“1 And YHWH spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
2 'Let the children of Israel perform the Passak in its appointed season.
3 In the fourteenth day of this month, at dusk, ye shall perform it in its appointed season; according to all the statutes of it, and according to all the ordinances thereof, shall ye perform it.'
4 And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, that they should perform the Passak.
5 And they performed the Pessak in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at dusk, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that YHWH commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.
23 At the commandment of YHWH they encamped, and at the commandment of YHWH they journeyed; they kept the charge of YHWH, at the commandment of YHWH by the hand of Moses.”
Numbers 9
A year after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, the children of Israel are instructed to perform the Passak/Pessak in its appointed season; the two different pronunciations reflect the two different actions that took place; YHWH Passak/skipped over the houses of the Israelites that evening, because they performed the sacrifice of the Pessak, which was the cause of the skipping over. The Israelites were shown grace because of their obedience to the instructions given by YHWH to Moses, as they continued doing throughout the chapter.
But, by the 11th chapters things had changed:
“1 And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of YHWH; and when YHWH heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of YHWH burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.”
Numbers 11
What had happened? Looking back at the 9th chapter we see that there is no mention of the unleavened bread, and I feel that this is significant when we understand why not eating leavened bread was important enough to warrant 7 days of non-consumption.
Leaven – noun
1. a substance, typically yeast, that is used in dough to make it rise.
2. a pervasive influence that modifies something or transforms it for the better.
Since dough with leaven typically only had to sit overnight, there was plenty of time for the Israelites to prepare bread for possibly traveling. They weren’t informed of what to do for the upcoming events at the last minute obviously, as they had to choose a lamb by the tenth of the month in order for it to be ready for sacrificing the 14th day. They were instructed to prepare unleavened bread because of leaven’s spiritual implications; the leaven of Egypt would cause the people to perceive their lives as better there than they would be elsewhere! In spite of all they had endured in Egypt, they would not want to leave their good life there for an uncertain future!
We can verify this by looking at their complaints:
“4 And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part and said: 'Would that we were given flesh to eat!
5 We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;”
Numbers 11
“1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them: 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would we had died in this wilderness!
3 And wherefore doth YHWH bring us unto this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey; were it not better for us to return into Egypt?'
4 And they said one to another: 'Let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt.'”
Numbers 14
They remembered only the good of Egypt and had no vision of the future they had been given an opportunity to fashion for themselves as their own nation. This is the leaven they were supposed to remove from their hearts, not from their homes, because wherever the heart is, there is home. Leaven is not a bad thing in and of itself; a loaf of bread made from 1 kilo of flour may look like it weighs two kilos, but when you actually weigh it you find it doesn’t! This implies not to make assumptions based solely on appearance!
Furthermore, when we look at Leviticus 23, we find this:
“15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete,
16 even unto the morrow after the seventh week shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall present a new meal-offering unto YHWH.
17 Ye shall bring out of your dwellings two wave-loaves of two tenth parts of an ephah; they shall be of fine flour, they shall be baked with leaven, for first-fruits unto YHWH.”
The first-fruits to YHWH offering after the Israelites were in the land promised by Him was two wave-loaves baked with leaven! Because now we are to embellish all of the good that Yah Yahwah has done for us in returning us to our land, language and culture, and we should feel as light as air because we are filled with the blessings He has given us! Have we had trials? Most certainly! Have we known pain? Without a doubt, sometimes even death. So why shouldn’t we feel like our fathers, and lust for the “good life” we left?
Because we see the vision of what can be, and we accept the challenge that the opportunity offers! No, it doesn’t come easy, but it is more than worth it because we understand the value of the chance we have been given! We removed the leaven of America from our hearts and replaced it with that of Yah Yahwah’s vision for us and declare proudly,
BLESSED BE THE NAME YAHWAH FOREVER AND EVEN FOREVER!
WE WILL PRAISE YAH, HALLELUYAH!
A HAPPY HOLY DAY AND SEASONS OF JOY TO EVERYONE!
ברוך שם יהוה מעולם ועד עולם!
נהלל יה, הללויה!
חג שמח ומועדים לשמחה לכולם!
ענוויאל בן אפרים – 26.03.2021