The Bread of Exodus ~ Part 1

In the category, “What was the translator thinking?” The first time the word lechem, bread, is used in Exodus in the NAS Bible, it is translated “something.” Reuel (another name for Jethro or perhaps the tribal patriarch) inquires about Moses, “Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.” This passage reminded me of two things. First, the Bible is written to a people that had a culture and is best understood through the lens of that culture. Second, bread seemed to be a main food in the people’s diet. When the Old Testament is speaking of that which was a common meal, the word used is consistently lechem. Lechem is what kept the ancients alive physically: It was the physical food that was needed to sustain life or that thing without which man could not live. My study of bread went slowly through Exodus because, unlike the something of Exodus 2:20, this chapter included rich studies into Passover, manna and, finally, the Bread of God that was placed on the Table of Showbread in the Tabernacle.

The first major bread category in Exodus is Passover, matstsah. This bread is different from the more common bread, lechem. In Genesis, the word matstsah, sweet or unleavened bread, was only used to describe the bread Lot fed to the angels. In the book of Exodus, matstsah is used to describe the unleavened bread the Jews were commanded to eat with their Passover meal. I was surprised to learn that the actual Hebrew word means sweet bread. I wouldn’t normally think of the flattened crackers that we call matzo as sweet bread.

Last year Marissa and I cultured wild yeast, created our own sour dough starter and made a loaf of bread without the help of a package of store bought yeast. The yeast, a single cell fungus, breaks down the complex carbohydrate in the flour to a simple sugar and alcohol. Carbon dioxide, a by-product of this reaction, is the gas that causes our bread rise. Anyway, I must have done something wrong. I love sour dough bread at restaurants, but mine was really, really sour. In the Bible yeast always paints the picture of sin. It is a good analogy. Make your own sour dough starter. The flour and water become discolored, putrid and looks really gross.

Egypt is also a spiritual picture. Egypt, the land that had enslaved God’s people, pictures sin. We are told in Romans that before becoming Christians, we were slaves to sin. God commanded that the bread at the Passover meal was unleavened because it was to picture Jesus’ perfection. Jesus died on Passover, our perfect Paschal Lamb. The bread on the first seven days after leaving Egypt was unleavened because the Israelites were supposed to leave the leaven of Egypt in Egypt.

What is the application of this portion of scripture? As I read the rest of the story, I was struck by the fact that the Israelites didn’t leave the leaven of Egypt behind! Oh, they didn’t take any literal leaven, but they did take some of Egypt’s sin. We don’t even get out of Exodus before we read that the Israelites have worshiped the bull-god Apis, an Egyptian god, and made sacrifices to it. The Israelites look back at the time they were slaves in Egypt and long for the “good old days.” I do this too. I remember the times I was slave to sin and think about the good times. I am tempted by some pet sins and I wonder if I just indulge a little bit will it really be that bad? I rarely remember the consequences, the sadness, the lonliness and despair. Those memories require mental work. I have trouble remembering that I have a new master; I am now a slave to righteousness. I have been set free to serve my Creator.

The beginning of my bread fettish: Lost In Translation