Simply Divine Love: Passover - The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Passover - The Feast of Unleavened Bread

by David Weiss

Revelation 1:1-6 "This is the revelation which G-d gave to Yeshua the Messiah, so that he could show his servants what must happen very soon. He communicated it by sending his angel to his servant Yochanan, 2 who bore witness to the Word of G-d and to the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah, as much as he saw. 3 Blessed are the reader and hearers of the words of this prophecy, provided they obey the things written in it! For the time is near! From: Yochanan To: The seven Messianic communities in the province of Asia: Grace and shalom to you from the One who is, who was and who is coming; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Yeshua the Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the earth’s kings. To him, the one who loves us, who has freed us from our sins at the cost of his blood, who has caused us to be a kingdom, that is, cohanim for G-d, his Father — to him be the glory and the rulership forever and ever. Amen."

Tonight at sundown begins the Festival of Pesach. Passover, the feast of unleavened bread. Initially the purpose of the unleavened bread was because the Israelites were about to leave Egypt. It was going to be in a hurry so the L-rd had them use unleavened bread because they did not have time for it to rise. But it has a deeper meaning than just that. It also is about not being affected by the yeast of the world.

When the Isra'elites were going into the wilderness on the way to the Land of Promise, it was a message to them. The message was "the people you will displace are pagan in all their spiritual practices. I do not want you to be affected by their practices." Initially they were supposed to go in and defeat all the inhabitants so they would wipe out their sinful, idolatrous practices. But things got messed up from the beginning.

The Isra'elites lost faith quickly. They failed to walk by faith and they quickly turned to idolatry. But the worst part was their lack of faith in believing the 10 negative spies and not the report of the good spies. So G-d caused them to wander for 40 years. 40 years of punishment so that the generation of unbelief would have a chance to die out. Those 20 and older would not survive to the Land of Promise - except for the two good spies - Y'hoshua and Calev.

Look at the words of the introduction of today's passage again. What do you see? Twice it says that these things will happen soon. But it has been nearly two thousand years since they were spoken. Yeshua had told his emissaries at one point to beware of the yeast of the P'rushim, the Pharisees. They were not to allow the legalistic influence of the P'rushim to affect their spiritual beliefs. And he issued a similar warning here. He said in verse 3 "provided they obey the things written in it!"

What are some things written in this prophesy that people have failed to obey? This book goes on the speak seven letters to seven communities throughout Asia. I believe those seven are types. They are not seven specific congregations but seven types of congregations. In it they are described by the ways they do or do not follow the truth. And there is still the word "soon." He says that these things will happen soon. It is a building of expectation.

Today we tend to think like the world around us. We go to our jobs and save for retirement and hope to live comfortably. But that is not how the walk of faith is described. It is not that those things are sinful, but they do not concentrate on right things. The right things of relying on G-d and telling others about him. Even today we need that reminder of walking with G-d and trusting him for our sustenance. Because his rulership is forever and ever!