And
again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of
God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of
meal till it was all leavened.”
Commentary
Immediately then following the parable of the mustard seed the Lord Jesus Christ now tells another parable to describe the Kingdom of God. In this He describes a woman who takes a piece of leaven and adds to it to three measures of meal so as to make it rise. Now in the Scripture (unlike in modern dictionaries) leaven is always used as a metaphor for evil, as something that has a permeating and corrupting influence on where and whatever it is sown into. Thus, in the Old Testament the Jews Passover was to be kept with no leavened bread (Ex. 12:1-19, vs. 14-19; Deut. 16:4), same with all of their offerings to the Lord, were to be given with unleavened bread (Lev. 2:4). Similarly, the Apostle Paul recalling these things also uses leaven as a metaphor of wickedness and evil to encourage believers to purity and faith (1 Cor. 5:7-8). Therefore, with Jesus’ likening the Kingdom of God to a woman who takes leaven and hides it in three measures of meal until it is all leaven, He is not describing a good thing! Rather Jesus is describing those whom Satan will plant in the Kingdom of God on earth (again think all of Christendom and or the local church, which is to be the visible representation and representatives of it on earth to all mankind), and thus through His own being sown into it (2 Cor 11) he will seek to destroy it by their introducing and establishing doctrines, practices, and even associations with the world that are contrary to it (consider 1 Cor 6:14-7:1; Rev. 18:1-4). And so just as leaven takes time to infiltrate the whole loaf, so these things will not happen immediately, but will permeate it as they gain more and more corrupting influence over the whole as they progress in it, and thus as they are permitted to introduce doctrines and ideas and practices that are contrary to it (consider Matt. 7:15; 1 Cor. 6 :9-11; 1 Tim. 4:1-4; 2 Tim 3:13; 4:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Jude 3-19; Rev. 2:20 etc.). If then there was ever a time for the church to come out of them and stand separate from them it is now! For the unity of the Spirit (of the true Body of Christ) is not found in apostasy! but in submission too our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and keeping His Words, decrees, and doctrines which have come through His Word and His Spirit, and been delivered to us by His Holy Apostles. Thus, no doctrines, nor commandments, or preferences of men do we abide by, but the Lord Jesus Christ and His living Word is our sole rule of faith and life!
Scripture Quotations
Commentary
Immediately then following the parable of the mustard seed the Lord Jesus Christ now tells another parable to describe the Kingdom of God. In this He describes a woman who takes a piece of leaven and adds to it to three measures of meal so as to make it rise. Now in the Scripture (unlike in modern dictionaries) leaven is always used as a metaphor for evil, as something that has a permeating and corrupting influence on where and whatever it is sown into. Thus, in the Old Testament the Jews Passover was to be kept with no leavened bread (Ex. 12:1-19, vs. 14-19; Deut. 16:4), same with all of their offerings to the Lord, were to be given with unleavened bread (Lev. 2:4). Similarly, the Apostle Paul recalling these things also uses leaven as a metaphor of wickedness and evil to encourage believers to purity and faith (1 Cor. 5:7-8). Therefore, with Jesus’ likening the Kingdom of God to a woman who takes leaven and hides it in three measures of meal until it is all leaven, He is not describing a good thing! Rather Jesus is describing those whom Satan will plant in the Kingdom of God on earth (again think all of Christendom and or the local church, which is to be the visible representation and representatives of it on earth to all mankind), and thus through His own being sown into it (2 Cor 11) he will seek to destroy it by their introducing and establishing doctrines, practices, and even associations with the world that are contrary to it (consider 1 Cor 6:14-7:1; Rev. 18:1-4). And so just as leaven takes time to infiltrate the whole loaf, so these things will not happen immediately, but will permeate it as they gain more and more corrupting influence over the whole as they progress in it, and thus as they are permitted to introduce doctrines and ideas and practices that are contrary to it (consider Matt. 7:15; 1 Cor. 6 :9-11; 1 Tim. 4:1-4; 2 Tim 3:13; 4:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Jude 3-19; Rev. 2:20 etc.). If then there was ever a time for the church to come out of them and stand separate from them it is now! For the unity of the Spirit (of the true Body of Christ) is not found in apostasy! but in submission too our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and keeping His Words, decrees, and doctrines which have come through His Word and His Spirit, and been delivered to us by His Holy Apostles. Thus, no doctrines, nor commandments, or preferences of men do we abide by, but the Lord Jesus Christ and His living Word is our sole rule of faith and life!
Scripture Quotations
New King James Version (1982): Thomas Nelson
No comments:
Post a Comment