The children of Israel in the Old Testament typify us, who are saved by grace. Their keeping of the Feast of the Passover typifies our being saved by grace. They were saved by killing a lamb and putting the blood on the lintel and the doorposts. Today when we receive the Lord and “put His blood on us,” the judgment of God and the wrath of God pass over us, and we are saved. Immediately following the Feast of the Passover, the children of Israel kept another feast, which is called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. There was no gap in time between these two feasts. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was right after the Feast of the Passover. The children of Israel kept the Feast of the Passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the first month of the year. On this night they started to keep the Feast of the Passover, and on the very next night they immediately began to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The beginning of the Feast of the Passover could also be said to be the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Hence, once we are saved and we keep the Feast of the Passover, we also should keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread immediately. First Corinthians 5 says, “Purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened” (v. 7a). This means that once we are saved, we should purge out the old leaven. What is it to purge out the leaven? In the Bible leaven refers to corruption. The reason meal rises is because of the leaven within it. There is an element of corruption in leaven which enables it to leaven the whole meal in several hours. So the leaven in the meal refers to corruption.
All fallen human beings live a corrupted life. Some people may ask, What do you mean by a corrupted life? What is the leaven in our living? We may use a young person as an illustration. We all know the situation of the young people. A teenager’s mind may be very clean and pure, but once he goes to high school, he may begin to read romance novels. Then these romance novels begin to enter into him as leaven, until one day this leaven in him becomes sour and smelly, causing this person, who was originally so pure, to be gradually corrupted within.
Some people say that movies are good and that they can be very helpful if they are used for educational purposes. It is true that in some aspects movies may be quite useful, but unfortunately, in these days people misuse movies. All parents know that today the market is filled with movies that do not enlighten the minds of the young people; rather, they stimulate the evil in them. Many times although the movie itself is good, due to the improper environment in which it is viewed, many problems arise. We have to know that theaters are dirtier than pigsties. Some young people have asked me indignantly, “Is it also wrong to watch films about science or history?” There is nothing wrong with watching films about science or history if they are shown at school, but we should not go to theaters, because that kind of place is too dirty.
We may also illustrate this point using a calendar. A calendar is something good and indispensable, but some people like to print improper pictures on calendars. What is this? This is leaven, which is subtly imparted into man, and which causes many young people to turn sour and smelly. Doctors and biologists both tell us that the whole world is full of germs, that is, full of leaven. This is a world of corruption. The thoughts and deeds of so many people have a corrupting influence. Just by existing in this corrupted world, regardless of whether we are conscious of it or not, we are continually being contaminated by defiling things and germs. When we were saved, the wrath of God passed over us. Nevertheless, we are still full of germs and corruption. How can the Lord work in people like us? He cannot. If we want the Lord to work in us, first we must allow the Lord to cleanse us.
After the children of Israel kept the Feast of the Passover, they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread right away. Today many Christians keep the Feast of the Passover, but there are very few who also keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. One time I was invited to a love feast. As I entered into the house, I saw something there which made me very uncomfortable. If you always live in an environment of fresh air, once you enter into a house which has a scarcity of fresh air, you will immediately feel very uncomfortable. Your feeling will be very sensitive. However, for those who are used to living in that kind of environment, not only will they be unaware of the lack of fresh air, but they will even say that you are strange. I was a guest that day, so I did not feel that it was appropriate to say anything. We all sat there singing and praising God, but there was a calendar with an improper picture on it hanging on the wall. This was like eating a great meal beside a dunghill; the taste was disgusting.
Today many people are truly saved, but they have not purged out the leaven within them. If a small and lowly slave of God like me felt uncomfortable when I entered into that house, how could God Himself be comfortable there? A number of other Christians were also there, yet none of them had any feeling. While the people in this house read the Bible, there was something unclean hanging on their wall. This shows that this family has never purged out the leaven or seriously walked the Lord’s way. God has no way to do a deeper work in this kind of people.