Preparing For Passover
Shalom John,
“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove
leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first dayuntil the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.” (Exodus 12:15)
With Passover (the Festival of Unleavened Bread) beginning next Friday, allover Israel, every man, woman and child is busy cleaning their closets,shelves, drawers and vehicles in order to be ready for this mostimportant celebration.
Passover at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
Preparing for Passover is the ultimate in spring cleaning!
In obedience to the eternal commandment that God gave to the children of Israelto removeleaven (yeast) from their houses, every nook and cranny must beemptied, sorted and wiped in order to make sure that each dwelling place isfree of chametz (leavened products) before Passover begins(Exodus 12:15).
Rabbinical Judaism has taken this single commandment and transformed it into asystem that would weary the hardiest of women. All dishes, cutlery, pots andpans, even dishrags must be made "Kosher for Passover."
Because the kitchen is cleared of products that contain leaven or may becontaminated with it, preparing for Passover is both labor intensive andexpensive. Just prior to Passover, grocery stores in Israel begin to stockfoods that are specially prepared for Passover and guaranteed leaven-free.The Hebrew signs on the shelves above read “Kosher for Passover.”
Many women completely clean their kitchen to such a degree that it sparkles
like it did when it was new.
Furthermore, in the weeks prior to Passover, Israeli supermarkets begin to sellproducts marked with a special "Kosher for Passover" stamp.
These products are guaranteed to be free of leaven, and are eaten in the daysbefore and during the holiday of Passover.
Eating matzah (unleavened bread), however, is saved for the Passover Seder,which is a special ceremonial meal where the story of the exodus from Egyptis recounted.
The Haggadah, the text that sets the order of the recounting of the liberationof the Jewish People from Egypt, is read during the Passover Seder. Thepierced, striped bread of affliction in the bottom right corner is called matzah.
Why Fuss over a Little Leaven (Yeast)?
"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." (Galatians 5:9)
In the Bible, yeast symbolizes sin.
Yeast is a powerful metaphor for learning about sin, God, and living a lifeof holiness.
Yeast is a single-celled fungus that causes dough to rise by consuming thesugars and excreting carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
And it doesn't take much yeast to start the process. Yeast is so pervasivethat if dough is left on the counter, yeast will attach to the surface of thedough and then make its way throughout the whole loaf. It's in the air.
So, just like yeast (leaven) eats away at the sugars in the dough, sin eatsaway at us and causes us to become separated from God.
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hiddenhis face from you, so that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)
John, click here to give a love gift to the Bibles For Israel ministry this Passover!
Although it is not known when yeast began being used to bake bread, theearliest records of this practice come from ancient Egypt.
Leaven and the Sin of Pride
"Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through
the whole batch of dough?" (1 Corinthians 5:6)
When it comes to the leaven as a metaphor, Scripture especially narrows in onthe sin of arrogance, boasting, conceit, and pride.
In the same way that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough, causingit to become puffed up, a little bit of pride and arrogance in people's heartscauses them to think more highly of themselves than they ought.
We must deal with the leaven in our own hearts, knowing that arrogance is notpleasing to the Lord and pride often precedes our own downfall.
"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)
Titanic Sinking, by Willy Stower
The Titanic: Lethal Effects of Arrogance and Pride
The sin of arrogance can have deadly consequences.
For an example of arrogance, perhaps we need not look any further than theTitanic, which sunk one hundred years ago on April 14, 1912.
The Titanic and her sister ships, the Olympic and the Britannic, were thebiggest ships ever made. At almost 900 feet long from stem to stern, theydwarfed the tallest skyscrapers of the time.
Since these ships were outfitted to meet the challenges of the Atlantic, theywere supposed to be among the world's safest ships.
The experts, in their arrogance, believed the Titanic to be unsinkable;nevertheless, the ship snapped like a toothpick after hitting an iceberg andmany lives were lost.
The traditional Bedikat Chametz (search for leaven) is a ceremony usedto cleanse the home of leaven. These two young boys search for leaven,using a feather and a spoon to remove it. The chametz (leavened products)will be burned the next morning in the Bi’ur Chametz ceremony.
Meaningful Jewish Custom: The Search for Leaven (Bedikat Chametz)
At Passover, the Jewish People practice a beautiful custom called bedikat
chametz (search for leaven).
The eve before Passover, the leader of the household, usually the father, holdsa candle and guides his family around the house.
With the lights extinguished, they search for any remnant of chametz (leavenedproducts) by the light of this single candle.
The feather, spoon, candle and prayers for the BedikatChametz ceremony.
The children search every nook and cranny for crumbs of bread that havebeen hidden ahead of time by the mother.
Each crumb of bread is found with exclamations of delight, "Oh! There it is!I found one!"
This meaningful search continues until the very last crumb of leaven is removed.
These are swept away into a bag using a feather and will be burned the next morning.
Bi’ur Chametz (burning the leavened products) in Bnei Brak, Israel
On the morning of Erev Pesach (Eve of Passover), one can see little firesburning all over Israel, as each family burns their small pile of chametz.
A special prayer is recited in case any has been missed.
This special ceremony (bedikat chametz) demonstrates how the light of God'sWord, symbolized by the candle, searches our hearts for any pride or arrogancethat may be lurking, hidden in the darkness.
The feather symbolizes the work of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) sweepingthe sin away.
The bi’ur chametz fire shows how God destroys this leaven, for God is aconsuming fire!
Bi’ur Chametz: pita bread burning with the dried palm (lulav) and myrtle(hadass) leftover from Sukkot (six months earlier). To burn the dried palm
and myrtle (holy objects) from the previous biblical holiday is considered anadditional mitzvah (blessing).
Passover in the New Testament (New Covenant)
"Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch-as youreally are." (1 Corinthians 5:7)
Just as an overgrowth of yeast in the body may become a systemic infection andmust be dealt with before it causes serious physical problems, the 'leaven' orsin within the Body of Messiah (Church) must also likewise be dealt with accordingly.
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul makes use of the imagery of Passover and thecleansing of the chametz to exhort the Believers in Corinth to get rid of thesin of malice and wickedness, and live the holy life they are truly capable ofliving, free from the bondage to sin.
"Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch-as youreally are. For Messiah, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
"Therefore let us keep the Festival [Passover], not with the old bread leavenedwith malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity andtruth." (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
Passover at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
John, the Jewish people in the photo above need Yeshua (Jesus), click here now
The Leaven of False Teachings
In the New Covenant (New Testament), leaven (yeast) can also represent
false teachings.
Yeshua warned people to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
By this Yeshua was not referring to bread, but to their teachings that did notalign with the Word of God (Matthew 16:11-12).
The Apostle Paul also warns the Gentiles in the Church to beware the sin ofpride and arrogance, particularly in their relationship to the Jewish people.
Furthermore, in the Book of Romans, Paul reminds those who have beensupernaturally grafted into the natural olive tree (Israel) by the mercy andgrace of God, not to boast over the branches:
"If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild oliveshoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishingsap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those otherbranches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the rootsupports you." (Romans 11:17-18)
Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees, by James Tissot
We must be on our guard against the false teaching of replacement theology inthe Church which has led many astray.
This errant doctrine teaches that God has rejected the Jewish People (nation ofIsrael) and that now the Church is the 'New Israel.'
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Scripture is clear that God will never forsake His people Israel and willalways keep covenant with them.
"For the Lord will not reject His people; He will never forsake Hisinheritance." (Psalm 94:14)
Passover at the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem
Passover, Leaven, and God's Plan for Israel and the Church
Arrogance and pride can prevent us from understanding God's plans andpurposes for the Jewish people, Israel, and the role of the Church.
As Passover approaches, let's remember that temporary blindness has come uponthe Jewish People so that salvation would come to the Gentiles, and after thatto the nation of Israel.
"Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, becauseof their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israelenvious." (Romans 11:11)
God can and will lift the veil from the Jewish People's eyes to see theirMessiah Yeshua, and when the Jewish people accept Yeshua as their Messiah, itwill mean resurrection life for the entire world!
"For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will theiracceptance be but life from the dead?" (Romans 11:15)
Handmade shmura (guarded) matzah being made from grain that has beenunder special supervision from the time it was harvested.
During this time when Jewish People are cleansing their homes from leaven,please pray that they will recognize that Yeshua is indeed the Promised Messiahof Israel.
And may we also search our hearts for the leaven of sin, making them "Kosherfor Passover," so that we may walk in humility, with the unleavened bread ofsincerity and truth.
Eternity is at the Doorstep of the Jewish people in the Holy Land..