Messiah in Chag HaMatzot Chapter 2
- Deliverance from sin
- Intermediate days
Deliverance from sin:
In Exodus 12:15-20 Adonai instructed the Yehudim (Jews) to eat unleavened bread for seven days, beginning the day day following the Passover sacrifice (Nisan 14, Leviticus 23:5). Therefore for seven days we eat unleavened bread from Nisan 15 (Leviticus 23:6) through Nisan 22. Therefore, following the sacrifice of Pesach (Nisan 14, Korban Pesach) Chag HaMatzot (Nisan 15-22) represents a holy week spent without leaven in our lives. This is a picture of deliverance from the corrupting influences of the world brought about by a right response to the redemption of the Holy One; that is a right response (Nisan 15-22) to the sacrifice of the Seh Ha-Elohim who was sacrificed (on our behalf) on Nisan 14.
Intermediate days:
In modern Judaism Pesach and Chag HaMatzot are collectively considered as a single holiday, usually referred together as “the Passover.” On the day following the Pesach Seder (i.e., the first day of Chag HaMatzot), services are held at the synagogue. The (five) days 2-6 are known as Chol HaMo’ed (חול המועד). These are intermediate days during the festival when work is again permitted but the holiday attitude remains sustained. On the last (and seventh) day services are again held at the synagogue, but normal work is not allowed since it is a Yom Tov (holiday).