1st Day: Unleavened Bread & Crucifixion

For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, remove every trace of yeast from your homes. Anyone who eats bread made with yeast during the seven days of the festival will be cut off from the community of Israel.      - Exodus12:15

Today is the first full day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. During this seven-day festival, all leaven, which is yeast, must be removed from every Hebrew home for seven days in remembrance of how the Israelites hurried out of Egypt so swiftly that they had no time to prepare the dough for their bread.

The night before, they had eaten the Passover meal of lamb and bitter herbs, sprinkling the blood of the lamb on their doorposts so that the Lord would pass over their homes and their firstborn would not be struck by the destroyer. They ate the Passover meal dressed and ready for travel as an act of faith, trusting that God would be faithful to deliver them out of Egypt and from their slavery. At midnight, under a full moon, Pharaoh ordered the Israelites to leave Egypt and the whole nation of Israel left Egypt forever, including about 600,000 men, plus women and children, and a mixed multitude of Egyptians with them to head to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Each year, removing yeast from their homes and eating unleavened bread for seven days would serve as a sign on their hand and forehead to remind them of how God redeemed them from slavery. Observing this festival would serve to mark them on the hand and forehead as the people redeemed by God.

Fast forward to the times when Jesus walked on the earth. This is the day on which He was tried and crucified, the last day of His life on earth, completing the work of redemption for us through the shedding of His blood. The night before, He had celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples, knowing that He would be handed over to be killed. He had prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and submitted Himself to God’s will, trusting that God would be faithful to deliver Him from death and the grave. In the early morning hours of this day, the leading priests and elders of the people acted upon their plans to put Jesus to death. They bound Him, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate. In the series of events that followed, the religious leaders demanded His crucifixion, swearing their allegiance to Caesar as their King rather than to God. They murdered the firstborn Son of God and rejected their Messiah. It was the most supreme act of hypocrisy of all time.

During Jesus’ life and ministry, He warned His disciples to guard themselves against the yeast of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herod as a metaphor for their hypocrisy, unbelief, and worldliness. The Pharisees placed heavy legalistic demands on the people, forgetting God’s commands about mercy and brotherly love between people. The Sadducees used their religious authority over the Temple and the Jewish people to posture for position in this world, completely forsaking any eternal perspective. The Herodians were Hellenized Jews who were completely enmeshed with Greek culture and who backed the Herodian dynasty, which was appointed by and submitted to Rome, to the neglect of any hope for the Jewish Messiah. At various points during Jesus’ ministry, these groups opposed Him, tried to trap Him, conspired against Him, until they ultimately succeeded in having Him crucified to death.

But Jesus is different than all of this. On this day, all those years ago, He demonstrated what unleavened faith looks like, completely without hypocrisy, even in the greatest test of faith the world has ever known.

When on trial before the religious leaders, He offered no self-defense, only affirmed His rightful position as the Son of Man who will ascend to the right hand of God in fulfillment of Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 110. When standing before Pilate, He made no self-defense but affirmed that His Kingdom is not of this world, as evidenced by the fact that His servants were not fighting. Before Herod, He said nothing because He was not there to entertain or make a spectacle. He told no lies, offered no rebuttals, and made no attempts to scheme or save Himself because He entrusted Himself completely to the will and power of God. Pilate presented Jesus to the people, saying, “Behold your King!” not knowing the depths of the truth of his own statement.

As He was scourged and mocked with a crown of thorns and a purple robe, He did not revile in return, did not retaliate, showed no hatred, and did not use any type of violence. On the cross, He cried out to God, quoting the opening line of Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” not because He felt abandoned by God but because He was faithfully reminding Himself and everyone who could hear Him about the end of Psalm 22 when the one who suffers at the hands of beasts is delivered by God and glorifies God by declaring His finished work to the generations to come. He did not cry out for vengeance like the blood of the martyrs all the way back to Abel, but instead cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” asking God to show mercy to the very people who were killing Him. Finally, He cried out, quoting Psalm 31, “Into Your hands I commit My Spirit”, demonstrating complete faith in God, and total faithfulness to God. In perfect love for God and perfect love for others, He willingly laid down His life.

The forces of evil in this world hurled their worst weapon at Jesus: death. But even in death, Jesus, without hypocrisy, chose the way of faith, mercy, and love. His yeast-less faith was the sign and mark of the truth that He is the Son of God.

In fact, it is on the cross that Jesus most reveals the perfect image of God. God is life, love, and benevolent abundance. Through the cross, Jesus gives eternal life to those who were doomed for death. Through the cross, Jesus revealed the most profound depths of the love for a world who hated Him without cause. Through the cross, Jesus invites everyone who believes to share in the blessing of His inheritance in the world to come. On the cross, crowned with a crown of thorns, with a sign over His head calling Him the “King of the Jews”, Jesus became King and inaugurated His Kingdom of LOVE.

These historical events should also cause us to consider that the days are coming when global persecution against all of Jesus’ followers will put our faith to the test. Babylon’s evil and rebellion against God will culminate with the antichrist and a one-world order which reviles, mocks, tortures, and kills those who follow Jesus. Anyone who wants to participate in Jesus’ Kingdom must forsake the self-serving ways of Babylon and endure in the ways of Jesus’ Kingdom, which He inaugurated on the cross. No self-defense. No retaliation. No threats. No violence. No murder. No life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. No grudges. We must take up our cross to follow the Lamb of God wherever He leads us, in faith without hypocrisy that God will be faithful to resurrect us to eternal life, knowing that participating in the world to come is worth more than all that this world could ever offer us.

So today and for the next seven days, as you reflect on the cross of Jesus who revealed God’s image of life and love by laying down His life for you, examine your own heart for hypocrisy. Are you legalistic or merciful? Are you focused on temporal things or eternity? Is your hope in the governments and politics of this world or in the resurrection and the world to come? Are your ways the ways of Babylon or of Jesus’ Kingdom? Will you be marked by the beast on your hand and forehead or are you cleansing your faith from hypocrisy to continue bearing the mark of God?

Unleavened Bread Scriptures

Unleavened Bread: Exodus 12-13

Jesus’ Trial & Crucifixion: Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23, John 18-19

Note: This day is observed as Good Friday in some churches.

2nd Day: Confusion in the Cavern

Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses: “Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon. Then Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are confused. They are trapped in the wilderness!’ And once again I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after you. I have planned this in order to display my glory through Pharoah and his whole army. After this the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord!” So the Israelites camped there as they were told.  - Exodus 14:1-4

On this day on the Biblical calendar, the Israelites were continuing their journey out of Egypt, obeying God’s instructions, and making their way to Pi-hahiroth, which sits on the shore of the Sinai Peninsula. It was not the most direct route to the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they followed God’s presence in the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. The Israelites had already seen how God had proved Himself stronger than Pharaoh and all the gods of Egypt through plague after plague that God had poured out each time Pharaoh refused to let them go. Even though God could have destroyed Pharaoh completely from the beginning, God used Pharoah’s hard heart to glorify Himself in the sight of the nations. In fact, it was the reason God appointed Pharaoh to his position of authority in the earth.

Exodus 9:16 ESV - 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

By the second day since they had departed from Egypt on Passover night, things did not look better but appeared to be getting worse. By human logic, it seemed that they had taken a wrong turn and were lost in the wilderness and to add to this, their location at Pi-hahiroth, which means “mouth of the cavern”, was across from a notorious place for demon-worship of Baal-Zephon, the lord of the underworld. Pharaoh thought to take advantage of this and recapture his slave labor, so he pursued them with his renowned army and chariots, the most powerful weapons of war in the world at that time. The Israelites were hemmed in. It was an impossible situation. But this was the way that God would gain glory for His name in the sight of all the nations of the earth.

Many years later, it was on this same day on the Biblical calendar that Jesus’ body lay in the tomb, in the mouth of a different kind of cavern. By human logic, this did not seem to be the way that the Messiah would bring His Kingdom or assert His power and authority over all nations and in fact, it seemed that Jesus’ ministry and influence were over forever. Jesus had already performed numerous signs and wonders as evidence of God’s presence and power with Him and God’s power, but the world, and even His own people, had hardened their hearts to Him, and crucified Him on a cross. While the world rejoiced at their apparent victory, even Jesus’ disciples denied Him and fled when it appeared that He was not who He claimed to be. But Jesus had obeyed God and willingly gave Himself over to death so that now, He was in the grave, the domain darkness and the evil one. It was an impossible situation. But this was the way that God would gain glory for His name and prove His power over death.

In the days to come, as it was in the days of the early church, there will be mass persecution against those who follow Jesus and there will be many martyrs for God’s Kingdom. We must endure to the end to receive the fullness of the salvation that Jesus purchased for us on the cross, meaning that we must obey God and remain faithful to Him and to His ways, even in the face of opposition, oppression, persecution, and death. We must forsake ourselves and the ways of this world to stand for Jesus and the ways of His Kingdom. We must fix our eyes are on the prize of the resurrection and eternity in the world to come rather than any particular outcome in this world.

So today, consider the ways of God and consider the strength and integrity of your faith. God may lead us into seemingly impossible situations which appear to contradict the way of logic, reason, and even good sense. But if He is leading us, we can be assured that wherever He leads, even in death, it is for His glory, and He will show Himself mighty on our behalf, even if it is at the resurrection. So, even if you are in the mouth of a demonic cavern, take to heart the words the Lord spoke to Moses at the bank of the sea, “The Lord is fighting for you, you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). It is only the second day…the third day is yet to come.

2^nd Day Scriptures

The 2^nd Day of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt: Exodus 14

Jesus Buried in the Tomb: Matthew 27:45-66, Mark 15:33-47, Luke 23:44-56, John 19:28-42

3rd Day: First Fruits & Resurrection

The LORD will reign forever and ever. – Exodus 15:18

By the early morning of the third day since the Passover night, the Israelites were hemmed in between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s charging army. They were terrified, crying out to God, and bewildered at why He had taken them this way. But God told Moses to lift his staff over the sea because He was fighting for them. The pillar of fire moved from in front of Israel to behind them, blocking the way between Pharaoh’s army and Israel, and giving light to the Israelites but darkness to the Egyptians. In the early morning hours as the sun began to rise, Moses lifted his staff and the waters parted to reveal dry ground. The same Creator God who had separated the waters from dry ground on the third day of creation was now working a miracle for the deliverance of His people on the third day since the Passover. Approximately two million Israelites walked through the waters on dry ground, but when the Egyptians with their chariots tried to pursue them, the waters crashed in on them and not one of them survived.

Israel sang the Song of Moses, celebrating God’s miraculous and resounding victory over Pharoah, his army, and all the gods of Egypt. At the end of the song, Israel declares, “The Lord reigns forever and ever!” If the Lord reigns, it means that the Lord is King! He is King! He is King over Israel and He just proved that He is King over the whole world. The news of these events spread throughout the world with reverent fear of Israel’s God. Israel was the first nation redeemed by God and His purpose was to redeem the rest of the nations through Israel, in accordance with His promise to Abraham.

Each year, in the generations that followed these events, it was on this same day in the early morning hours that the sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest was offered by the priest as an act of dedication and expectation for the full harvest to come.

Many years later, it was on this very same day that Jesus was resurrected from death. In the early morning hours, Jesus walked out of the grave in an incorruptible, resurrection body, having conquered sin, death, the grave, and the evil one. This proves that JESUS IS KING! The world threw its most powerful weapon against Jesus: death. The evil powers thought they had triumphed. But Jesus reigns even over death, which He proved by His resurrection! Jesus is King and His Kingdom has begun! God says of Him in Psalm 2, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” and the apostle Paul said in Romans 1 that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power through His resurrection from the dead”, meaning that the resurrection proves Jesus to be the rightful firstborn inheritor of God’s authority (over the whole world) and property (the whole earth). Everyone who believes Jesus by submitting to His reign has been redeemed from sin and death, and God’s purpose through us who believe is to redeem the rest of the world by us spreading the good news of His reign as King! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain! The Lamb has been made King!

Jesus is the sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest of the resurrection, which will take place at the end of the age when Jesus’ followers are raised to eternal life and those who reject the reign of Jesus will be raised to eternal torment. Through the final resurrection, death will be conquered forever, and Jesus’ Kingdom will be finally and fully established when death, the grave, and the ancient serpent are thrown into the lake of fire. All of creation will sing the eternal Song of Moses, glorifying God Almighty as Creator and sovereign King over all.

Revelation 11:15-18 ESV - 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. 18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

Revelation 15:3-4 ESV - 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."

So today, let us rejoice and be glad in the day that the Lord has made! The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone! The Lamb that was slain has been crowned as King! If you truly believe this, then demonstrate Jesus’ reign as King in your own life by applying His teachings and following the Lamb wherever He goes. He is worthy! Jesus is King!

Third Day Scriptures

The Original Passover: Exodus 14-15  

First Fruits: Leviticus 23-:9-14; Deuteronomy 26:1-11

The Resurrection: Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24; John 20-21

Note: This day is the day observed as Easter in some churches.