Quoteworthy: Faith Undone by Leaven

“…when the Son of Man returns for His Church, He will not find “the faith” being proclaimed by elders in the Churches of the land.  The whole will have been leavened.  Those in the Churches will be talking about everything but the central message of Scripture.  And the dispensation will end with the Church — the complete Church — in the condition depicted by the Church in Laodicea.

We’re in the final days of a dispensation in which the leaven has been working for almost two millenniums.  The Church at the end of the dispensation is to be completely permeated by the leaven, and this has particular reference to the message surrounding the Word of the Kingdom.  This is the message Christ will not find being proclaimed in the Churches at the time of His return.”  From Redeemed for a Purpose by Arlen Chitwood. 

Chitwood references Jesus’ parable of the leaven in Matthew 13:33:

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Many believe that this parable is describing the tremendous growth of Christianity.  But when you compare Scripture with Scripture, leaven is never anything desirable.  In his book, A Dictionary of Bible Types, Walter Wilson writes: “In every place where leaven is mentioned, it is a type of evil teaching, evil doctrines, and evil practices.  It is always to be put away and cast out as an unclean thing.  The gospel is never called leaven.  Nothing good is ever compared to leaven.  Nothing good is ever said about leaven.” 

Leaven is mentioned for the first time in Exodus 12:15:

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

Do a word search, and you will find 29 passages that reveal the true meaning of leaven.  Here are a few (emphasis is mine):

Exodus 34:25: Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

In Matthew 16:6, Jesus says:  Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

1 Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Galatians 5:9: A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

The only passage that at first glance seems like an exception is Amos 4:5:

And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

The context of this passage is that Amos is talking about the sinful women of Israel.  David Guzik sheds some light in his commentary: “Only one offering in Israel included leaven, the wave offering made on the Day of Pentecost.  Here the prophet either refers to this one offering, or to mock their corrupt sacrifices, he suggests they bring an offering polluted by leaven.”

Matthew Henry tells us: “They had their thank-offerings as God had, only they allowed leaven in them, which God had forbidden, because their priests did not like to have the bread too heavy and tasteless as it would be if it had not leaven in it.”

The days grow short.  Satan has caused the whole to be nearly leavened.  And this leaven has prevented Christians from both hearing and understanding the gospel of the Kingdom.