Leaven - Ex. 12:20

"I repeat, during those days you must not eat anything made with yeast. Wherever you live, eat only bread that has no yeast in it." Ex. 12:20

This is the first time I noticed what a big deal God made about his regulation of no yeast (leaven) during Passover. He repeated it a bunch of times in different ways, and was unusually adamant on the point. He went so far as to say that anyone who eats bread with yeast during this time would be cut off from the community of Israel! Harsh stuff! God was obviously making a powerful point here--I figured I should dig deeper. Here is what I came up with: Unleavened bread throughout the Bible was a symbol of purity, while yeast (leaven) symbolized a pollutant, or an impurity. Since Passover represented God delivering his chosen people out of slavery into the Promised Land, eating only unleavened bread during this celebration served as a reminder. A reminder that they were special, chosen by God to be his people, and therefore pure. God wanted his people to remember for all time how special he considered them.

God I thank you for grafting me into your family and calling me chosen as well. The leaven also represents being different, and I have a hard time with that. Like Israel, too often I just want to be like the rest of the crowd, yet I know you are calling me to so much more. Show me how to be "set apart" in the mission field you have brought me into.

Today's reading: Ex. 12, 13; Ps. 21; Acts 1