We are warned concerning “leaven” among us!
Jesus spoke concerning His Body in Luke chapter 22:
19 And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
His Body was sinless and was it not puffed up as leavened bread is.
Moses recorded by THE SPIRIT in Exodus chapter 12:
39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
Leaven causes dough to rise, but the process takes time. The Israelites, when God freed them from captivity in Egypt, had no time to spare, so, in their haste, they baked and ate flat (unleavened) bread for their journey,
And in Exodus 12:
15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
And in Exodus 13:
6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.
7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory.
To commemorate of His deliverance from Egypt, God instructed the Israelites to celebrate a week of feasting following the Passover Day (the 14th day of the 1st month on the Jewish calendar). This was called the “Feast of Unleavened Bread.” During that time the Israelites were commanded to remove all leaven from their houses and eat no bread that contained leaven.
Leaven represents sin or corruption.
Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 16:
5 When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?
9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?
10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? 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 teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus compared the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians to leaven. The Pharisees had come to Jesus to test Him, but Jesus perceived their true intent and the state of their hearts.
A small portion of the “leaven” of falsehood can permeate a person’s heart and mind.
Jesus spoke in Luke chapter 12:
1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, He began to say to His disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
The word hypocrisy means: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.
Having a show of piety, without true Holiness, is like leaven in that it gradually increases and spreads corruption, puffing up a person with vanity. Lies and hypocrisy can poison one’s whole character.
Paul warned us by The Holy Spirit in 1st Corinthians chapter 5:
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife.
2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.
4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 you are to deliver this man to satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and Truth.
Sin and corruption must be removed from the True church. Those who practice sin and lawlessness are unacceptable in the Presence of The Holy Spirit. The true church will not condone unrighteous lifestyles and immorality. Repentance is an absolute necessity to remove the leaven from the midst of the congregation. Unchecked leaven will gradually spread among the congregation.
We must guard ourselves against those who would try to convince us that FATHER overlooks their sin and corruption under the guise of grace and mercy. We must not forget HIS justice and judgment!