14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
Exodus 12:14-20
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.
16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.
17 And ye shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever.
18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
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.
20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
The Spring Feasts of the Lord move pretty quickly. We basically have something going on from Passover until Shavuot. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is at the beginning with Passover.
It begins with the Passover meal which is why the Israelites were instructed to eat but to also be prepared to flee.
11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.
Exodus 12:11
Scripture gives us guidance on how we are to observe this feast – you definitely don’t want to miss it!
When is the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Feast of Unleavened Bread is not Passover, but Passover is part of it. Passover is the meal (Exodus 12:5-11) that is eaten in the evening when the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins. The Feast then runs for seven days.
The first and last days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are High Sabbaths. They are holy days.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread 2024 is from sunset April 24 to sunset May 1, 2024.
What does the Feast of Unleavened Bread Mean?
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is about deliberate separation – separation from sin, from our own desires, from tradition, from religious hypocrisy.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is representative of the separation that automatically takes place in the lives of those who choose to follow the Messiah.
When the blood is applied to the life of the believer it instantly brings a division between that which is Holy and that which is profane.
Relationships change. Many of those we were once close to no longer feel comfortable in our company. Many times we no longer feel comfortable in theirs.
Prior to the crucifixion of Yeshua the disciples were able to move between the world that Yeshua created in his company and that of the former religious world in which they grew up.
Once the figures that ruled the familiar religious system became enraged enough to kill Jesus, they were also angry enough to kill anyone identified with him.
The disciples then found themselves cut off, separated, and excluded. During the seven days between the ascension on First Fruits and his appearance on the eighth day in the upper room, they were forced out of one world and into another.
Although they had not yet received the baptism of the Spirit, they had to depend on what Yeshua had instilled in them during his ministry.
The leaders of the religious system into which they were born were seeking their lives and would imprison many of them eventually.
Because they had not yet received the promised baptism of the Spirit, they were effectively living between two worlds.
Like Israel of old they had not entered into the promised land as of yet neither could they return to Egypt.
They literally could not eat leaven because they were constantly on the move. They could not move into the benefit of covenant with Yehovah because they had not yet arrived at the place that it was to be offered to them. They were no longer the property of Egypt, but they had not yet fully become the people of God, the people of the covenant.
Why do we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
The Feast of Unleavened Bread is about transition and a pursuit of holiness. If you are a believer in the Messiah, you know what it means to move from one world into another. It can be difficult; it changes our personal culture. It changes previous relationships. It is full of joy and hope. It is also fraught with sorrow at the separation that it demands.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us to anticipate the difficulties the generation that will see the return of Messiah must endure.
The final hours of human history will be filled with challenges for those who desire to enter into the Kingdom at Yeshua’s coming. There will be enormous pressure to compromise.
The annual discipline of the Feast of Unleavened Bread teaches us to prepare and endure until the end.
The Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits
First Fruits (Leviticus 23:10) falls within the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the day after the Sabbath that occurs during that week. It begins that Saturday at sunset until Sunday at sunset.
It is a High Sabbath so you will always have two Sabbaths back to back during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
It is also when Yeshua ascended after rising up from the dead.
First Fruits is when the counting of the omer begins. To be clear, First Fruits is from Saturday at sunset until Sunday at sunset. You begin counting the omer on Saturday at sunset (when Sabbath has ended).
How is the Feast of Unleavened Bread Celebrated?
Scripture instructs us to remove all leaven from our homes and eat nothing with leaven during that week.
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. 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
Exodus 12:19-20
So, what is leaven? It is what causes bread or baked foods to rise. Yeast is probably the best known leavening agent, but baking powder and baking soda are also leavening agents.
Before Passover, remove all the leaven from your house. Many people prefer consuming it, but scripture says that whatever you have not eaten by the Passover meal, you are to burn it.
Scripture also says that during this time you must eat unleavened bread.
You can work as usual, except for the first and last days because they are High Sabbaths.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Leviticus 23:7-8
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
The key here is to be aware of everything that you are putting into your body. You don’t want to introduce any leaven – symbolic of sin – during this time of growth.
This is a feast of holiness so that is where you should put your mind. Seek to be holy as He is holy.
Request our free Tips for Keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Why We Believe it is Essential to Keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread
Although many have chosen to treat the feast of unleavened bread as irrelevant and void of meaning in this present generation. I would strongly disagree. The discipline and self-denial it teaches are absolutely the opposite of the attitude of our nation and our people.
Faith that comes without difficulties, self-denial, and suffering will be the undoing of multiplied millions of supposed believers.
It may be that it serves chiefly as an object lesson. If this is so, then it is an object lesson commanded by the Creator. I would consider very carefully before dismissing anything the scriptures have not dismissed.
Let me give you an example,
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Genesis 17:10-11
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Romans 2:28-29
Clearly, we have a commandment to circumcise all male children in the Old Testament. We also see in the New Testament that the ordnance is fulfilled in Yeshua.
In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Colossians 2:11-12
So, we see that the physical ordinance is fulfilled in baptism which is a spiritual operation.
There is no such equivalency for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Nowhere are we given justification for keeping Passover without the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
We live in a very urban environment. We do not raise sheep. We can not guarantee that the lamb we eat at Passover meets all the requirements proscribed by Moses. However, we do not use this as an excuse to alter what we are able to do.
I do not mean to seem unkind toward anyone with an alternative perspective, but we take these things very seriously. I would rather be mistaken while being too conservative than to be mistaken while being too liberal in these matters.
For many the Feast of Unleavened Bread is just an odd addition to the Passover week.
I assure you my friend it is not a useless appendage. Yehovah never created or mandated anything useless.
Subscribe to the Torah Observant Apostolic Newsletter! It’s free!
Torah Observant Apostolics 
One thought on “What is the Feast of Unleavened Bread?”