What is the significance of unleavened bread?

Answer

The Bible teaches us that the Israelites were instructed to consume only unleavened bread annually during Passover to remember the Exodus from Egyptian slavery. Due to their sudden departure from Egypt, the Israelites had no time for the bread to ferment, so it was prepared without leaven, also known as yeast, during that initial Passover. Describing this bread and its significance, the Bible tells us: “Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste—so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt” «Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. », (Deuteronomy 16:3). Additional instructions regarding the consumption of unleavened bread can be found in Exodus 12:8; 29:2; and Numbers 9:11. Even today, Jewish households include unleavened bread in their Passover observance.

According to the Hebrew lexicon, the term unleavened bread originates from the word matzoh, which means “bread or cake without leaven.” The lexicon also indicates that matzoh is derived from a word meaning “to drain out or suck.” Referring to this second Hebrew word, the lexicon explains, “In the sense of greedily devouring for sweetness.” Therefore, it is plausible that unleavened bread, although dense and flat, could have had a sweet taste.

In the Bible, leaven is often symbolic of sin. Just as leaven spreads throughout the entire lump of dough, sin can infiltrate a person, a church, or a nation, eventually overwhelming and leading to its downfall.Participants fall into its bondage and eventually to death «A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. », (Galatians 5:9). Romans 6:23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death,” which is God’s judgment for sin. This is the reason that Christ died—to provide a way out of this judgment for sin if man will repent of his sins, accept Christ as his Passover sacrifice, and have his heart changed so that he can conform his life to what God commands.