Get Rid Of The Leaven

GET RID OF THE LEAVEN

TEXT: Exodus 12:15-20; l Corinthians 5:7-8

Exodus 12:15 20 -- “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.” “And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.” “And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.” “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.” “Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.” “Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.”

1 Corinthians 5:7 8 -- “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:” “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.”

l. INTRODUCTION -- THE PASSOVER

-The holy days of the Old Testament are very important for us to understand the concepts of salvation and lifestyle in a New Testament age.

-One of Israel’s major feasts was that of the Passover. Actually the Passover comprised three separate holy days.

1. The Feast of the Passover

2. The Feast of Unleavened Bread

3. The Feast Day of the Sheaf of Firstfruits

-But it is the way that Israel came to honor that feast that I want to preach about.

ll. THE NIGHT THAT NOBODY SLEPT

-It was the night that nobody in the land of Goshen was supposed to sleep. The children of Israel had watched the power of God expressed in the previous six plagues, but now the horror of the seventh and final plague was to free them from the land of Egypt.

-Four hundred and thirty years is a long time. More than ten generations, as a generation biblically is thirty-five to forty years long. During this period of time, a pharaoh had gained the throne of Egypt who did not know Joseph. Through his great ambitions and desire to build his kingdom, he had placed the children of Israel under severe hardship.

-They built the pyramids, the sphinxes, and other great wonders in the land of Egypt. They were an afflicted people.

-Now it was time to leave the land of slavery and hardship. Moses had boldly walked into the courts of Pharaoh and demanded that the people be set free. Having to endure plagues and hardships of comfort and ruin, the Pharaoh still refused them their freedom. But God had a plan to set his people free.

-However, as with God’s plans there are always some stipulations. Obedience to God is imperative and it must be followed exactly as God lays it out.

-Exodus 12 covers the Passover and the Exodus. One would expect that after 430 years of struggle and hardship, that a long portion of Scripture would be dedicated to informing us of the details of organizing and mobilizing two-million Jews.

A. The Passover Preparations

-Moses instructed that the heads of each household were to take a lamb of the first year and on the tenth day, that lamb was to be set aside until the fourteenth day of that first month. On the evening of the fourteenth day, the lamb was to be slain.

-Once the animal was slain, the blood was to be sprinkled on the door posts. The household was to eat the lamb roasted with fire and bitter herbs along with unleavened bread. It was to be ate quickly. The Israelites were to be dressed and ready to leave.

-When the cry came at midnight, they were not to be fumbling around trying to gather up belongings and articles of clothing. At midnight when the death angel came, if the token of blood was not on the door posts, judgement came.

-Whether one looks in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, man has a responsibility to do something to prepare his heart for the presence of God.