Discovering God’s Purposes of Deep Spiritual Cleansing by Relating with Him through the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened Bread
TRUTH AND PURPOSE
The Feast of Unleavened bread provides a great visual aid, revealing how deep spiritual cleansing is an important principle of God. Therefore, beyond merely being clean on the outside, God looks for us to be clean on the inside.
So He, therefore, gives us opportunities to see areas within our heart and mind that need cleansing from sin, falsehood, and idolatry– serving vain images and imaginations. Why? these things impair our relationship with a holy God. The Feast of Unleavened Bread, therefore, serves to represent times of spiritual cleansing before God.
The Scriptures prescribed that all leaven was to be removed from the home. Why leaven? It is a fermenting substance. It is a turbulent form of bacterium that is permeating and pervasive in nature. In addition, it spreads like cancer or a virus, contaminating, polluting and corrupting what it touches. It, therefore, is used as a metaphor for sin and falsehood. As it spreads, it compromises and destroys what is true, good and otherwise pure. As a result, it prevents the love of God from flowing freely in us and through us.
RELEVANCE
The Lord’s blood erased our slate from the handwriting of God’s judgment, “cleaning” our account from the debt of sin. We celebrate His cleansing of our “spiritual house,” our body, by receiving the pour of His love and refreshing of the Holy Spirit. His grace and strength keep our heart and mind clean.
This is accomplished by meditating on His words and focusing our mind on noble and righteous thoughts. It is further accomplished by resisting the temptations of the world—vain desires, pride and pulls of the world. We appropriate this grace and strength by crucifying the “old man” of the flesh.
So we need to be watchful. Beyond the external things that can destroy our physical bodies, we can allow our spiritual condition to deteriorate from the inside. This happens by harboring destructive attitudes, like bitterness and judgment.
It also happens by maintaining selfish motivations and pursuing self-centered interests and agendas. That’s why the Lord declared, “There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which makes a person unclean!” (Mark 7:15 JNT)
God wants us to walk in integrity—values based on what is sound, true and right. That’s why Paul reasoned; “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:8) In other words, be doers of the word in deed and in love.
Paul taught how our body is the temple of God’s Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19) It, therefore, behooves us to keep ourselves clean on the inside by reading, meditating, and digesting God’s Word, communing with Him by the Holy Spirit, and confessing and turning (or repenting) from revealed sins. The Feast of Unleavened bread reminds us of this reality.
REFLECT AND RELATE
In what ways do you endeavor to keep your heart refreshed and clean before God?
In what ways do you hurt yourself by harboring wrong attitudes of the heart?
Are there any things you do on a regular basis that may cause harmful attitudes to persist?
What falsehoods might you be holding onto or trusting in that could be preventing you from receiving truth from God?
REFERENCES
Psalm 19:7-14; 24; 51; 119: 1-40; Matthew 5:8; 21-29; 12:33-37; 13:18-23; Mark 7:17-23; Ephesians 4:17-32
NEXT STEPS
Vertical movement: As you embrace God’s purposes of deep spiritual cleansing, the Holy Spirit draws you deeper, bringing you to “burying the old man” of the flesh so the Lord’s righteous nature can arise in the newness of the resurrection life of the Holy Spirit.
Horizontal movement: The more you allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse your mind, heart, and conscience, the more you feel clean and fresh inside. So you come to expressing true gratefulness towards God. This works to position you to experience more of the Lord’s work and bear fruit unto His glory.
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