Leaven of Herod

David Grabbe continues his exposition of Dominion Theology, a doctrine derived in part from a misapplication of two parables in Matthew 13:32-33, both of which assume that the phenomenal growth of 1.) the mustard plant into a grotesque tree housing birds and 2.) the leavening which puffs up the dough, indicates that the Kingdom of God was to spread through the dramatic growth of church membership. The point of the mustard plant was that it had become a habitation for demons, while the meaning of the growth of leavened dough was that the Kingdom of God had grown corrupt by becoming leavened with Halakhic traditions, including bald-faced pagan traditions, Gnostic varieties of Judaism, and shameless hypocritical behavior exhibited by the Jewish leadership of Christ's time. Dominion theology is one of the dangerous false doctrines threatening to leaven God's Church. Certainly, God is not finished with physical Israel, but the Israel of God has the unique opportunity to "do it right" by consuming the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

John Ritenbaugh asks the question, "How much leavening would God allow to infiltrate into the church, society, or the individual before He steps in to correct it?" Leaven can symbolically represent false teaching, as in the stifling traditions of the Pharisees, the skepticism of the Sadducees, and the secularism of Herod, all producing deadly cynicism and pessimism. With immense forbearance and patience, God carefully timed the cumulative wickedness of a people (when every thought would become saturated with evil) before He intervened. Likewise, we have no insight as to how much sin God will tolerate in the church or our own lives before He will sternly intervene. The tares and wheat (sin and righteousness, heresies and truth, or unconverted and converted) must coexist until the harvest when the fruit will become clearly seen, at which time a separation and judgment will take place, when the good will be contrasted from the evil. In the meantime, the persecution we receive now will show God definitively where our loyalties lie.

Most commentators see in the Parable of the Leaven a positive message of the growth of the church. Martin Collins, however, shows that they have it exactly backward—Jesus' parable is a warning of internal corruption!

The meal offering represents another aspect of the perfect offering of Jesus Christ. John Ritenbaugh shows that it symbolizes the perfect fulfillment of the second great commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Richard Ritenbaugh reiterates that the Kingdom of God or of Heaven has past (Hebrews 11:13), present (Hebrews 12:22), and future (Hebrews 12:28) aspects. The Kingdom parables primarily provide instruction for the present aspect, a time when struggle and suffering are part of the mix (Matthew 11:12). The first parables of Matthew 13 reveal Satan's battle plan to: (1) attack in the early stages of development, (2) infiltrate with secret agents, (3) cause the church to grow large and worldly, exceeding God's prescribed limits, and (4) corrupt by false doctrine, destroying the relationships between the brethren. These parables describe the last quarter century in the church of God.