Leaven, Mythical or Factual?
With the exception of one time, I have found the usage of this word, leaven, to be a negative thing in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus uses the word in a negative fashion and hopefully we can discover some gold nuggets that we may not have seen before about leaven and perhaps a few other things. Jesus at the end of Matthew 15 has fed 4000+ people. As was the custom of the Lord, He always taught His disciples and He did so daily using daily events and circumstances applying correctly what the Word had to say. Jesus took what happens daily and correctly applied the Word to it as our example of living Christianity in a practical way.
Let's look at what happens that causes the teaching of the Lord to come forth as it does. The circumstances give Jesus opportunity to teach what I consider profound as He uses the word, leaven. Matthew 16:1-4 ¶ The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed. Now this event is recorded in another gospel. Mark 8:11-12 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign? verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians are three groups of people, stereotypes of people with general characteristics and thus were in their own individual sects. Each group believes a variety of things common individually, yet very different from each other. What they ALL have in common is their dislike for their little kingdoms to be rocked because Jesus walks among Israel's towns teaching the correctly applied Word of God. They all challenge Jesus, and they all test Jesus, and they all tempt Jesus to accuse Him and rid Him from their own little world. Here we see each group coming and seeking a sign of heaven that proves Jesus to be what the people are beginning to believe Him to be, Messiah. Let's look at each of these groups and what they believed.
Pharisees
From Easton's Dictionary
Separatists (Heb. persahin, from parash, "to separate"). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the "pious"), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt against his heathenizing policy. The first mention of them is in a description by Josephus of the three sects or schools into which the Jews were divided (B.C. 145). The other two sects were the Essenes and the Sadducees. In the time of our Lord they were the popular party (#Joh 7:48). They were extremely accurate and minute in all matters appertaining to the law of Moses (#Mt 9:14 23:15 Lu 11:39 #Lu 18:12). Paul, when brought before the council of Jerusalem, professed himself a Pharisee (#Ac 23:6-8 26:4,5). There was much that was sound in their creed, yet their system of religion was a form and nothing more. Theirs was a very lax morality (#Mt 5:20 15:4,8 #Mt 23:3,14,23,25 Joh 8:7). On the first notice of them in the New Testament (#Mt 3:7), they are ranked by our Lord with the Sadducees as a "generation of vipers." They were noted for their self-righteousness and their pride (#Mt 9:11 Lu 7:39 18:11,12). They were frequently rebuked by our Lord (#Mt 12:39 16:1-4). From the very beginning of his ministry the Pharisees showed themselves bitter and persistent enemies of our Lord. They could not bear his doctrines, and they sought by every means to destroy his influence among the people.
They taught a mixture or compromise of and truth. Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. NKJV They taught the Messiah would come and immediately set up His kingdom, that Messiah would remove Roman rule in a mighty conquest, and they taught that Israel would be ordained as an eternal nation. They also lived a life style that showed they loved money more than anything else. Now these were some of their doctrines that they added to the truth of the Word forming their belief system. Clearly Pharisees must be called heretics as they combine what they want together to form their belief system filled with man made doctrines and God's Word.
Sadducees
From Easton's Dictionary
The origin of this Jewish sect cannot definitely be traced. It was probably the outcome of the influence of Grecian customs and philosophy during the period of Greek domination. The first time they are met with is in connection with John the Baptist's ministry. They came out to him when on the banks of the Jordan, and he said to them, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (#Mt 3:7). The next time they are spoken of they are represented as coming to our Lord tempting him. He calls them "hypocrites" and "a wicked and adulterous generation" (#Mt 16:1-4 #Mt 22:23). The only reference to them in the Gospels of Mark (#Mr 12:18-27 and Luke #Lu 20:27-38) is their attempting to ridicule the doctrine of the resurrection, which they denied, as they also denied the existence of angels. They are never mentioned in John's Gospel. There were many Sadducees among the "elders" of the Sanhedrin. They seem, indeed, to have been as numerous as the Pharisees (#Ac 23:6). They showed their hatred of Jesus in taking part in his condemnation (#Mt 16:21 26:1-3,59 Mr 8:31 15:1 #Lu 9:22 22:66). They endeavored to prohibit the apostles from preaching the resurrection of Christ (#Ac 2:24,31,32 4:1,2 5:17,24-28). They were the deists or skeptics of that age. They do not appear as a separate sect after the destruction of Jerusalem.
The Sadducees only accepted the Pentateuch or Book of Moses as authoritative rejecting everything else. They also taught against angels and the spirit realm and any resurrection. They had such visible populace that much of the Sanhedrin had them sitting in judgment over Israel. When they weren't attacking Jesus and His disciples, they attacked the Pharisees. Assuredly the label of heretic would and must be given to them because of their man made doctrines despite the intertwined truth of God's Word on occasion.
Herod Agrippa I
From Easton's Dictionary
Son of Aristobulus and Bernice, and grandson of Herod the Great. He was made tetrarch of the provinces formerly held by Lysanias II., and ultimately possessed the entire kingdom of his grandfather, Herod the Great, with the title of king. He put the apostle James the elder to death, and cast Peter into prison (#Lu 3:1 Ac 12:1-19). On the second day of a festival held in honor of the emperor Claudius, he appeared in the great theatre of Caesarea. "The king came in clothed in magnificent robes, of which silver was the costly brilliant material. It was early in the day, and the sun's rays fell on the king, so that the eyes of the beholders were dazzled with the brightness which surrounded him. Voices here and there from the crowd exclaimed that it was the apparition of something divine. And when he spoke and made an oration to them, they gave a shout, saying, 'It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.' But in the midst of this idolatrous ostentation an angel of God suddenly smote him. He was carried out of the theatre a dying man." He died (A.D. 44) of the same loathsome malady which slew his grandfather (#Ac 12:21-23) in the fifty-fourth year of his age, having reigned four years as tetrarch and three as king over the whole of Palestine. After his death his kingdom came under the control of the prefect of Syria, and Palestine was now fully incorporated with the empire.
It is relatively simple to see what Herod believed, power, lying, compromise to get what he wants, build your kingdom, all his followers were politicians playing the game being honest when convenient and dishonest when needed. Heretic doesn't apply for the Herodians because heretic implies there is a semblance of truth from which there is a twisting of it, the Herodians were just plain ungodly people who had in common with the Pharisees and the Sadducees one thing, the desire to maintain their kingdoms at all costs and they would pull any nasty trick they knew to accomplish their wills.
After leaving the testing by these groups, Jesus seized the opportunity to reveal the devastation that can be caused by adding to one's belief system something that is wrong or compromising the Word of God with wrong beliefs and not being concerned about them especially for those in leadership who would have the responsibility to direct the church into the next level of maturity. Jesus teaches something very profound, yet far too many in the church even care much less have any concern as they go about their lives with a belief system headed for destruction. Mark 8:13-15 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.
And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. Jesus uses the word, leaven, to teach about what can happen to disciples and believers. To not acknowledge this vital truth is to neglect Jesus and call Him a liar, otherwise who cares what people believe, and we know that Jesus does care, and what we believe is important, and we will see to what extent!
Leaven
From Easton's Dictionary
1.) Heb. seor #Ex 12:15,19 13:7 Le 2:11 the remnant of dough from the preceding baking which had fermented and become acid.
2.) Heb. hamets, properly "ferment." In #Nu 6:3 "vinegar of wine" is more correctly "fermented wine." In #Ex 13:7 the proper rendering would be, "Unfermented things [Heb. matstsoth] shall be consumed during the seven days; and there shall not be seen with thee fermented things [hamets], and there shall not be seen with thee leavened mass [seor] in all thy borders." The chemical definition of ferment or yeast is "a substance in a state of putrefaction, the atoms of which are in a continual motion." The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire (#Le 2:11 7:12 8:2 Nu 6:15). Its secretly penetrating and diffusive power is referred to in (#1Co 5:6). In this respect it is used to illustrate the growth of the kingdom of heaven both in the individual heart and in the world (#Mt 13:33). It is a figure also of corruptness and of perverseness of heart and life (#Mt 16:6,11 Mr 8:15 1Co 5:7,8).
Leaven when given time in dough will permeate the dough and gradually expand until it has permeated it thoroughly and completely. Leaven is bacteria that reproduces and grows gradually until completely leavened. Jesus says, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. in Mark 8:15, and in Matthew 16:6, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Notice that He says, Take heed and beware of the leaven adding to the strength of His concern for His disciples and for believers everywhere about their soul. Jesus loves enough to teach the truth. This message doesn't play nicey nice to those who are saying, "You're okay, Jesus loves you!" Jesus expresses a clear concern by saying Take heed and beware !! Jesus is not using leaven as a good thing like He did when He taught a parable about the kingdom of heaven!
2219 zumh zume dzoo'-may
probably from 2204; TDNT-2:902,302; n f
AV-leaven 13; 13
1) leaven
2) metaph. of inveterate mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect others
Leaven is applied to that which, though small in quantity, yet by its influence thoroughly pervades a thing; either in a good sense as in the parable #Mt 13:33; or in a bad sense, of a pernicious influence, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump"
Now Jesus doesn't call these groups bread, and the disciples are not thinking in the Spirit because they have a very unique reaction to this teaching much like far too many today. Matthew 16:7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. (Mr 8:16) The disciples are thinking literal and since Jesus had just given thanks breaking bread for 4000+ people, the disciples are flesh conscious. The teaching goes over their heads as it still does today to so many that it is almost laughable how some still say they believe the Word of God and do so much damage to it in their next breath. Matthew 16:8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? However, Mark records Jesus being a lot stronger in His words! Mark 8:17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? Matthew 16:9-11 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 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 8:18-21 Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
Clearly Jesus is telling them to wake up and see the reality of life, not from their fleshly perspective and man made doctrines, but to see it from the truth of Scripture! Rightly dividing the Word is becoming more rare today than ever before because we are in the last of the last days, the Parousia, His Coming is about to happen. Jesus is teaching the disciples! And it is a need to be taken as a clear warning today to beware of leaven from several groups in the church and outside the church. After being hard on His disciples, His disciples respond. Matthew 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. The light went on and they realize this hard teaching was directed to them and their belief system! Jesus warns them clearly using the word, leaven because of its literal meaning and applies those characteristics to teach how devastation and destruction can come from allowing bad doctrine by groups like the Pharisees into their belief system. These disciples and particularly Peter would soon be tested! This is not one of those nicey nice messages of those today who look at someone and declare them eternally secure and now "resting" in the works of the cross, and although it sounds so spiritual it is man made doctrine. Jesus is concerned about bad doctrine, heresy, false teaching to infiltrate and permeate our belief system until we no longer have a relationship with Him which we soon see.
Their boat lands on the other side. Jesus now uses the events to further His teaching and make a reality for His disciples that they have never had to this point. Matthew 16:13-20 ¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. (Mark 8:27-30) Notice that Jesus asks them who do people say He is and after they think and respond what people say, then He asks them what they think personally, and Peter gives his oft quoted answer. These are disciples and as believers they must know in whom they believe. If Jesus is a good man, than that's all they could get when they died in their sins, a good man's blood for them. If Jesus was a prophet then that too would be all His blood would be worth. However, His blood as God blood can cleanse and has the power to do that for each and every person who appropriates it for their sins. Understanding and knowing Jesus is Messiah is the crux of Christianity and the salvation that so many say they want and so many say they have.
Peter is now going to respond to the very first test and he will fail it. Please keep in mind that Jesus is about to reveal a truth that we must see and perceive in these Scriptures, otherwise we will be like a man on the sea in doubt tossed around on the waves! Jesus is going to correct one of those man made doctrines of the Pharisees, a heretical doctrine that will cause Peter to do something very stupid, but Jesus is aware of it and will use Peter to correct the rest of the disciples as well. Matthew 16:21 ¶ From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Mark 8:31) Remember that we already said one of the false teachings was the Messiah to overthrow Rome's government and establish Israel, well here Jesus refutes this with the truth of Isaiah 53, that He would be a suffering Messiah who would die as Caiaphas had prophesied. Jesus is to die because His blood would then be able to be saved in the heavenly basin beside the heavenly altar and when a man repents, then the blood's power could wash away sin. Jesus is the Lamb who is to be sacrificed once for all, but Peter is so sure that what he believes is correct that he does something stupid.
IMHO I believe that Peter gets a bum rap because any of the other disciples would have done the same thing, but Peter beat them too it. Matthew 16:22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
(Mark 8:32) Peter looks at the Messiah, he has just stated He is Messiah, the Lord tells him the Father has revealed this, and Peters is telling God that He doesn't know what He is talking about, Messiah doesn't die! Jesus knew that the Pharisaic heresy was in the disciples belief system and it needed to be removed so they could grow rather than totally give up when He died on Calvary! Jesus will leave the truth in the hands of 120 people who on the Day of Pentecost will carry on the teachings He gave as a part of the commission, but he wants them to make it past His death on calvary, a stumbling block for those who believe the Messiah will deliver Israel from Roman rule, establish them, and set up His kingdom forever. As a side note, we see Judas Iscariot believing the lie of the devil that the Pharisees taught, that he could betray Jesus and force His kingdom into existence, but when Jesus stayed on Calvary's tree he went and committed suicide calling Jesus a mere innocent Man! False doctrine destroyed Judas Iscariot and Jesus doesn't want heresy to destroy the rest of His disciples!
How do we know that Jesus is furthering His teaching of false doctrine? As we pay attention to the context Jesus will now rebuke Peter's inistence on keeping his silly false doctrine. More than likely, Peter has no real clue that he has wrong beliefs in his belief system just as all of us have wrong beliefs, but when the Scriptures and correct teaching reveal those wrong beliefs, I wonder how many of us act like Peter and grab ahold in the strength of our pride refusing to change. How many churches would toss the teaching of Jesus out because His message wasn't the nicey nice message that so many desire to hear?? Mark 8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. (Matthew 16:23) Peter is called satan, and rebuked for not allowing the truth to correct him! That is NOT the nicey nice message of today! I am ashamed at how many say one thing about the Word and turn around and do the opposite when they are corrected. Few people desire the truth which is also a sign of these end time days we live in. But Jesus doesn't stop the context and flow of teaching about false doctrine, heresy, leaven that will destroy us! He goes the next step and relates it in a big way to all believers!
Notice what Jesus does now! He calls His disciples and all the people that are following Him! Mark8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24) Now the Greek is quite convincing concerning the relationship of heresy and what we believe and how salvation is connected. Let's look at the Greek. ostiV qelei(1) opisw mou elqein(2) aparnhsasyw(3) eauton kai aratw(4) ton stauron autou kai akolouqeitw(5) moi
1) qelei - Present Active Indicative
2) elqein - Aorist Active Infinitive
3) aparnhsaaqw - Aorist Middle Imperative
4) aratw - Aorist Active Imperative
5) akouleqeitw - Present Active Imperative
Young's Literal Matthew 16:24 ¶ Then said Jesus to his disciples, `If any one doth will to come after me, let him disown himself, and take up his cross, and follow me, NKJV Mark 8:34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Young's Literal Mark 8:34 And having called near the multitude, with his disciples, he said to them, `Whoever doth will to come after me--let him disown himself, and take up his cross, and follow me; My Literal Mark 8:34 And having called near the multitude, with His disciples, He said to them, "Whoever desires and keeps on desiring to come now after Me, let him deny now himself, let him bear now his stake, and let him follow and keep following Me." Jesus now teaches those who specifically want to be with Him in eternity, those who say they are "saved", those who claim to have eternal life, that they must have a present tense attitude and keep desiring and keep following.
Jesus maintains the integrity of His doctrine and relates the truth of heresy, the leaven that is able to destroy a person's soul pinpointing exactly what the problems are when false teaching is left in a believer's heart! This too, is not a nicey nice message!! Mark 8:35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. This is exactly what the Lord teaches in the parable of the sower as we see the first person who receives the Word doesn't get understanding and the devil steals the seed, the second doesn't allow the seed to grow deeply rooted and persecution destroys the seed, and the seed that springs up among the thorns of bad doctrines is destroyed as those heresies permeate and infiltrate until the world's cares become their salvation.
The Greek speaks clearly to what happens when seducing spirits are behind these heresies. Behind every idol and behind every heresy or false teaching are demonic spirits, many like the lying spirit who was able to do the Lord's will during the reign of Jehoshaphat who married Ahab's daughter to make a league with him (2Chr 18). 35 ov gar an qelh thn yuchn autou swsai apolesei authn ov d an apolesh thn yuchn autou eneken emou kai tou euaggeliou outoV swsei authn The Greek translated life is the word for soul,yuch where we get psychology from, the seat or center of our emotions and will and mind, not our physical life nor the spirit that the Lord breathed into us at birth. False doctrine affects our feelings, our emotions, the seductive ploys of the devil and his demonic horde haven't change since Eden! False doctrines wrap their little tentacles around the feelings and squeeze them until we protect them above the truth. Heresies make the heart feel better. This was what the Lord was saying through Ezekiel and the article called, Two Cries from Two Voices. Those false prophets who preached the nicey nice message of "Peace, peace" did make the hearts of the people feel better in the short run, but since that nicey nice message wasn't from the Lord it could only make the heart feel better just as the heresies of today do the same. Habakkuk tells us and is quoted more times than any other passage, "The just shall live by faith." (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). We can see that when we walk by feelings, we are walking into the heresies that will strangle us and the very life we may have in Christ.
Jesus makes the conclusion rather simple! Mark 8:36-38 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Matthew 16:26-27) So you may like a false teaching that you are convinced is correct, it makes your heart feel good, beware because if the heart feels good, it is probably heresy and setting you up for the fall! And so you twist a Scripture here and there, and you are convinced that you are okay and everyone else is wrong, well guess what, you're probably deceived! So when the Lord returns for His bride combining the dead with the living who are committed and faith walking people, the leaven may have destroyed more than your reward, it may have destroyed your relationship with Him all because of some pride. Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. The Lord fulfills this prophesy in the next Chapter as Peter, James, and John see Him transfigured! Why can't we read what the Word says in context? Our lives would be so much simpler if we could accept what is written, and practice His Word taking the bewares and the cautions very seriously!