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"Observe the month of Aviv, and keep the Passover to Yahveh your Elohim; for in the
month of Aviv Yahveh your Elohim brought you forth out of Egypt by night. You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahveh your
Elohim, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahveh shall choose, to cause His Name to dwell there. You shall eat
no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth
out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. There shall be no leaven (yeast) seen with
you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at even, remain all
night until the morning." Deuteronomy 16:1-4
We are commanded not to eat anything with leaven during the 7 days of the Passover. (Leaven
meaning sour, embittered) The bread without leaven in this verse is called the bread of affliction. This is to remind us of
Israel’s affliction in Egypt.
The reason given for this commandment was that Israel had come out of Egypt with haste. At the
first Passover, they had no time to leaven their bread, as it is written, "They baked unleavened cakes
of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn't leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn't
wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food." Exodus 12:39
There is a special Passover ceremony, called the purging of leaven from the house. The father takes
the children, along with a candle, a wooden spoon, a feather and a piece of linen cloth, and searches through the house for
the ten pieces of leaven. By nightfall on the day before Passover, a final and comprehensive search is performed. At this
time, the house is completely dark except for the candles. Once the father finds the leaven (bread), he sets the candle down
by the leaven and lays the wooden spoon beside the leaven. Then he uses the feather to sweep the leaven onto the spoon. Without
touching the leaven he takes the feather, the spoon and the leaven, wraps them in a linen cloth, and casts them out of
the door of the house. The next morning he goes into the synagogue and puts the linen cloth and its contents into a fire to
be burned.
"Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For
indeed Messiah, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." I Corinthians
5:7-8
We are to remember how we were taken out of Egypt, which represents our sins. Therefore we are to live our lives without leaven, which also represents
sin in our lives. It is written, "Don't you know the saying, It takes only a little leaven to leaven a whole batch of dough?"
I Corinthians 5:6 Even a tiny bit of sin can affect our whole lives, as well as the lives of others.
In the same way, a diligent search is made in our lives by our Father in Heaven. "Search
me, Yahveh, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting
way." Psalms 139:23-24
The candle used to search for leaven (sin) is the Word of Yahveh, as it is written "Your
Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalms 119:105 The spoon represents the tree
that Yashua died upon. (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
The leaven that was swept onto the spoon (the tree) is our sin that was swept (cast) upon Yashua (II Corinthians
5:21) as He hung on the tree. The leaven (Yashua upon the tree) was then wrapped in linen and cast out (went to hell, which
is a place of burning - Luke 16:19-24). Thus Yashua fulfilled the part of the ceremony where the father takes the linen cloth
and its contents and casts it into the fire to be burned.
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