Cleaning House

"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."—Exodus 12:15

Contributed

As shadows lead to the objects that cast them, so the pictures and shadows of the Old Testament were especially arranged for us by our loving Father to illustrate and teach lessons that will stand as a great monument of love and care to all God’s creatures throughout eternity. But to us, his Son’s beloved bride, and ultimately to all mankind were these lessons especially designed, and that from before the foundation of the earth. The whole of the universe speaks to this principle: the heavenly bodies, nature, animal, plant life, and even the peoples of various nations.

This principle is especially demonstrated in the festivals and celebrations and rituals contained in them that were given to ancient Israel. An explicit example of this is leaven. In its inherent characteristics it becomes a fitting illustration of corruption, decay, and death in all its various aspects. Leaven, or yeast, exists as a wild part of the natural environment and is found on plants, animals, and in the soil and is dispersed through the air and water. Leaven is an insidious substance that permeates the environment and alters everything with which it comes in contact. Thus the proverbial saying, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9). Ultimately, the only thing that will arrest its spread is fire. In the scriptures, leaven is used to symbolize only that which is evil.

Sin in the World

Sin entered the world through Father Adam’s disobedience; and since man’s expulsion from Eden into the unfinished parts of the earth, he has had continual contact with death and its con comitants, symbolized by leaven. And man has been unable to halt its spread mentally, morally, and physically. The ground out of which his food is now grown must be tilled with difficulty to sustain life. Plants that had medicinal properties previously—prolonged life and health in Eden—are no longer efficacious and certain evil powers work against man, dwarfing his mental and spiritual faculties, symbolized by leaven that permeated the very air and water so necessary for life. Satan, the prince of the power of the air and his cohorts, the fallen angels, contaminated the waters of God’s truth through the creation of counterfeit religious systems.

The world before the Flood, ruled and guided by angelic beings, was an example of leavening forces at work. In just 1656 years after Adam was created, the world had become so debased and depraved that it was necessary for God to rid it of its evil influences. After the flood, as the world’s population grew and spread over the earth, the leaven of decay and corruption rapidly set in again with the aid of its spiritual leader Satan, until the earth (society) is now in such a state of affairs that it must be thoroughly cleansed of the evil by the fire of God’s jealousy in this day of wrath (Zeph. 3:8).

Even though leavening forces have been active since man’s fall, leaven did not come to typify sin, corruption, and decay until the Mosaic law, "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed where there is no law, . . . ." "For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died" (Rom. 5:13; 7:9).

Removing All Leaven

At the institution of the Passover the Israelites were instructed to search diligently throughout their households for leaven in any form—bones, crust, everything, before they could eat the Passover lamb. The search was not merely superficial but every dark corner had to be inspected for fear that one piece might be missed. This task was undertaken diligently because any leaven eaten during the Passover season was punishable by death. Once found, it was burned to thoroughly purge it from among them.

To the Christian, this thorough searching of the house represents a lifetime commitment of sacrifice to purge evil tendencies from his sinful nature. As a member of Adam’s race and called to be the bride of Christ (see Lev. 23 [the church symbolized by the leaven in the two wave loaves offered at Pentecost]) he must conform to the likeness of Christ. This means that every dark corner of the heart and mind must be exposed to the searching light of God’s word to reveal our hidden leaven. It is often difficult and painful to see ourselves as we really are, to face these ugly aspects of our characters without hauteur or feeble rationalizations and then to spend our energies in rooting and purging them thoroughly from our being.

Leaven must daily be kept from our door by straining out all impurities, seeing that they do not enter our hearts or thoughts. The result of permitting them to remain will work to our defilement to a greater or lesser degree.

The neglect of cleansing leaven from our hearts can have very destructive effects in ourselves and in our brethren. Since leaven has such a penetrating and diffusing power, it can quickly spread to others. A little envy, a little malice, a little anger, a little hatred, and a little strife may leaven our hearts completely and in a comparatively short time turn new nature into acid bitterness. Moreover, the leaven is not likely to be confined to one but spread to others, leavening the entire lump. Whoever finds any of these attitudes lurking anywhere in their heart should both by diligent effort and prayer cleanse himself from the leaven of corruption that he might be completely filled with the fruits of the spirit: meekness, gentleness, patience, long suffering, brotherly kindness, love, that these things might be in him and abound (2 Tim. 2:21-24).

Unleavened Bread

Once leaven was purged from the Israelites’ houses they could eat the Passover lamb with unleavened bread. The first Passover, with its antitypical symbology, the antidote for sin and death, was pictured in unleavened bread. Jesus in his purity was "the bread from heaven." On the night of his death, Jesus particularly spelled out the meaning and antitype of the unleavened bread when he said, "take, eat; this is my body" (Matt. 26:26). "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world" (John 6:51). We are instructed to eat or feed on this bread, the antitypical body of Christ; by doing this in faith, we appropriate to ourselves his life, allowing us to become holy and perfect in God’s sight. Thus we may join with him in becoming a blessing to the world of mankind.

Unleavened bread also represents truth and its influence, as leavened bread represents false doctrines and their effects. Jesus warned his disciples of the "leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees," and even of Herod. At first his disciples misunderstood and thought him to mean that they had neglected to provide for their temporal needs, but they quickly realized that he was talking about doctrinal hypocrisy. The Pharisees were the holy among the Jews and those who sat in Moses’ seat; by this time in history their interpretation of the law had been intermingled with human traditions (later codified in the Talmud), which made all sick and poisoned the minds of the people who received it (Matt. 23:15). They had strayed so far from the original law of Moses that the leaders, and consequently the people, were unable to recognize their Messiah. The Law, a schoolmaster to lead them to Christ and to great glory, had been replaced by their traditions and, ultimately, led them to national death and destruction.

Even today the worst kind of hypocrisy is seen among modern pharisaical classes that presume to represent themselves as Christian but whose every act is in opposition to the principles of God’s law, the prophets, and Christ’s teachings. Where this spirit prevails, righteousness and justice are perverted and the people are impoverished and morally and spiritually weak.

Avoiding Hypocrisy

Today as Christians, we must be constantly vigilant to avoid not only doctrinal hypocrisy but also doctrinal corruption. We must be free from hypocrisy and remain doctrinally pure and in tune with the great Shepherd. Wolves may enter the flock (Acts 20:29; Matt. 7:15), spreading their perfidious leaven, but we must "try the spirits" and discriminate between doctrines presented as truth—even if their surface claim seems reasonable. The pure truth of God’s Word is able to make us "wise unto salvation" and, as the Apostle says, "is sufficient, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work" (2 Tim. 3:15-17).

From this standpoint we readily see the force and meaning of the Master’s declaration that at his return he would gird himself and come forth and serve his people and that he would send forth at the hands of his servants things both new and old from the storehouse, "meat in due season," restoring doctrines long lost.

Leaven Adulterates Truth

In Matthew 13:33 we have an illustration of how leaven can thoroughly adulterate the truth. Here the history of the church during the Gospel age is summed up in one verse. Originally the Lord provided ample food (truth) for his people as symbolized in the three measures of meal. In the eating and digesting of this food the Lord’s people would become strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Gradually a woman arose, a false church, represented in Revelation as a harlot, and as "that woman Jezebel." This system obtained great power over the three measures of meal provided for God’s household and proceeded to mix therewith the leaven of her own impurity. As a result all the family food, all the holy doctrines were contaminated with her false doctrines—nothing was left pure and clean, as handed down originally by the apostles. The faith once delivered to the saints was distorted out of all semblance to its original simplicity; the hope set before us in the Gospel was changed to another hope entirely, unlike the original; the spirit of the Lord, love, was perverted to a selfish love of creeds of men and human institutions. All Christendom became spiritually sick, because of this adulteration in its food supply. (Compare with Rev. 6:1-8; and the messages to the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3.)

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 5:6 also used the insidious properties of leaven to represent immoral practices. He chastised the church at Corinth for allowing gross immorality to go unchecked. He referred to this sin as leaven and further explained that leaven, unless halted, can go on to infect the remaining members of the church by "leavening the whole lump." If not purged, the spiritual health of all the brethren and the teachings of the truth are in jeopardy. Our standard is one of righteousness and anything less will have a destructive effect on the name and cause of Christ (1 Cor. 5:11-13).

As we renew our consecration at this Memorial season, may we each resolve to daily purge out the old leaven so that we may become a vital part of the new lump. Thus, everyday will be a true feast of unleavened bread, and we will be meet for the Master’s use now and into the future, blessing not only our fellow man but all beings that will ever be created (Psa. 45:17).