Why is it important to avoid mixing God's offerings with leavened bread? The command in Exodus 23:18 “You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.” (Exodus 23:18) Leaven—what it symbolizes • Throughout Scripture, leaven consistently pictures inward corruption that quietly spreads. – Exodus 12:15 links eating leaven to being “cut off.” – Leviticus 2:11 forbids leaven “as an offering made by fire to the LORD.” – Matthew 16:6-12 shows Jesus equating leaven with false teaching. – 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:9 remind us “a little leaven leavens the whole batch.” • Unleavened bread therefore represents purity, sincerity, and truth—exactly what God requires in worship. God’s heart behind the rule • Protection of holiness—God will not mingle what is holy with what points to sin or decay. • Purity of worship—He wants His people to recognize sin’s defilement and approach Him with clean hands. • Daily reminder—each sacrifice without leaven kept Israel mindful that corruption must be removed, not accommodated. Foreshadowing the perfect sacrifice of Christ • Passover lamb: Exodus 12 connected unleavened bread with the blood-covered doorposts; together they preview Christ. • Christ’s sinlessness: “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). The absence of leaven pictures His flawless nature. • Complete separation: Just as no leaven could touch the altar, no sin could be found in Jesus (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 1:19). • Ongoing feast: “Let us keep the feast… with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8). Believers now live out the reality symbolized in the Old Covenant offerings. Personal application today • Guard the altar of the heart—refuse compromise that allows sin to mingle with devotion. • Keep doctrine pure—reject teachings that water down or distort Scripture (2 Timothy 4:3-4). • Practice sincere worship—approach God through Christ’s finished work, confessing and forsaking known sin (1 John 1:9). • Celebrate new-creature living—walk in “the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” displaying the life of the risen Lord in everyday choices. |
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