3You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. Deuteronomy 16:3

33And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. 39And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. Exodus 12:33-34,39

The unleavened bread is called the bread of affliction in the Old Testament. This is the very bread that Jesus had in His hands when He said, “This is My body which is given for you ….”(Luke 22:19) It was called the bread of affliction because the Hebrews came out of Egypt in haste. Making such an abrupt change was affliction to their souls. Imagine having to pickup and leave town for good, in just a few days. Making this sudden change would be quite disruptive and uncomfortable. This would certainly be affliction to one’s soul. The Hebrew’s coming out of Egypt is a picture of the Christians coming out of their sin. Coming out of sin is also an affliction to our souls. Making a change in one’s lifestyle is disruptive and uncomfortable because people are used to doing things a certain way. Initially, there is often some pain to being delivered from sin. Although deliverance from sin [... read more...]