Every family was required to put away all leaven, which meant that it was (and is today) a time of great cleansing, of separation from leavening influences in the lives of the family. Before we look at the spiritual symbolism, let's review the natural significance of leaven. Leaven, known today as yeast, is a small bit of sour dough, that when placed in a batch of dough, has the action of fermentation and puffing up with air (gas). Leaven works secretly, silently, and gradually, until it leavens the whole loaf, which is affected by its mysterious operation and fermentation. It causes the dough to rise. It's influence permeates the whole until all is leavened and becomes like itself. Thus, a "little leaven leavens the whole lump."
The New Testament clearly interprets the symbolism of leaven and explains why it must be put away. There are five references to different kinds of leaven found in the New Testament, each of which symbolizes something evil that has to be "put away." First, there's the leaven of Herod, which speaks of the spirit of worldliness. Jesus warned his disciples to beware of the leaven of Herod because he was controlled by the spirit of the world. Second, there's the leaven of the Sadducees, which was their unbiblical doctrine that did not believe in angels, spirits, the supernatural, or the resurrection. Modernism, with its doctrine of atheistic evolution, and post-moderism, with its rejection of all absolute truth and values, are today's counterpart of the leaven of the Sadducees. Third, Jesus warned his disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees, which He explained to be hypocrisy. They did not practice what they preached and they were "puffed up" with knowledge and tradition. Hypocrisy works like leaven in a person's life unless it is purged out and put away. Fourth, there's the leaven of Corinth, which was sensuality and fornication. There were other forms of leaven at work in the Corinthian church, all of which "puffed up" some of the people with pride. Paul also referred to the leaven of "malice and wickedness," which was old leaven that needed purging. And finally, there was the leaven of Galatia, which was clearly identified as religious legalism. There were some Judaizing teachers going around to all of the churches Paul had planted who were sowing the "leaven of legality," which was undermining the doctrine of grace Paul preached.
Paul interprets the New Testament teaching regarding leaven when he says, "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." I Corinthians 5:8 The Feast must be kept in "sincerity," which is in purity (the opposite to the corrupting influences of impurity and hypocrisy), and in "truth," which is the opposite of deceit and lying. For Israel, keeping this Feast meant a complete separation from Egypt's gods, religion, bondage, food, works, slavery, wisdom, and might. For the believer today and in the New Testament times, keeping this Feast meant putting away all evil doctrine, all evil practices, all hypocrisy, all sensuality, all malice, and all wickedness. The "unleavened" life is the sanctified life, the separated to God life, which would not allow any secret or silent unseen influences (spiritual leaven) to corrupt the believer or his relationship to Jesus (Yahshua), the Passover Lamb of God, or to puff him up with pride. Remember, the key is that all leaven must be put away from our lives in order to be truly consecrated and set apart to the Lord who is our Passover.
This morning my wife pointed out that today one very significant application of this key relates to our children and their future. In America today, there is a leaven at work every day in the secret and hidden lives of our children. It works silently, practically unnoticed, and permeates every aspect of their lives with such a powerful influence that it will negatively affect, and in fact, eventually completely destroy, their lives, their future, and their children's lives and futures. Can you guess what it is?
Historically, the "principle of leaven" has been used politically, socially, educationally, and religiously in various forms of propaganda in all nations, permeating and influencing societies, cultures, and concepts either for good or for evil. We need to realize that all education is religious because all education conveys a specific worldview that influences and determines the student's life and future. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7 This is why Christian parents are commanded to "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
So, what is this leaven in American society that influences and forms the worldview of our precious children so that when they graduate from high school, the vast majority will walk away from God, their faith, and the church? What leaven could be that powerful, that permeating, that influential, that detrimental, that destructive, that corrupting, and that unchallenged by parents and the church? By now you've probably guessed it. If not, let me suggest to you that the most powerful and destructive "leaven" in the lives of our children is "the leaven of state education," or you could call it, "the leaven of the public school system." It is actually a combination of the leaven of Herod (a spirit of worldliness, wickedness), the leaven of the Sadducees (modernism, evolution, secular humanism, and post-modernism), the leaven of the Pharisees (hypocritical Christianity, greed, envy, and the love of money), and the leaven of Corinth (sensuality, fornication, sexual immorality, homosexuality, hedonism, lust, and the love of pleasure).
"Second Corinthians 6:14-18 states that Christians are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. How can we fail to recognize that placing children under the control of a pagan institution for 35 to 40 hours a week is yoking our children unequally with unbelievers? Indeed, can there be a worse example of unequal yoking than the deliberate yoking of a child with a pagan educational institution?" - Dr. Bruce Shortt
In the words of humanist, John D. Dunphy, is a description of this modern leaven: "I am convinced that the battle for human kind's future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers that correctly perceive their role as proselytizers of a new faith....The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new - the rotting corpse of Christianity...and the new faith of humanism." (from the Humanist magazine) And Joe R. Burnett, an editor for the Humanist magazine, stated: "Public education is the parochial education for scientific humanism."
"Ideas have consequences. What we believe determines how we live....The harsh truth is that public schooling is anti-Christ, literally, against Christ. Public schools substitute man for God in their explanations of all things....The secularism taught in public schools is diametrically opposed to Christianity. They are as different as night and day, and inflicting these lies on Christian children is a foolish thing....All schools are religious schools. All schools teach worldview....All schools are enculturation centers and none is neutral...All education is inescapably religious. The existence of non-Christian schools is not the problem; Christians using them to train their children is the issue. Christian children need Christian education" - Bradley Heath
In conclusion, let us remember that the end result of all education is a worldview and that worldview will be either man-centered (self-centered, eccentric = off centered) or God-centered (Christ-centric). As we remember, reflect, and memorialize the great Exodus and deliverance of the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt through the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, let us also remember that this is a time for us to remove and put away all leaven from our lives, which means it is a time to separate ourselves from all the ungodly leavening influences of this world such as sin, worldliness, wickedness, malice, sensuality, sexual immorality, greed, the love of money, the love of pleasure, hypocrisy, and external legalistic religion.
At the same time, I believe God is calling all Christian parents to remove the leaven of state education from the lives of their children and all that comes with that leaven such as ungodliness, secular humanism, socialism, statism, self-centeredness, post-modernism, eastern mysticism, new age philosophy, sexual permissiveness and homosexuality, and a host of other anti-Christian and ungodly behaviors and beliefs. Many Christian parents think that they can send their kids off to the public school during the day, and then at night try to remove the leaven of the world that was put in them. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way and is impossible to do. Remember, leaven is something that works silently, secretly, hidden, gradually, and thoroughly until it leavens the whole lump. All the dough is affected by its mysterious operation and fermentation. Its influence permeates the whole until all is leavened and becomes like itself. Jesus explained this in relation to education when He stated: "A disciple is not above his teacher...Every disciple will become like his teacher, and the slave as his master." Matthew 10:24-25 If you don't believe me and you don't believe Jesus, then I challenge you to make a large bowl of dough, put in a small bit of sour dough (leaven), and then try to separate out the leaven the next day if you can. In the same way that it is foolish to try to separate out leaven from a lump after it has begun working, it is equally foolish to send your child to an irreligious humanist government school or teacher and then try to "un-indoctrinate" your child at the end of every day. It just won't work, and you'll lose your child in the process.
"In essence, we have abdicated our responsibility to educate our children. As a consequence, we have simultaneously put our children in harm's way and have failed to notice that the 'little red schoolhouse' has effectively become a pagan seminary nurturing our children in alien creeds and infusing them with false values. This, in turn, is transforming our families, our churches, our culture, and our society....The fact is that government schools are killing our children spiritually, morally, and intellectually." - Dr. Bruce Shortt "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." Colossians 2:8
Listen to the words of Jesus regarding this leaven: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." Matthew 15:8-9, 13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits....A good tree cannot produce bad fruit; nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Matthew 7:13-19
It is time to cut down that bad tree called "public school" or government indoctrination that has been producing bad fruit for 170 years and destroying the lives of generation after generation of Christian children. Public schools have taken millions of Christian children (and their parents) captive through philosophy and empty deception (i.e. spiritual leaven), according to the tradition of men and the elementary human principles of the world, and these government school classroom teachers who function in the role as "proselytizers of a new faith" of humanism, have become blind guides to the blind. Forsake them, let them alone, because if a blind humanist teacher is allowed to guide your child, both will fall into a pit and your child will be led astray to destruction. It's time to choose the narrow gate of Christ-centered homeschooling or possibly partnering with a high-quality Christ-centered private school, because the broad way of public schooling leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it. Beware of those false prophets of the new faith of humanism who are disguised as benign public school teachers, but under their sheep's clothing they are ravenous wolves who will devour your child's faith in God, chew them up, spit them out, and conform them to themselves by turning them into cookie cutter secular humanists and socialists who will reject their parents, their church, their faith, and their God for the world. Now is the time to cut that deadly tree of bad fruit down and uproot it forever.
Thank you for visiting my blog on Christian parents educating children God's way. This is Josiah Friberg asking you to check back often for my most recent Christian education postings on Christian schools, homeschooling, public school indoctrination, and the dangers of public schools. Consider adding my RSS FEED so you can keep up to date on godly alternatives to public schools. This article was posted by Josiah Friberg on his Christian Education blog: www.alleducationisreligious.blogspot.com. For assistance, contact Exodus Mandate at: www.ExodusMandate.org
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