Thursday night in our study of John's Gospel, we continued to look at the first of Israel's annual feasts, and specifically the role of leaven in them. Leaven is often automatically equated with sin. Leaven = Sin/s. But we saw things are not really that simple. When God commanded Israel to remove all leaven from their households, it wasn't so much that He wanted to remove all sin/s from their household (although that is certainly true as well!!) but that He wanted them to remove all reliance on anything associated with Egypt and her gods and idolatries (which, of course, is a form of sin). Where we just go to the symptoms—SIN/S—God, however, goes down to the underlying disease—RELYING AND TRUSTING IN SOMETHING OTHER THAN GOD. God wanted them to leave Egypt as unleavened dough (NOT bread) so that He could knead His Own things into them during the trip from Goshen in Egypt to Sinai, teaching them along the way that if they were going to be the great nation he created them to be, they must rely solely on Him and the Grace resident in His Jehovah Name. Removal of leaven had more to do with sanctification/separation than redemption/forgiveness. While Israel's national forgiveness of sins was provided for at the death of Jesus Christ (Passover) it will not be dispensed until the Fall Feasts (Atonement) in fulfillment of the New Covenant at His 2nd Coming with Israel's national forgiveness of sins. In this light, Israel's Spring Festivals progress something like this: The LORD redeemed Israel out of Egypt (Passover through blood and power), which the Israelites were to participate in by sweeping away all reliance upon Egypt, her gods and her idolatries so that they could learn to rely solely on the one true God of Israel (Unleavened Bread) (Ex. 12-13), whereby God would permeate, inflate and raise them up during their trip through the wilderness (bear them along--Ex. 19:4), kneading His Own things into them through testing and trials (Ex. 14-17), so that once they got to Sinai, the nation that started out as the deflated slaves of Egypt would be raised up as God's great nation, who were already beginning to fulfill His purpose by proclaiming His Name to the Gentiles (Firstfruits and Pentecost) (Ex. 18).
The Leaven Principle
Leaven is one of those words that ignites an automatic knee-jerk reaction with many Bible commentators: Leaven = Sin. Period. End of story. It's an established fact of the universe. We know it. Absolutely, 100%! Next topic. But a professor in college once told me that when something becomes so certain that it is beyond discussion, that's probably a good time to re-evaluate everything you think you know about it.
So, let's do just that and see if it increases our understanding and enjoyment of the Bible. Let's run a little thought experiment with regard to the word “leaven,” starting with its literal meaning and common use. According to the Oxford, Merriam-Webster and Collins dictionaries, leaven is defined as a substance that is used in dough to make it rise; then, a pervasive influence that modifies something or transforms it for the better. We use leaven everyday to raise dough to make bread, for instance. We use the leaven of humor to lighten a boring speech. And it gives us the word levity—Let's add a little levity to the argument.
The Hebrew definition of leaven (se'or) comes from the root word that means “what remains, what is left over; a remnant.” It was used of Noah's family after the flood (Gen. 7:23) and, of the Believing Remnant of Israel (1 Kgs. 19:18; Is. 4:3; et al.). It is something small that has the power to affect something large, permeating the whole thing, causing it to rise up. The most common literal use for this is in breadmaking whereby a small amount of left-over leavened dough is held back and used in a future batch of dough as a raising additive, causing it to rise and when baked produce a loaf of bread.
These meanings converged into the general idea that leaven is something that when added to something else, even in extremely small amounts, gradually and powerfully affects the whole thing. I call this the “leaven Principle.” This principle is neutral on its own and requires something explicit in the context to indicate it is something positive or negative. Take the proverbial saying: A little leaven leavens the whole lump, for instance. On its own with no context it is neutral. It can be either positive or negative. When Paul used this proverb to the Corinthians it was in the context of how one person's sexual immorality affected the whole church (1 Cor. 5:6). Here, of course, the proverb is used negatively but that isn't inherent in the proverb's itself. It is derived from the context in which it is used.
Now, let's get back to the Bible. Commentators almost always insist that the word leaven always carries a negative connotation in the Bible. Leaven = Sin! They are virtually synonyms. Usually, they try to justify this by suggesting that the reason for this is that leaven causes fermentation, and fermentation always corrupts. No doubt, most of the world would be very shocked to hear such a thing. The Middle East and Israel had innumerable treasured and life-giving fermented foods—fermented milk and cheese and vegetables and grains—that saw them through the vagaries of war and weather. It is doubtful that the Nordic nations could have survived without their innumerable cherished, health-giving, life-sustaining fermented foods that have preserved them through long, cold, dark winters. Fermenting food makes them healthier with much longer shelf-lives.
And then there is wine. While bread may ferment a day or two, wine ferments for months and years. Yet God commanded it be used in the Temple Worship service even in offerings God took part in, offerings of fire. So, if leaven is always used negatively in the Bible, it is not because it is fermented and, therefore, causes corruption.
It might be worthwhile to ask if the Bible does always use the word leaven negatively? It is true that God commanded leaven could not be used in some offerings and the Passover (Lev. 2:11; Ex. 12). But it is also true that God commanded it be used in others (Lev. 7:12; Amos 4:5; Pentecost--Lev. 23:17). Yes, Jesus did warn about the negative leaven of the teachings of the Pharisees (Mat. 16:6), but in the same Gospel He also described the Kingdom of God as being like leaven, surely something good (Mat. 13:13). So, perhaps the answer to how the Bible uses the word leaven is not as definitive as commentators suggest.
But setting all that aside, let's concede for the sake of argument that whenever the Bible uses the word “leaven,” it is always with negative connotations. Doing this, we must likewise concede that when God powerfully works, He does positively what leaven does negatively. Let's see how this plays out by reading some passages not just taking note of when the specific word “leaven” is used, but also taking note of when the “leaven principle” (something small added to something big that permeates the whole, powerfully effecting it-) is used.
This is where the thought experiment comes in. Let's look at the Book of Exodus. Exodus opens with a very small Israel (just 70 souls—Ex. 1:5) being added to a very large Egypt (est. 3-5 million Egyptians). Israel was fruitful, AND increased abundantly AND multiplied AND GREW EXCEEDINGLY MIGHTY AND THE LAND WAS FILLED WITH THEM (Ex. 1:7). Does that remind you of anything? Perhaps the “leaven principle?” This grieved Pharoah, and he decided he needed to purge the Israelites out by killing their infant sons. One could say that Pharoah considered the Israelites leaven that needed to be purged out.
With this in mind, doesn't it make you smile to next see God instructing Israel to remove all of Egypt's leaven—all reliance on the Egypt's gods and idolatries—from their households—purge it all out! Oh, the irony's delightful! What Pharaoh wanted to do with the LORD's Israel (purge them out), the LORD's Israel was supposed to do with Pharaoh's Egypt! And the Passover week was given to memorialize their national salvation. They were to purge out all reliance on Egypt and her gods and rely solely on the LORD, the one true God of Israel. Something similar only far greater will happen at Christ's 2nd Coming when He calls the Believing Remnant out from the nations, causing Satan's whole world system to collapse.
But let's keep going in Exodus. While Israel leaves Exodus as unleavened dough (Ex. 12:34), after being with the LORD for a short time (40-50 days), God raised them up as a nation. When they got to Sinai, they were already fulfilling God's plan for them to be the proclaimer of His Name to the Gentiles (Ex. 18:8-12). Here's how the LORD describes what He did with them: He bare them along (lifted them up, raised them, carried them along) on eagles wings, bringing them to Himself (Ex. 19:4). Those who started as slaves in Egypt were raised-up to become the Nation God designed her to be. The “leaven principle” is at work here as well.
But that's not all. A little later in Exodus there is the Golden Calf Incident. In response the LORD said to Moses: Let me alone that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation (Ex. 32:10). God would use little old Moses to raise up a whole new great nation. Once again, we see the “leaven principle.”
What a fun Bible study this makes! Once we start looking for it, we find it everywhere in the Bible. One might go so far to say that this little “leaven principle” permeates the whole Bible (yes, pun intended!). For instance, Jesus said, Verily, Verily, I say unto you: Except a seed of wheat falls into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth MUCH fruit (Jn. 12:24). One little buried seed results in a huge harvest of seeds. The “leaven principle.”
Let's look at an example from Paul:
In Rom. 5:12-14, Paul states that it was through one man's one transgression (Adam) that the whole old humanity was permeated and raised-up with sin and death. One commentator even entitles this passage as: The Leaven of Sin. But in the very next verses, Paul states that likewise it was through one man's one act of Righteousness (Jesus Christ and His Cross) that the whole new humanity was permeated and raised-up with righteousness and life (Rom. 5:15-18). If the commentator called the former the Leaven of Sin, why didn't he call the latter the Leaven of Righteousness? No doubt, because he thought leaven = sin and could not be applied to the work of God and Christ. But we do see the “leaven principle” displayed here.
But this passage doesn't stop here. Paul goes on to explain that when the little Law (something good—Rom. 7:12) entered the nation of Israel, it caused the nation to rise-up with abounding iniquities. And then, when iniquities abounded God's Grace super-inflated, massively rose-up and SUPER-ABOUNDED. Once again, the “leaven principle” is seen at work.
In conclusion, perhaps we can say that in the Bible, the negative application of the “leaven principle” refers to those things that permeate a person or group, affecting the whole by powerfully leading them away from God and causing them to rise-up in rebellion against God. The key words here being “iniquity” and “idolatry.” The positive application of the “leaven principle” in the Bible, however, refers to those things that permeate a person or group, affecting the whole by leading them to God and causing them to rise-up in faith and reliance on Him. Perhaps the key word for this is firstfruits, which, by the way, is the feast that occurs after the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread! The Feast of First-Fruits.