So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
Beginning the year with spring, when the earth renews itself, was a fitting shadow of Christ's coming. Yet here is the deeper lesson: when our heads swim with care and our hands are full of urgent business, we must not let religion slip away or excuse ourselves from devotion. The sacred rite binds us to God even in our haste.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 12:1-20
The feast of unleavened bread is distinct from the passover itself, though unleavened bread was eaten at it; the passover lasted one night, but this feast seven days and must be kept in all ages. By their armies God means the tribes of Israel, not chiefly for military strength, which they did not yet have, but for their vast numbers and the order and fearlessness in which they departed Egypt. Ye shall observe this day by an ordinance forever, with the same exactness and constancy as the passover itself.
AI summary
Seven days of unleavened bread commemorates Israel's hurried departure, when they had no time to leaven their dough. The Jews searched every corner with a candle to remove leaven from their houses. One who eats leaven during those days is cut off from the community and its privileges.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 12:15-51