What is the Meaning of Leaven? || Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Text: Deuteronomy 16:1-8

Our text this week commands the observance of the Passover. Of special note is that all leaven (yeast) was to be removed during this holiday. What is the meaning of leaven?

In our text we see several things commanded concerning the Passover. These commands are types and shadows.

Old Covenant Picture:

–        Observe the Passover

–        In Jerusalem (the place God chooses)

–        Entirely that night (Burnt offering)

–        Work was forbidden

–        With no leavened bread

All of these things point to several New Covenant truths.

New Covenant Reality

–        Observe the Passover: Believe in Jesus’ Blood

–        In Jerusalem: Jesus is the only Way

–        Entirely that night: It is finished

–        Work was forbidden: Salvation is by grace

–        With no leavened: Repenting of all known sin

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul points out that sin is like yeast; it does not exist in isolation. Any sin in the family, church, or society will corrupt the whole. He further points out that this idea is what the unleavened bread in the Passover is pointing to. Leaven is sinful attitudes and actions that we must purge from our lives. Jesus taught that false doctrine was like leaven as well. It will infiltrate the whole and destroy it.

Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper at the end of the Passover meal. For Christians, the Lord’s Supper is how we now remember the blood of the Lamb that delivered us. Because of this, we are to examine ourselves before partaking of the Lord’s Supper. Just as leaven had to be purged from their homes before the Passover, so all sinful attitudes, actions, and doctrines must be repented of and purged from our lives before we partake of the Lord’s Supper.

–        Have you applied the blood of the Lamb to your life?

–        Have you purified yourself?

–        Sin brings God’s judgement on society