Remembering, Life, and Creation
Exodus 12:14–20 (NASB95)
14‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 15‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. 17‘You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance. 18‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19‘Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20‘You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ”
Commentary – Remembering, Life, and Creation
God gave Israel a command that would shape their identity for generations. He told them to commemorate (there is that ‘remember’ concept again) the day of deliverance from Egypt as a festival to the Lord, a lasting ordinance for all their descendants. For seven days, they were to eat bread made without yeast. On the first and seventh days, they were to gather for sacred assembly and do no work except to prepare food. Every trace of leaven had to be removed from their homes. Anyone who ate anything with yeast during this week would be cut off from the community. This was not just a rule about bread. It was a call to remember (theres that word again), to mark time by God’s saving work, and to let that memory shape every part of life.
The command to remember is repeated and emphasized. God knew how easy it is for people to forget what He has done. Remembering is not just about recalling facts. It is about letting the story of God’s deliverance become the foundation of faith and community. There are nine benefits that come from this kind of remembering. First, it gives history meaning and significance. The Exodus is not just an old story. It is the moment when God created a people for Himself. Second, remembering helps us learn from the past and gain wisdom for the future. Third, it ensures that those who suffered are not forgotten. Fourth, it prevents evil from disappearing into history, keeping the memory of injustice alive so it will not be repeated. Fifth, remembering links each generation with those who came before, creating a sense of belonging and continuity. Sixth, it makes enduring gratitude possible, as people recall what God has done. Seventh, it helps avoid repeating past mistakes. Eighth, it shapes and forms identity through commemoration. Ninth, it fosters faith and trust in God’s promises, reminding people that He is faithful.
The number seven in verse 15 is not accidental. Seven is the number of creation, completeness, and covenant in the Bible. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, marking the week as a pattern for all time. The seven days of unleavened bread mirror this rhythm. They mark a new creation for Israel, a fresh start as God’s people. The Hebrew word for seven, sheva, is related to the word for oath or covenant, shava. This connection shows that the seven-day feast is a sign of God’s covenant with Israel. It is a complete, perfect act of deliverance and a call to live as a people set apart for Him.
Leaven, or yeast, carries deep meaning in these verses. In the ancient world, leaven was a symbol of decay and corruption because it works by fermentation. Removing leaven from the home was a way of rejecting the old life in Egypt, with all its spiritual death and idolatry. It was also a reminder of the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt. There was no time for the bread to rise. The unleavened bread became the bread of affliction, a sign of both suffering and deliverance. Later, leaven came to symbolize sin and the corrupting influence of evil. Jesus warned His disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, meaning hypocrisy and false teaching. Paul told the church in Corinth to cleanse out the old leaven and celebrate with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. The removal of leaven is a call to purity, to leave behind the old ways, and to live as a new creation in Christ.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread turns the one-time act of Passover into an ongoing observance for all generations. It is a permanent ordinance, a way for God’s people to remember and retell the story of deliverance. The repetition in these verses is intentional. God wants the lesson to be drilled into the mind and heart of every believer: do not forget what He has done. Let the memory of His salvation shape your life, your worship, and your community.
The unleavened bread of Passover points directly to Jesus Christ. He declared, “I am the bread of life,” offering Himself as the true sustenance that the Passover meal only foreshadowed. In our communion liturgy, Christ took bread and said, “This is My body, which is for you,” making the connection between the Passover loaf and His own body clear and personal. Just as the Israelites removed every trace of yeast from their homes, Christ came into the world without the leaven of sin. He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Paul draws this same parallel when he urges believers to keep the festival with sincerity and truth because Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. There is no corruption or decay in what He offered for us. Everything Christ accomplished defeats death, protects life, and brings about a new creation.
For the church today, the call to remember is just as important. We live in a world that moves quickly and forgets easily. When we take time to remember God’s faithfulness, we find meaning in our own stories. We learn from the past, honor those who came before us, and avoid the mistakes that come from forgetfulness. Remembering keeps gratitude alive and shapes our identity as God’s people. It also calls us to examine our lives for anything that corrupts or distracts us from God’s purpose. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a reminder that faith is not just about what we believe. It is about how we live, how we remember, and how we let God’s story become ours from generation to generation.
In His Service,
Ryan Goodnight