Feast of Unleavened Bread (חג המצות – Hag HaMatzot)
What is the Feast of Unleavened Bread? The Feast of Unleavened Bread or Hag HaMatzot (Hawg Hah- MAHT-zot) is considered a separate feast from the Passover Seder, and is observed during Passover week. These two Holy Days (Pesach and Matzah) celebrated together represent the B’nei Yisrael’s deliverance from Egypt.
THE LORD’S COMMANDMENT – LEVITICUS 23:6-8
“On the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah; for seven days you are to eat matzah. On the first day you are to have a holy convocation; don’t do any kind of ordinary work. Bring an offering made by fire to Adonai for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.’ ” (CJB)
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD (MATZAH)?
Biblical
When the B’nei Yisrael (Children of Israel) received word that Pharoah would let the people go, they were charged with packing their belongings quickly…before Pharaoh might change his mind – we saw that several times during the plagues. If you have ever made bread, you know that it takes time for bread to rise. Bread is a luxury. Therefore, as there was no time for the dough to rise, God wanted the B’nei Yisrael to remember the event with the commandment to eat only unleavened bread for seven days (Deuteronomy 16:3).
Spiritual
The feast of Unleavened Bread celebrates the journey of the B’nei Yisrael through the wilderness. Following Passover and the Exodus, they ate unleavened bread for thirty days. We are asked to eat matzah for 7 days. Eating matzah was not the only food they ate for 30 days. After the matzah, the B’nei Yisrael were given manna (actual food) that God Himself provided for them for the next 40 years. The unleavened bread signified that they had left behind the old life of slavery. The matzah was free of the memory of slavery.
LEAVEN (THE RISING AGENT)
What Does Leaven Represent?
If you make sough dough bread, you will know the significance of leaven. In the Bible, leaven is often seen as a symbol of corruption or evil influence. Why? Because “leaven” is a remnant of dough that was allowed to ferment. The dough becomes fermented by the yeast (a fungus) from the air as it lands on the dough. This remnant of “fermented / corrupted” dough was then added to the next day’s batch of dough, creating a bread that would rise and grow. Leaven signifies anything that corrupts us physically, spiritually, and or morally. To avoid the yeast infecting the dough, unleavened bread (matzah) is made from beginning to end in 18 minutes – yeast in the air has no time to leaven (corrupt) the dough. See below for more detail.
Removal of the Leaven (Chametz)
Preparations for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread begin a full month before the feast day arrives, just after Purim.
In the lead up to Passover, we make a special effort to remove any leaven from the home in obedience to the Torah’s command. This is also where the tradition of ‘spring cleaning’ came from. Every room is cleared of “chametz” or leaven. It is a time-consuming process.
The evening before the Passover, a final search is done for any remaining leaven. The traditional way to search for any leaven is with a candle, a wooden spoon and a feather. Any bread or biscuit crumbs are swept onto a wooden spoon with a feather and placed in a bag which are burned up the following morning.
The Matzah (Unleavened Bread)
Matzah is the only type of bread eaten during the eight days of Passover. It is the simplest form of bread, made only with flour and water and baked quickly to re-enact the Israelite’s hurried departure from Egypt. The Torah describes the matzah as the “bread of suffering” and is also known as the “bread of affliction.”
Yachatz, Breaking of the Bread
The matzah is one of the key elements of one of the Passover Seder rituals. Three separate sheets of matzah are inserted into a bag with three compartments, known as the ‘matzah-tash’. The leader takes the middle matzah, breaks it in two, and puts one half back in the middle of the ‘matzah-tash’. The other half, now known as the afikomen, is wrapped up in a white linen napkin and hidden.
Later during the Seder, the children are sent to find the afikomen. The child who finds it brings it to the leader, who redeems the afikomen with a symbolic reward, usually some money or chocolate. The leader of the Seder unwraps the afikomen, blesses it, breaks it up into small olive-sized pieces to be shared with everyone seated around the table – all participants eat the afikomen together. Sound familiar?
YESHUA – THE BREAD OF LIFE
The Feast of Unleavened Bread points to Yeshua as the bread of life, that is, without leaven (corruption or sin). His life, death, and resurrection parallel the Yachatz ceremony of the Seder, which shows the middle piece of the three sections [broken, hidden, then found], is shared with everyone. Yeshua was beaten and bruised for our sin, our iniquities and our transgressions. His glory was hidden as He was convicted as a criminal by a kangaroo court and nailed to the execution stake. It was in his resurrection that he was revealed as the “Messiah” (the afikomen) – the only One to have conquered sin and death. Redemption is available to all who believe in their hearts that He is Messiah.
As Yeshua ate his last Passover with his disciples, he took the bread (matzah), gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is my body given for you” (Luke 22:19). In this prayer, Yeshua revealed his Father’s plan of redemption. Like the B’nei Yisrael, He saves us from our slavery to sin.
Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you it wasn’t Moshe who gave you the bread from heaven. But my Father is giving you the genuine bread from heaven; for God’s bread is the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread from now on.” Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty. John 6:32-35 (CJB)
He is The Bread of Life!