LEAVEN

 

Write From My Heart

October 1, 2021

Introductory note:

              I have mentioned before that I have many friends who follow the Old Testament to the exclusion of the New Testament, and just as many who follow the New Testament to the exclusion of the Old Testament. I am definitely a “Both Testaments-Whole Bible” Christian as I so often see information from one testament that is supported in the other testament. Clearly the Bible is meant to be viewed in its entirety, being whole and complete in its message.

              The second thing I notice is how easy it is to skim over Old Testament passages because so many of those cultural traditions are no longer “the norm” for us today. With the death and resurrection of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, we are now under a new covenant with God. The covenants of the Old Testament have been replaced by salvation through Christ our Lord. What was once only available to a select group of chosen people is now available to any who would call upon the name of the Lord.

              For the next few days, I would like to note some observations that I believe are still applicable to the modern day Christian. Once again, what is found in the Old Testament sets the foundation for what we find in the New Testament.

LEAVEN  any substance (e.g., yeast) that causes fermentation

Exodus 23:14-15, 19 (NIV) Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me. Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib [i.e., March/April], for in that month you came out of Egypt. No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

            Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field.

            Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.  Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD. … Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.

 

            My family probably recalls that as a very little child I was an extremely picky eater. My entire diet consisted of bread and butter, tomato soup, pickles, and Jell-O. Mom tried her best, but I would eat little else. Growing up with a particular fondness for bread—of any type—had a bizarre affect during my Sunday School years. I never understood this passage because how could anything so tasty as bread be something of distain? The equation of yeast to sin simply eluded me. As I grew in my understanding I realized leaven (e.g., yeast) causes fermentation, and fermentation is anything that causes a breakdown of molecules. It really is an appropriate analogy for sin because sin of any type, kind, or to any degree is a breakdown of the relationship we have in Christ. It only takes something as small as a poor attitude or unkind spirit to cause fermentation in our heart.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 (NIV) your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

John 6:35 (NIV) Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”