Exodus 12:14-20
Verse 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
Now that they have been instructed how to prepare for the important night they learned the important thing they had been missing, though this was the only time they would be experiencing this night, they would be commemorating it regularly. Because this was going to be remembered every year, God felt they needed to understand more about the process. While the Egyptians were going to remember this night for the negative, God was wanting His people to think back on it for what it was, Him saving them.
God wanted them to see more than His saving them from slavery, through the generations He wanted them to know all He was saving them from or maybe saving them to. One of the reasons God wanted this to be celebrated every year was because when we aren’t intentional about remembering all He has done for us we tend to wander further from Him.
It was important that first night not to put yeast in the bread because they didn’t have the time for it to rise before they were to eat it. In the years which followed they wouldn’t be in the same hurry they had been that first night but it wasn’t about reliving the moment it was about commemorating it. Though they didn’t understand it at the time, God having them remove the yeast from the home was going to be a symbol of what He had in mind for their lives. Jesus regularly used yeast as an example of sin in our lives saying it needed to be removed.
The observation of this event was also to include beginning and ending with a sacred assembly. God was already setting this event up as a celebration of Himself. Passover, also known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, was a yearly opportunity to celebrate what God had done for them not just in the night of His passing over the homes in Goshen but also all He had yet to do.
This connection between the saving work of the Lord and the purging of all yeast still serves as a reminder for us of the work God has done and is doing in our lives. God was calling His people out of their bondage to the Egyptians and sin. He was taking them to places they couldn’t yet imagine.
Making It Personal
What are some things in your life which remind you of what God has done for you? Are there things He has wanted you to remove from your life which you struggle to release? How can you live wholeheartedly for Him today?
Making It Personal Kids
What are some things which remind you of what Jesus has done? Do you celebrate the things He has done? What can you celebrate about Him today?
Closing Prayer
Father, we praise You for calling us to be separate from the things of this world. Help us remember how sin in our lives taints our journey with You and how those around us see You through our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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