QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
- Viewpoint
Question: Since yeast or leaven
is often used to represent sin in the Bible, what does it mean in Matthew
13:33?
Answer: It is altogether important to always
consider the context in which a word is found. If this is done, the verse or
text will usually interpret itself which is the case here. To assume that a
word is always used to represent the same thing can lead to an incorrect interpretation
of the writer’s intention.
Matthew
13:33: “He told them still another parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large
amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
This
parable, told by Jesus, is found among many other parables describing different
aspects of “the
A
similar lesson is given to us in a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar and
interpreted by the Prophet Daniel regarding the multi-faceted statue in Daniel 2:34-35: “While you were watching, a
rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of
iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver
and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a
threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a
trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled
the whole earth.” The rock, though small, grew and filled the whole earth.
So
it shall be, as the yeast permeated the whole loaf, so the “
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven” when the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the
whole earth even as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
E.
Weeks