Get the Leaven Out

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. (Exodus 12:14-15)

Today, we began preparations to have leavening out by Passover.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, I don’t spend a lot of time cleaning. I like to plan in advance so we don’t have a lot of waste when it comes time to remove the leaven. I start by going through all of our cupboards and pulling out any items that have leavening in them.  I set them on the counter in a crate so everyone can be reminded that they need to be eaten by Passover.  This is the crate I set out today. We have a particularly large amount of goodies because we just went camping last weekend, so we have lots of leftovers.

Then, I go through the refrigerators and freezers. I make a list of leavened items that are in there. When preparing food, I refer to the list to get rid of these items by Passover.  This year, I happen to have a whole, unopened bag of yeast from Costco. Hmmm. Poor planning there. Oh well.

In the meantime, I minimize the leavened products that I buy. We can go through 2 loaves of bread in a couple of days, so I will buy bread up until a few days before. But, I won’t buy bread crumbs (or yeast) or anything that would take weeks or months to use.

Right before our Passover celebration, we throw out anything left in the crate and anything left on the list. I don’t store my leavening at someone else’s home or hang it on the other side of my fence and take it back after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I throw it away. I get rid of it. I remove it from my life. And, I try to plan it so that I’m not being wasteful. Financially, we have lived in plenty and we have lived in want. But, we have never had difficulty replacing the leavening that we need after the Feast of Unleavened Bread is over. 

Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:6-8)

A question I always have to ask is, “what is leaven”?  The answer is not so clear cut in today’s world. In Bible times, they made a sourdough type bread. They would save a bit of their leavened dough to use as leavening for the next batch they made.  They didn’t have instant yeast (So, they wouldn’t have to throw away a whole Costco sized bag.) or baking powder. 

So, what do I actually need to get rid of? I don’t get rid of flour or grain. I have no problem keeping rice or pasta. They don’t puff up. They swell up with the water they are cooked in. I had actually never even heard of getting rid of that for Unleavened Bread until the last several years. I used to get rid of cream of tartar (church rules), but since that does not leaven on it’s own, I don’t get rid of it anymore. I will make and eat angel food cake. That is just air whipped into eggs. If you leave it on the counter unbaked for long enough, the air bubbles will deflate. True leaven will puff up when left alone on the counter. So, I have wondered for years if I should get rid of baking soda and baking powder. I’m not sure that is a true leavening. If I make a cake batter and let it sit on the counter, the “leavening” action will dissipate. So, again, this is not a true leaven. For now, I still get rid of baking soda and powder and foods made with it. So far, I have erred on the side of caution for this one.

So, I get rid of leavening agents – yeast, baking powder, baking soda – and any products made with those leavening agents. That’s pretty simple. Whatever you decide to get rid of, read the labels of the foods you have in your home. You would be surprised how many products contain leavening. Stuffed pasta usually contains bread crumbs. Grape Nuts, though hard as a rock, contain yeast. (At least they did 20 something years ago when we sat down to eat it for breakfast during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.) Don’t forget any candy you have with cookies in it, like Twix, Kit Kat or Ferrer Rocher. (When you buy a big box of this as Passover treat, you will need to eat it beforehand when your kids read the ingredients. Ask me how I know.)

Removing leaven is an object lesson, and a great one, at that. Leaven pictures sin. We want to get it out of our life – completely. We don’t want to tuck it away just to bring it back in later. We don’t want to hold onto it because it might cause financial hardship. It’s everywhere. Sometimes it’s obvious. Sometimes it’s well hidden.

We have found that when I stay home, I find it easy to avoid leaven. (Although, no matter how hard I try, I always find some leavened product or child's leftovers that I didn't get rid of.) We don’t have it in our house, so, I would have to make an effort to eat it. As my husband goes out in the world to earn a living, he has a much harder time remembering. It’s everywhere, and the world doesn’t think twice about partaking. When he goes to his supplier to get materials for a job, there are donuts sitting out. When I didn’t send breakfast and lunch with him, it was way too easy to stop and get a bagel or a sandwich without even thinking about it. Just a reminder that when we surround ourselves with righteousness it is easy to live in obedience, but, when we are in the world, we have to be on guard because it is always a battle.

So, when God asks us to remove the leavening from our home, it’s not a hardship. It’s a lesson. It is many lessons. Every year there is something new to be learned. And, we have the added bonus of having a clean pantry.

No Spring Cleaning

It’s Passover season! I mean, seriously Passover season. Not Passover is in 3 months season. But, Passover is really close season. HalleluYah! The new moon has come and we have less than 2 weeks. Passover has been on our mind for a couple of months. But, now we’re in the serious preparation phase. 

Since I’ve been blessed to celebrate Yah’s appointed times all my life, this will be my 49^th Passover. We have been rehearsing this for a long time now.  And, over the years, we have done many different things. There were many years where we spent hours and days cleaning our house - Spring cleaning to remove the leaven.  It was a tradition of the church we grew up in. People even cleaned their windows and such preparing for Passover. Other than the natural yeast that is in the air, I’m not sure how much leaven I will find on the windows. I've even cleaned out my linen closets in preparation, but I’m pretty sure no one eats in the linen closet. At least I've never found any leaven in there.

So, we searched the scriptures for instruction on Passover preparation. There isn't a lot of instruction on preparing. Exodus 12:15 says: “Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses.” It doesn't say “you shall begin cleaning your house for weeks in advance to make sure every last crumb of leaven has been removed.” It doesn't say, “Clean all your walls and windows so the naturally occurring yeast from the air is disposed of.” Especially since it will come right back.

I've learned a couple of things about preparing for Passover. One is that, no matter how much I clean, I always forget something. It might be that rogue chunk of someone’s leftover toast that was hidden behind the school room organizer. Or it might be that box of leavened something or other that I somehow overlooked and it is right in front of my face. It might be that thing that you never would have guessed in a million years was leavened. I mean, Grape Nuts are way too rock hard to be leavened, right? Wrong. Or, it might be that we forgot to empty the vacuum cleaner bag. Or, maybe the bag of yeast in the freezer.

So, we use a different technique now. A couple of weeks before Passover, I go through our food and set aside leavened foods. I make a list of leavened foods that are in the refrigerator and freezer so we can make sure to use them, or throw them away when the time comes. Then, that’s it, until a day or two before Passover. At that point, we make sure every room has been swept. We don’t really eat much food upstairs, so this can be done a couple of days ahead of time. Then, the day of Passover, we make sure the downstairs floors, especially the kitchen/dining area are swept well. And, just before Passover, we throw away our leavened food. That’s it. Passover cleaning in a nutshell. That means the weeks before Passover I can focus on spiritual things instead of being distracted by physical things. 

God’s Appointed Times

Sometimes I just can’t get over the incredible blessings of meeting God when He says to meet Him. In Leviticus 23, he tells us the dates on the calendar that He has set aside to meet with us.  How cool is that?!  The Creator of the universe has set aside specific dates to meet with us and focus on His plan for our lives!

The appointments for the year begin this week.  We have been counting down for months – anticipating and preparing for Passover.  This is a great opportunity to share the plan of salvation with our children.  After all, this is the holy day when God specifically talks about teaching your children why you do what you do. (Exodus 13:8, 14-15)  The children are a central part of the Passover celebration.  In order for them to ask questions, as God expects, they have to be involved in it and taught what God has done for His people.

During our service, we sacrifice a stuffed lamb (which we chose on the 10^th day as they did in Exodus 12:3).  Then we brush the (strawberry) blood on the doorpost. We discuss who in the room is a firstborn and how they would have been protected from the death angel because of the blood of the lamb.

We review the Passover in Exodus and how it foreshadows what Yeshua (Jesus), our Passover lamb did for us - a reminder that we are all saved by the blood of the Lamb. We also take the bread (Mark 14:22), representing Yeshua’s body, and wine (Matt 26:27-28), representing His blood. We follow his example of washing one another’s feet. (John 13:1-7)  After we have reviewed the more somber remembrance of his crucifixion, we celebrate with dancing and singing in thanks the sacrifice he has made for us. And, to top it all off, we finish up with physical food – a Feast!

As if that isn’t blessing enough, the next day is a commanded assembly.  So, we have the honor of meeting with family and friends for fellowship, and, of course more worship and dance. After Bible study, we stuff ourselves physically and spiritually. We share in a potluck meal and, once again, study God’s word together, late into the night.  And, this particular year, the first holy day led right into the weekly Sabbath.  So, we had a double Sabbath! We got to enjoy one more round of worship, Bible study and fellowship.  Our cup runneth over.  HalleluYah!

As instructed in Leviticus 23:15, on the day after the Sabbath, we offer the wave sheaf offering.  This pictures Yeshua’s resurrection and His ascension up to our Father in Heaven.  This day isn’t a Sabbath or a holy day, but the wave sheaf is a commanded offering.  The Bible doesn’t give us much detail on what to do, so we do our best with the information we have.    

What an awesome week we have had!  For a couple of days we are back to normal life.  Well, normal other than constantly baking unleavened almond bread to keep up with the demand. J Lev 23:6 commands us to eat unleavened bread.  We remove the leavening, which pictures sin, and fill ourselves with unleavened bread, picturing our sinless savior.  When the prescribed 7 days are finished, we get to enjoy the last Day of Unleavened Bread with friends and family, spending time in dancing, worship and study of His Word, once again.  With so much meaning built into the days that God set aside to meet with us, we have no desire to worship Him with manmade celebrations.  They just don’t measure up to the celebrations that He created just for us.

A Busy, Blessed Week

Whew!  What an awesome week we have had.  Preparing for Passover and then the day finally arrived.  Such an awesome time to share God’s truth with our children.  After all, this is the only appointed time where God specifically talks about teaching your children. (Exodus 13) So, not only do they help with the physical preparations, resulting in a table like this,

They are a central part of our Passover celebration.

Part of our service is sacrificing the lamb (which we chose on the 10^th day) as they did in Exodus.  Then we brush the (strawberry) blood on the doorpost.

We discuss the Passover in Exodus and Yeshua’s fulfillment of it.  We also take the bread (Mark 14:22) and wine (Matt 26:27-28)  as He instructed us. And we follow his example of washing one another’s feet. (John 13:1-7)

And, don’t forget celebration and dancing in thanks for what He has done for us.

And, we finish up this evening with physical food.

As if that isn’t enough, the next day is a commanded assembly.  So, we have the honor of meeting with family and friends.  We have time of fellowship.

And, of course, worship and dance.

And, once again, studying God’s  word together, late into the night.  And, this particular year, the first holy day led right into the weekly Sabbath.  So, we had a double Sabbath.  By that time, our cup was definitely overflowing.  HalleluYah!

As instructed in Leviticus 23, we took the time on the day after the Sabbath for the wave sheaf offering.  This year, we grew our own wheat. Actually, the chickens planted it and my daughter harvested and prepared it.  We used part of it for our wave sheaf and the rest was baked into our Passover bread. 

And, for a couple of days we are back to normal life.  Well, normal other than constantly baking almond bread to keep up with the demand.  And, before the week is up, we get one more appointed time with our Creator to celebrate the last Day of Unleavened Bread.

Passover Preparations Begin

Today, I finally got around to removing all the leavened products from the pantry.  I put them in a crate so we see them and make sure to eat them before Passover.  Of course, the crate is pathetically sparse this year.

The last couple years, due to budget cuts and wanting to improve our health, we have bought very little prepared food.  So, all we have is some crackers (which can easily be eaten in no time in this house), some baking soda/powder and three candy bars from Daddy’s candy stash.  The candy bars were consumed by the kids before I even sat down to write this blog post J

I also have a list of foods that are in the refrigerator and freezer.  That way I don’t forget about it and we can make sure to eat that food, too.  If we don’t get around to using it, I can remember to throw it away and not find it in the back of the freezer halfway through the Days of Unleavened Bread. But, even that list only has about 5 things on it. 

Tonight is new moon.  So, only 2 more weeks until Passover!! So, it’s also time to start thinking about the 10 plague adventure J

Passover is Coming!

I came to the realization this week that we have less than 2 months until Passover.  What an exciting thought!  When Sukkot was over, the 6 months before Passover seemed like it would take forever. But, we’re already down to 2 months and I know we have lots of preparations for our appointed time with the Creator of the Universe. How awesome is it that He wants to meet with us?! I wouldn't think of missing an appointment He has marked on his calendar to spend time with me. (Lev 23:4-5)  So, the preparations begin. 

Spiritually – I have so much to think about.  It has been a difficult year spiritually and emotionally.  I have spent many hours wondering if I am living out what God has given me in a way that glorifies Him.  The end of our family letter from 2011 says it well:

“I pray that God gives us the strength to endure the trials ahead, the wisdom to guide the children he has blessed us with, the peace to know that He is in control and the comfort we need when we feel like we’re out of control. And, most of all, I pray that He is glorified by the life we live as we follow Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength.”

But, that hasn’t been an easy thing this year.  Sometimes, it’s very clear how we should live to glorify Him.  And sometimes it takes much prayer and listening to God.  There were weeks on end when the only way I could stay sane was to spend hours in the Bible each day.  And, when I see how much I have had to lean on Him, I see why trials strengthen us.  I only pray that I am glorifying Him through it all and I will glorify Him in the future.

Physically – Time to clean up the house. Just like we clean up our spiritual house, we need to clean our physical house.  I no longer spend hours on end scrubbing and cleaning, because I don’t like the physical cleaning to overshadow the spiritual cleaning. But, I do prepare in advance to start running out of leavening and leavened items.  As I start to think about that, I don’t want to buy cases of anything leavened that we don’t use often.  

Two weeks or so before Passover I pull our leavened products out of the pantry and put them in a crate so we can make sure to eat them. And, I make note of the leavened items in the refrigerator and freezer so we can remember to eat them, and also if they haven’t been eaten, we don't forget to throw them away when the busy-ness of the day arrives. A couple of days before Passover, we will start sweeping the house thoroughly.  The day of Passover, we will get rid of any leavening/leavened products that we still have.

I need to start thinking about when we will start the 10 Plague Adventure (Click on the label “Passover” on the list on the right, if you’re interested in that.) because that is actually next month. Fun, fun!  And, of course, we need to think about our Passover service and the delicious meal to follow! Can’t wait!

Passover

Finally!  The day we have been looking forward to. It's Passover!  (Well, it was on Thursday, anyway.) We prepared all morning - cleaning and cooking.  We didn't get pictures of most of the preparations because we were all too busy.  Jessikah made the bread that we use for the Passover service.  We make bread without the yeast instead of using store bought matzah.  She made a challah recipe without yeast.  She even braided some of the little loaves.  They were so cute.

Arianah had a new dress on, so we had to take a picture of her.

This is the table set up for the service.  We usally have the menorah and shofars on that table.  We added the bread (under the blue cover), wine and the lamb ready to be sacrificed.

Jim is telling the story of how they chose the lamb and prepared it for the Passover sacrifice.  The kids ar every interested, as usual.

Jim has some incredible special effects as he sacrifices the lamb.  

Arianah is ready to have her feet washed during the footwashing portion of the service.

The problem is, after she had her feet washed, she wanted to put her feet in everyone else's footwashing bin.  But, we managed, nonetheless.

Lucas and Elijah are very proud that their water is actually dirty after they washed each other's feet.

Then we start the dancing and rejoicing.  Thankful to Yeshua for His sacrifice for us.

The little guys set their own dinner table.

And the big kids set the big people's table with our most special dishes and flatware.  Special dishes for a special occasion.

After the food came out the pictures stopped.  We were all busy enjoying food and fellowship.

Plague 9 - Darkness

Darkness is a fun plague.  We used to just turn off the lights and sit around in the dark for a while, but that's actually kind of boring.  So, now we blindfold the kids and have them do something; for instance, go take a hat and put it away in the closet and bring back a pair of Dad's socks from the bin.  The little guys could go on all night, but since we got a late start, we only did one turn per kid.

Lucas getting a pen, pencil and pair of scissors off the school table to bring back to Daddy.

Plague 8 - Locusts

Have you ever tried looking for plastic locusts?  I'll even settle for just grasshoppers.  I can find some big, ugly plastic grasshoppers.  Only problem is, I can only find them one or two at a time.  If I'm going to make a plague of locusts, there has to be lots of them.  

I have tried several things to represent this plague over the years.  I have tried cutting out brown construction paper ovals to represent locusts.  I have used plastic cockroaches (yes, I actually found those in large batches.  Yuck!).  Last year I used some plastic buggy creatures that looked nothing like locusts.  Of course, they looked nothing like any other bug, either, so they were an alright stand in.  

This year I found some plastic buggy creatures that look a little more like locusts.  Of course, the other half of the bag looked like brightly colored cockroaches, but I used them all nonetheless.  I have spread them all over the great room.  Maybe I'll go put out a couple of lettuce leaves just for the effect of eating the greenery :)  Than again, maybe I won't.  I must be getting tired because I didn't even put them in the drawers or the food.  I just threw them all over the floors and the table.  That's 8 plagues down and two more to go.

And tonight I threw away all the leavening I didn't figure we would eat before Thursday.  The trash truck comes tomorrow so I figure I might as well get rid of it now if we're not going to eat it.  We're down to 1 1/2 loaves of bread (easily disposed of in grilled cheese sandwiches tomorrow night) and various cookies.  Yes, Passover is quickly approaching.  HalleluYah!

Plague 7 - Hail

We used to do the plague of hail with ice.  I would just have a bunch of ice on the back patio when the kids woke up in the morning.  But that wasn't very interesting or exciting.  So, we changed tactics.  Last year I had a bunch of bouncy balls and I bounced them outside and told the kids to try to avoid them ... but that was too easy.  So, this year, we stayed inside and I took a bowl full of balls (the white plastic ones that are full of holes) and threw the balls against the ceiling over the kids' heads.  Then they were all trying to get hit.  As you can see by the pictures, they had lots of fun with this technique.

I misjudged on this one and ended up getting myself with the hail.

Another action shot.

This one is right before the hail hits them.

And having fun after.

We still haven't figured out how to add in the fire with the hail (Exodus 9:13-35).  Maybe next year :)

Plague 6 - Boils

The plague of boils affected all of Egypt as the handfuls of ashes that Moses scattered in Pharaoh's sight became fine dust and caused boils on man and beast.  (Exodus 9:8-12) In our house, the boils, otherwise known as brightly colored happy face stickers, only affect those that are sleeping. 

In the little kids' room, it also affects those that are wearing summer pajamas more severely than ...

those that are wearing warm footy pajamas.

And in the girls' room it affects preteens ...

and kids just about the same.

Plague 5 - Dead Livestock

The next plague is dead livestock (Ex 9:1-7).  So, we just take all the stuffed animals and lay them around the house, so they pretend they are the dead livestock.  OK, so I know that Lightning McQueen and Sully don't count as livestock, and I didn't even show a picture of Larry the Cucumber.  But Eeyore is a donkey, so he counts.  And there is a sheep and a cow in the other hallway.  We just make do with what we have :)