Purge out the old leaven, become a new lump of dough

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:7–8)

1 Corinthians 5:8, Leaven of malice and wickedness. Interestingly in the Torah, there are two Hebrew words used for leaven, which is a biblical metaphor for sin. The first word, chametz refers to the sin of malice (or ill-will, malignity, desire to injure, or bitterness), while seor, the second word, refers to wickedness or sin in general, which the Scriptures refers to as the violation of YHVH’s Torah commands (1 John 3:4). It is likely that Paul had this concept in mind when he wrote this verse.

chametz/ץמח, is a noun (Strong’s H2557) meaning “leaven, that which is leavened, bitter.” Chametz is from the root H2556 chametz/ץמח (a verb) meaning “to be sour, to leaven.” According to The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, the root word chametz designates the action and result of yeast, which ferments or sours bread dough. This idea of becoming sour is extended to a person’s negative attitude. For example, in Psalms 71:4 chametz is translated as cruel [and in Ps 73:21 as grieved]. The Torah strongly instructs that anyone eating chametz during Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread will be “cut off” from Israel (Exod 12:19–20). Exodus 12:39 notes that the daily bread the Israelites baked on the day they left Egypt was not leavened because they left Egypt in such haste that there wasn’t enough time for their bread dough to rise. Thus it had the symbolic value of teaching Israel that having been redeemed from Egypt they should leave their old life [and sinful, “sour” carnal nature] behind quickly and set out toward the Promised Land in a sin-free state. Leavened bread was also prohibited in connection with the sacrificial system (Exod 23:18; 34:25). Neither it nor honey could be burned with the meal (Lev 2:11), and it could not be baked with the fire offering (Lev 6:15). But leavened bread could be eaten with the thank offering (Lev 7:13) and with the first fruits offering on Shavuot or Pentecost. In later Jewish thought, leavened bread become a symbol of corruption and impurity, as also in Yeshua’s teachings (Pss 71:4; 73:21; Hos 7:4; Matt 16:2; Mark 8:15) and in one remark by Paul (1 Cor 5:8; TWOT, vol. 1, page 289).

se’or/ראשׂ (Strong’s H7603) means “leaven.” This is the generic term for leavening or leavened bread and is found five times in Scripture (Exod 12:15, 19; 13:7; Lev 2:11; Deut 16:4). In the first four references, se’or is used in parallel construction with chametz. In all places but Leviticus 2:11, it is used in reference to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, while in the former se’or is used in reference to the meal offering.

Paul juxtaposes malice, wickedness and leavening with sincerity, truth and unleavened bread. The former is sinful and unacceptable to Elohim and must be gotten rid of, while the latter is righteous and accepted of Elohim and must be cultivated in the saint’s life. The latter is copacetic to Elohim’s character, and the former is not. If the believer’s life is analogous to a lump of bread dough, then the malice and wickedness, like yeast, infects, sours and brings rottenness and causes the dough to be puffed up. This is human pride that blinds one from his sin. By contrast, the character traits of sincerity and truth keep one humble prevent one from having an inflated or prideful view of oneself. Pride usually comes at the expense of others and involves maliciousness, or putting others down to augment and maintain one’s inflated or prideful view of oneself. We are all guilty of this sin. Sin in our lives is like yeast that so thoroughly infects and mixes itself with the dough as to be indistinguishable from the bread. Let’s cast this sour dough of sin out of our lives and become a fresh lump of dough through Yeshua!

Malice is the Greek word kakia meaning “malignity, malice, ill-will, desire to injure, wickedness, depravity, wickedness that is not ashamed to break laws, evil or trouble.” As the TDNT points out, this word describes the evil that men do among one another resulting in the destruction of fellowship between humans resulting in disruption of fellowship with Elohim. Malice is a trait which is common to all men, but which is broken by the kindness and love of Elohim toward us through his mercy that saved us, and through the spiritual cleansing and renewing of our hearts through the outpouring of his Holy Spirit (Tit 3:3). When we comprehend how sinful we are, and how undeserving we are of YHVH’s mercy and grace, hopefully we’ll be less disposed to act in an evil or malicious manner toward others. Fellowship within the community of believers gives us the opportunity to lay aside the sin of malice (1 Pet 2:1; Jas 1:21). Malice is often expressed through corrupt words that fail to edify and impart grace to the hearers. Paul calls this “evil-speaking” and urges us to put it away from us along with malice (Eph 4:29 cp. 31). Malice is an attribute of the of old sinful man, which must be put off in favor of the new man who is renewed in the knowledge and of and after the image of Yeshua (Col 3:8 cp. 10).

Wickedness is the Greek word poneria meaning “defectiveness or physical sickness.” According to the TDNT, the apostolic writers use the word in a moral sense to denote “worthlessness as a result of greed” (Rom 1:29) as does Yeshua (Luke 11:39). This word also is used generically to describe evil spirits in high places, which believers are called upon to overcome by putting on the spiritual armor of Elohim (Eph 6:12 cp. 11).

Malice and  wickedness is sin. Sin as the violation of the Torah (1 John 3:4) is often discussed, but the sin of ill-will, bitterness, or a sour attitude toward others tends to be overlooked. This is because this sin is so deeply rooted in one’s personality that it’s often hard for the sinner to see it in himself, although it may be clearly visible to others—especially its victims. This sin is rooted in a heart of unforgiveness and bitterness toward others due to past hurts or wrongs committed against the person who views himself as the victim and who is now harboring the bitterness (cp. Acts 8:23; Rom 3:14; Eph 4:31; Heb 12:15). If not dealt with, bitterness becomes like a deep root that penetrates deeply into the person’s heart and mind (Heb 12:15). It can permeate (like leaven) one’s entire soul negatively affecting those around them—especially toward those who remind them of the past hurt committed against them causing the ill will to be triggered.

Now let’s look at the converse of malice and wickedness: sincerity and truth. Sincerity is the Greek word heilikreneia meaning “warmth or light of the sun, or tested by the light of the sun” with the moral sense being “completely spotless, pure or purity or moral purity.”

Truth is the Greek word aletheia and as used in the Testimony of Yeshua means “that which has certainty or force, is the valid norm, is genuine or proper” (TDNT, 1:232). As used in the LXX, it is equivalent to the Hebrew word emet and thus in an OT sense can be viewed as relating to the Elohim’s Torah, which is the penultimate standard of truth. Truth, therefore, relates to what Elohim demands of men and has to do with judicial righteousness or the standard by which Elohim will judge all men (Ibid., Rom  2:2). As such, Elohim’s judgments are truth because they’re based on truth. The followers of Elohim are expected to walk in truth or uprightness (John 3:21; 1 John 1:6), or by extension, in Torah-obedience.

 

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