NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
The Days of Unleavened Bread in New Testament times—the Days of the Unleavened
This annual feast day was instituted in Old Testament (OT) times when God had an unconverted, physical nation which is sometimes called God’s congregation in the wild. They could not understand spiritual truth not having God’s spirit dwelling in their minds and they were a disobedient group. God gave them repetitive, physical, manual and laborious ceremonial rituals to perform for each of the annual feast days as well as for the weekly Sabbaths. This is why the celebration of these feasts was referred to as the “works of the law.” They required time and physical effort and they were repetitive for the purpose of giving ancient Israel the habit of obedience. It was regular physical training in obedience for a physical and unconverted nation.
And, we should also be aware that the annual holy days were not always celebrated in the same way as when Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years; as when it entered and lived in the Promised Land; as when it returned from its first captivity under the Persian Empire —some of members of the 3 tribes constituting Judah returned, the other 10 tribes of Israel became lost in history— to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and to build the second temple and; after the First Coming of Christ when God’s nation became a spiritual nation which included individuals from the gentile nations of the world.
In New Testament (NT) times, God no longer has a physical nation inhabiting a specific geographical location. God has a spiritual nation of Israel made up of people from all over the worlds whom God has called, and who were chosen and are remaining faithful. They are not solely from a particular physical nation living in a specific geographical location. And, those making up God’s spiritual nation are not required to live in a specific geographical area, to gather together and form a community, village, town or nation. They are to continue living their lives where they were called and they are to remain in the world i.e., not set up communities living in isolation from the greater population. God’s spiritual Israelites constitute a nation made up of people living all over the world who hold in common spiritual truths revealed to them by God and who are trying to live their lives as best as they can according to the truth given them.
OT Days of Unleavened Bread
The annual feast days were put into place after Israel was freed from being slaves in Egypt. There are 7 annual feast days and the one of interest to us for the purpose of this study is God’s 2nd annual feast, the Days of Unleavened Bread. This celebration required that Israel remove all leaven from their properties before the feast began and once the feast started, Israel was to eat only unleavened bread with their meals. Any one not removing all leaven from their homes or eating leavened bread during the feast would be cut off from being a member of the nation of Israel. This feast was as a reminder to Israel of the great haste in which they had left Egypt following the death of the firstborn of man and beast of the Egyptians on the night of the Passover. On that night, while Israel ate the Passover lamb, the angel of death went over the land and passed over all the homes were the blood of the lamb had been put on the side and upper post of their houses (Ex 12:7).
This feast is an ordinance that Israel was to observe forever.
Exo 12:24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
This feast was given by God to Israel who was an unconverted nation that could not understand the spiritual truth of God and who would not obey God. They were punished time after time for their disobedience but did not change their ways. Ultimately, God separated Himself from them but in a time yet future to our days, God will again choose Israel when He makes the New Covenant with them which this time will include their being given access to God’s spirit upon repentance and belief. The feast was ordained forever for Israel; however, in NT times God’s nation of Israel is a spiritual one made up of people called, chosen and faithful from all over the world. This spiritual nation has God’s spirit and can understand spiritual truth. It continues to be necessary for them to observe the annual and weekly holy days but not in the manner of ancient Israel who had been given repetitive and laborious manual ceremonies to perform to give them the habit of obedience. God’s spiritual nation of Israel obeys God because after having been given to know the truth, they have freely and self-willingly chosen to follow it. The physical rituals of the OT nation of Israel put in place to give the unconverted nation of ancient Israel are no longer required.
One has to realize and understand that the holy days are not an end unto themselves; in other words, they are not to be observed simply because they exist; there is a purpose and reason for their existence and once that purpose has been accomplished or the nation for which these days were instituted no longer exists, there does not remain the need to continue observing them in the same way. There were instituted to accomplish a specific objective which was to teach the unconverted nation of ancient Israel the habit obedience through the performance of physical, manual and laborious repetitive tasks. God’s New Testament nation of Israel is now a spiritual one which wants to obey God and which does not need to continue performing the physical rituals and ceremonies commanded for physical Israel.
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
In other words, circumcision in the flesh of and by itself does not make one a Jew who is a member of God’s spiritual nation of Israel. What makes a physical Jew or, a Gentile a member of God’s spiritual nation of Israel, is circumcision of the heart, (a changed mind which now wants to obey God). God’s spiritual Jews are able to understand God’s law in its spiritual intent and; try to live their lives accordingly. Willful and continued obedience to God to the best of one’s abilities is the condition for belonging to God’s spiritual nation of Israel.
God no longer has an unconverted physical nation as His nation but a Spirit-begotten one which includes members from all over the world and for whom the principal requirement for them to belong to God’s spiritual nation is that they freely and willingly submit to God’s authority in their lives. It is not necessary for God to use repetitive, physical rituals and ceremonies so that they will learn the habit of obedience.
The holy days however continue to be a requirement for NT Christians but there is a change in the manner in which they are to be kept. Christ, gave us the example when, on His last Passover, He changed the way that NT Christians were to celebrate the Passover. The Passover is to be celebrated with unleavened bread which symbolically represent the body of Christ and with wine which symbolically represent Christ’s blood of the New Testament shed for many. (Mark 14:22-24)
The disciples on the day of Pentecost did not celebrate that day like in the OT or like the Jews who had returned from their captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and to build a second temple. These Jews, unconverted Israelites, who were still occupying Jerusalem and neighboring territories at the time of Christ’s First Coming kept on celebrating it as in OT times.
The holy days continue to be binding but the manner of their celebration changes from physical and material to spiritual as we go from the carnal, unconverted nation of Israel to God’s spiritual nation of Israel. The purpose of the holy days in NT times is different from the one in OT times. NT Christians are to worship God in spirit and in truth not through physical rituals.
Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
That hour came on the day of Pentecost and will continue until the end of the Last Great Day.
Let’s see now what the implications of John 4:23-24 are for the celebration of the Days of Unleavened Bread for NT Christians.
NT Days of Unleavened Bread
In New Testament times, since the Day of Pentecost, God no longer has a physical nation but a spiritual one as previously mentioned. And since the death of Christ made it possible for God’s Spirit to dwell in the minds of men called, chosen and faithful, the spiritual meaning and intent of the OT-instituted annual feast days can now be understood. For NT Christians the purpose of these days is not to give them the habit of obedience as the only individuals that God will rule over are those who knowingly, self-willingly and without physical or mental coercion of any kind, choose to obey Him living their lives to the best of their abilities in accordance with God’s spiritual truth as it is revealed to them as they pray and as they study His Holy Bible. They accept to be led by God’s Spirit.
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
So what is the meaning for NT Christians of God’s 2nd annual holy day?
In order to get our answer, we will need to examine several Scriptures that give us the spiritual understanding of this feast for NT Christians. The first thing we need to do is examine what is the symbolic meaning of unleavened bread in the New Testament.
When Christ celebrated His last Passover with His disciples, the celebration was first conducted as it was in OT times and then Christ introduced new symbols to be used from then on for celebrating the Passover. It should be noted that until the destruction of Israel and of the 2nd temple by the Romans, in Israel, the Jews come back from captivity, kept to the OT form and manner of celebration of the Holy Days to which they added many prescriptions not originally required by God and basically, created their own religion, Judaism which is not what they had been instructed to do by God through Moses.
For a time, OT and NT celebration of the annual feast days continued to be performed, the former by the unconverted Jews and the latter by those making up God’s spiritual nation of Israel. This is why in the Gospels and in some of the epistles we read of the “Jews Passover” and of the Jews “Days of Unleavened Bread.” On the first day of Pentecost after the ascension of Christ, the Jews celebrated the day as their forefathers did in OT times but the apostles were not part of that celebration. They had been instructed to wait in a room and there they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Luk 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
The point I wish to emphasize is that they did not continue celebrating Passover and Pentecost as in OT times and as we will see, nor did they celebrate the Days of Unleavened Bread as in the Old Testament.
So how are we to understand what is the correct way to celebrate the Days of Unleavened Bread for NT Christians?
New Meaning of OT Symbols in NT times
When Christ celebrated His last Passover with His disciples, He used unleavened bread and wine to symbolize His body and His shed blood of the New Testament (actually, it is the shed blood of the New Covenant). Unleavened Bread from then on in NT times would refer to the body of Christ. And, we know that the body of Christ is God’s Church whose head is Christ.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Unleavened bread in NT times, symbolically speaking, is therefore referring to God’s Church; to God’s called, chosen and faithful ones; to the body of Christ. Unleavened bread represents truly converted Christians who continue to be sinners despite their best efforts not to sin. The sins they commit following their conversion are always forgiven as long as they do not commit the unpardonable sin. This is a unique type of sin which results in one no longer being part of the body of Christ or of God’s Church as whoever is guilty of this sin is no longer under grace; their sins are no longer forgiven.
Let’s continue our analysis.
The Church of God in the days when its human administrator was Mr. Armstrong taught that leaven represented sin and that the Christian’s part in God’s plan of salvation was to come out of sin. This teaching was based on Jesus in the Gospels saying that the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees was their hypocrisy.
Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mat 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mar 8:15 And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
Luk 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
But Christ also says that the Pharisees and Sadducees were committing the unpardonable sin. In Mat 12: 24-30 we see the Pharisees accusing Christ of casting out devils by the prince of the devils.
Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Mat 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
In verse 25, we are told that Jesus knew what they were thinking and in response He told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand. If Satan casts out devils, he is working against himself and his kingdom cannot stand? In other words, Satan’s Kingdom is fallen and Christ could not be casting out devils by the power of the prince of the devils.
Mat 12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
Jesus continues by saying that if I, Christ, cast out devils by Satan, by whom do you cast them out if Satan is the means by which devils are cast out? In other words, Jesus was telling them that If Satan is the means, then you, Pharisees and Sadducees, are also casting out devils by Satan (Mat 12:27).
Mat 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
The only possible logical conclusion was that Jesus could only cast out devils by the power of God; it made no sense to assert that devils are cast out by the power of Satan as his kingdom would have ended.
Mat 12:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
Then in Matt 12:29 Jesus continues His explanation by using the example that in order to rob a strong man, one has to be stronger than him. So, devils can only be cast out by someone more powerful than Satan i.e., God. And, since devils still exist, Satan kingdom is not fallen and devils are not cast out by the power of Satan but by the power of God.
And, as stated in Mat 12:28, the only possible conclusion is that I, Christ, who cast out devils, can only do so by the power of God. Therefore, this means that someone from the kingdom of God is come unto you i.e., me.
Let’s continue.
Mat 12:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Christ just made it clear to them that it is illogical to believe that someone can cast out devils by the power of the prince of devils as this would mean that Satan’s kingdom is ended. Therefore, it is illogical for them to accuse Him of casting out devils by the power of Satan, the prince of the devils. The fact that He could cast out devils meant that He was a messenger from God and God was exercising power through Him.
Then in Mat 12:31-32 Jesus indirectly but clearly says who He was by telling them that by their hypocritically accusing Him (they knew who He was) of casting out devils by the power of the prince of devils, they were blaspheming against the Holy Spirit i.e., Him, Christ, the holy spirit being which dwelt in eternity with God the Father (John 1:1-2; John 14:17) and who was made flesh (John 1:14). Christ warned them that if they continued on saying that He, Christ, cast out devils by the prince of devils knowing full well this was an impossibility, they were committing the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. They would lose their salvation because they kept on blaspheming against the Holy Spirit hypocritically lying about Christ to discredit Him in the eyes of the people to maintain their social status before them as great teachers of God’s law.
Did they ultimately lose their salvation for their continuing to falsely accuse Christ and asking Him questions to which they thought were no acceptable answers to make him appear to be a false prophet? Christ knew the Scriptures better than they did and every time they tried to make Christ look bad, they were the ones that lost the respect of the people.
Let’s read on.
Mat 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mat 12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Luk 11:31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Luk 11:32 The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Luk 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
They lost their salvation because despite Jesus’ warning to them, they kept on rejecting Him and especially, trying to catch Him in error that would finally, fully discredit him in the eyes of the people and make secure their reputation as great teachers of the law who are to be greatly respected and honored by the people.
The leaven of the Pharisees was their fighting, resisting, opposing themselves to and lying about who Jesus was when they knew full well who He was. The leaven of the Pharisees which led to their losing their salvation was blaspheming the Holy Spirit, their refusing to accept what they knew to be the truth and actively opposing themselves to it.
Is the Unpardonable Sin Only Hypocrisy?
The sin of the Pharisees was that they opposed Christ, the holy spirit the Word made flesh and who dwelt among them, knowing full well who He was.
Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
They were guilty of fighting against Christ and refusing the truth that He spoke. Christ, the Word in-the-flesh was God the Father’s Son, a holy spirit among them. True Christians have God’s spirit dwelling in them and it teaches them all truth but they must not refuse any of the truth revealed to them by the glorified Christ who is the holy spirit being or personage in the Godhead who does the work. They must accept to be corrected by the truth God gives them; they must not refuse God’s correction (Heb 12) by reasoning their way around the truth given them to justify continuing with certain aspects of their lives before their conversion which God has revealed to them to be sin.
Whenever that occurs, we have someone committing the unpardonable sin of blaspheming against the holy spirit which is a sin that is not forgiven and results in loss of salvation. It can be any part of God’s law that we have been given to know and understand that we refuse to accept because we would have to abandon some of our past beliefs and practices which we don’t want to let go.
The leaven of the Pharisees was committing the unpardonable sin, which in their case was hypocrisy, and which Christ says is blaspheming against the holy spirit.
Does Leaven Represent Sin Generally?
The WCG taught that leaven represented sin generally but true Christians are to be an unleavened lump. The Bible tells us it is impossible for true Christians not to sin and that anyone who says they can be without sin is a liar and the truth is not in him (1John 1:8). But Paul in 1Co5:7 says that Christians are unleavened.
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
If leaven represents sin generally, then it is impossible for a Christian to be unleavened but Paul tells the Corinthians that they are unleavened. The context of 1Cor5 was that the congregation was tolerating among them someone that was openly sinning in opposition to Paul’s command to expel such a person from the congregation. They were opposing themselves to Paul’s authority and Paul tells them to cease their opposition to God’s command given them through him. They are to purge out the old leaven of their former resistance to God in order for them to be a new lump which is a Christian that does not resist God and who, to the best of his abilities, tries to obey God in all things.
That in a nutshell is the message of the days of unleavened bread for NT Christians. In order to always have their sins forgiven and maintain their salvation, they must try to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities and not refuse/reject any of God’s truth because it would mean changing personal beliefs and life habits which are very important to them but which are also sin.
The unleavened bread of the Days of Unleavened Bread in NT times is not physical bread that is unleavened; rather, God is talking about an attitude of mind that is unleaven as we will see.
Mat 16:11 How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
And as made clear by Christ Himself in the Passover ceremony, unleavened bread in NT times for feast celebration purposes represents the body of Christ. The church is the body of Christ i.e., its members. The members of God’s church are the unleavened lumps constituting the body of Christ.
The name of the feast is still appropriate if one realizes the difference in the symbolic meaning of unleavened bread in NT times i.e., unleavened bread is a symbol for the individual members of God’s Church who have not committed the unpardonable sin; that is how they are unleavened.
It is possible for a Christian to not commit the unpardonable sin and that is his part in the salvation process but it is no t possible for him not to sin. If leaven represents sin generally, it is impossible for a true Christians to ever be an unleavened lump.
Knowing this, to make things clearer, the Day of Unleavened Bread in NT times could correctly be called the Days of the Unleavened.
The Days of the Unleavened
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The word “bread” is in italic which means that it is not part of the original text but was added in by the translators. 1Co5:8 should read: “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened of sincerity and truth.”
In other words, true Christians are to keep God’s 2nd annual feast not with physical unleavened bread but with the spiritual unleavened attitude of sincerity and truth. The unleavened attitude of sincerity and truth is why Christians do not reject or oppose themselves to any aspects of God’s law but rather seek to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities in faith trusting God to decide for them good and evil and refusing to go back to themselves being the ones who determine right and wrong (being puffed up against God) and to be the god that they follow.
Conclusion
The holy days continue to be a requirement for true Christians but we must realize and understand that the celebration, the meaning and the purpose of these days per force change as God’s nation goes from being a carnal-minded, unconverted, physical nation in which one becomes a member by being born into it to a spiritual nation empowered by God’s spirit to understand spiritual truth, whose members are from all over the world, who for the greatest part are not physical descendants of the ancient nation of Israel and, who have no common historical past with ancient Israel. OT holy day physical rituals and ceremonies put in place by God for a physical people without God’s Holy Spirit are not applicable to God’s NT spirit-begotten nation who are and remain a part of God’s spiritual nation, His Church only as long as they freely and self-willingly continue to try to obey God in all things to the best of their abilities which is their unleavened attitude of sincerity and truth. It is their part in God’s plan of salvation in that it is something which is in their power to do while it is impossible for them to ever be sinless.
God's Spiritual Nation 