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Thursday 4-6-23 5th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle Nisan 14, 5783 18th. Spring Day
The Matzah -- Unleavened Bread All other nights we eat bread made with leaven, but on Passover and during the Feast of Unkleavened Bread, we eat only unleavened bread, or matzah. As the children of Israel fled from Egypt, they did not have time for their dough to rise. They had to get out of Egypt so quickly that they did not have time to leaven their bread! But even more than that, leaven during the Days of Unleavened Bread represents sin. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast -- as you really are. For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us" (I Cor.5:7). But there is more to the story than that. Flat bread, or unleavened bread, in the Bible is called the "bread of affliction." God says, "You shall eat no leavened bread with it [the Passover lamb, which represented Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb]: seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (Deut.16:3).
The unleavened bread we eat at Passover is the bread of "affliction." The Hebrew word here for "affliction" is oniy and means "depression, misery, affliction, trouble." It is used also in Genesis 16:11; 31:42; 41:52. Therefore, the unleavened bread here pictures the bread of sufferings and trials. The unleavened bread eaten during the Passover dinner technically pictures the suffering, affliction, and misery that our ancestors suffered while they were slaves in Egypt. But it also pictures the bread of FREEDOM! For it is by means of suffering that we learn the true lessons of freedom, liberty and life! The apostle Paul spoke of the unleavened bread of Passover as "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (I Cor.5:8). Leaven, during Passover, pictures "the leaven of malice and wickedness" (same verse). It also pictures false teaching and false doctrine (Matt.16:6-12). 7 Leavening, at this time, therefore, pictures the doctrines and teachings and ways of Satan the devil -- malice and wickedness, false doctrine and evil. It is that which corrupts the soul and changes the essence of that which is good to that which is evil, and contaminated. Unleavened bread, on the other hand, is the bread of suffering, affliction, and sincerity and truth. There is a vital relationship between these things. It is through suffering and affliction that we arrive at sincerity and truth. Suffering produces humility and meekness of mind. We read of Christ Himself, "learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" (Heb.5:8). David wrote of this connection, saying, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word" (Psalm 119:67). He added: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" (Psalm 119:71).
Thus the unleavened bread pictures afflictions, which bring about sincerity, humility and truth -- and purge out insincerity, lies, deceit, malice, hypocrisy, pride, arrogance, and all forms of wickedness. Therefore, the first item on the seder plate we partake of is the matzah. But notice! The matzah is arranged in a strange fashion -- that is, three whole pieces of matzah are wrapped up and placed one on top of another, in the center of the table. By a tradition, that goes back at least to New Testament times, and was extant during the time of Jesus Christ and His disciples, the Jewish people during Passover put a separate plate of three matzot wrapped together in a napkin. None of this is mentioned in the Scriptures, although we are told that Jesus observed the Passover, "after the custom of the feast" (Luke 2:42). Therefore, undoubtedly He observed this custom. It is very significant, as we will explain later. This is called the "Afikomen," a Greek word, interestingly, which at an early date entered into the Passover tradition! In the middle of the table, in a separate plate, the "Afikomen" -- three matzot wrapped together in a napkin -- is placed. This is called, interestingly, the "Unity." Some consider it representative of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Others say it represents God the Father, the Priesthood, and Israel. However, for Christians and Messianic believers who believe that Jesus is the true Messiah, it has a far deeper meaning than that. The top or highest matzah represents God the Father. How can "flat bread" of "affiction" represent God?
Does not God also suffer "afffiction" when He sees His children suffer? Does He not suffer along with them? Yes, He does! (see Gen.6:6). He certainly suffered and was afflicted in all the afflictions of His beloved Son -- in a sense, He agonized and suffered even more than Christ, even as a human father feels deep pain when he sees his only son go through excruciating pain, injustice, and unjust suffering. The story of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his own son Isaac, is a wonderful type of the suffering the Father endured seeing His only Son being crucified for our sins (compare Gen.22). Abraham was a type of God the Father. The second or middle matzah represents the Messiah, and all the suffering He went through for us. Yeshua -- Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word of God, our Saviour, was beaten 8 and scourged and crucified for our sins (John 19:1-3; Heb.12:2-4). Isaac was a type of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as he was about to be "sacrificed" on the altar by his father. The bottom matzah represents "Israel" -- that is, the people or nation of God. Jacob was a type of his descendants -- the nation of Israel. His name itself was changed to "Israel" (Gen.32:28). But in a greater, spiritual sense, it represents the "Israel of God" (Gal.6:16), meaning the people of the true Church of God, who constitute the "body of Christ" (I Cor.12:13-19; Eph.4:4). We, too, must endure suffering, following in the footsteps of Christ (I Pet.2:21-25). David wrote, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalm 34:19). As Paul and Barnabas put it, "we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
Love, Walter and Debbie
The Matzah -- Unleavened Bread All other nights we eat bread made with leaven, but on Passover and during the Feast of Unkleavened Bread, we eat only unleavened bread, or matzah. As the children of Israel fled from Egypt, they did not have time for their dough to rise. They had to get out of Egypt so quickly that they did not have time to leaven their bread! But even more than that, leaven during the Days of Unleavened Bread represents sin. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast -- as you really are. For Messiah, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for us" (I Cor.5:7). But there is more to the story than that. Flat bread, or unleavened bread, in the Bible is called the "bread of affliction." God says, "You shall eat no leavened bread with it [the Passover lamb, which represented Jesus Christ, our Passover lamb]: seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (Deut.16:3).
The unleavened bread we eat at Passover is the bread of "affliction." The Hebrew word here for "affliction" is oniy and means "depression, misery, affliction, trouble." It is used also in Genesis 16:11; 31:42; 41:52. Therefore, the unleavened bread here pictures the bread of sufferings and trials. The unleavened bread eaten during the Passover dinner technically pictures the suffering, affliction, and misery that our ancestors suffered while they were slaves in Egypt. But it also pictures the bread of FREEDOM! For it is by means of suffering that we learn the true lessons of freedom, liberty and life! The apostle Paul spoke of the unleavened bread of Passover as "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (I Cor.5:8). Leaven, during Passover, pictures "the leaven of malice and wickedness" (same verse). It also pictures false teaching and false doctrine (Matt.16:6-12). 7 Leavening, at this time, therefore, pictures the doctrines and teachings and ways of Satan the devil -- malice and wickedness, false doctrine and evil. It is that which corrupts the soul and changes the essence of that which is good to that which is evil, and contaminated. Unleavened bread, on the other hand, is the bread of suffering, affliction, and sincerity and truth. There is a vital relationship between these things. It is through suffering and affliction that we arrive at sincerity and truth. Suffering produces humility and meekness of mind. We read of Christ Himself, "learned he obedience by the things which he suffered" (Heb.5:8). David wrote of this connection, saying, "Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word" (Psalm 119:67). He added: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" (Psalm 119:71).
Thus the unleavened bread pictures afflictions, which bring about sincerity, humility and truth -- and purge out insincerity, lies, deceit, malice, hypocrisy, pride, arrogance, and all forms of wickedness. Therefore, the first item on the seder plate we partake of is the matzah. But notice! The matzah is arranged in a strange fashion -- that is, three whole pieces of matzah are wrapped up and placed one on top of another, in the center of the table. By a tradition, that goes back at least to New Testament times, and was extant during the time of Jesus Christ and His disciples, the Jewish people during Passover put a separate plate of three matzot wrapped together in a napkin. None of this is mentioned in the Scriptures, although we are told that Jesus observed the Passover, "after the custom of the feast" (Luke 2:42). Therefore, undoubtedly He observed this custom. It is very significant, as we will explain later. This is called the "Afikomen," a Greek word, interestingly, which at an early date entered into the Passover tradition! In the middle of the table, in a separate plate, the "Afikomen" -- three matzot wrapped together in a napkin -- is placed. This is called, interestingly, the "Unity." Some consider it representative of the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Others say it represents God the Father, the Priesthood, and Israel. However, for Christians and Messianic believers who believe that Jesus is the true Messiah, it has a far deeper meaning than that. The top or highest matzah represents God the Father. How can "flat bread" of "affiction" represent God?
Does not God also suffer "afffiction" when He sees His children suffer? Does He not suffer along with them? Yes, He does! (see Gen.6:6). He certainly suffered and was afflicted in all the afflictions of His beloved Son -- in a sense, He agonized and suffered even more than Christ, even as a human father feels deep pain when he sees his only son go through excruciating pain, injustice, and unjust suffering. The story of Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice his own son Isaac, is a wonderful type of the suffering the Father endured seeing His only Son being crucified for our sins (compare Gen.22). Abraham was a type of God the Father. The second or middle matzah represents the Messiah, and all the suffering He went through for us. Yeshua -- Jesus Christ, the Logos, the Word of God, our Saviour, was beaten 8 and scourged and crucified for our sins (John 19:1-3; Heb.12:2-4). Isaac was a type of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as he was about to be "sacrificed" on the altar by his father. The bottom matzah represents "Israel" -- that is, the people or nation of God. Jacob was a type of his descendants -- the nation of Israel. His name itself was changed to "Israel" (Gen.32:28). But in a greater, spiritual sense, it represents the "Israel of God" (Gal.6:16), meaning the people of the true Church of God, who constitute the "body of Christ" (I Cor.12:13-19; Eph.4:4). We, too, must endure suffering, following in the footsteps of Christ (I Pet.2:21-25). David wrote, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" (Psalm 34:19). As Paul and Barnabas put it, "we must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).
Love, Walter and Debbie
