GATHERING
THE SABBATH
WHAT IS IT?
The day following Passover begins of a seven-day period called Unleavened Bread This is the second annual Appointed Time of YHWH. The Hebrew word for “unleavened bread” is matsah.
Leviticus 23:6–8. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to YHWH; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to YHWH for seven days. On the seventh dayis a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”
Exodus 12:19. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land.
The people of Israel originally took with them unleavened bread when they left Egypt. This appointed time remembers that great deliverance, when they walked through the parted Red Sea, that valley of death, and emerged into freedom from slavery on the other side. Then, 1500 years later, on the very same day they began their deliverance journey, the first day of Unleavened Bread, our Messiah Yeshua, spent his first night and day in the tomb, beginning the journey of our deliverance from the slavery of sin. Unleavened bread represents the sinless Messiah, Yeshua, the bread of life. His body was broken for us, buried like a seed in the ground, that it might sprout forth new life again. He literally went through the valley of death, to emerge into new life on the other side.
With each of appointed times there is a historical significance, a present-day (annual) application, and a future fulfillment. With Unleavened Bread, the historical significance is that the people of Israel hurriedly prepared unleavened bread as their sustenance for their journey of deliverance from slavery to the promised land. The day after the Passover Lamb was killed and the firstborn was killed in all the homes that didn’t wipe the blood on their doorposts, on Nisan 15, their journey began. Their journey took them through the red sea where death swallowed their enemies and delivered them miraculously into a new life of freedom on the other side. According to Jewish tradition, the Red Sea was parted on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread.
The present day (annual) application of the appointed time of Unleavened Bread is that God’s people are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, have no leavened food in their house, and on the first and last days of Unleavened Bread they are to have a holy gathering and not do any ordinary work. The first and last days were special days that were “like a Sabbath”. Although the Hebrew Scriptures never speaks of these days as a Sabbath (which was always the seventh day of the week), by the first century these days were actually referred to as “a Sabbath” or sometimes as a “high Sabbath”.
In Scripture the Hebrew word translated as leaven is chametzwhich is actually “something that is leavened” rather than leaven itself. For convenience, the term leaven is usually used for chametz, even though it is technically not quite correct. From Scripture, we can see that leaven is sometimes used to symbolize sin, as in several teachings of Yeshua:
Luke 12:1–2. [Yeshua] began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known”.
Mark 8:15. And [Yeshua] cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
Matthew 16:11–12. “How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Paul also encouraged the gentile believers in Corinth (Greece) to keep festival of Unleavened Bread with the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”, rather than with the “leaven of malice and evil”.
1 Corinthians 5:6–8
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Note first of all that Paul was encouraging these gentile believers to keep this festival. This was not just ofr for the Jews. The appointed times are YHWH’s appointed times for all his people to keep. Furthermore, Paul was reminding the people to celebrate with lives that are free of sinful behavior. These sins were symbolized by leaven. Thus, the present day application for the week of Unleavened Bread includes ridding our house of anything leavened, in order to remind ourselves to also rid our bodies (His house) of all sin.
The week of Unleavened Bread is all about deliverance from the slavery of sin. Historically, the Israelites were delivered out from Egypt, freed from their life of slavery to Pharaoh. Presently, we are told to keep the week of Unleavened Bread by ridding our house of leaven and by eating only unleavened bread, thus reminding us to live a life that reflects being delivered from sin. And in terms of the future fulfillment, this week of Unleavened Bread points toward Yeshua’s work of delivering us from the slavery of sin.
Much (but not all) of the future fulfillment of Unleavened Bread is seen in what happened to Yeshua in the days immediately after his death. At Passover, Yeshua became the unblemished sacrificial Lamb. Just as those in Egypt who were covered by the blood of the Lamb were saved from death, so too those of us who are covered by the blood of Messiah are saved from death. At the end of Passover day, as the week of Unleavened Bread was about to begin, just prior to sunset of the first evening, Yeshua was buried in the tomb. It was done hurriedly since the first day of Unleavened Bread was about to begin, and that day (Abib 15) was “like a Sabbath.” According to Jewish tradition, no burial could take place on a Sabbath – neither on a regular weekly Sabbath nor on a special “high Sabbath.”
Yeshua was put in the tomb probably just minutes prior to the sunset that began the first day of Unleavened Bread. Therefore, that first day of Unleavened Bread became the first day of his “burial”. His body was broken, and placed in the ground, like a seed of grain, planted which must be broken before new life can sprout forth again.
Yeshua said “I am the bread of life”. He was unleavened bread. Leaven represents sin, but He had no sin. Yeshua, as unleavened bread, is the only sustenance we need for our deliverance. It is no coincidence that on the first day of Unleavened Bread, Yeshua, our unleavened “Bread of Life”, was buried, as a seed of grain planted, only to bring forth new life again.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Manna and Unleavened Bread
The cakes of unleavened bread that the Israelites hurriedly made to give them sustenance on their journey from Egypt were soon eaten. No doubt, whatever grain they had brought with them on their journey was also soon used up. So very quickly they ran out of food. Then, exactly one month after they left Egypt, on the 15th day of the second month, YHWH provided them with another type of unleavened bread. Manna.
Exodus 16:14–15. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that YHWH has given you to eat.
Exodus 16:31. Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
The manna was “bread that YHWH had given”. They baked it or boiled it. The manna was not leavened grain. It had no leaven. Therefore this “bread that YHWH had given” was unleavened bread.
Exodus 16:35. The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
Just as the cakes of unleavened bread hurriedly made by the Israelites would be their sole sustenance for their journey out of Egypt, so too the manna, the unleavened bread YHWH had given, would be their sole sustenance during their 40-year journey to the promised land.
Joshua 5:10–12. While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
One the first day of Unleavened Bread (the day after the Passover), they ate unleavened bread and parched grain made from the produce of the land. Until this time, they had been sustained by manna. This day, the first day of Unleavened Bread, was the last day that manna was given to them. They had entered the promised land. There was no longer any need for the manna given by YHWH.
In Capernaum, just before the time of Passover and Unleavened Bread (John 6:4), Yeshua and his disciples were talking about manna and bread. Yeshua teaches them about the meaning of the feast of Unleavened Bread:
John 6:30–35. So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6:48–51. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Just as unleavened bread gave provided physical life to the Israelites during their journey to the promised land, so too Yeshua, the Bread of Life, the Living Bread that came down from heaven, is the spiritual food that provides eternal life. This is all we need to sustain us until we reach our final destination, our Promised Land.
When we eat unleavened bread during the week of Unleavened Bread, we are reminded that it is Yeshua that provides us with life. He is one that sustains. Nothing else is needed.
Yeshua drives his point home further with teaching that confused many Jews in His day as well as some people today.
John 6:53–58. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
This teaching is all related to the account of the people of Israel eating manna to keep them alive. The manna was a picture of the Messiah, a shadow of what He would do and the life he would sustain.
Why Seven Days?
The appointed time of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days. Both the first day and the seventh day were special days in which a holy gathering was to take place and no ordinary work was to be done. Historically, we see that this seven-day period began with the hurried preparation of unleavened bread. On the first day the people began their journey out of Egypt. Their deliverance had begun! They were now freed from slavery and on their way to the promised land. This is a day to celebrate!
The first day of Unleavened Bread also began deliverance in other way. Immediately after Passover, the crucified Messiah was put in the tomb. His first day in the tomb was the first day of Unleavened Bread. The process of our spiritual “deliverance from slavery” had begun. Yeshua’s body was broken and buried, as a seed of grain, which would later rise to sprout forth new life. This too is a day to celebrate!
And at some point in the middle of the week of Unleavened Bread (specifically, on the first Sunday after Passover) was the day of Firstfruits, when the first sheaf of newly-harvested barley would be offering to YHWH. The firstfruits of the harvest would be lifted up as an offering to the Father. Likewise, on the very same day the Messiah would rise from the tomb. in a sense lifted up to the Father, as the firstfruits of those who would be raised from the dead at the final harvest to also dwell with their Father.
But what about the rest of week of Unleavened Bread? What is it seven days long? And why is the seventh day another special day to be celebrated like the first?
Scripture does not specifically say why the seventh day is special, but according to Jewish tradition YHWH parted the Red Sea on this day:
Warn Israel that just as I, who created the world, commanded them to observe the Sabbath as a memorial of the work of Creation, as it says: ‘Remember the sabbath day (Exodus 20:8), so also do you remember the miracles I performed for you in Egypt and the anniversary of the day of your departure,’ as it says: Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt (Exodus 13:3). Why? For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place (Exodus 13:9). And there shall no leavened bread be seen with you (Exodus 13:7) for seven days, corresponding to the seven days which intervened between the redemption and the dividing of the Red Sea. Just as there were seven days of creation at the beginning, and just as the Sabbath is observed at the end of seven days, so shall these seven days be kept each year, as it says: Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year (Exodus 13:10).
Midrash Rabbah Exodus 19:7
While we don’t know for certain that the Red Sea was parted on the seventh day, it does seem quite plausible that this could have been the case. We know the Israelites began their journey on the first day of Unleavened Bread. Given that they were a large group, with hundreds of thousands of people, and that they traveled with all their flocks and herds, they wouldn’t have been able to cover very much ground in any given day. Even considering that they would have been fleeing Pharaoh, no doubt concerned that the Egyptian army may pursue them, they could probably not have covered much more than 10 to 15 miles a day. The point of their crossing the water is totally unknown – some suggest it was the near Bitter Lakes just north of the Red Sea while others believe that it was the actual Red Sea itself. A rough estimate of the route from their home city of Rameses to the Bitter Lakes would suggest it may have been around 60 miles, whereas the route farther south to the Red Sea may have been nearly 100 miles. Therefore, it does not seem unreasonable to suggest that the Israelites could have crossed through the parted waters on day seven. Perhaps this tradition stems from historical truth. We don’t know, but if it does, it leads to so some interesting thoughts.
Picture the Israelites just given their eviction notice from the Pharaoh. They can’t believe it is true! They have been set free slavery! Deliverance has begun! They hurriedly prepare and leave, taking with them only unleavened bread since there was no time to bake loaves of bread. They flee as fast as they can with all their children and animals and belongings. They don’t trust Pharaoh since he has changed his mind and gone back on his word many times before. They were right not to trust him. Word comes that they are being pursued by his army. Moving as quickly as possible they reach the Red Sea, which we assume to be on day seven. Miraculously YHWH parts the sea, and the people walk through the divided waters on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army follows and ends up perishing as the waters swallow them into its darkness. On day seven, deliverance is complete. This is a day to celebrate!
Not only is deliverance complete on this day, but once on the other side of the sea the people can now rest! Their pursuers have been destroyed. They no longer have to flee. Beginning on the very next day they can enjoy a change of pace. They can slow down and even take time to bake loaves of bread with the grain they brought with them. The week of Unleavened Bread is over.
If day seven celebrates the parting of the Red Sea, which was the completion of their deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh, what might the future fulfillment of this be in terms of our spiritual deliverance? Messiah initiated our deliverance on day one when he was buried in the tomb. The process continued as He was raised from death on Firstfruits. But our deliverance is not yet entirely complete. We continue to be pursued by the evil one who wants to overtake us and bring us back into slavery.
However, there will come a time when our deliverance is complete. That will be when Messiah returns and gathers his people together, and the evil one will be bound and sealed in the abyss for 1000 years.
Revelation 20:1–3. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
On that day when the evil one is sealed in the pit, we can finally rest. Our deliverance will be complete. We can finally enjoy life knowing that Satan is no longer seeking to devour us. The one who was pursuing us will have been swallowed up into darkness.
I suggest therefore that perhaps the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is a portent for that day when Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss for 1000 years. After that the Millennial reign of Messiah can begin. Our deliverance has been completed. The evil one has been bound and is no longer a concern. That is a day to celebrate!
The seven day period represents the period of our complete deliverance – deliverance from the slavery of sin. We are currently living in the last part of the “week of Unleavened Bread”. We are in the period after the Messiah has been resurrected but before Satan is bound and sealed in the abyss. We are being currently being pursued by Satan who wants to engulf us in our sins again. He desires that we be swallowed up into death by the collapsing waters of the Red Sea, along with him.
How then do we live? Knowing that the evil one desires us to return to a life of slavery to sin, we must keep striving to remove all seeds of sin within us. This is not a time to rest. We must be active in fleeing the temptation to sin:
1 Timothy 6:11. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
Leaven is often used to symbolize sin. We are still living in this period of unleavened bread. We are living in times when we need to be constantly reminded that the evil one desires for us to fall back into sin. When our Messiah returns we desire to be a prepared and pure bride. We know that purity is only accomplished through the work of the Messiah, but at the same time we endeavor to live a way that pleases our Father. We desire to live in accordance with his commandments, because this is how we show Him our love.
1 John 5:3. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Why Seven Days?
The appointed time of Unleavened Bread lasts for seven days. Both the first day and the seventh day were special days in which a holy gathering was to take place and no ordinary work was to be done. Historically, we see that this seven-day period began with the hurried preparation of unleavened bread. On the first day the people began their journey out of Egypt. Their deliverance had begun! They were now freed from slavery and on their way to the promised land. This is a day to celebrate!
The first day of Unleavened Bread also began deliverance in other way. Immediately after Passover, the crucified Messiah was put in the tomb. His first day in the tomb was the first day of Unleavened Bread. The process of our spiritual “deliverance from slavery” had begun. Yeshua’s body was broken and buried, as a seed of grain, which would later rise to sprout forth new life. This too is a day to celebrate!
And at some point in the middle of the week of Unleavened Bread (specifically, on the first Sunday after Passover) was the day of Firstfruits, when the first sheaf of newly-harvested barley would be offering to YHWH. The firstfruits of the harvest would be lifted up as an offering to the Father. Likewise, on the very same day the Messiah would rise from the tomb. in a sense lifted up to the Father, as the firstfruits of those who would be raised from the dead at the final harvest to also dwell with their Father.
But what about the rest of week of Unleavened Bread? What is it seven days long? And why is the seventh day another special day to be celebrated like the first?
Scripture does not specifically say why the seventh day is special, but according to Jewish tradition YHWH parted the Red Sea on this day:
Warn Israel that just as I, who created the world, commanded them to observe the Sabbath as a memorial of the work of Creation, as it says: ‘Remember the sabbath day (Exodus 20:8), so also do you remember the miracles I performed for you in Egypt and the anniversary of the day of your departure,’ as it says: Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt (Exodus 13:3). Why? For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place (Exodus 13:9). And there shall no leavened bread be seen with you (Exodus 13:7) for seven days, corresponding to the seven days which intervened between the redemption and the dividing of the Red Sea. Just as there were seven days of creation at the beginning, and just as the Sabbath is observed at the end of seven days, so shall these seven days be kept each year, as it says: Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year (Exodus 13:10).
Midrash Rabbah Exodus 19:7
While we don’t know for certain that the Red Sea was parted on the seventh day, it does seem quite plausible that this could have been the case. We know the Israelites began their journey on the first day of Unleavened Bread. Given that they were a large group, with hundreds of thousands of people, and that they traveled with all their flocks and herds, they wouldn’t have been able to cover very much ground in any given day. Even considering that they would have been fleeing Pharaoh, no doubt concerned that the Egyptian army may pursue them, they could probably not have covered much more than 10 to 15 miles a day. The point of their crossing the water is totally unknown – some suggest it was the near Bitter Lakes just north of the Red Sea while others believe that it was the actual Red Sea itself. A rough estimate of the route from their home city of Rameses to the Bitter Lakes would suggest it may have been around 60 miles, whereas the route farther south to the Red Sea may have been nearly 100 miles. Therefore, it does not seem unreasonable to suggest that the Israelites could have crossed through the parted waters on day seven. Perhaps this tradition stems from historical truth. We don’t know, but if it does, it leads to so some interesting thoughts.
Picture the Israelites just given their eviction notice from the Pharaoh. They can’t believe it is true! They have been set free slavery! Deliverance has begun! They hurriedly prepare and leave, taking with them only unleavened bread since there was no time to bake loaves of bread. They flee as fast as they can with all their children and animals and belongings. They don’t trust Pharaoh since he has changed his mind and gone back on his word many times before. They were right not to trust him. Word comes that they are being pursued by his army. Moving as quickly as possible they reach the Red Sea, which we assume to be on day seven. Miraculously YHWH parts the sea, and the people walk through the divided waters on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army follows and ends up perishing as the waters swallow them into its darkness. On day seven, deliverance is complete. This is a day to celebrate!
Not only is deliverance complete on this day, but once on the other side of the sea the people can now rest! Their pursuers have been destroyed. They no longer have to flee. Beginning on the very next day they can enjoy a change of pace. They can slow down and even take time to bake loaves of bread with the grain they brought with them. The week of Unleavened Bread is over.
If day seven celebrates the parting of the Red Sea, which was the completion of their deliverance from slavery under Pharaoh, what might the future fulfillment of this be in terms of our spiritual deliverance? Messiah initiated our deliverance on day one when he was buried in the tomb. The process continued as He was raised from death on Firstfruits. But our deliverance is not yet entirely complete. We continue to be pursued by the evil one who wants to overtake us and bring us back into slavery.
However, there will come a time when our deliverance is complete. That will be when Messiah returns and gathers his people together, and the evil one will be bound and sealed in the abyss for 1000 years.
Revelation 20:1–3. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
On that day when the evil one is sealed in the pit, we can finally rest. Our deliverance will be complete. We can finally enjoy life knowing that Satan is no longer seeking to devour us. The one who was pursuing us will have been swallowed up into darkness.
I suggest therefore that perhaps the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is a portent for that day when Satan is bound and thrown into the abyss for 1000 years. After that the Millennial reign of Messiah can begin. Our deliverance has been completed. The evil one has been bound and is no longer a concern. That is a day to celebrate!
The seven day period represents the period of our complete deliverance – deliverance from the slavery of sin. We are currently living in the last part of the “week of Unleavened Bread”. We are in the period after the Messiah has been resurrected but before Satan is bound and sealed in the abyss. We are being currently being pursued by Satan who wants to engulf us in our sins again. He desires that we be swallowed up into death by the collapsing waters of the Red Sea, along with him.
How then do we live? Knowing that the evil one desires us to return to a life of slavery to sin, we must keep striving to remove all seeds of sin within us. This is not a time to rest. We must be active in fleeing the temptation to sin:
1 Timothy 6:11. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
Leaven is often used to symbolize sin. We are still living in this period of unleavened bread. We are living in times when we need to be constantly reminded that the evil one desires for us to fall back into sin. When our Messiah returns we desire to be a prepared and pure bride. We know that purity is only accomplished through the work of the Messiah, but at the same time we endeavor to live a way that pleases our Father. We desire to live in accordance with his commandments, because this is how we show Him our love.
1 John 5:3. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
HOW TO CELEBRATE
How to Celebrate?
Unleavened Bread (Hebrew matsah) starts at the sunset beginning Abib 15 and finishes at the sunset ending Abib 21. It begins the day after Passover (Abib 14), and lasts for a full seven days.
It is a good idea to start preparations on Abib 14 by ridding your home of anything leavened. Note that the Hebrew word that is usually translated as “leaven” is chametz. The meaning of chametz is actually “something leavened” as opposed to the leaven itself. So plain yeast is not chametz, yeast is merely a leavening agent and not “something leavened”. Adding yeast to something will cause it to be leavened. But yeast by itself not leavened.
As you rid your home, remember that chametz represents sin. This is a time to think of all the little corners or hidden places in your life where sinful thoughts, actions or habits might still linger. Rid your life of sin as you rid your house of leavened food.
Make it a fun family activity. Read labels together to see if anything leavened is included. Do some research to find out the contents. As you are doing so, talk to your family members about needing that same type of scrutiny to look for hidden sins in our lives.
Make your own unleavened bread, and then make sure and eat some every day as Scripture instructs. It is especially good when still warm with a little butter and honey on it! Don’t buy the tasteless stuff at the store! Here is my favorite matsah recipe:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 475. Mix all ingredients together in bowl to form dough. Knead dough adding flour or water to make a soft but not sticky consistency. When formed and not sticky separate dough into four equal balls and flatten each ball slightly. Then roll out on flat surface into very thin circles. Then prick each piece multiple times with a fork to prevent bubbling while baking in the oven. Place on either greased baking sheet or baking sheet with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven 2-2.5 minutes then flip the bread. Time depends on the oven and also on which rack it is on. Bread should be slightly soft when done.
Maybe you could have a Unleavened Bread contest. Have people bring their homemade matsahand then blindfold the judging panel for taste tests.
On the first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread (Abib 15 and 21), we are told to have a “holy gathering” and do no ordinary work. So gather together with friends and family for a time of fellowship and worship. Perhaps you can read and discuss some of the Scriptures pertaining to Unleavened Bread.
SCRIPTURES TO STUDY
Here is a list of some Scriptures you may want to read and discuss during the week of Unleavened Bread:
· Exodus 12:14-20. YHWH gave Moses instructions for the very first week of Unleavened Bread.
· Leviticus 23:4-14. YHWH gives His instruction regarding Unleavened Bread to his people.
· Numbers 28:16-25. YHWH gives additional instruction regarding Unleavened Bread to his people.
· Deuteronomy 16:1-8. YHWH gives further instruction regarding Unleavened Bread to his people.
· Deuteronomy 29-30. The people renew their covenant with YHWH as they prepare to enter the promised land. Likewise, as we prepare for Messiah’s return when we enter our ultimate promised land, we too should renew this covenant with our Father.
· Joshua 4:19 - 5:15. Joshua and the Israelites crossed the Jordan river and entered the promised land on “lamb selection day”. They celebrate Passover and Unleavened Bread in the promised land, and from that day on the manna (the unleavened bread from heaven) stopped.
· Matthew 26-27. This is Matthew’s recording of the events of Yeshua’s final Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread.
· Luke 22-23. This Luke’s account of Yeshua’s final Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread.
· Mark 14-15. This is Mark’s account of Yeshua’s final Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread.
· John 18-19. Here we have John’s account of Yeshua’s final Passover and the first day of Unleavened Bread.
· John 6:25-59. Yeshua teaches that He is the Living Bread, the Manna sent from heaven to give life for the world.
· Acts 12:1-18. This is an account of a miracle with Peter during the days of Unleavened Bread.
· 1 Corinthians 5. Paul writes to the gentile believers in Corinth about their sinful lifestyle, urging them to celebrate the festival “with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
· 1 Corinthians 11:17-29. Sharing the bread and wine as Yeshua did on Passover is the way we proclaim His death until He returns.
· Hebrews 4. The Sabbath rest is a picture of the seventh day of creation. This God’s day of rest. It is also a picture of our arrival in the promised land (the millennial kingdom of Yeshua as well as “the new heaven and new earth” after that). The Sabbath rest symbolizes our ultimate rest in the Father when we reach that ultimate promised land.
· Revelation 18:1 - 20:6. This passage tells of the destruction of the evil one. Without the evil one seeking to devour us, we can at last enjoy life with Messiah in his earthly kingdom. The seven days of Unleavened Bread remind us of the ultimate promised land, when we are completely freed from the slavery of sin and Satan is bound and sealed in the abyss for 1000 years.
· Exodus 13:17-15:26. The people of Israel cross the Red Sea leaving Egypt and their lives of slavery behind. According to Jewish tradition, this crossing took place on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread.
· 2 Samuel 22. This is the song of David when he was delivered from the hand of Saul who was trying to kill him. It has imagery that reminds us of the waters of the Red Sea and God’s deliverance of His people, which traditionally took place on the seventh day of Unleavened Bread.