Command 27 : Beware of Leaven | Day 183

Know the Nature of Leaven!

When God puts a "beware sign" on something, we should take the time to find out why. We need to identify precisely what He is talking about and how it relates to our lives. This is especially true of the following command of Christ:

Command Twenty-Seven: "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6).

Leaven is an agent, such as yeast, that produces fermentation and entirely changes the composition of whatever it is in. The Greek word for leaven is zume, which means "ferment." Fermentation is a chemical reaction that causes a substance to be agitated. In the case of yeast, a proper environment is necessary for this agitation to be accelerated and for swelling to occur.

Leaven can also refer to a lump of fermented dough that is added to new bread dough, causing it to rise. A piece of this combined dough can then be kept as the "starter" for the next round of bread baking. In this way, leaven can be used indefinitely.

The symbolism of leaven has significant spiritual implications. In Luke 12:1, Jesus explains what the leaven in this command represents: "… Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Scripture strongly warns against the pernicious influences of mental and spiritual hypocrisy, because "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9). Even a small amount of hypocrisy is able to powerfully saturate our hearts and minds.

Sin can start small, but it multiplies little by little until it affects all those around it.

The permeating action of leaven provides a sobering analogy to the rapid and thorough influence that a little hypocrisy can have in a group of Christians. One of the main excuses that unbelievers give for rejecting Christ's gift of salvation is the fact that there are so many hypocrites in the church. When Christians speak against sin in church but are actively involved in sin outside of church, their double standard is evidence that the leaven of the Pharisees has affected them.

The fermentation process of leaven will be arrested if the leaven is put into a cold environment, and it will be stopped entirely if it is put into a hot enough environment. This gives new significance to Revelation 3:15-16: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

If we were to measure our spiritual "temperature," would we be hot, cold, or something in between? If we are living by a double standard, we can be certain that the leaven of hypocrisy is at work in our hearts and that our lukewarmness is nauseating not only to God but also to those who are looking to us as an example of genuine Christianity.