Dave Havir - Viewing Leaven As Sin

Dave Havir reflects upon one lesson we learn from the Days of Unleavened Bread, that of viewing leaven metaphorically as sin, deriving from the grounds of comparison that it starts small and spreads out of control. Jesus referred to the oppressive doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees as leaven. Paul likened the tolerance of disgusting sexual sins as leaven. Their excessive tolerance for sin was cheapening and sullying the concept of grace. With cheap grace, sin spreads like virulent wild yeast spores. Leavening symbolizes malice and wickedness and private sin. We need to be more concerned about what the symbol stands for than the symbol; if the rituals take the place of the substance, we become side-tracked from our goal of overcoming real sin. The annoyance God had with our forebears (recorded in Isaiah) was not with the keeping of the Holy Days or the Sabbath, but that the rituals had displaced morality, truth and sincerity. Likewise, real overcoming is more important than the symbolic act of de-leavening. Ritual without repentance and overcoming is hypocrisy.

Analyzing self * Boasting * Compliance * Covering sin * Disfellowship * “Doing away with” Holy Days * “Doing away with” Sabbath * Excessive tolerance * I Corinthians 5:1-8 * Forsaking sin * Galatians 5:1-9 * Hands full of blood * Isaiah * Leaven of the Pharisees * Malice * Matthew 16:6, 11-12 * Missing a crumb * Over-emphasis on circumcision * Pride * Proverbs 28:13 * Puffed up * Ritual * Sabbath as the litmus test * Sexual sin * Sincerity * Tolerance of sin * Trinity as litmus test * Truth * Turn Thy Face from Our Sin * Unleavened bread * Whitened sepulchers * Wickedness