INSIGHT

On Religion, History & Society

Bible Studies / Outlines

1. What is leaven?
   • Today, we use yeast, soda, or baking powder as "leavening" to fluff up baked goods such as bread and cake. It creates air bubbles in the dough or batter before or during baking.

   • The staple food of the ancient Hebrews was a flat bread or cake, usually of wheat, which was baked directly on coals (1 Kings 19:6, Isaiah 44:19, John 21:9), on a hot rock, in an oven (Leviticus 26:26, Hosea 7:4), or perhaps on a metal pan, much as the Bedouin nomads do today. It was baked on one side and then turned over like a pancake (Hosea 7:8, "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned"). The Hebrews used leaven to make the bread lighter.

   • Ancient Hebrew leaven is believed to have been made by fermenting the meal (flour) of various grains, including bran, must, fitch, vetch, and barley. The use of yeast is doubtful. The leaven might have been "cultured" (like sourdough), so that a small amount could be "hidden" in a lump of dough and leaven the whole lump (Matthew 13:33, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened").

2. Why do Jews eat unleavened bread at Passover?
   • On the eve of their exodus from the bondage of Egypt (the first Passover), the Jews were told to eat unleaved bread to signify that their departure was near -- they did not have time to wait for the bread to rise.

     Exodus 12:11-13:3

   • The Jews were commanded to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days every year during Passover, to commemorate the event (Exodus 12:19).

   • At the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Jews were to search their houses thoroughly, to purge them completely of any leaven (Exodus 13:7). Thus leaven became a symbol or metaphor of sin, which is often hidden away in secret in the human heart, but which must be sought out and disposed of in order to please God.

     I Corinthians 5:6-8-- "Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth."

3. Why was leaven forbidden from many sacrifices?
   • Leaven was not considered evil or wrong in daily life, and was allowed to be added to sacrifices which were to be eaten (some sacrifices were for the priests and sometimes the giver, see Leviticus 6:26, 7:15). However, leaven was forbidden to be used in sacrifices which were to be completely burned on God's altar, and were thus for God alone. Presumably, this was because of the "corrupt" nature of the leaven: its fermentation suggested the putrifaction of death. Dead things were considered defiled and defiling.

   • This insight should suggest to us that while many things in our lives are not sin in themselves, they are not a fit sacrifice to offer before God.

     Romans 12:1-- "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service."

     I Corinthians 6:12-- "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any," see also 10:23.

4. What is the Leaven Principle?

   "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Corinthians 5:6, Galatians 5:9).

   • The Leaven Principle speaks of the fact that a little bit of one thing, though mixed with a much larger amount of something else, changes the nature of the whole. A little bit of bad mixed with a lot of good tends to make the whole thing bad.

   • Examples:  a little bit of sin allowed to exist in the church makes the whole church unholy before God; a little bit of heresy mixed in with true doctrine makes one a false teacher.

5. Types of Leaven in the Church
   • Sin

     Solomon-- though warned against it, took in wives from the pagan nations, which turned him and his nation away from God, (1 Kings 11:1-11).

     Ananias and Sapphira-- brought sin into the church (Acts 5:3-5).

     Fornication in the Church-- "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump . . . ." (1 Corinthians 5:1-7.

   • Doubt

     "O ye of little faith" (Matthew 6:30, 8:26, 14:31, 16:8; Luke 12:28; see also Mark 9:18).

     Matthew 13:54-58

   • Hypocrisy/False Teaching

     Matthew 16:6-- "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."

     Matthew 16:11-- "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake [it] not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

     Mark 8:15-- "And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and [of] the leaven of Herod."

     Luke 12:1-- "In the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples, first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

     Luke 16:14

     II Peter 2:1

     I Timothy 4:1

   • Scorn / Scoffing / Taking the Things of God Lightly

     Mark 5:35-

     Matthew 7:6-- "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

     Matthew 12:31-- "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men."

6. Does leaven exist in the church today? Yes!
   • Those who have no real concern for the things of God.

   • Those who have their minds on earthly things.

   • Those who are covetous (worship God for what they hope to get out of it) (example:  the gospel health and wealth).

   • Those who follow after excitement and pleasant-sounding messages ("itching ears", 2 Timothy 4:3).

   • Those who do not practice love (1 Corinthians 13; John 13:35; Romans 13:8; Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11, 23).