What is the meaning of Exodus 12:20? You are not to eat anything leavened God issues a clear prohibition. Leaven, by its very nature, spreads silently and completely through dough. Scripture often uses that quality as a picture of sin’s pervasive influence. • Exodus 12:15: “For seven days you must eat unleavened bread, and on the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses.” • Deuteronomy 16:4 reminds Israel, “No yeast is to be found in any of your territory for seven days.” • 1 Corinthians 5:6-7 urges believers, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough?… Remove the old leaven, so that you may be a new, unleavened batch.” The command is literal: leavened food was forbidden during the Passover week. Yet it also points to the spiritual necessity of sweeping sin from life. Eat unleavened bread God never gives a negative without a positive. He takes away leaven yet provides bread. • Exodus 12:8 pairs the lamb with “unleavened bread and bitter herbs.” Redemption (the lamb) and sanctification (unleavened bread) belong together. • Leviticus 23:6 labels the week following Passover “the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD.” Joyful obedience is expected; eating this simple bread is a celebratory act of faith. • Matthew 26:17 notes that even in Jesus’ day, “the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread” set the stage for the Last Supper, tying the symbol directly to Christ. Eating what God prescribes nourishes both body and spirit, teaching reliance on His provision instead of old habits. In all your homes The command is comprehensive. Every household must participate; no private corner may harbor leaven. • Exodus 12:19 warns, “Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh must be cut off from Israel,” emphasizing communal purity. • Exodus 13:3 adds, “Remember this day… No leavened bread shall be eaten,” showing that memory and obedience start at home. • Joshua 24:15 famously declares, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD,” echoing the household responsibility seen here. • Colossians 3:17 applies the principle broadly: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Holiness is not a once-a-year ritual but a daily, domestic reality lived out where we reside, eat, and raise children. summary Exodus 12:20 calls God’s people to reject corruption (no leaven), embrace purity (eat unleavened bread), and practice obedience everywhere (in all homes). Through this simple dietary directive, the Lord teaches that redemption produces holy living, beginning in the heart and extending to every square foot of life. |
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