By Kaaren Craig

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread begins March 27 this year. As believers in Jesus/Yeshua we want to celebrate the Feasts of the Lord.

 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight is the LORD’S Passover.

Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.  Leviticus 23:5-6

Yeshua, the Lamb of God, died on Passover, the 14th day of the first month. God chose this specific day for the Lamb of God to die. As the lamb in Egypt delivered the Israelites, Yeshua’s sacrifice delivers us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. Passover is celebrated for more than one night as it also includes The Feast of Unleavened Bread when He was in the grave, and on the Feast of First Fruits when He rose from the dead. These are specific times with specific instructions on how to honor them.
 

There is much to consider here, but I want to limit this discussion to unleavened bread. Leaven is yeast and yeast is a picture of something small that spreads rapidly and causes a change. Leaven can also be a symbol of sin that can so easily take over a life. It takes time for leaven to have its effect.
 

For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove dough with yeast from your houses; for whoever eats anything with yeast from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. Exodus 12:15
 

Leaven in the Gospels

Here we are instructed to remove all food that contains leaven from our homes and to eat unleavened bread. As Israel was preparing for Passover, Yeshua also cleaned out His Father’s house.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 

And within the temple grounds He found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 
 

And He made a whip of cords, and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

And to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away from here; stop making My Father’s house a place of business!  John 2:13-16

Application
What do we see here? The search for leaven begins in His Father’s House, the Temple in Jerusalem.  The Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. but today, God has His temple in His people.

What agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL AMONG THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 2 Corinthians 6:16

So, we can say that we too are houses of prayer. We are also a temple of the Living God.

Spring cleaning

To make bread with leaven there is either a starter patch from older bread or the dough is simply exposed to air.  Yeast is everywhere. What do we have that is everywhere and must also be used with wisdom? Time. Every day we are given 24 hours to use or to waste. 

During the feast of unleavened bread, we are to clear out yeast in our homes. When we equate yeast with time, which is available to each of us equally, a good question to ask ourselves is this. What are we doing with our time? 
 

This time of the year, as we clean our homes of the leaven, it is also wise to take stock of the time that is available to us.  If we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and if we are to clean out our temples, then one of the items we should consider is our use of time. In one 24-hour period, how much time is wasted on stuff that does not matter? How much time could be used in a better way?  What was the Temple for? Worship, prayer, hearing Scripture, and worshiping with others. 
 

During the 7 days of the Feast of Unleavened bread, how can we use this set apart time to remove distractions, time wasters, or busy work from our temples? A goal for this week could be to prioritize 15 minutes or more each day with focused attention on meaningful use of our temple use of time. Being in God’s presence always changes us.  It would also take a physical principal (leaven or yeast) and make it into, not a lack of, but an increase in knowing and spending time with our Lord and Savior.
 

How do we get rid of time wasters?  Make a chart and identify in your life:

• What is urgent/not urgent? 
• What is important time/not important time?
• What is a priority/not a priority? 
• What and when do distractions occur?
  (I suggest you make a list of these things so you can be aware of what is happening to your time)
• What can I change so I can spend more time in the Presence of God? 

We all have obligations, which may be priorities, but most of us are not on call 24/7. This year let us use the Feast of Unleavened Bread to remove some of the time wasters in our lives. That brings an understanding to the lack of leaven in our day to day lives. It will be a benefit, so clean out some stuff in our temples that clutter our time. And just as leaven is a pervasive influence that modifies something or transforms it for the better, let this week transform your daily time with the Lord.

Adding 15 minutes or more out of the 1,440 minutes available every day to focus on our relationship with God will radically change us. It will have the same effect as yeast has on bread.

Please give us your thoughts on this article!

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