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(All scripture
quotations are from the New International Version unless
otherwise noted. Scriptures designated KJV are from the King
James Version.)
Part 1
He said to them, "This is
what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be
fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the
Prophets and the Psalms. Then He opened their minds so they
could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is
written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the
third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be
preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You
are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my
Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been
clothed with power from on high." When He had led them out to
the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up his hands and blessed
them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up
into heaven. Then they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple,
praising God. (Luke 24:44-53)
When the day of Pentecost
came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like
the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the
whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be
tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4)
If you were to ask the average
member of a "Pentecostal" church where the word Pentecostal
comes from, he would likely be able to refer to the passage above in
Acts. He would say something like, "'Pentecostal' describes the
'gifts of the Spirit' that began to be manifested on the day of
Pentecost mentioned in Acts in the Bible." But if you pressed him
for more details by saying, "Yes, but what exactly was the day of
Pentecost?" he might likely reply (with "circular reasoning"), "It
was the day on which the Pentecostal gifts were first given."
Is that all there is to it?
Was the name "Pentecost" meaningless before the day described in
Acts 2? Does the day--and the word itself--have any significance to
the Christian?
Before I offer an answer to
those questions, I have some other questions:
Get a Bible--any version will
do. Open it to the first chapter of Matthew. Now--hold it up, open,
in front of you at eye level and look at it carefully--first at the
left side, then at the right. Do you notice anything unusual you may
not have noticed before? How thick is the portion on the left? How
thick is the portion on the right?
On your left is the Old
Testament. In my King James Bible it takes up 1,168 pages. On the
right is the New Testament. It takes up 336 pages.
Of course, for the
Christian, the most important part of the Bible is that portion that
contains the story of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus of
Nazareth. But unfortunately, the average Christian may thus
"discount" the Old Testament as being "unnecessary for salvation," a
relic of the old "Jewish" religion--interesting for history but not
relevant to New Covenant Christianity. Yet the Lord saw to it that
both Old and New Testament were preserved for His Church. And the
Old Testament portion has more than three times the content
of the New. Is it possible that many Christians have overlooked a
vast storehouse of teaching for the servants of the Lord by
neglecting over three-fourths of His written Word?
It is not only possible, it is
fact! The level of knowledge of the average Christian about the Old
Testament might best be described as "abysmal." If you doubt this,
try a quiz with any group of Christians you know. Most will likely
know a few stories they remember from Sunday School: Daniel in the
lions' den, Noah and the ark, Jonah and the whale. But that will be
the extent of it for most!
In fact, try asking how many
have read all the way through even the New Testament alone. You will
likely be surprised at how small the percentage will be. But then
ask how many have ever read the whole Old Testament through. The
reaction of a new young, naive pastor trying this survey may well
deteriorate from surprise to utter dismay.
Jesus told Satan, "Man does
not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth
of God." (Mat. 4:4) How can you live by "every word" when you've
never even read all of the written Word! (By the way, most
Christians are familiar with that saying of Jesus, but how many
realize it is a direct quote from the Old Testament--Deut.
8:3? In fact, Jesus resisted all the temptations of Satan in the
wilderness by saying, "It is written..." and then quoting Old
Testament scripture!)
It is also a sad fact that
many pastors themselves do not understand the significance of much
of the Old Testament for Christians. Many seem to view it only as a
source of incidents--often taken out of context--to serve as support
for sermon points on general topics such as loyalty, greed,
patience, etc. I am not saying this is "wrong" to do--I am saying
that that is not the primary reason the Old Testament was
preserved for Christ's Church.
Yet a time is coming and
has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father
seeks. (John 4:23)
Is it possible to be
unbalanced in worship--to have much spirit but little truth, or much
truth but little spirit? I have seen this very unbalance throughout
much of the Body of Christ. And, to a certain extent, this may be a
manifestation of how one approaches the Bible. I come from a
religious background that over-emphasized the Old Testament.
It left me for many years with a deficient understanding of the
working of the Spirit. And I have seen that others, particularly
those with a religious background rooted in the modern "Charismatic
movement," have often so under-emphasized the Old Testament
that they have a deficient understanding of much of the truth
available in the Scriptures.
The day of Pentecost did not
have its origin in the events described in Acts 2. Its roots are
deep in the Old Testament. It was one of the annual Holy Days
introduced by the Eternal to the nation of Israel when He brought
them out of bondage in Egypt. And the word "Pentecost" has nothing
to do with spiritual gifts--it means "count fifty." And in the
details surrounding these facts are many lessons for modern
Christians--much truth that could perfectly balance and
harmonize with the "spirit" that Charismatic worshipers may have
experienced.
Part 2
And God said, Let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the
night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days,
and years: (Gen 1:14 KJV)
When I first read this
passage, I assumed that the seasons spoken of meant summer,
fall, winter, and spring. That would be a logical assumption. The
apparent movement of the sun, moon, and stars are related to the
changes of those seasons. But the word in Hebrew that is translated
seasons here does not signify that kind of season. The
word is moedim, and it more specifically means "appointed
times" by God or, in other words, "holy days."
Why is this significant?
Because this is a description of something the Eternal did at the
very creation of the world--long before the "Old Covenant" at
Mount Sinai. It says here that He set the sun, moon, and stars in
motion at creation in part to define "special times."
Our civilization has become so
removed from the cycles of nature that we no longer understand that
the Eternal placed a clock and a calendar in the heavens. When we
want to know about "time," we consult our watches or our wall
calendars. Few modern Christians realize that the calendars we use
for our business and even our religious activities were arbitrarily
invented by men, and may not necessarily reflect the original plan
of the Creator for the division of time. And this misunderstanding
may make it difficult to understand much of the activity described
in the scriptures related to time.
Nowhere is this more evident
than in the misunderstanding of most Christians about the Holy Days
of the Old Testament. In fact, most Christians have never even
heard of the Holy Days of Israel, in spite of the fact that
these days were observed by Jesus throughout His life, by the
apostles long after His death and resurrection, and, according to
historical records, by the early New Testament Church--including the
Gentile congregations.
The LORD said to Moses,
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my
appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you
are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.'" (Lev 23:1-2)
Most Christians who have read
this passage have failed to notice that it does not say,
"These are your feasts, Israel." Nor does it even say, "These
are the feasts I have appointed for you, Israel." It says,
"These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of
the LORD."
For almost twenty years, I
belonged to church organizations that taught that Christians should
observe the Holy Days described in this passage in Leviticus. These
organizations had a very unbalanced understanding of why
they were to be kept. Because they misunderstood the ramifications
of the New Covenant, they became overburdened with the kind of
"legalism" of the "Judaizers" condemned by Paul in much of his
writings. And because they had a deficient understanding of the
Spirit, they also had an unbalanced understanding of how
these days were to be kept. When I came into a fuller understanding
of the ministry of the Spirit, and broke off my affiliation with
these groups, I sought the will of the Lord fervently about the
matter of Holy Days. Were they "done away" at the Cross? Were they
"just for the Jews"? Were they just part of the "Law of Moses"? Were
they "only a shadow" that should be ignored now that the "reality"
of Christ had come?
After much prayer and study,
the Holy Spirit confirmed to me that these Holy Days are
relevant to Christians today and that I should continue to observe
them. I know that the Lord looks on the heart. I know that there are
many, many Christians beloved of the Lord who know nothing of these
days, or who do not believe they should be observed. I do not
believe that such Christians are under some sort of "curse" for
disobedience. But I do believe that they are missing a great
blessing that could be theirs.
There are lessons in the
understanding and the observance of the Holy Days revealed to
Israel that could enrich the lives of all Christians. It is my
purpose in the rest of this article to share some of these lessons
as they are taught in the Holy Days which come in the spring of the
year (in the Northern hemisphere): Passover and the Days of
Unleavened Bread. Watch for future articles on the Oasis Website
covering the roots, symbolism, and lessons of the other Holy Days.
Part 3
Therefore do not let
anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a
religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ. (Col 2:16-17)
Many Christians have read this
passage, which refers to the Holy Days of Israel as "shadows," and
jumped to the conclusion that this is saying the days are
irrelevant, unnecessary, and should not be kept. But is something
irrelevant just because it is a shadow? If I observe my wedding
anniversary, am I somehow mistaking it for the whole reality of my
marriage? The anniversary date and its celebration is also but a
shadow, a symbol of the reality of the marriage. But I find real
meaning in setting aside time to focus, with my husband, on the
meaning of our marriage--to share memories and lessons learned over
the years, to rejoice in the blessings. The anniversary does not
replace the marriage. It doesn't minimize the reality. The
celebration is just a symbolic act which points to the
greater reality of the marriage itself.
So it is with the Holy Days of
God. They are shadows, and their observance is a symbolic
act. When they were instituted, they pointed forward to the reality
of Christ. In some aspects, they are still pointing forward to
future realities in prophecy. In other aspects they are pointing
back, just as a wedding anniversary points back, to realities.
Christians who feel these days are irrelevant do not understand the
power of symbolism.
What do I mean by "the power
of symbolism"? God built into our minds a responsiveness to
symbolism. We acknowledge this when we comment that "a picture is
worth a thousand words." Few Christians realize that the Bible is
full of "pictures" that can be carefully examined to give us an
understanding of the "deep things of God." And many of these
pictures are related to the Holy Days and their observance.
In order to examine these
pictures, we need to understand a bit about the whole concept of
symbolism.
First, what is a symbol? It is
a concrete, tangible thing that "stands for" something else. It may
be a simple object or picture that stands for a more complex object.
A simple outline drawing of two children on a sign by the road tells
you that real children may step out in front of your car on their
way from school. You do not have to be highly educated to understand
the significance of such a symbol.
But a symbol may also be an
object or picture that stands for a more complex idea or reality. In
this case, only those who have been taught the meaning behind
the symbol will fully understand its significance. And the same
symbol may have different significance to different people,
depending on their education about the symbol.
For instance, seeing an
American flag will conjure up one concept in the mind of an Iranian
citizen who is watching one be burned in the streets of Tehran,
Iran. That same flag will evoke an entirely different set of
feelings and thoughts in the mind of an American World War II
veteran watching one pass by in a Fourth of July parade in
Philadelphia. The Iranian may "see" the evil face of the "great
Satan" of American decadence when he looks at an American flag. He
may "see" Americans battling Moslems in a quest for world dominance.
The American, on the other hand, may "see" Washington at Valley
Forge, Lincoln at Gettysburg, American Marines storming the beaches
in the Pacific during World War II to save the world from despotism.
All of this can be evoked just by seeing the symbol of the flag.
A collection of related
symbols can also be joined together to create a complex symbolism
called an analogy. An analogy uses concrete, often simple
objects or pictures to help us understand a more complicated object,
process, or concept. For instance, in school biology classes, the
workings of the human body may be compared to the functioning of a
set of machines. This may help the student more easily remember and
visualize the body systems: The heart is like a pump, the blood
vessels like pipes, the brain like a computer, the eye like a
camera.
The Bible is full of
analogies, in both the Old and New Testament. Perhaps the most
familiar to Christians are the parables of Jesus. His
parables were analogies which introduced spiritual lessons.
Many Christians assume Jesus
used parables so that He could help the crowds understand clearly
His teachings. This is a logical conclusion, since analogies are
usually used to clarify abstract concepts. But what does the
Bible say about Jesus' parables?
With many similar parables
Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.
He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But
when He was alone with his own disciples, He explained
everything. (Mark 4:33-34)
Why would He have to privately
"explain" toHisdisciples the parables? Because He was not
using analogies to makeHismeaning plain!
The purpose of the symbols,
analogies, and parables of the Bible was to both conceal and
reveal the truth. Those taught by the Spirit will understand.
To them the symbolism reveals the mysteries of God, and after
they are taught, the whole lesson can be brought to mind just by
hearing or seeing the symbols involved. This is one way the Spirit
will "bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you." (John 14:26)
But to those not taught of the
Spirit, the symbolism of parables concealed the details of
the truth. They were (and today still are) blinded to much of the
light of the gospel revealed by Christ.
The Holy Days of God reveal
much about Him to those who love him. But most of that revelation is
in symbolism. I know of many who observe these days mechanically,
according to the "letter of the law." Sadly, they are like the
crowds who heard the parables of Jesus, but did not understand.
If you are taught by the
Spirit about these days, you can be like the disciples. Jesus will
"explain everything" to you as you observe them.
Part 4
The Lord has taught me many
things through the scriptures and through the Spirit about the days
of Unleavened Bread as I have observed them for over almost 40
years. When I see a piece of unleavened bread any time of year now
it evokes a vast reservoir of understanding about my Savior and His
plan for His people. I want to share some of those things in the
rest of this article.
AH!--but if I share my
understanding, won't it be enough for the reader to just absorb it?
Would it really be necessary for the reader to observe the
days in fact--or isn't reading about it all enough?
No--it
isn't enough! God made us with five senses. Every good teacher knows
that the most effective, long-term learning happens when children
particpate in the learning process. Children who learn
arithmetic only from a book, who just memorize what they are told,
do not grasp the whole process nearly as effectively as those who
are involved in the learning--those who manipulate sets of objects
to deal with the concepts of adding and subtracting, of "regrouping"
(or, as the "old math" called it, "borrowing and carrying"). And as
the concepts build on one another, as the processes become more
complex, those with a solid foundation of the basics, built on being
involved in the learning process, will be those who can master
advanced math.
It is precisely the same with
spiritual concepts. Those who learn by participating will have the
solid foundation necessary to progressing deeper and deeper into the
things of the Spirit. As Jesus said to His disciples on the night He
was betrayed, "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed
if you do them." (John 13:17) That statement could apply to all of
the truth God has for His people, and I can personally witness that
it is true regarding the observance of the Biblical Holy Days.
In addition, I am positive
that the Lord has revealed only a tiny portion to me of the total
lessons that can be learned from the Days of Unleavened Bread, and
the other Holy Days. I am sure He will reveal more to anyone seeking
understanding. If you begin observing them and are open to the
scriptures and the Spirit for new depths of understanding, the Lord
can reveal many things to you also. The Body of Christ can be fully
edified only when all participate and share the gifts of the
Spirit and the knowledge imparted from the Lord.
Part 5
The LORD said to Moses and
Aaron in Egypt, "This month is to be for you the first month,
the first month of your year.Tell the whole community of Israel
that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb
for his family, one for each household.
(Exodus 12:1-3)
The animals you choose
must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them
from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the
fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the
community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they
are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops
of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That
same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along
with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. [KJV:
"unleavened bread"] (Exod 12:5-8 )
On that same night I will pass through
Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I
will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The
blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive
plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
"This is a day you are to commemorate;
for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival
to the LORD -a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat
bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from
your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the
first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On
the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the
seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare
food for everyone to eat—that is all you may do.
"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions
out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the
generations to come. (Exod 12:12-17)
And when your children ask
you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?'
27 then tell them, 'It is the
Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of
the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down
the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped.
(Exod 12:26-27)
All that most Christians see
in this passage of the Old Testament is the establishment of a
national holiday for Israel, sort of like a "Jewish Fourth of July."
What significance could all this have for a New Covenant Christian?
Your boasting is not good.
Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch
of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch
without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb,
has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not
with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with
bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor
5:6-8)
Most Christians who read this
passage in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians are as befuddled
by its symbolism as are those Pentecostals who have no idea of the
origins of the day of Pentecost. But to those familiar with the Old
Testament, the reference to the passage in Exodus is obvious. The
ultimate question is, "Why? Why would Paul be using this symbolism
of the Days of Unleavened Bread to make about a point of purity in
the church?" For, you see, this letter was written not to
Jews, who would be familiar from birth with the "Jewish" holy days,
but to Gentiles! Surely, if he just wanted to emphasize a
point, he could have used a more familiar analogy for converted
pagan Gentiles! That is, unless these converted pagan Gentiles had
been taught by Paul to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread. And, in
fact, that is what some of the Bible commentaries suggest. They even
suggest that this letter was written in the time period around those
days, and that is why Paul chose that analogy.
If the Apostle Paul himself
set us an example of using these days to teach spiritual lessons,
does it seem to far-fetched to suggest they might still be relevant
in the twentieth century?
Therefore, let us explore some
of the lessons of these days.
Part 6
First of all, just what is
unleavened bread? It might be better to start with, "What is
leavened bread?" Leavened bread is the everyday bread most
people buy at the grocery in big, puffy loaves. Leaven is the
ingredient bakers add to make bread dough "rise" before and/or
during baking. Common types of leavening today are yeast, baking
soda, and baking powder. In the Biblical sense, unleavened
bread, then, is bread (or other baked goods such as cakes and
cookies) that is baked without the aid of such leavening
agents.
In Biblical times, the primary
leavening agent was a type of "sourdough." In sourdough baking, an
initial batch of dough is left out in the open air, and yeast spores
common in the atmosphere eventually mix with it and begin to leaven
it. From that point on, a piece of that dough can be reserved before
baking each loaf of bread, and added to a new batch of dough to
begin leavening it immediately. Each new leavened batch provides a
"starter" lump of leavened dough for the next batch. This process
can go on indefinitely, for months or years.
However, under the guidelines
for the Days of Unleavened Bread, each year in the first month of
the spring of the year, the Israelites would get rid of all their
old bread and sourdough, bake unleavened bread for seven days, and
then start a fresh initial batch of leavened bread again for the new
year. This is the symbolism that Paul was drawing upon in his letter
to the Corinthians. For someone participating in the physical
customs of the Days of Unleavened Bread, it would be a very vivid
word picture. But, as you can see, for those not involved it takes a
major explanation, negating the value of the choice of analogy!
Unleavened bread is not
mentioned in the Bible only in the context of the Days of Unleavened
Bread. Here are some other passages which speak of unleavened bread.
Perhaps we can pick up some hints of the symbolic significance of
such bread from these passages.
The LORD appeared to
Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at
the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked
up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he
hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low
to the ground.
He said, "If I have found
favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a
little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and
rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you
can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come
to your servant."
"Very well," they
answered, "do as you say."
So Abraham hurried into
the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine
flour and knead it and bake some bread."
Then he ran to the herd
and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who
hurried to prepare it. 8 He then
brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared,
and set these before them ... (Gen 18:1-8).
It is obvious from the context
that this meal that Abraham had prepared for his supernatural guests
included bread made too quickly to allow for rising--unleavened
bread. And when two of the guests move on to Sodom, they meet Lot,
who provides the same type of meal:
But he insisted so
strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He
prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they
ate. (Gen 19:3)
Later in the Old Testament,
the "angel of the LORD" appears to Gideon to give him his
commission:
Gideon went in, prepared a
young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without
yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he
brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
The angel of God said to
him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this
rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so.
With the tip of the staff
that was in his hand, the angel of the LORD touched the meat and
the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the
meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. (Judg
6:19-21)
This was obviously accepted by
the LORD as a type of offering. And it agrees with the rules for
burnt offerings prescribed for the tabernacle:
Every grain offering you
bring to the LORD must be made without yeast, for you are not to
burn any yeast or honey in an offering made to the LORD by fire.
(Lev 2:11)
The implication from these
passages is that you offer "unleavened bread" to the LORD and
His emissaries. But why? Is this just some arbitrary detail imposed by
God as a burden on people? No--it is highly symbolic and points to
the symbolic use of "leaven" common in the New Testament. You see,
in order to be an agent for rising for bread, yeast at the same
time must begin a process of fermentation or decay--or, more
familiarly in spiritual phraseology, "corruption." Thus Paul speaks
of the "yeast (corruption) of malice and wickedness" in the Church.
And Jesus, in Mat.16:6, tell His disciples to "beware of the leaven
[corrupting doctrine] of the Pharisees."
Thus leaven in the
scriptures usually symbolizes the ways of man's corruptible flesh,
rather than the incorruptible Spirit.
However, this concept of
corruption vs. incorruption is not the only symbolic significance of
the unleavened bread we are to eat during the Days of Unleavened
Bread.
Part 7
The unleavened bread of the
Passover season has several designations in the Bible. Each of them
has symbolic significance.
Do not eat it [the
Passover lamb] with bread made with yeast, but for seven days
eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left
Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may
remember the time of your departure from Egypt. (Deut 16:3)
Unleavened Bread is first the
BREAD OF AFFLICTION.
The Israelites had been "sore
afflicted" in Egypt. The LORD saw their affliction and rescued them.
In all their affliction He
was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his
love and in his pity He redeemed them; and He bare them, and
carried them all the days of old. (Isa 63:9)
The night before Jesus became
"our Passover lamb" in sacrifice, He gave His disciples new
symbols of the Passover--the unleavened bread representing His body,
the wine representing His blood. And therein was the ultimate
symbolism of the BREAD OF AFFLICTION. No longer is it just bread
symbolizing the affliction of the Israelites in Egypt long ago. Now
it is the affliction of all mankind in bondage to the "Egypt" of
sin:
Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our
transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth. (Isa 53:4-5, 7)
There is the true Passover
Lamb and the true BREAD OF AFFLICTION that we commemorate
with the symbols that some call "communion." And, although communion is taken by
many at other times of the year, it is particularly fitting at the
annual memorial of Jesus' sacrifice.
Unleavened bread is also
designated the BREAD OF HASTE.
And the Egyptians were
urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the
land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. And the people
took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs
being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. (Exod
12:33-34)
What could this possibly mean
to Christians?
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing
through. A man was there by the
name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was,
but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.
So he ran ahead and climbed a
sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up
and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay
at your house today." So he came
down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to
mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the
Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to
the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will
pay back four times the amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has
come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.
10For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:1-10)
The Israelites put the blood
of the Passover lamb over their doors, and the death angel pased
over them. But they were still in Egypt! The point of the unleavened
bread is that they took their bread with them and left in haste.
They were saved from death by the blood, but they couldn't stay in
Egypt and be free. They had to leave in haste.
Jesus offered himself to
Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus' response was to follow the Master in
haste! And, in accepting the salvation of Jesus, in haste he
rejected his past life of greed and extortion.
That is the lesson for us in
the BREAD OF HASTE: after Jesus reveals himself to us as the
Passover Lamb, we should make haste to answer His call, and make
haste to leave our life of sin to follow him.
In the passage from
Corinthians quoted above, we read of the "unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth." Another way to word that might be the BREAD
OF PURITY, as opposed to the leavened bread of "malice and
wickedness."
As the old saying goes, "You
are what you eat." After accepting Christ as our Passover, we cannot
continue to "take in" the impurities of the world--pornography,
trashy music or novels, the atmosphere in worldly social settings
such as bars. We need to feed on Him--through His written Word, the
prompting of the Spirit, fellowship with Godly brethren.
And ultimately Jesus is the final
symbolism of unleavened bread--THE BREAD OF LIFE:
Then Jesus declared, "I am
the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and
he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
Part 8
For many years, I belonged to
a church organization that took the symbolic bread and wine only once a year, on the
annual memorial of the Last Supper. And this memorial was tied in
directly to the symbolism of Passover and the Days of Unleavened
Bread. The members were taught extensively about the seriousness of
the symbolism. Paul's admonitions in I Corinthians about not taking
the emblems carelessly, about examining oneself beforehand were
strongly emphasized.
In many ways this is good.
Members certainly did not take the ceremony lightly! However, there
was an imbalance in that the "Spirit" was missing in the activity.
It had been reduced to such formalism that the leadership had
substituted "somberness" for serious respectfulness. Each individual
in the group became an isolated automaton participating with no
interrelation with the rest of the Body. Love, fellowship as a Body,
and the quiet joy involved in gratitude to our Savior, were missing.
As imbalanced as this was, I
have since found that the typical problem in most Christian churches
is just the opposite. Communion is taken frequently, and appears to
be, for many, a ritual of habit. And this kind of imbalance is just
as disturbing. The balance would appear to me again to be a matter
of spirit and truth. I believe the situation in many churches,
would be much improved
by educating the congregation to understand the roots of the
communion service by learning about and participating in the
observance of the Passover season.
Many churches will make a
major issue about the "mode" of baptism. Particularly for those who
believe in "immersion" baptism, the symbolism is very important.
They understand that sprinkling just doesn't convey the lesson of
dying with Christ, having the "old man" buried, and being brought up
in a resurrection of newness of life. But many of these same churches seem
to have no notion of the profound symbolism of the details of the
communion service. I know God honors the intent of hearts, and He
loves all who are trying to please Him. But using leavened bread
cubes, or circular wafers, or tiny little pre-cut leavened crackers misses
much of the lesson of the symbolism, and totally rips the ceremony
from its Biblical roots.
Our Savior was the Passover
Lamb. The bread He chose to symbolize this would be the bread that
represents uncorrupted holiness, unleavened bread. It would be one
whole "loaf" that would be broken at the ceremony:
Is not the cup of
thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the
blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a
participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf,
we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one
loaf. (1 Cor 10:16-17 )
This symbolism is particularly
poignant--each member takes in a piece of that one loaf. As
the group separates afterwards, there is the feeling that, as the
old song goes, "When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain."
["Blest Be the Tie That Binds"] When you gather again, the pieces
are back together and the Body is whole! For those who are taught by
the scriptures and by the Spirit, and who fully understand the
symbolism, there is an increase in the sense of the bond of
fellowship, and the pain when even one piece is missing.
Part 9
I started out by saying
symbols and analogies can conceal and reveal. Remember--the
effectiveness of complex symbolism relies entirely on education. I
will close with a final example of this.
Much of the Christian
community believes that we are living close to the time of the
return of Christ. World conditions seem to be beginning to match Bible
prophecy more and more. Evil men and demonic forces are becoming
more and more evident. In many parts of the world, persecution and
tribulation have already begun for Believers. But many Christians in
America expect to be raptured away to be with the Lord before any
serious religious persecution comes in OUR country.
I do not share their optimism.
What if
some day we are faced
with going "underground" to meet with fellow believers?
What if "religious" meetings
and ceremonies are forbidden some day?
Under those conditions, some
groups such as Roman Catholics, who rely on external religious artifacts such as
candles, beads, statues, special robes, etc. for their ceremonies
will have a hard time of it if the "secret police" come knocking on
their door.
But envision this scenario:
Several people are sitting
around a table. One quietly picks up a piece of unleavened bread,
holds it up silently for all to see, and begins to break and
distribute it.
Another holds up a container
of grape juice or wine for all to observe and silently pours some
for each person.
An eavesdropper in the next
apartment would know nothing about what was happening, as nothing
needed to be said. And an unexpected caller at the door would see
nothing except some friends having a snack! But for those who have
been taught deeply from the scriptures, these simple symbolic acts
will speak volumes.
Can you begin to grasp the
POWER OF SYMBOLISM?
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