The Truth Unleavened

01.22.12

Luke 22.3 3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. NASB

The Feast of Unleavened Bread was the first feast the people of Israel celebrated on the night they departed from Egypt. The people were instructed to kill an unblemished lamb, roast it over fire, and eat it. What was left was to be burned before morning. The bread they were to eat with the roasted lamb was to be bread without yeast in it. Yeast causes bread dough to rise and become fluffy as the dough bakes. Yeast is symbolic of sin in the life of a person.

In Exodus 12, the instructions are given to Moses and Aaron regarding the Passover. The Exodus was the coming out of Israel from Egypt. Egypt symbolizes all that is other than God. The meal that was to be eaten was a meal that was other than what they were used to: it was to be eaten at night, in a hurry, and nothing was to be left over by morning. They were to be fully clothed and ready to leave. The blood of the lamb was to be spread onto the doorposts.

But the main thing to me however, was that this was the feast that was to remind them annually of their coming out of the kingdom of Pharaoh (the kingdom of the world), and into the Promised Land, the symbolic Kingdom of God.

In Luke 22 Jesus and His men were going to celebrate the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, together. It says in verse 3, that Satan entered into Judas. Judas became leavened with all that is opposed to God in that moment. Judas, apparently, had had enough. That is just what the enemy looks for: and like water dripping on stone for a long, long time, eventually it wears through. Judas was worn through. Jesus’ men were to be ready for action; He tried to get them to see what was happening and all they could see was how to kill someone with their swords.

Leaven makes bread dough less than what is originally is. A little bit of leaven goes a long way because leaven feeds off of the dough. In Judas it started small and finally wore through to the point that Satan had access and he took full advantage of that!

Today, I think about the wearing out of my own life – my vocation, my routine, the things I accept mindlessly and take for granted that constantly grind away on me and my perspective. You know, that is a foolish way to live: mindlessly and taking things for granted. I am to live an unleavened life. Like leaven in bread that makes the dough fluffy, sin in my life makes me less than who I am in Him; and so does living mindlessly and taking things for granted.

It doesn’t take much and unless I avail myself regularly and routinely to the unleavened truth of the word, my life can (and will) wear out against the tactics of an enemy who likes to lure me into the easy way, the leavened way. Judas was a fool who allowed the leaven of life make him into less than he was, and when it came time to act all he had was less of himself than he expected – it’s no wonder he went down the path that he did…