THE YEAST / LUKE 13:21

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(KJV) Luke 13:21

It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

As with the parable of the mustard seed (Luke 13:19), there are two slightly different views of this parable.

Some see it as simply referring to the powerful influence of God’s kingdom as it works in people from the inside out to affect the world.
Others consider the fact that yeast in the Old Testament normally represented the presence of evil or impurity that causes something to ferment or become corrupt (Exodus 12:19; 13:6-8; Leviticus 2:11; Leviticus 6:17; Deuteronomy 16:3-4; Amos 4:4-5). In the New Testament, yeast represents the false teaching and hypocritical lifestyles of the Pharisees, Sadducees (Luke 16:22) and Herodians (Mark 8:15). In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Paul considers yeast to represent “malice and wickedness,” while the absence of yeast represents “sincerity and truth” (Galatians 5:9). For these reasons, many understand this parable to teach how evil, false doctrine and spiritual impurity exist and spread throughout all areas of God’s work, deceiving many people. Both angles of interpretation express valid truths about God’s kingdom on earth.

The opportunity for evil to spread its influence into God’s kingdom happens when: (a) human ideas take priority over the authority of Scripture (Matthew 22:23, 29); (b) worldliness and immoral behavior creep into the church (1 Corinthians 5:1-2; Revelation 2-3); (c)people seek position or power within the church because they are concerned more about their own ambition than about God’s honor (Matthew 23); (d) false teachers are given a position of influence (Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24) and gain control through their false teaching (Galatians 1:9); (e) people who claim to be Christians appear righteous, but are not really following Christ (Matthew 23; Jude 1:12-19). In the end times, before Christ returns, these evil influences will work their way into much of God’s work in Christian churches, denominations, colleges and seminaries until the true New Testament message of Christ and Biblical standards of right and wrong are diluted and corrupted on a massive scale (Luke 18:8; Matthew 24:10-12; Galatians 1:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1; Revelation 2-3).

Every Christian must be careful that the yeast of evil does not permeate his or her own life. The secret of victory is keeping our eyes focused faithfully on Jesus (Titus 2:13; Hebrews 12:2, 15), rejecting the temptations and evil influences of the world (James 1:27; 1 John 2:15-17), studying and applying God’s Word (John 15:7; James 1:21), looking forward to Christ’s return (Luke 12:35-40), continually listening to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:12-14; Galatians 5:16-18), being willing to suffer (1 Peter 4:1-2), fighting against evil (1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:15; 1 Peter 3:11), defending the message of Christ (Philippians 1:17) and putting on the full spiritual armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18).

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Article Name

THE YEAST / LUKE 13:21

Description

As with the parable of the mustard seed (Luke 13:19), there are two slightly different views of this parable.

Author

Margarita Crews

Publisher Name

Guided By Grace

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