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.
When God says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30), He means it. We can take matters into our own hands and enact a form of justice on those who commit evil against us and our people, but we can only right the wrong done to us. Our acts of justice don’t vindicate God and bring Him honor and glory.
We see the intersection of vengeance and mercy in the 10th plague on Egypt, memorialized in the annual remembrances of Passover and Unleavened Bread, two key lessons in the Torah reading בוא Bo (“come,” Exodus 10:1-13:16).
They also are key lessons that teach us about the Messiah in the Gospels.
Humans and donkeys have something very important in common, according to the words of God: Both have to be redeemed by the blood of a lamb. The purpose of the memorial of Unleavened Bread is to remind us those who trust God have crossed over and what was before is destroyed and is gone. The past is destroyed just as the Egyptian army was drowned into the Sea.
When we accepted Yeshua as our Savior, we chose Him as our first-born. We have made Him first in our hearts.
How do we relate to Israel’s flight out of Egypt to the Red Sea, as recorded in Exodus? We weren’t there. We know that this was a long, arduous journey. It was a seven-day walk — day and night — without sleep or respite. A likely reason God wants us of the Commonwealth of Israel to remember the Israel’s deliverance from both the lure of Egypt and the might of Egypt on the first and seventh days of the Festival of Unleavened Bread they are picture of the full release God gives us through the Great Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah.
The 23rd chapter of Leviticus is a relatively obvious passage. The explanations are simple and self-explanatory, except for questions about the biblical timing of Firstfruits and Pentecost.
The 24th chapter is a bit unusual and not so simple to decipher. When you read the book of Leviticus and you find the phrase “the LORD spoke to…” pay attention to whom is supposed to hear the message. There were some messages for the sons of Aaron but some messages were for the people of Israel. Each group had their own duties and responsibilities, and it’s God Himself Who decides.
Yeast is commonly seen as a symbol for pride, something bad. Why does God command us to not eat leavened bread for seven days after Passover then at Shavuot (Pentecost) command that He be offered two loaves of leavened bread? How is the answer to this paradox found in Yeshua’s cryptic instruction to His disciples to beware of the “yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees”?