(Exodus 12:15, 19) On the first day remove the yeast … For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses.
When I was growing up I knew that we were not supposed to eat leaven during Passover, but I did not know that God says we need to remove it from our homes. I didn’t know this for two reasons. First, my family (like most Jewish people) was not religious so we never read the Hebrew Scriptures. Second, I did not know this because my mom did not remove any leaven that was still in our home when Passover began.
During Passover my mom would place all the refrigerated items which contained leaven or yeast on one shelf. When my sister and I were little I think my mom put a sign on the shelf to remind us to not eat the foods which had yeast.
When my sister and I became teenagers, my mother assumed that we were old enough (or mature enough) to remember the rules of Passover so she stopped placing a sign on the shelf which would remind us that we were not allowed to eat food with yeast.
As I recall I ate something with yeast every year by accident. I wasn’t trying to be rebellious or disobedient, but since I wasn’t religious I would innocently forget it was Passover. During the weekends I would stay up late watching TV. Usually, sometime around 11:00 PM I would get a little hungry. I would go to the kitchen and look for a snack. I usually found something like a cupcake (possibly one of my favorite snacks; a “Devil Dog”) to eat. Then, sometime while eating the snack I would notice a box of matzah on the counter or table and remember it was Passover.
You’d think that with a name like DEVIL dog, I’d have a clue that I should’ve avoided it, but I never did. This is why God tells us to remove all leaven from our homes. If you don’t want to eat something, don’t have it in your house.
Paul understood the connection between leaven and immorality. He tells us to remove the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened (matzah). (1 Corinthians 5:7)
We need to get rid of all leaven, immorality or sin. Before we put our trust in Yeshua, we were leavened bread. Once we begin our new life with Yeshua, we are to remove leaven or sin. We are to be unleavened bread or matzah. Our Passover prayer could be “I wanna be a matzah man!”
Search and Destroy Mission
“[The Jews] see the whole process of searching for the chametz and eliminating it as a reminder to man that he should search through his deeds and purify his actions.” (Mordell Klein, ed., Passover, … p. 38).
When you search your home for leaven you will find some leaven in places that are not obvious. We can always find some leaven that is hidden or out of sight. The same is true with sin. It will require some careful searching to find all leaven and sin. While we look for leaven in our homes we should ask God to reveal one piece of leaven or sin in our life. God will be faithful to answer this prayer. Then, once we find the hidden sin, we must make the effort to evict and remove it. Do you want to be a matzah man?
Ron Goldberg is a Jew who belongs to Jesus. He regularly speaks to all denominations and faiths about his spiritual journey. Ron was raised as a traditional Jew and was sent to deprogramming by his parents and rabbi in hopes of getting him to reject Yeshua (Jesus). He shares how he met the Jewish Jesus and helps other people meet the Jewish Jesus. Have you met the Jewish Jesus?
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