Morning, everybody. The star of today's show is unleavened bread. So I'm going to take out a piece, and while we get our lesson going, everybody can pass it around and take a slice out. I'm going to take a loaf or a slice for myself, but go ahead and pass it around and take a piece if you'd like. But that's the star of today's show. Pardon? Let's start in Acts chapter 17, because I need to do some housekeeping from last week. Acts chapter 17. This week's lesson is going to be a little bit more involved as far as turning of pages, which is not a bad thing. I need some of you to shake out of your slumber. Acts chapter 17 verse 11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. So what are they referring to? The believers in Berea, can you narrow it down as far as what believers? Jewish believers. As was Paul's custom, he was a missionary to the Gentiles. God called him, not to his people, but to be a missionary to the Gentiles. But as was his practice, what would he do every town that he went into? He would go to the synagogue first, because the gospel was for the Jewish person first. Starting in Jerusalem, in Judea, and that's always been God's missionary plan. On your way to finding the Gentiles, you need to hear who need to hear the message of salvation, inevitably you're going to come across Jewish people who need to hear it just as much, if not more. So this was Paul's practice. So he went into the synagogue and gave them the word that Jesus was the Messiah from what scriptures? What scriptures did he employ? It was the only scriptures available, which is the law, the prophets, and the writings. So the Bereans went home. Well, maybe they didn't go home and look, because the word of God was probably hard to come by. But they searched the law, the prophets, and the writings to verify what Paul was teaching them. So last week, a question was asked from the crow's nest. Hank, do you remember the question you asked? What is it? So let's turn to Exodus chapter 12. So last week Hank did just that. He wanted verification. Being the good Berean that he is, Exodus chapter 12, he wanted clarification on a point that I had labored. And last week I made the point that the angel of death was gonna go throughout the land of Egypt and slay the firstborn male. But the question was asked, where are you getting male? It just says firstborn. Exodus 12, 12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Where does it say male? It doesn't. So the short answer is, if you were a firstborn female, and you did not take God at his word and account for the angel of death going through the land, you too were going to succumb just like a male. In my mind, I went home and the good thing was it forced me back to the scriptures, which is a very good thing. Anytime we can go back to the scripture, that's our authority. People can write about the scripture, but first we need to find out what does scripture say. So then I got to thinking, where did I get just mail? Where did I get just mail? I looked through the periodicals that I'm using. None of what I'm teaching comes from here. So I went back to the periodicals I'm using to see, did I hijack anything? And I couldn't find anything. So then I went to the scripture to see, where did I get it? Did I find it in the scripture anywhere? So just a couple of scriptures to that end. Same book, Exodus chapter four, verses 22 and 23. Exodus four, 22 and 23. God is saying to Moses, and thou shalt say to Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn. And I say unto thee, let my son go, that he may serve me, and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, thy firstborn son. But that doesn't mean that God didn't, in the firstborn, when he was telling Moses, this is what I'm going to do, tell them if they don't do this, the firstborn will be slain. So still, we have to defer to what God said in 1212. Exodus chapter 10. Verse one and two. Exodus 10, one and two. And the Lord said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I might show my signs before him, and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son and thy son's son what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that ye may know how that I am the Lord. Now, when God created Adam and Eve, And by the way, I'm gonna assert a joke here. When Adam disobeyed and ate, what were his exact words when God said, why did you eat the fruit? Don't blame me, I went to bed a single man. It was Adam that God told, thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree. And then Eve was created. So it was man's responsibility to bring the word to his wife. Not that in today's dispensation, ladies, you can't go to the word and hear God speak yourself. We all have the Holy Spirit indwelled in us. But following this pattern here, when your son asks you, because you're training your son someday to be the head of the house, and the head, the protector of your wife. So you have the responsibility to tell your son, I think everybody understands, chapter 11, verse five. So I'm trying to get at, where did I come up with male? Exodus 11, verse five. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon the throne, even unto the firstborn of the maiden that is behind the mill, and all the firstborn of the beasts. So here it just says firstborn, doesn't say male or female. Animal or human. Chapter 12, verse 29. And it came to pass that at midnight, the Lord smoked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the cattle. Firstborn. Exodus 13, verse two. This was after, I'm sorry, this was not after, but. Let me just read. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn. Whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine. Man, I believe here is just a general term, meaning man or woman. Chapter 34, verse 18 through 20. Exodus 34, starting verse 18. The feast of unleavened bread thou shalt keep seven days. Thou shalt eat unleavened bread as I commanded thee in the time of the month of Abib. For in the month of Abib thou camest out of Egypt. All that openeth the matrix is mine. And every firstling among thy cattle, ox or sheep, that is male, but the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb, and if thou redeem him not, thou shalt break his neck. All the firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem, and none shall appear before me empty. So all that to say, when the angel of death came through the land, It wasn't just the males that were going to succumb if the head of the household did not take the lamb and do as God said, apply the blood. So, good question, Hank. Thank you for being a good Berean. That's what we want. Yes. There is another verse in Exodus. Well, verse 30. Yes, wow. Yes, for sure. Okay, good. Very good. So, Bob indicated in that verse that in the entire land of Egypt, of the Egyptians, of those who didn't, I would, would you say there were some Egyptians that by this point, because some Egyptians did leave with the Israelites, would you say that some did obey? Bob? Okay. Okay, but Bob was saying that there wasn't a house in Egypt that didn't experience the angel of death, which would lend itself to say, didn't matter the age, there's no indication either way, the age. Is that correct what you were? So good point. Any other questions or comments? Okay, staying in Exodus. Go back to chapter 12 for today's lesson. The Feast of Unleavened Bread or If I'm gonna try and say it like the Hebrews, Chag Hamatzot, which is the feast of unleavened bread. It's also called, unleavened bread is also called the bread of affliction. At this point in Israelite history, they don't have time to let bread rise. So it's also called the bread of haste. Because on this night, they don't have time, they don't have the luxury, the leisure, as liberated people, they're not liberated yet, they're still slaves, to allow bread to rise. As we said last week, they ate it standing, with their cloak tucked under their belt, and their staff in their hand, because they were going to be driven out. So the bread of affliction, or the bread of haste, Now, in scripture, both old and new, is leaven always associated with sin? No? Where is it not? And what did he say? Anybody else? You're right. Pastor said it was when Jesus was giving a parable. He compared, he employed leaven. Does anybody else remember? The kingdom of heaven is like leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. The kingdom of heaven is like. So leaven isn't always, associated with sin, but it's a great picture of sin. It's a very good picture of sin, and we're gonna find that out today. The Hebrew word for 11 is hametz, which means sour. God required all males to appear to him at least three times during the year and not to appear empty handed. Do you know which three feasts men were supposed to appear before God at the temple and not empty handed? Passover, yep. First fruits or Pentecost. and tabernacles. So this is one of the three in which God requires all males to be in Jerusalem. Let's read Exodus chapter 12, 15 through 20. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread. Even the first day "'ye shall put away leaven out of your houses. "'For whosoever eateth unleavened bread "'from the first day until the seventh day, "'that soul shall be cut off from Israel.'" Now I wanted to try to understand the extent of that word. Some of the way it's used is in circumcision or when the spies went into the land and they cut off. from the branch, some grapes. It doesn't necessarily mean death, it just means separated from life. So if you're not going to obey God's commands, you are going to experience, and this is some application for us, if we don't deal, if we don't deal with sin fully, to the extent that God commands, we are going to experience separation from the source that gives us life. Continuing on, verse 16. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you. No manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. Anytime God says, A holy convocation and no servile work shall be done, that means it's a Sabbath. Even if it doesn't occur on day seven, Saturday, what we know as Saturday. So it could be a Wednesday. From Wednesday to the following Wednesday, each of those two days are Sabbaths. Treat them the same way you would day seven when God rested. Verse 17, and ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. There we observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month on the 14th day of the month at evening, ye shall eat unleavened bread until the first and 20th day of the month at even. Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses. For whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened, and all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread. There is a couple other places in scripture where God speaks about the feast of unleavened bread. But of course, here is where he speaks about it when they're still slaves. So I kind of want to belabor the point of leaven, and we're gonna look at a couple of other scriptures to that end. So here we read, put it out of your houses. No leaven found in your houses. So you get the idea of the importance for a week of putting this out. Let's look at chapter 13, verse six through eight. Exodus 13, starting at verse 6. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and the seventh day a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days, and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee. Can't hide it in your pocket. You get tired of eating unleavened bread for the week, you can't sneak a piece into your pocket. To be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. So in your houses, to be seen with you in your quarters. Let's look at Leviticus chapter 23. Leviticus chapter 23, starting at verse six. I'm sorry, let's skip to Deuteronomy. I made a mistake. Deuteronomy chapter 16. Sorry about that. Deuteronomy chapter 16 verses 3 and 4. Deuteronomy 16 verse 3, Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread wherewith. even the bread of affliction, for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that thou mayest remember the day When thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life, and there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days, neither shall there be anything of the flesh which thou sacrificed in the first day to even remain until the night, until the morning. So, it should be very clear, right, how important dealing with leaven is. It's not enough to refrain from eating it. It's not enough not to look at it or be seen near it. It's not enough to have it removed from your quarters. Does that remind you of anything God tells us in the new covenant, how we should deal with sin? Pastors said many times in the past, God's holiness from one testament to the other has not changed. He has not conceded on his holiness. So what does Jesus tell us in the New Testament by way of Paul and Peter? What does he say about dealing with leaven? I think there's a passage where Paul's naming several sins and he says, Let it not be an influence among you. Go ahead, Sam. If your eye causes you to sin, if you cut out both my eyes, I'm still going to be able to sin. The point is, no measure is too small. No measure of dealing with sin is too radical. Oh, throw away my phone? I can't do that. Has anybody bothered that TikTok is not an option right now? I'm not. I've probably seen about five TikToks in my life. But Jesus is saying when you're gonna deal with sin, let's look at Psalm chapter two. This is one of the ones that came to my mind, Psalm chapter two. We're just trying to demonstrate how important it is that God says to deal with fully and completely with leaven. I'm sorry, Psalm chapter one. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. So you see a digression, you know. Every one of us has a vocation in life, a walk. And we can all walk in where we... Oh, what's that? And then we sit down and you see the digression that sin takes. Blessed is the man that walketh not. So keep going. Keep going, don't stop. Don't sit, don't stand. So God is making very clear in the past the feast of unleavened bread. Deal completely, fully, finally with leaven. Remember, we're looking at this calendar. These are the dates that God is going to physically meet with man. So bear that in mind. The ancient rabbis in the Talmud indicated that leaven is well suited as a picture of sin. Now of course I forgot to bring my little packet of yeast. So you have to use your imagination. And I have never made bread. So I did have a question for anybody who did make bread. Do you mix the yeast with the flour first or do you mix the water and the flour and then mix in the yeast? Yes, Chris. I'm glad you said warm water because that's one of the, when I tried to educate myself on exactly what happens I'm glad you're here, Dan, because there's a chemical reaction that takes place that I kind of got lost on, but I don't want to hear from you. So yes, yeast. What is yeast? What exactly is it? Does anybody know? It's a fungus. I think it's a fungus is what I found, but I could be wrong. Is it a fungus? It's a fungus. A fungus among us. I wanted to understand exactly what happens in the process of adding yeast, because it doesn't necessarily need to be warm water, but that excites the yeast better. The yeast fungus stays dormant until it comes in contact with water. So, for example, money is not necessarily sinful. It's what we do with the money when it comes in contact with this. Once it's activated, yeast feeds on what? Sugar. I'm probably the only one in here that doesn't know this. When it feeds on sugar, a reaction takes place, which is what, Dan? What happens? What is released? CO2, which causes the flour mixture to then bubble and slowly rise. So when you think about yeast as a picture of sin, it only takes a little bit I mean, if I stuck a turd, a sheep turd in a gallon of ice cream, would you still eat it? Would you eat your way around it and cut out that otherwise bad part? Yeah, there you go. No, and that brings up a good point. We are world champion gold medal gymnasts when we contort ourselves to justify our sin. It's true, we all do it. Are we content with a little bit of sin? Well, we act like it at times. Should we be? No. So it only takes a little bit. Yep. How many pages is that? Oh. They have so much yeast in the air. Oh wow. They sometimes go without adding yeast to the recipes because it's just there. Oh my goodness. That's how. And the bread is going to rise just from what's floating around in the air. Did everybody hear what he said? I think it speaks to what God commanded to this point. Don't be seen with it, don't have it in your house, don't have it in your quarters because the Further we can distance ourselves from leaven. Such a good point, thank you so much. Sure. Missed a spot, sure. No measure is too small, is the affirmation we're getting here. Yeast is a form of fermentation. So I looked up the word fermentation and it contains the idea of decomposition. The yeast is feeding on the sugar, breaking it down. I looked up decomposition. It's a breakdown of complex organisms into simpler substances. For a piece of bread, a man will transgress. The threshold is that low. When we think about what we're capable of doing it, the speed at which we're capable of doing it, and the extent to which we're capable of doing it. We like to think we're better than that, but we're not. So I looked up the word decomposition. Can anybody come up with some synonyms for decompose? Rat. Death and decay. Perishing. Corruption. Yeast is the first step in death, if we can cut right to the chasing, if we want to call it what it is. Yeast makes the dough swell many times the original size without changing the weight. Which is interesting, when we think about getting puffed up with pride, we haven't gained any mass. We're puffed up because that's what the corrupting leaven of sin does to us. How is Jesus not like unleavened bread? Can you think of verses, do any verses come to mind? Yes, Chris. Yes, Jesus Only he can make that claim because he's sinless. There's no corruption in the Messiah. John 8.29 says, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, and he says, and he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. I can't remember the last time I did anything that, to that level, ever. And here, the Messiah, when we live under the law, what does the law show us? Our sin, what a miserable wreck we are. How far short we fall of God's holiness. And here the Messiah, he said to the Pharisees, I didn't come to destroy the law, but to satisfy every bit of it perfectly. And he did always those things that please him. What a standard. That is the ideal. God has given us all that we need to live godly and righteous lives. Why is it that we've been set free? We've been liberated, redeemed from the wall of sin and death. Ask ourselves, why, like dogs, do we then take that liberty and return to the vomit? Yay, I've been set free, now let me go back. We all do it, we all do it. 2 Corinthians 5.21, 2 Corinthians 5.21. There's several references in scripture about an 11 bread, but I'm just gonna reference two here. 2 Corinthians chapter five. For he hath made him sin for us who knew no sin, that we may be the righteousness of God in him. First Peter 119. Jesus knew no sin. First Peter 119. But with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. The grave could not contain the Messiah. Why? Why did God not allow him to see corruption? because there was no leaven in him. There was no way for decay to begin. He was perfect. He robbed the grave and made a mockery of death. If you would take out your piece of Unleavened Bread Turned Isaiah, chapter 53. This is mass produced probably. I doubt that the very first unleavened bread was perfectly square with holes in it. Is that safe to say? That's probably not. So Isaiah 53, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did not esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, but he was, he was, the word is crushed for our transgression, so I had you break off a piece. I'm sorry, he was pierced through, but he was pierced through is actually the meaning of that Hebrew word there, pierced through. So you'll notice on this, mass-produced chametz. They unwittingly pierced through it. Just like our Messiah was pierced through. He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes. Now if you'll notice, this looks striped by virtue of the way it was baked. I don't think Manischewitz had in mind the Messiah, because they kind of read over, they attribute this chapter now to Israel rather than Messiah. They don't want to contemplate a suffering Messiah. So Manischewitz is unwittingly giving due to Israel. to Isaiah 53 because our Messiah, the Savior Jesus Christ, was pierced through. He was without leaven. He was broken. And he is striped. All for us. So how did the Messiah fulfill the feast of unleavened bread? Well, when he was in the grave, the grave did not keep him in the ground. He did exactly what he said he did. He showed up on the Feast of Unleavened Bread and knew no sin, conquered the grave, satisfied God's wrath, satisfied the requirements of the law, And those of us who have named the name of Christ as our savior, as our Passover lamb, as God's lamb, his righteousness in full has been imputed to our account, not infused. Big difference, imputed in full. When Jesus said to tell us thy on the cross, paid in full. There's nothing left for us to do except believe and live for him. Sinless. Let's turn to Psalm 16.10. Psalm 16.10. I'm making a backdoor case for this as our unleavened bread during the Lord's Supper, Pastor. Write that down. Get a committee together, Nat. Psalm 16.10. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. There was no leaven in the Messiah, he never ever saw corruption. Let's turn to Acts chapter two. These are the last two verses we'll look at, and then maybe we'll take some questions or comments. Acts chapter two, starting verse 25. 25 through 31 of Acts chapter two. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. I'm sorry, that's as far as I'm gonna go. I'm gonna keep reading, I'm sorry. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, the writer of the psalm. He is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. Chapter 13 of Acts. Starting in verse 23. Pick one. That would help, wouldn't it? Acts 13, sorry. Starting in verse 23. Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every Shabbat, they have fulfilled in condemning him. And though they found no cause for death, Yet they desired Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. As it is also written in the second psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. So we know of many instances in the New Testament where people were raised from the dead. But those people died again. Jesus was the only one who died and came back to life, never to die again. Any questions or comments about unleavened bread? You know, that was in my notes, and because of the very close connection, if we turn to Luke chapter 22, very good question. Luke chapter 22. Luke 22, verse one. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. Same chapter, verse seven. Then came the day of unleavened bread when the Passover must be killed. So being that they're in close proximity, they're almost referred to as the eight days of Passover or the feast of unleavened bread. They're not the same, but Passover took place the evening of the 14th, and then the next day for the next seven days, even though they did eat unleavened bread on Passover, for the next seven days, they didn't eat any leaven. So hopefully this has been a very good picture application-wise. of the extent to which God made clear what we're to do about sin. What do we do about the problem of sin? Any other questions or comments? That was really good, thank you so much. Yes, Chris. It seems as though each one of the Jewish feasts has a foreshadowing of Christ. The second coming is the rapture, and if you study each one of the feasts, Absolutely. God in Leviticus laid out beforehand, just like you're saying, his prophetic redemptive calendar from cross to kingdom. On those days, I will meet with you. And so far we've seen two. He was the Passover lamb and he was without leaven. So like you say, if we continue that thinking, we're gonna look at the rest of redemptive history that God laid out beforehand that he is going to accomplish. Any other questions or comments? Yes, Chris. Yes. I was wondering how long this would last. I thought honey was the only thing that probably wouldn't corrupt, but this might last quite a while, you're right. Good point. Anybody else? Thank you so much, I'll pray. Thank you, dear Father, for this clear picture of how your Son perfectly fulfilled living a life of obedience and was without sin. Thank you for redeeming us. Thank you for this queer picture. We give you all the glory in Jesus' name, amen.