The feast of the Passover was to be a memorial to the children of Israel to remind them of how God rescued them from the judgement falling on those living in Egypt, and how God provided the passover lamb to be their supply for them to get out of Egypt and serve God in the wilderness.
God instructed His people in great details how to prepare and sacrifice the lamb, what to eat with the roasted lamb, how to apply the blood, how to be dressed and where to be when they eat as they ate the passover lamb.
All these details point to the our detailed remembrance of the redemption of Christ, the Passover lamb, who was sacrificed for us to both redeem us and become our life supply for us to escape God’s judgement and get out of the world to serve God.
Even though the feast of the Passover was one day, God ordained that after this feast His people would hold a seven-day feast, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, as a continuation of the feast of the Passover. Sometimes in the Bible the feast of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread are used interchangeably.
This shows that in our Christian experience we should keep the feast not just one day but all throughout our Christian life. Daily we need to keep the feast of the unleavened bread, eating Christ as the unleavened bread and being without any leaven.
Leaven signifies sin and evil things; we need to deal with any sin or evil things that the Lord exposes, and we need to eat the Lord’s sinless life so that we may live the same kind of life He lived for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Throughout our Christian life there should be no leaven with us: we should deal with any sin that the Lord’s light exposes, and we should enjoy and eat Christ’s sinless life, hating sin and dealing with sin as it is being exposed by God.
As believers in Christ we are the spiritual people of God, and for us to go on with the Lord we need to first recognize sin as sin, exercise our spirit to be one with the Lord, confess the sin and condemn it, apply the blood of Jesus, and believe that as we confess, He forgives – therefore we have life and peace in our spirit (Rom. 8:6).
Keeping the Feast of the Unleavened Bread Throughout our Christian Life
The feast of the Passover was for only one day, but following this the children of Israel were to keep the feast of the Unleavened Bread for a period of seven days.
What the Lord has accomplished for us on the cross as the Lamb of God should be a memorial to us, and we should remember it all the time; however, throughout our Christian life we need to keep the feast of the unleavened bread.
In Exo. 12:15-19 we see that the people of Israel were not allowed to eat anything with leaven, and no leaven was to be found in their houses or seen among them (Exo. 13:7). Christ is the unleavened bread – He is our sinless life supply of sincerity and truth; Christ is absolutely pure, without any mixture, and full of reality (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
We should reject any leaven, that is, reject any evil and sin. Leaven signifies evil, corruption, and sin. The church is a new lump, and all leaven needs to be purged from us. We need to reject and put away the leaven of malice and evil.
Throughout our Christian life we need to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of truth and peace, which is the life of the Lord Jesus, full of sincerity and reality. We need to receive Christ not only in His death (as the Passover Lamb) but also in His sinless life, the unleavened bread.
We need to live a life without any leaven, a life without any sin, by eating the Lord Jesus as the sinless life and living Him out. The flesh of the passover lamb and the unleavened bread signify the sinless life of Christ.
As we eat the Lord, we will reject sin, confess any sins, and live out a sinless life as the Lord Jesus did.
Dealing with any Sin Exposed by God’s Light and Eating Christ as the Sinless Life
It is very interesting that in Exodus God specifies that no leaven was to be seen with the children of Israel (Exo. 13:7; 12:19); this means that they may have some leaven, but as it was exposed or seen, it should be removed and destroyed.
In our Christian life we must deal with the sin of which we are conscious; we need to deal with any sin that is manifested, that is seen (1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 12:1-2).
As we enjoy Christ and eat Him as the Passover lamb, there should be an inward effect of the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs. We cannot say that “we eat the Lord and He’s our enjoyment as the Lamb of God”, and yet there’s no dealing with sin or feeling toward evil things.
The more we eat Christ there should be an effect of living without sin, a life that is pure, balanced, and fine, like that of the Lord Jesus. We need to deal with any kind of sin that is manifested; there should be no leaven among us.
It is impossible to get rid of ALL of our sins because we transgress all the time, but it is possible that we deal with the sins that are manifested. In our experience of dealing with sins God wants us to deal with the sins that He exposes in His light through our fellowship with Him.
We shouldn’t consider sinning as a light matter; eating Jesus is manifested in dealing with sin, rejecting sin, and living a life without sin. Christ’s life in us which we enjoy and partake of is a sinless life, and those who eat His flesh will live a sinless and unleavened life as He did.
Sin causes us to be removed from God’s blessing and frustrates us from going on with the Lord, hindering us from growing in the divine life. Dealing with sin is a basic matter in our Christian life. We need to have a consciousness of sin and know what sin is.
In Gal. 5:19-21 we see that the works of the flesh is sin, that is, lying, stealing, the works of the flesh, fornication, lasciviousness, outbursts of anger, coveting, uncleanness, jealousy, strife, and drunkenness. If we eat the Lord as the unleavened bread, His sinless life is dispensed into us, and we have a clear feeling concerning sin: all the sins that the Lord exposes, we will confess!
It is not a light matter for us to sin; rather, it is important for us to deal with sin as the Lord shines on us. If we enjoy Christ as the passover, what follows is the feast of the unleavened bread for our whole life. We need the Lord to shine on us in this matter so that we may realize that as we enjoy Him, He is a sinless life, and He expects that we would live a sinless life as He did.
If we tolerate sin once it is exposed, we will lose the enjoyment of the fellowship of God’s people, just as those found with leaven and didn’t destroy it were cut off from God’s people in Israel (Exo. 12:19; 1 Cor. 5:13).
The only way we can eliminate sin is to daily eat Christ as the crucified, resurrected, and sinless life (signified by the unleavened bread).
We need to agree with the Lord’s light, recognize sin as sin (and not excuse any sin), exercise our spirit to be one with the Lord, and confess the sins the Lord exposed, condemning them. After we confess the sin, we need to apply the Lord’s blood and believe that He is faithful to forgive us of our sin and wash us from any unrighteousness (1 John 1:7, 9). After we confess our sins, we can enjoy life and peace in our spirit!
Our entire Christian life we should feast on Christ as the sinless divine life, and we should enjoy Him as our banquet, the rich supply of life (Exo. 12:16, 18-19).
Lord Jesus, keep us feasting on You as the unleavened bread all the days of our life. May we be those who recognize sin as sin and make no excuses for it but exercise our spirit to be one with You to confess our sin, condemn it, and apply Your blood so that we may enjoy life and peace in our spirit. Lord, we want to eliminate any sin that Your light exposes and daily eat Christ as the crucified, resurrected, and sinless life. Hallelujah, let us keep the feast of the unleavened bread without any leaven of malice and evil!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. James Lee’s sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 25, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 5 / msg 5, The Passover.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We eat this feast and take God in, / And as we eat we live by Him, / For all the elements within / This feast are God Himself. / Yes, Jesus is our feast! / Yes, Jesus is our feast! / We eat this feast and live by Him, / For Jesus is our feast! (Hymns #1145)
# Lord, Thou art the Bread from heaven, / The unleavened Bread of life; / Eating Thee, with Thee we mingle, / Ceasing from our sin and strife. / Lamb and Bread are both Thy figures, / Showing Thou art life to us; / Feasting on Thee at Thy table, / We enjoy Thy riches thus. (Hymns #196)
# We are feasting with our Savior, / He with us and we with Him; / Hallelujah, hallelujah! / Feast of feasts that ne’er will end! / Eating, drinking with Thyself, Lord, / We are wholly satisfied. / Taste we of that glorious banquet / Thou wilt share with us, Thy Bride. (Hymns #1105)
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Exodus 13:7 says that no leaven was to be seen with the children of Israel. In our Christian life no leaven should be seen. It is impossible for us to have no leaven at all, but it is possible for the leaven not to be seen. Although it is not possible for us to be without sin, we must deal with any sin that is manifested, with any sin that is seen. This means that we are responsible to deal with the sin of which we are conscious. Whenever we discover something sinful in our lives, we must eliminate it. This, however, does not mean that we shall have no sin. There may be much sin in our lives or in our environment, but we may not be conscious of it. However, as soon as we become conscious of it, we must deal with it. We must forsake the sin of which we are conscious. We should not tolerate any manifestation of sin. Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 25
1 Cor. 5:8 tells us to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth
The “feast” is the Feast of Unleavened Bread as the continuation of the Passover (Exo. 12:15-20). It lasted for seven days, signifying our entire Christian life which we must keep, not with our old nature, the old leaven, but with unleavened bread, which is the Christ of our new nature, as our nourishment and enjoyment. He is our life supply of sincerity and truth, absolutely pure, without mixture, and full of reality.
Lord make this day a feast, an enjoyment of You as our banquet, as a rich supply of genuiness in everything we say and do.
Here is a new song, based on this note, set to a well-known tune from our hymnal:
tune: It Passeth Knowledge/154
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/154
The “feast” is the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
As the continuation of the–
Passover. It lasted for seven–
Days, signifying our entire–
Christian life…
Which we must keep, not with our–
Old nature, the old leaven, but–
With unleavened bread, which is–
The Christ of our new nature, as–
Our nourishment…
And enjoyment. He is our life–
Supply of this sincerity and truth,
Absolutely pure, and without–
Mixture, and full of such reality.
Lord make this day…
A feast, an enjoyment of You as–
Our banquet, as a rich supply of this–
Genuineness in everything–
We say and do. O, hallelujah!
All we say and do.
source: based on note regarding 1 Cor. 5:8 above.