Leaven of Hypocrisy

Leaven in Bread

In English, the word leaven comes from the Latin “levare” which meant to lift or raise and referred to a substance added to dough to produce fermentation. Within the ancient world, it was discovered that certain foodstuffs, such as milk, wine and bread could be improved and also preserved by allowing and encouraging the natural process of fermentation. One of the commonest sources of fermentation is yeast which is found naturally as bloom on the surface of fruit and vegetables. Because of this, in warm climates, grape juice naturally ferments producing wine. Smaller traces of natural yeast can be found on the surface of cereals such as barley and wheat. Given the right conditions and sufficient time, when mixed with water, milled cereals often naturally ferment. Being able to add some form of yeast would improve the process but ancient bakers did not have the luxury of being able to buy yeast down at the local convenience store. Their most convenient source of yeast for bread making was using leaven, a small piece of unbaked leavened dough that is mixed in to the fresh dough before it is baked. It was in effect a small piece of “yesterday’s lunch“. As yeast is a living entity, todays “daily bread” was the same living bread that was passed down from the fathers, day after day as each batch of dough was made. Today that kind of bread is commonly known as “sourdough“.

Leaven of Tradition

The word orthodox comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning right or straight, and “doxa” meaning praise and within the realms of religion, it is the praise of right tradition. Religious theology taught in modern churches is nothing more than the study of orthodox tradition. In Matthew 15, the Scribes and the Pharisees came to Jesus to complain that his disciples were transgressing or breaking the orthodox theology of the elders, the leaven of religious tradition handed down from generation to generation. They accused the disciples of eating bread with ceremonially unwashed hands. In Matthew 15:2,6-9 (KJV) Jesus replied “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?….you have made the commandment of God of non effect by your tradition. You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying ‘These people draw near with their mouth, and honour me with their lips; but their hearts are far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’“. Jesus described these religious leaders, who claimed to know God but by their actions denied Him, as hypocrites.

Leaven of Theology

The word hypocrisy comes from the Greek “hypokrisis” and meant acting on the stage, or playing a part or pretense. In Matthew 16, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat and travelled across the lake, but the disciples had forgotten to take bread. Jesus was not concerned about the lack of bread but the disciples obviously were and they became confused about what Jesus was saying to them. Eventually, Jesus said in Matthew 16:11-12 (KJV) “How is it that ye do not understand that I spoke it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” The Pharisees taught that when God gave Moses the Torah or Written Law on Mt Sinai in the Book of Exodus, he also gave Moses a traditional verbal law that was not written down (at that time) but instead handed down verbally from the fathers, from generation to generation, from Rabbi to Rabbi, just like the orthodox theology taught in modern churches. Jesus likened this to the sourdough starter or leaven of bread dough, and described such hand-me-down tradition as, hypocrisy. Jesus said in Luke 12:1-3 (KJV) “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” The religion of the elders was to excuse bad behaviour on the basis of their beliefs and faith in keeping the leaven or teachings of orthodox religious theology.

Leaven of Orthodox Hypocrisy

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 “Know ye not that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth“. After the Fall, Adam and Eve sewed leaves together to make coverings for themselves that were acceptable in their own eyes. In the same way, the leaven of the religion of the great “I am” pride of self-worship passed down from Adam and Eve sews together coverings of theoretical righteousness and conceptual arguments of religious reasoning that attempts to make the leaven of malice and wickedness, the fruit of fallen hearts, acceptably hidden in the sight of God. It is commonly taught within the realms of church tradition that originally, because of the Fall, people’s biggest problem was God or more specifically the anger and wrath of God. “If only God wasn’t so angry with greed and selfishness, how happy we would be” people could say. And so, it is commonly taught within the realms of church tradition that before Jesus died on the Cross, God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity or Godhead was absolutely besides himself with rage; that he was enraged because of sin. Tradition goes on to say that God the Son died on the cross to change God the Father; that God the Father’s presumed rage was taken away by God the Son on the cross. Religious tradition teaches that for those who believe, sin doesn’t matter any more because God imagines that it is not there by theoretically or theologically crediting people who believe with the righteousness of Jesus. This truly is, orthodox hypocrisy, and the leaven of religious hypocrisy works right through the whole batch of dough. John said in in 1 John 4:7-8, 10 “Beloved, may we love one another, because the love is of God, and everyone who is loving, of God he has been begotten [born], and does know God;  he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love……this is the love, not that we loved God, but that He did love us, and did send His Son a propitiation for our sins”. The word “propitiation” is from the Latin “propitius” which meant to seek, strive after, rush towards, or make good. The propitiation of religion makes good by offering theoretical righteousness; it pretends that right beliefs transform the presumed furious rage of God towards the objects of his wrath into a peaceful sea of tranquility but leaves adulterous fallen human heart full of the leaven of malice and wickedness untouched. Through the passover sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, the propitiation of relationship transforms hearts from the inside out. It purges out the old leaven of the natural born darkness of orphan-hearted fallen humanity passed down from Adam and transfigures people into those who are born of the unleavened eternal life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood.

Leaven of Creed

The word creed comes from the Latin “credo” meaning, “I believe“. A Creed, or Rule of Faith, or Symbol, is a confession of faith for public use, or a form of words setting forth with authority certain articles of belief, which are regarded by the leaders of Church Religion as necessary, both for salvation, and also for the well-being of the Church. However, Jesus did not come to establish the “faith” of yet another world religion. He did not come to establish the creed, tenet or dogma of theological orthodoxy and yet that is what the Church teaches. Jesus came to establish relationship; a father-son relationship with Almighty God. God is love, and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. The Sons of God love because Jesus loved them first and God as a Father dwells within their hearts by the power of his life’s breath or Holy Spirit. That is why the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 5 that the ONLY THING that matters is “faith expressing itself through love“. Love is at the heart of true faith in Jesus, not the leaven of this religious thing called creed. If people truly love the Lord their God with all of their mind, strength and heart and their neighbor as themselves, their creed, whatever it is, doesn’t matter. However, if they embrace the orthodox creeds of religion with open arms but live their lives with loveless hearts they are not following Jesus whatever they say they believe. Their hearts are still leavened with the great “I am” pride of malice and wickedness. One day, everyone will rise from the dead and the hearts that people die with are the same hearts that they will rise with. Those that die with hearts leavened with the great “I am” pride that came from the Fall will rise with them and their hearts will stay like that forever. Their own personal worm will not die and the flames of their own personal fire will not be quenched because these things dwell within their own hearts. There is no repentance in resurrection.

Unleavened Hearts of Love

Those who born of God are born out of love. They are the seed or Sons of God and they bear the fruit of their Heavenly Father’s kind because God Himself dwells within their hearts. They live in love and everything about them becomes love because God first loved them; this love propitiated their stony hearts leavened with malice and wickedness to have new unleavened hearts that love like Jesus loves. One day, everyone will rise from the dead. Behaviour in life will become inheritance in resurrection; the heart that people die with they will rise with. That is why it says in 1 John 4:16-17 (KJV) “And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world”. Religion changes heads but through relationship, the grace of God changes hearts. Bad behaviour is the absence of God’s blessing, it is sowing to the flesh and mocking God. God cannot be mocked; despite what the hypocrisy of orthodox tradition teaches, what people sow, they will one day reap. The goodness of God can make a bad tree leavened with malice and wickedness good; it is the goodness and the grace of God that leads people to repentance. Good trees bear good fruit; good men bring good things that are treasured up within their hearts. That is why it says in Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV) “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God”. Again, Jesus said in Luke 12:1-3 (KJV) “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” The blind guides of religion are not following Jesus, they just think they are. Just thinking is of course, hypocrisy. That is why Jesus said in Luke Chapter 8 “Take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.” Millions have been betrayed by the theological “just thinking” religion of orthodox hypocrisy in which they trusted, but if you follow your heart and not your head, you won’t be one of them.

The orthodox religion of church tradition has misrepresented God. If you would like to understand more of what the Bible actually teaches and find out how to experience the truth of the paradise of God’s fatherhood filling your heart forever, then click, here.