1) Unleavened Bread: A Sign God says eat Unleavened Bread for seven days at His Appointed Time. Unleavened Bread is a ‘sign’. And when children ask why…tell them:

Unleavened Bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you…You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It (the Unleavened Bread) is because of what the LORD did … and it (the Unleavened Bread) shall serve as a sign to you in your hand, and as a reminder between your eyes, that the law (the instruction) of the LORD may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. Therefore, you shall guard this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year” Exodus13:7-10 (comments in italics added for clarity by author)

The Unleavened Bread is ‘a sign’ in your hand. So, every time you and your children hold a piece of Unleavened Bread in your hand….it is a ‘sign’ that points to God. Holding the Unleavened Bread causes us to think about the Passover and the way the Israelites left Egypt in such a hurry! The Israelites “took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders….They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, not had they prepared any provision for themselves” Exodus 12:34,39.

*Have a child come up & dress like an Israelite. Put a pole on his shoulder & then get a cloth & put a wooden bowl & Matzah and bind them together in cloth on the end of the pole. (This is a great visual to help the children remember the Israelites leaving in a hurry) * Give each child a small piece of Unleavened Bread (about ¼ piece of Matzah for each child) and tell them to hold the Unleavened Bread. God said the Unleavened Bread is a ‘sign’ in their hand. ‘Signs’ always point to something. (discuss signs: stop sign = points + alerts us to an intersection + need to stop & look both ways before crossing) 2) Unleavened Bread: Knowing the Difference Ask if anyone has seen their mother making homemade bread & how leaven (yeast) makes the bread rise or puff up. Open the discussion up to talk about all the different foods we eat that have leaven. We eat leaven all year long except during the 7 days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread for on this day I brought you out of Egypt. So, you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance… Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your house… You shall not eat any leaven” (Exd.12:17-20).

God wants each one of us to be looking at & examining everything…every food item… and asking…does this have leaven in it or not? God wants us to be thinking and preparing for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Examination is part of the preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Everyone is thinking about getting all food out of their homes that has any leaven in it. That means eating up all the food that has leaven in it! It also means when you go to the grocery store that you don’t buy more leavened food right before the Feast. Leader holds up different foods & has the children declare “leavened or unleavened” and makes two different categories on the display table as the children declare “leavened or unleavened”. These are some foods that have leaven: Homemade Bread, Loaf Bread, Hamburger Buns, Cookies, Pancakes, Waffles, Pizza, Cake, Pop Tarts, Cereal, Twinkies, Goldfish, Fruit Loops, Animal Crackers, Biscuits, Doughnuts, Wafers, Pita Bread These are some foods that do not have leaven: Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Onions, Eggs, Cheese, Lemon & Limes Vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, lettuce, spinach, celery, cabbage) Fruits (apples, oranges, peaches, bananas, grapes, grapefruit, kiwi, avocado, figs, dates) Grilled Fish, Grilled Chicken, Steak, Tuna, Salmon, Walnuts, Peanuts, Almonds Wow! Think about cleansing…getting rid of… putting out… all the food in your house that has leaven in it! Many people start in February and begin trying to eat up all the food items in their homes that have leaven so there won’t be any wasted food. It means thinking about the Feast ahead of time. Getting ready for Passover & the Feast of Unleavened Bread also means cleaning. It’s the time of year when spring- cleaning takes place. Everyone is busy getting all the leaven (yeast) out of their homes. Leaven is a picture of sin in the Bible.

“You know the saying, ‘Just a little leaven makes the whole batch of dough rise’. Clean out all the old leaven” (1 Corinthians 5:6-7)

3) Unleavened Bread: Looking at the Heart God said to get ready every year for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, His Appointed Time. This Feast lasts for seven days. It is always in the springtime. It is always in the 1st month of God’s Biblical Calendar. Getting ready for the Feast of Unleavened Bread is also a time to look at the thoughts and intents of our heart. It is a time of spiritual preparation. The Bible says: “So, let us celebrate the Feast, not with old leaven- the leaven of sin and wickedness. Let us celebrate the Feast with the unleavened bread of goodness and truth” (1 Corinthians.5:8). God doesn’t want sin and wickedness to remain in our hearts. This is the time for cleansing and repentance. God wants us to confess the wicked thoughts & intents of our hearts and He will be faithful to cleanse us. Prayer: Let’s all bow our heads and sit in silence for a few moments. Ask the Spirit of God to bring to your mind any offense that you may have against someone or anything you may have done to hurt someone else or a time that you disobeyed your parents and did not ask for forgiveness. If there is any leaven of wickedness or sin that makes your heart feel bad, pray & ask God to forgive you and He will cleanse you. Remember, preparing for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the time to cleanse our hearts as well as our homes. God is very willing and eager to cleanse each of you if you repent and ask Him to cleanse your heart. Yeshua also cleansed His Father’s house of leaven and corruption during this time.

“The Passover of the Jews was near, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the Temple those who were selling… and He drove them out of the Temple… and overturned their tables and said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business” (John 2:13-16).

4) Unleavened Bread: In Your Mouth Hand out another piece of Matzah. When we eat Matzah during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it’s “the instruction of the LORD in our mouth” (Exd13:9). Let’s all eat Matzah. During the week of Unleavened Bread, we enjoy Matzah Peanut Butter &Jelly Sandwiches and Matzah Pizza. Following the instruction of God is fun! God wants us to experience, taste and remember His ways. 5) Unleavened Bread: Reminder between Your Eyes *The Unleavened Bread is also to be “a reminder between your eyes” (Exodus 13:9). After everyone has a piece of Matzah, ask the children to hold up the Matzah like they were reading a book. Notice how the Matzah is “between your eyes” as you look at it. Look at the stripes and the brown spots on the Matzah. Just as the Matzah is stripped and has brown spots that look like bruises, likewise, the Messiah was bruised in His beatings and the stripes of the whips were on His back.

“He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

The Unleavened Bread is also pierced. See all the holes, the piercings? The Messiah’s body was also pierced. They pierced His hands and His feet. The soldiers also pierced His side with a spear. 6) Unleavened Bread: No corruption or decay Did you know Unleavened Bread doesn’t decay or mold? If you try to keep regular Loaf Bread more than 2 weeks, it will begin to mold. But Unleavened Bread lasts for a long time. It’s bread that can be kept on the shelf for over a year. That is because it does not have any leaven. God made Unleavened Bread as a picture…a picture of Yeshua. Yeshua was in the grave for 3 days & 3 nights… during the Feast of Unleavened Bread… and His body did not rot or decay.

“For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay” Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27

God planned for Yeshua to be in the grave during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. All the Feasts point to Messiah & have their fulfillment in & through Him. Yeshua’s body did not corrupt or decay! HalleluYah! Look again at the Unleavened Bread. It is a picture of His body… beaten & bruised… with stripes …He was scourged with a whip… He was pierced…His hands and feet…they pierced His side with a spear… He was without sin…He never sinned… His body was without leaven… He lived a sinless life. “He was in every way like us, yet without sin” (Heb.4:15). When we take communion, the bread is always to be Unleavened Bread because it is a picture of Yeshua’s body.

Prayer: Thank You, God, for providing Your Son, Yeshua – the Passover Lamb, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:36)…Yeshua, the Passover Lamb, as the substitute sacrifice for our sins. “Like a lamb led to slaughter, He was silent before His shearers & He did not open His mouth” ( Isaiah 53:7). Thank You for redeeming us with His “precious blood- as a lamb unblemished and spotless” (1 Peter 1:19). Thank You for raising Him from the dead after He was in the grave 3 days & 3 nights. Thank You that there was no corruption or decay in His body! HalleluYah! We bless You, LORD.

Let us all eat the Unleavened Bread that is symbolic of His body.