The Daily Word of Righteousness

The First Four Feasts, #2

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

The Passover blood was for protection during the judgment of "all the gods of Egypt." So it is today. The Holy Spirit reproves (convicts) the world of judgment "because the prince of the world is judged."

The Lord will not tolerate the worship of demons. In His own time and manner He will destroy the demons and those who worship them. The Passover blood is our protection during the period that God executes judgment on the works of Satan.

"No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof" (Exodus 12:48). Only Christians can take advantage of the protection from judgment provided by the blood of Christ.

No person can escape the judgments of God merely by associating himself with the Christian churches. One's name on a church roster, while it may be useful in the administration of the church, is of no value when we are speaking of protection against the judgments of God. A person must be "circumcised," that is to say, he must through faith obtain a work of Christ in his own heart. Otherwise he cannot avail himself and his household of the protection of the Passover blood of God's Lamb.

Unleavened Bread

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. (Exodus 12:15)

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (I Corinthians 5:6-8)

Paul anchors our interpretation of the feast of Unleavened Bread with his words in I Corinthians 5:6-8 (quoted above). Leaven is portrayed as "malice and wickedness," and unleavened bread is shown to be "sincerity and truth."

Leaven, in the Scriptures, often symbolizes sin. Just as a little yeast affects a whole ball of dough, so a little sin affects a whole human life.

God issued a clear command concerning the use of leaven during Passover Week: "There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee" (Exodus 13:7). This command is repeated in the Old Testament until the spiritual message is clear: "Purge from yourself the spirit and ways of the present evil age."

Sincere repentance, which is a forsaking of the spirit of the world (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life), must accompany the acceptance of Christ, our Passover Lamb. If there is no sincere repentance on our part, no turning away from our former manner of living, we have not come to Jesus with the right attitude.

To be continued.