A Little Bit of Leaven...

It's an exciting time! There is much to learn and celebrate!  As we prepare for the Lord's Spring Feasts, we really do some deep spring cleaning! 

What?

That doesn't sound fun to you? lol! Well, it truly is! These are tactile and visual lessons that help all of us draw closer to God/Yahweh and helps us to grow in the knowledge of Him. 

So, here's a little background for you and then I'll go into what we do.

{Original photo courtesy of publicdomainpictures}

Research:

Leaven

Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
Leaven, n. 1. A mass of sour dough, which, mixed with a larger quantity of dough or paste, produces fermentation in it and renders it light. During the seven days of the passover, no leaven was permitted to be in the houses of the Jews. (Actually, it wasn't just the Jews. It was the whole house of Israel.)
2. Any thing which makes a general change in the mass. It generally means something which corrupts or depraves that with which it is mixed.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16:6.

LEAVEN, verb transitive lev'n.
1. To excite fermentation in; to raise and make light, as dough or paste.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 1 Corinthians 5:6.
2. to taint; to imbue.

What is meant by the word leaven? Let's go to Strong's Concordance at the Blue Letter Bible to find out:

Strong's G2219- zyme

II. metaph. of inveterate mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect others.

Um... what does inveterate mean? (psst. I had to look it up, too.)  

Webster's 1828 Dictionary:
Inveterate

1. Old; long established.  
2. Deep rooted; firmly established by long continuance; obstinate
3. Having fixed habits by long continuance; used of persons

What does this mean?! 

Reason:

It means that each new year, during the Lord's Feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread, we are to clean out any "long established mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect others." All it takes is a little bit of leaven to leaveneth the whole lump. It takes just a little bit of incorrect teaching to make light of what the Scriptures teach... what God/Yahweh says... to taint a body of believers.

Relate:

My friends, this has happened to all of us, too. Not just those people back in the day. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23. If we allow ourselves as Christians to become prideful, we will miss so much.

We need to learn to ask ourselves, "Are we familiar with the authentic to be able to discern the counterfeit?"

I approach it as, "What have I learned? Is it true in light of Scripture? No? Then I want to learn and correct my understanding and how I live." I don't bash people. I don't put anyone down. But I do look at things factually and will state it as such. That's my approach to learning, living and writing on this blog. It's nothing personal. I hope you can approach things this way, too, instead of taking offense.

A lot has been corrupted over the years. The Jews had long habits of corrupt teachings from the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. But we need to acknowledge that there are corrupt teachings within the Christian church today, too. Christianity has borrowed a lot from pagan traditions: these are contrary to the doctrine found within the Scriptures. We are not pagans. Why would we borrow traditions from people who do not worship the One True God of the Bible to worship Him? But nor are we Jews. But, why would we not keep the Lord's Feasts as the Jews do? The Jews worship the One True God of the Bible. Aside from that, these are the Lord's Feasts (the Jews didn't make them up) and God/Yahweh tells believers in Him that He wants His people to keep these feasts. They truly are not burdensome!

The Protestant Reformers saw some of this borrowing from paganism. When they broke away from the Roman church, they broke away from pagan-rooted traditions (in some instances anyway). But see how the church has adopted many of those teachings again? Why??

Passover is a time for us to start over, afresh from the beginning of a new year. To set aside theology that has been taught and to dig into the word of God/Yahweh for correct doctrine:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" 2 Timothy 3:16

{Original image courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net}

What Does Spring Cleaning Have to Do With Anything?

So, leaven symbolizes incorrect teachings. When we remove leaven from our home, we are symbolically removing the old lump... we are clearing teachings/traditions of men and getting back to God's/Yahweh's ways... His instructions for life and for worshiping Him.

How We Clean Out the Leaven in Our Dwelling Place

We turn it into a scavenger hunt! We search for all of the products in our home containing leaven and we clear it out of our home, from our property all together, from our vehicles (well, you know, crumbs find their way in there too when we eat on the go). 

As we vacuum tiny spots around the house and struggle to get the hose in there just right to get all of the crumbs, we talk with our children about how incorrect teachings can be hard to find and hard to clean out of our minds and hearts. But it's something that needs to be done.

Really this is just the surface. We learn so much as we become more familiar with the authentic and as we grow in the knowledge of God/Yahweh. 

He has much to teach us. 

Will we clear out the leaven to learn?

Thank you for reading this post today.

I pray it blesses you, challenges you, and gives you something to consider.

Blessings!