Unleavened bread in the Exodus story symbolizes the absence of sin — Israel, cleansed by the blood of the Passover lamb, was to be a new, unleavened lump separated from Egyptian paganism.
Les Feldick teaches that leaven always represents sin, so unleavened bread indicates the absence of sin. In Exodus, the days of unleavened bread immediately following Passover pictured Israel as a nation whose sins had been atoned for or cleansed. Paul carries the same picture into 1 Corinthians when he tells believers to purge out the old leaven and be a new lump as they are unleavened.
Exodus 12:8 — This is the first command that the Passover lamb be eaten with unleavened bread, linking the bread to the night of redemption.
Exodus 12:15 — It commands seven days of unleavened bread and requires leaven to be removed from houses on the first day.
Exodus 12:39 — It explains the historical reason the bread was unleavened: Israel was thrust out of Egypt in haste.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 — It reveals the symbolic meaning: leaven is malice and wickedness, while unleavened bread is sincerity and truth.
In Exodus 12, God gave Israel the Passover instructions. They were to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8). Then came the command for the Feast of Unleavened Bread: “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses” (Exodus 12:15). No leaven was to be found in their houses for the entire seven days (Exodus 12:19). The historical reason for the speed is given in Exodus 12:39: “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry.” God also told them to keep this as a perpetual feast in which no leavened bread could even be seen in their territory (Exodus 13:7). In the New Testament, Paul identifies the meaning of the picture: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened... Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).
Les teaches that unleavened bread must have spiritual significance, and the meaning he draws is the absence of sin — leaven always represents sin (Clip 1). He connects this to Exodus: the very next day after Passover began the seven days of unleavened bread, and Israel was to be pictured as a nation whose sins had been atoned for or cleansed (Clip 2). Les then applies Paul’s analogy to Christians: just as the church must deal with sin like leaven in bread, a believer is to be a new lump, as he or she is unleavened — forgiven, cleansed, and, so far as God is concerned, without sin (Clip 2). Les also points out that the Jewish tradition of searching the house for leaven at Passover goes right back to Exodus 12 (Clip 3).
Les explains that leaven indicates the absence of sin because “sin is always represented by leaven” (Clip 1). Paul makes the same identification in 1 Corinthians 5, where he calls leaven “malice and wickedness” and the unleavened bread “sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8). So the unleavened bread points directly to a state of being without sin, not merely to hasty baking.
Les says the seven days of unleavened bread which followed Passover pictured Israel as a nation whose sins had been atoned for or cleansed (Clip 2). The blood of the lamb had been applied, and now, as they came out of Egypt, they were to live as an unleavened people. Paul brings this same analogy into the church, telling believers to purge out the old leaven so they can be “a new lump” (Clip 2; 1 Corinthians 5:7).
The command was explicit: “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses” (Exodus 12:15). God reinforced it by saying that no leaven should be found in their houses for the whole seven days (Exodus 12:19). Les notes that this is why devout Jews still cleanse their houses of leaven ‘from top to bottom’ during the Passover season — the practice goes all the way back to this institution in Exodus 12 (Clip 3).
Les describes the mixed multitude as non-Jewish “hangers-on” — probably Egyptians or foreigners who had been laboring in Egypt and decided to go along with Israel. These people were not Jews, and Les compares them to a parasite. As the wilderness journey went on, they became the first ones to murmur and complain (Clip 0). Their attitude contrasts with the cleansed and separated people that unleavened bread pictured.
The Mixed Multitude Contrast
Les explains that the mixed multitude were non-Jewish hangers-on who became the first murmurers, contrasting with the separated, cleansed people that unleavened bread pictured.
Leaven Represents Sin
Les says the unleavened bread must have significance, and that leaven is always the representation of sin — so unleavened bread points to the absence of sin.
Unleavened Bread Pictures a Cleansed Nation
Les teaches that the seven days of unleavened bread after Passover pictured Israel as a nation whose sins had been atoned for or cleansed, and he applies Paul’s “new lump” analogy to believers.
Jewish House-Cleansing of Leaven
Les points out that Orthodox Jews still cleanse their houses of leaven from top to bottom during Passover, tracing the practice back to Exodus 12.
What "Baptized Unto Moses" Really Means — 1 Corinthians 10 Explained
And then finally, Pharaoh told Moses not to ever come back and see him. I'll never see your face again, Pharaoh says, and Moses said, You've spoken well. You don't know how close to the truth you are. And then we come into chapter 12, and God gives Moses and the nation of Israel the instructions for the Passover lamb. And then they were to take it out in verse 5 of chapter 12.
Manna from Heaven & The Sabbath: Law vs. Grace Explained
They were slaves, and they were under bondage, and they didn't have that much flesh to eat. I mean, it almost sounds like they dined in some steakhouse every night, doesn't it? And they didn't. But nevertheless, they're getting squeamish of where Moses is taking them, and now they're wishing that He would have left them in Egypt, if only they knew. Then verse 4, "...
Cain, Abel & The Virgin Birth: Genesis 4 Explained
Well, they lost their fellowship with Abraham's God and they became, you might say, mortgaged to the pagan, heathen Egyptians. And there they were. They were in bondage. And so what's God going to have to do? He's going to have to buy them back. He's going to have to redeem them. And so that's the whole story of the book of Exodus.
Why the Blood? The Bible's Answer to Forgiveness & Faith
And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.� Now when we were way back in Exodus a couple of years ago, and we were studying it verse by verse, I made it a point to ask, especially for those of you in the studio, that you now these Israelites who had placed the blood on the door, they are now in their little cabins and their little houses, whatever they wer…
Exodus 12:8: And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
The first mention of unleavened bread in the Passover account: it is part of the very meal God commands on the night of redemption.
Exodus 12:15: Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
This command makes the removal of leaven essential for seven days, connecting the bread with the absence of leaven.
Exodus 12:19: Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
The command extends to all the congregation: absolutely no leaven can be found in Israel’s dwellings.
Exodus 12:39: And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.
It gives the historical reason the original Passover bread was unleavened — Israel left in haste.
Exodus 13:7: Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
The seven-day command is made ongoing, with leaven forbidden even from being seen in Israel’s territory.
1 Corinthians 5:7-8: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Paul applies the Exodus picture to the church, showing that leaven symbolizes sin and unleavened bread symbolizes the pure, sincere life of a believer.
According to Les Feldick, yes — leaven always represents sin, so unleavened bread indicates the absence of sin. Israel was to be pictured after Passover as a nation whose sins had been atoned for and cleansed.
Les explains that the practice goes back to Exodus 12, where God commanded Israel to put away leaven out of their houses for seven days. Orthodox Jews still ritually cleanse their houses of leaven from top to bottom at Passover.
Les teaches that the seven days of unleavened bread pictured Israel as a nation whose sins had been atoned for or cleansed. They were to function as a new, unleavened people — Paul later applies the same picture to believers in 1 Corinthians 5.
Watch the Teaching: Why God Led Israel the Long Way: The Red Sea & The Pillar of Fire