than past generations because we have easy access to God’s Word—most of us have multiple Bibles at home, and God’s knowledge is everywhere, even online. But do we just read it or do we actually do it?
Malice can mean having no shame in breaking God’s law—not caring about breaking any of the commandments. On the other hand, a definition of wickedness is being embarrassed to obey God’s laws. They’re two sides of the same unholy coin.
But if you’re truly living according to God’s Word, you can’t hide it—your life will show it. You’re seen as holy and good not because of your own actions, but because you’ve responded to the Messiah and are listening to Him.
God’s love is nothing like the emotion that the world calls “love.” God shows his love by His discipline? This is how King David can say without irony, “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psa. 23:4)?
The rod is used to prod animals to move, and the staff is used to guide them. David referred to both in Psalm 23, showing that God uses both discipline and guidance. When God corrects us, it might feel harsh—like being jabbed with a wooden rod—but it’s better than being struck with a rod of iron. His discipline may be firm, but it’s meant to steer us in the right direction.
No sympathy for the devil
“I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all; however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 14:18-21 NAS95)
Should we try to understand evil? No, and we certainly should not justify it. A baby doesn’t understand malice—they’re innocent and fully dependent on their parents. God wants us to be like that when it comes to evil: innocent and uninvolved. We’re not meant to analyze or sympathize with wickedness—we’re meant to stay away from it. At the same time, God wants us to be mature in our understanding—childlike in innocence, but grown-up in wisdom and judgment.
A Church Without Judgment Is a Church Without Discernment
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7 NAS95)
At Mount Sinai, when the people encountered God, His response was terrifying—there was loud trumpet blasts, smoke, fire, and thunder that overwhelmed them. The fear was so intense that it completely consumed them and froze them in place—they were too terrified to think or act. This was a fear that didn’t drive them to move, but paralyzed them.
The people of Israel were so frightened by hearing God’s voice and witnessing His power that they didn’t want to hear Him speak anymore. God told Moses He would speak to him instead, and because the people now understood God’s might, they would listen to Moses—at least as much as they were able.
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3 NAS95)
“Hidden” doesn’t mean no one can find you—it means you’re completely protected. God has wrapped His arms around you. You’re not reaching out for help; you’re already safe in His care.
There are two ways we can attain glory. We can either do it the way the world tells us, which is to puff up and aggrandize ourselves, or we can attain glory God’s way, which is to repent of our sins, humble ourselves and allow God to raise us up to His glory. The glory that the world gives will die with us and be buried, but the glory God gives will live eternally.
In the body of Christ, there are times when we must avoid or even shun someone—though that word can be hard to accept today—when they are committing something God calls abominable. We don’t get to define what’s abominable; God does. His definitions are found in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. It doesn’t matter what our government, culture, or even our congregation says—we must seek and follow God’s standard. Upholding His truth will often be difficult, because as the Messiah said, the path is very narrow—so narrow that only one person can walk it at a time.
“Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” (Titus 3:1-3 NAS95)
Paul instructs Titus to teach the congregation to respect and obey rulers, but only when it aligns with doing good, not evil. “Good works” means following God’s standards. If a leader, like Hitler or Nebuchadnezzar, demands something evil—such as idolatry—we must refuse, even if it costs us our lives. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they didn’t fight back, but chose to face the consequences rather than disobey God.
A New Lump: Living Sincerely and Truthfully in Messiah
““You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:4-6 NAS95)
A graven image is anything you use as a replacement or substitute for God. For example, when the Israelites made the golden calf, they were worshiping it as if it represented God, which was wrong. However, things like a statue of a horse in your garden or images of angels in the tabernacle are not considered graven images, as long as they’re not used for worship or replacing God. They’re just for decoration.
““It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things which the sons of Israel consecrate, with regard to all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.” (Exodus 28:38 NAS95)
The Messiah, pictured by the high priest, is the one who takes away our iniquity.
“Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. He said, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your own possession.” Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the LORD, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.” (Exodus 34:6-10 NAS95)
Only the Messiah can remove the sins, transgressions, and inequities of the people. Just like Aaron took on the sins of the people, the Messiah took on ours and paid the price with His death. The Days of Unleavened Bread remind us of this incredible act—God’s way of making us holy through the Messiah. It’s a celebration of His sacrifice and the forgiveness He offers. The entire seven days focus on the work of the Messiah.
Speaker: Richard Agee. Summary: Tammy
Discover more from Hallel Fellowship
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.