What is Leaven?
A. All Leaven
Put Away- Ex 12:15, 19, 20
Every
house must put away all leaven. It was a time of great cleansing and of
separation. In the Old Testament the custom in Jewish homes was the “father” or the “head” of the house would
tell his children they were to
remove all the leaven in the house.
There would be a search done with candles
and if any leaven was discovered it was placed
upon a wooden spoon and thrown into the fire.
The picture is
easily discerned, one prophet describes this event “And it shall come to pass
at that time, that I will search
Jerusalem (the church of God) with candles, and punish the men that are
settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good,
neither will he do evil. God reveals how he is going to perfect and cleanse his
house (the church), by candles. The bible declares “The spirit of man is the candle
of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly (soul) (Proverbs 20:27). So we see that man’s spirit is the
candle which has been lit or illuminated by the Holy Ghost. John said it this
way “That he was the true Light (Jesus Christ), which lighteth (illuminates through divine
revelation) every man (when he is saved or born again) that
cometh into the world” (John 1:9). God has chosen “candles” or “men” who have
been given divine understanding to preach the word of God to the house of God
to cleanse all leaven (sin) from their dwellings. Paul said “And he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; [12] For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Moreover if any leaven is discovered it is to be placed
upon the wooden spoon (the cross of
Jesus) and burned up in God’s holiness (Heb 12:29).
Now
we will delve into the symbol of leaven in its natural and spiritual significance.
Read Ex 23:18; 34:25; Lev 2:11; 6:17; 10:12.
1. Leaven Naturally-
Leaven (or
yeast) is a little bit of sour dough, and when placed in a batch of dough has
the action of fermentation. Leaven puffs up. It works silently, secretly and
gradually, until the whole is leavened. All the dough is affected by its
mysterious operation and fermentation. It causes the dough to rise. Its
influence permeates the whole until all is leavened, until all becomes like
itself.
So we see “a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump”. “The
principle of leaven” is used politically and religiously in various forms of
propaganda in all nations, permeating and influencing societies, cultures and
concepts for either “good” or “evil”.
2. Leaven
Spiritually-
Almost always leaven
represents evil in the scriptures, either in doctrine or practice. There are
several references to leaven in the New Testament we will now consider these of
which we are to put away from us as evil. Leaven is symbolic of sin, human weakness, infirmities, and false or corrupt doctrines.
a) The Leaven
of Herod- Mk 8:15; 6:14-28
Studies
of the references to Herod show that he was a very sinful and worldly man. He
feared the Word’s of God from John the Baptist’s mouth but was not prepared to
repent. He was a sly old fox, sensual, proud and he was a murderer. He was
controlled by the spirit of this world. Jesus warned the disciples to beware of
the leaven of Herod which is the spirit
of worldliness. The fox in scripture separates the fruit from the vine (Son 2:15) Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Here we see worldliness and earthly relationships can and will (James 4:4) separate us from Christ and true joy (Jn15:1).
b) The Leaven
of the Sadducees- Matt 16:6-12
Jesus
also warned the disciples to beware of the leaven of the Sadducees. They were
the ruling party in Jerusalem. There is no mistake what the leaven of the
Sadducees was. It was their doctrine. The Sadducees did not believe in the
supernatural, in the spirit, in angels, or in the bodily resurrection (Matt 3:7; Mk 12:18-27; Acts 5:17; Act 23:6-8).
This
doctrine of the Sadducees works like leaven, corrupting and influencing all
those who receive it. Modernism is
the counterpart of the leaven of the
Sadducees today. Paul said it this way to Timothy "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Tim 3:5). These people use religion for position, popularity, status, but do not believe that the supernatural is real. Consider when Caiaphas commanded Jesus to tell him if he was the Son of God, which by the law required Jesus to tell him, Jesus told him "I AM" and you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of God and coming in the clouds of heaven, this reveals that Jesus was attacking his doctrine (the Sadducees did not believe in life after death or the resurrection).
This
doctrine slipped into the church of Corinth. Paul Addresses this in 1 Cor 15:1-34, obviously some
Sadducees joined “the church of God,” but brought their leaven with them. Paul stated, If Christ be not risen from the dead, then what we believe is vain and “Evil communications corrupt good
manners” speaking of the leavening aspect of the Sadducees doctrine. The
beasts that he referred to that he fought with at Ephesus were the Sadducees.
The Sadducees' pride (the beasts in 1Corinthians 15) blinded them from the truth of the gospel (Please Read Dan 4, Jer 12:9). Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves ( Jude 8-10).
c) The Leaven of the Pharisees – Matt 16:6-12; Luke 12:1
c) The Leaven of the Pharisees – Matt 16:6-12; Luke 12:1
Jesus
also warned the church to beware of this leaven. No mistake could be made here
because Jesus interprets this symbol as hypocrisy
(LK 11:37-44; Matt 23:3). The Pharisees
“say and do not.” They do not practice what they preach. Although the Pharisees
were religious, fasted, tithed, believed in the supernatural, in the sacred
scriptures, they were whited sepulchers. Externally clean but inwardly they
were full of sin. Moreover they were caught up with the letter of the law and
not the Spirit behind it. They were caught up in legalism, they observed the Sabbath, but killed the Lord of the
Sabbath.
Paul
addressed this type of leaven to the church at Galatia. In Galatians 5:9 Paul
said “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” It would do the reader well to read the
entire epistle to the Galatians, yet some how the “leaven of the Pharisees” had entered this church, they where having
problems with Judaizers teaching circumcision, Sabbath keeping, feast
observances, etc, as necessary for salvation, yet it is faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ through “his blood” that we find
completion and perfect salvation. This leaven was not limited to the regions of
Galatia only; Paul addressed the
Colossians about very similar issues as well as the church in Rome. The leaven of the Pharisees which was affecting the churches was a mixture of law and grace as means for
their salvation.
d) The Leaven
of Malice and Wickedness- 1Cor 5:1-13
In
this chapter the leaven is sensuality.
Fornication to be exact, Paul told them that they were “puffed up” as a result of that leaven (1Cor 4:18-19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4). To be “puffed up” is also symbolic of pride and inflation.
A
study of this Epistle shows the sin of fornication, along with other sins, had
not been dealt with in Corinth. It worked like leaven affecting the membership
(2 Cor 12:20-21). Paul exhorted the church to “put away” that wicked person who
was the leavening influence in the church. He told them to purge out the “Old
Leaven,” reminding them that a little leavens the whole lump.
This
purging out of the leaven as seen here is the proper exercise of church
discipline. Paul spoke of the “leaven of
malice and wickedness,” which is the “old
leaven” and needed purging out. If people are not willing to repent if they
sin, they must be worked with and then removed from the membership role, this
is not optional, but required for the church of God to be in right standing
with God.
If you have never accepted Jesus Christ here are three steps you need to take to be saved:
You must admit you are a sinner, confess your sin to Jesus, repent (turn from all you know is wrong), ask Jesus to come in your heart, and begin to follow Jesus by reading and obeying his word and go to a bible believing church that teaches his word. May God through Christ bless you!
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