The Parable Of The
Leaven
Matthew 13:33
Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is
like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal
till it was all leavened.”
Like the Parable of the
Mustard Seed, the Parable of the Leaven is one of the shortest
parables of Jesus. It has only one verse.
As this parable is not standing alone, it has to be explained as how
Jesus had shared in Matthew 13.
- The Parable Of The Sower (Matthew 13:1-9)
- The Purpose Of Parables (Matthew 13:10-17)
- The Parable Of The Sower Explained (Matthew 13:18-23)
- The Parable Of The Wheat And The Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)
- The Parable Of The Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-32)
- The Parable Of The Leaven (Matthew 13:33)
- Prophecy And The Parables (Matthew 13:34-35)
- The Parable Of The Tares Explained (Matthew 13:36-43)
In these parables, there are seven common basic factors:
- The kingdom of heaven
- A man representing Christ
- A field representing the world
- A seed representing the Word of God
- The ability to live and grow representing life and growth
- The presence of evil symbolized by weeds, birds of the air,
and leaven.
- The harvest representing the end of the age.
As this Parable of the Leaven is so short having only one verse,
people tend to take it out of context and misinterpret it without
taking account every word written therein.
Many pastors and teachers without any understanding of the Hebraic
terms in this verse will grossly distort this parable to mean
something entirely different from what our Lord actually meant.
With their own wishful thinking, understanding and wisdom, they
interpret that the leaven is the gospel, and the woman is the
Church. The Church will take the gospel, and place it in the world
represented by the three measures of meal. Surely and secretly, the
gospel like leaven will work like yeast in bread. The gospel of
Christ will then reach all humanity, and change the whole world.
This is the most popular interpretation of this parable. But it is
absolutely not Biblically correct!
However, they do have one thing correct. The woman is the Church,
the Bride of Christ!
Jesus was sharing something very common in a Hebrew household. When
He shared this parable, the people who were present there knew that this woman did an
evil and sneaky thing by hiding leaven in three measures of meal
until all was leavened!
What is the meaning of "three measures of meal"?
The Jews knew and understood exactly what Jesus was referring to.
This is about the grain offering. It consists of three measures of
meal which are unleavened - without any yeast at all.
Leviticus 2:1-6
1 ‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering
shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put
frankincense on it.
2 He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall
take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the
frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the
altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.
3 The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
It
is most holy of the offerings to the LORD made by fire.
4 ‘And if you bring as an offering a grain offering baked in the
oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or
unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
5 But if your offering is a grain offering baked in a pan, it shall
be of fine flour, unleavened, mixed with oil.
6 You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain
offering.
Leviticus 6:14-18
14 ‘This is the law of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall
offer it on the altar before the LORD.
15 He shall take from it his handful of the fine flour of the grain
offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the
grain offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet aroma, as
a memorial to the LORD.
16 And the remainder of it Aaron and his sons shall eat; with
unleavened bread it shall be eaten in a holy place; in the court of
the tabernacle of meeting they shall eat it.
17 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their
portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin
offering and the trespass offering.
18 All the males among the children of Aaron may eat it. It shall be
a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings made
by fire to the LORD. Everyone who touches them must be holy.’ ”
What is the significance of the three measures of meal? For this, we
must go to the place where it is first and originally mentioned in
the Bible.
Genesis 18:1-8
1 Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as
he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were
standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to
meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do
not pass on by Your servant.
4 Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest
yourselves under the tree.
5 And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your
hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to
your servant.”
They said, “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make
ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.”
7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it
to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and
set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
Three men visited Abraham in his tent by the terebinth trees of
Mamre. Abraham welcomed them and offered them a meal. Three measures
of meal were baked into bread by Sarah. The three men were the LORD
Himself, and two angels who accompanied Him.
What does this phrase "three measures of meal" represent? It is the
fellowship of God with His people, and their fellowship with one
another.
A meal is common and essential in life. In the Bible, this phrase "three
measures of meal" is a picture of the people of God sharing
fellowship and sweet communion with God.
In the Book of Judges, the Angel of the LORD visited Gideon. Gideon
prepared him a meal with meat and unleavened bread.
Judges 6:19-21
19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread
from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the
broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth
tree and presented them.
20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened
bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did
so.
21 Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was
in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire
rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread.
And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
Throughout the Bible, leaven is never used as a symbol of anything
good. It is often associated with sins.
And
Jesus warned us about the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and
Herod.
Matthew 16:11-12
11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you
concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.”
12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the
leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Mark 8:15
Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
What is the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod?
The Leaven Of The Pharisees
Luke 12:1-3
Beware of Hypocrisy
1 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had
gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to
say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the
Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden
that will not be known.
3 Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in
the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will
be proclaimed on the housetops.
The leaven of the Pharisees is hypocrisy. Basically, it is
pretending to be someone or something we are not. Having a form of
godliness but not truly godly! Pretending to be holy but not!
Loving to play church, and participate in all the programs and
activities but not loving God and others. Lovers of themselves, and
lovers of money.
2 Timothy 3:1-7
Perilous Times and Perilous Men
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but
denying its power. And from such people turn away!
6 For of this
sort are those who creep into households and make captives of
gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7
always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the
truth.
The Leaven Of The Sadducees
Matthew 16:1-6
The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign
1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that
He would show them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It
will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;
3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is
red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face
of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign
shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He
left them and departed.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had
forgotten to take bread.
6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of
the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
One of the doctrines of the Sadducees is rationalism, basing every opinion
and action on reason and knowledge rather than on faith or belief
in God. They believe in only what they can see, hear, touch, feel,
taste, smell and reason with their minds. They believe in no
supernatural activities of God, no resurrection, no angels, and no
life after death.
Some Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus wanting to
trap Him. They asked Him to perform a miracle for them to see so as
to prove that God approved of Him. Unless they saw with their own
eyes, they would not believe!
But Jesus answered, “When the sun is setting, you say, ‘We are going
to have fine weather, because the sky is red.’ And early in the
morning you say, ‘It is going to rain, because the sky is red and
dark.’ You can predict the weather by looking at the sky, but you
cannot interpret the signs concerning these times! How evil and
godless are the people of this day! You ask Me for a miracle? No!
The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of Jonah.”
We are now living in a wicked and adulterous generation who are
actively and continuously seeking
after miracles, signs and wonders. Unless we see, we will not believe! Many
are living not by faith but by sight!
The Leaven Of Herod
The leaven of Herod is materialism. They believe that the purpose of
life is to be powerful and wealthy. They consider material
possessions and physical satisfactions to be more important than spiritual
virtues and values. They measure and rank people by their wealth and
power. They boast about their material goods and possessions! Today,
they
will boast about their church buildings, audio, video and multimedia
systems and setups, their financial and wealth status, luxury cars,
houses and properties. The Herodians will promote and propagate the
prosperity gospel.
But their boasting is not good. Their leaven has fermented and risen
the whole lump of dough. With yeast in the dough, tiny air bubbles
will mix with carbon dioxide to rise and make the leavened
bread. Their hearts are puffed up with pride and arrogance!
1 Corinthians 5:6-8
6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven
leavens the whole lump?
7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump,
since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was
sacrificed for us.
8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the
leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of
sincerity and truth.
God is seeking for true worshipers who will worship the Father in
spirit and truth. Without any leaven of malice and wickedness, God
desires to fellowship with us over a meal of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Nothing that is
distorted or puffed up!
John 4:23-24
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking
such to worship Him.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth.”
In 2 Chronicles 29-30, there was so much leaven in the house of
the LORD that the priests took 16 days to cleanse it, and to bring
out all the debris found in the temple of the LORD. And they had to
postpone their Passover to the second month that year because the
priests had not consecrated themselves!
2 Chronicles 29:15-19
15 And they gathered their brethren, sanctified themselves, and went
according to the commandment of the king, at the words of the LORD, to
cleanse the house of the LORD.
16 Then the priests went into the inner part of the house of
the LORD to cleanse it, and brought out all the debris that they
found in the temple of the LORD to the court of the house of
the LORD. And the Levites took it out and carried it to the
Brook Kidron.
17 Now they began to sanctify on the first day of the first
month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the vestibule
of the LORD. So they sanctified the house of the LORD in eight days,
and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have
cleansed all the house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offerings
with all its articles, and the table of the showbread with all its
articles.
19 Moreover all the articles which King Ahaz in his reign had cast
aside in his transgression we have prepared and sanctified; and
there they are, before the altar of the LORD.”
2 Chronicles 30:1-3
1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and also wrote letters
to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of
the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the Passover to the LORD God of
Israel.
2 For the king and his leaders and all the assembly in
Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month.
3 For they could not keep it at the regular time, because a
sufficient number of priests had not consecrated themselves,
nor had the people gathered together at Jerusalem.
In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, there are both wheat and
weeds in the kingdom of God. Are we wheat or are we weeds?
In the Parable of the Leaven, are we leavened or are we unleavened?
Just as the leaven is hidden by the woman, there are hidden sins in
our life that must be dealt with.
Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.
For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden
that will not be known.
If interested, please read:
The Parable Of The Mustard Seed and
The
Parable Of The Wheat And The Tares.
Written on: 25 August 2018