Purveyors of Leaven
Who are they? Are these purveyors still with us today?
Image by AdrianMedia from Pixabay
What is leaven?
I discussed what leaven is in another article more comprehensively, but very briefly, leaven is symbolic of sin or anything that corrupts sound biblical doctrine. It is any doctrine that contradicts Christ’s or infuses falsehood into God’s word.
The purveyors of leaven
Thus, a purveyor of leaven is anyone disseminating and proclaiming false doctrines, human philosophies as a substitute for sound biblical doctrine, and rational thinking instead of faith in God. Indeed, anyone promoting anything that corrupts God’s word—wrong interpretation of Scripture, eliciting unscriptural practices, etc.—is a purveyor of leaven.
The Lord Jesus noted six purveyors of leaven as follows: the Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees in the gospels, and the Nicolaitans, the Balaamites, and the Jezebels in the Book of Revelation. Let us take a closer look at each.
1. The Herodians
The Herodians were Jewish members of the political ruling class, with affiliation to the Roman Empire. They were irreligious but teamed up with the Pharisees to oppose Jesus (Mark 3:6; 12:13; Matthew 22:16). In response to one of the traps they set for Jesus about taxes, the Lord responded with the famous line:
“Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” (Matthew 22:21, ERV)
2. The Sadducees
The Sadducees were priests and made up most of the Sanhedrin—the religious Council (Acts 5:17)—although a few of them were wealthy businessmen. They denied the resurrection of the dead and did not believe in angels and spirits (Matthew 22:23; Acts 23:8) and by implication, neither did they believe in heaven and hell nor eternal judgment!
They erred scripturally, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God (Matthew 22:23-32). They ridiculed what they did not believe and sneered at the suggestion that there is life after death. They were doctrinally at odds with the Pharisees, but united with them to oppose Jesus and His doctrine (John 11:47-50)!
3. The Pharisees
The Pharisees were not priests but sought to maintain religious purity among the Jews by ensuring strict observance of Mosaic laws. However, they included the ‘traditions of the elders’ (Matthew 15:3) and trumped them over Mosaic Law. Paul seemed to reference this when he wrote:
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:3, NKJV)
The Lord, however, acknowledged their role as custodians of Mosaic Law, asking the people to heed their teaching of the Law, not their lifestyle! Because of their hypocrisy, the Lord pronounced woes upon them. Thus, they were His staunchest opposition, teaming up with the Herodians and Sadducees—talk of strange bed-fellows—to eliminate Him.
4. The Nicolaitans
We don’t know anything about the Nicolaitans except that the Lord hated their teaching and lifestyle (Revelation 2:6, 15). Thus, any doctrine or lifestyle, not attributable to any other purveyor of leaven, and detested by the Lord is the Nicolaitans’ doctrine.
5. The Balaamites
The Balaamites propagate the doctrine of Balaam, which is profiting from the gospel (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11), and idolatry and sexual immorality (Revelation 2:14). Their trademark is the ‘prosperity gospel’ and unbridled freedom manifesting as sensuality.
6. The Jezebels
In His message to the church in Thyatira, the Lord said a self-styled prophetess, Jezebel, taught and seduced the church into sensuality, adultery, idolatry, and the occult (Revelation 2:20-24). The Lord nicknamed this woman after King Ahab’s wife—making us infer that both were of the same spirit!
Thus, the traits of the Jezebels is manipulating church leaders to do evil, supervising the destruction of the righteous, seducing God’s children to practice sensuality and sexual immorality, and to engage in idolatry and occultic practices (1 Kings 16:31; 18:4; 21:1-16, 25; 2 Kings 9:22, 30).
Interestingly, Jezebels have the pastor’s ear, who also allows them to teach in the church. Jezebels have protégés or followers who negatively influence the church to engage in evil. Another thing worthy of note is that they are never repentant!
Today’s purveyors of leaven
The purveyors of leaven in Jesus’ day and Asia Minor—the location of the seven churches of Revelation—may have died. Still, their philosophies and practices continue to date. In the place of the 1st Century purveyors of leaven are daring men and women of renown, who brazenly and freely teach their heretic messages—alien to Scripture.
Today, in every nation where Christianity is widely accepted, we have politicians or the ruling class who, though irreligious, team up with any religious group that will advance their cause. In Nigeria, for example, elected officials and their appointees attend church services mostly on national occasions. They are quick to call for prayers when things fall apart. Yet, their wickedness manifests in the discharge of their duties: they engage in graft, promote thuggery and harassment of political opponents, would not pay workers’ salaries for months on end, etc.
Then there are the renowned religious leaders and scholars whose secular thought and disposition, oppose God’s word! These are people who have elevated their church doctrine above the doctrine of Christ. They openly teach one thing but secretly live an untoward lifestyle.
There are also the seducers and seductresses, and the occultic adherents who are teaching sensuality in the church and living sensually, subverting whole congregations to follow their adulterous and occultic ways. Like the Jezebels, many of these people are unrepentant in their deeds.
Modern-day purveyors of false doctrines teach freedom without boundaries, and freely dispense their strange teachings, encouraging their congregants to live as they choose, without any thought for consequences. The fear of God does not attend their preaching. Their interest is in their members attending their programmes rather than life transformation by the Holy Spirit’s power.
These purveyors of leaven are always talking about money, fame, pleasure, and world leaders they’ve recently visited. They use the name of Jesus to deceive the unsuspecting and engage in lying wonders which they call ‘miracles’. They prophesy and propagate a distorted message, for which there is no corroboration in Scripture! They preach a prosperity message that feeds their ostentation and breeds selfishness and avarice (Jeremiah 23:16-22) in their adherents.
How should we respond to purveyors of leaven?
The appropriate response to these ‘leaven merchants’ is, first identify them, then avoid them. Also, do not encourage them but contend earnestly for the faith! Let us now expound on these responses.
1. Identifying purveyors of leaven.
The Lord said that we could identify them by their character and conduct:
You will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:16, NKJV)
Jude notes that they sneak into the church undetected (Jude 1:4), and Paul warns that,
They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. ... [they] ... smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” (2 Timothy 3:5-6, MSG)
They are Satan’s ministers transforming themselves into ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Peter tells us,
They’re only out for themselves. They’ll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. (2 Peter 2:3, MSG)
They may be hard to identify by mere observation, but by the Holy Spirit, they are revealed through spiritual discernment and prayer. So beware of smooth-talking ‘evangelists’ and oratorial speakers peddling a strange gospel not exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:9).
2. Avoid them and their messages.
Do not try to engage purveyors of leaven; rather, avoid them like the plague. More importantly, shun their messages! They can be persuasive and have subverted whole households (Titus 1:11) and led many unsuspecting people astray (2 Timothy 3:6-7). Scripture warns,
Stay clear of these people. (2 Timothy 3:5, MSG)
Their messages are everywhere—television, internet, social media, etc.—encouraging avarice, civil disobedience, pleasure, etc. (2 Timothy 3:1-5). They are ever ready to prophesy and would send you something in return for a donation! Do not let curiosity get the better of you—change the channel, scroll away, or switch to something edifying. Remember,
“A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9, NKJV)
3. Do not encourage them.
John, the Elder, warns:
Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. ... If anyone shows up who doesn’t hold to [the] ... teaching [of Christ], don’t invite him in and give him the run of the place. That would just give him a platform to perpetuate his evil ways, making you his partner. (2 John 1:9-11, MSG)
By donating to and accommodating purveyors of leaven and their cause, you are invariably encouraging them, and unfortunately, partaking in their sin (1 Timothy 5:22)! When you support them, you encourage them to engage in their perversion continually. Therefore, do not encourage them!
4. Contend earnestly for the faith.
It is not enough to avoid ‘leaven merchants’ and their messages; we must also propagate the true gospel. There is the saying “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” If we do not spread the authentic gospel and teach the pure doctrine of Christ, leaven will soon fill the airwaves! Thus Jude charged:
Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you about the salvation we all share together. But I felt the need to write to you about something else: I want to encourage you to fight hard for the faith that God gave his holy people. God gave this faith once, and it is good for all time. (Jude 1:3, ERV)
It is incumbent on us, who know and have the truth to vigorously and earnestly get the glorious message of Christ out to the world through television, internet, social media, etc. We cannot afford to play the ostrich, while the world, and even the church, is being filled with leaven.
Today, sadly, Christianity is perceived as tolerant of licentiousness, crass materialism, sensuality, and corruption. It is seen as supporting evil which is incongruent with the doctrine of Christ. Like the Sadducees, some church leaders are only about political power and the misuse of Scripture for selfish and self-seeking purposes. They are quiet most of the time, until election season when they begin to prophesy about who will win the elections—false prophesies; more like predictions—in the hope of being a part of the emergent political power!
We must change the narrative. We must not leave the communication space to people who do not have the truth that changes lives. Let us brace up and contend for the faith which was handed to us by the Lord Himself! Like Jude, let us drop everything and put forth the truth of Christ as contained in Scripture—put it out there! People may not heed the truth today, but someday or in some other generation they would. Today, we benefit from the Early Christians’ works; tomorrow’s Christians could profit from ours.
Parting words
The ‘leaven merchants’ divide the church along denominational lines—Charismatic, Pentecostal, Baptist, Catholic, etc.—and racial and ethnic lines—White Evangelicals, African American churches, indigenous churches, etc. But the Bible says, there is neither Jew nor Greek; rich nor poor; Caucasian nor Negroid nor Mongoloid in Christendom. These divisions are the purveyors’ methods to gain an inroad into people’s hearts and hard-earned cash. The church must unite around Christ, not around men and women—even if they are church leaders!
The Lord warned His disciples about the purveyors of leaven of His day. He warned those in Asia Minor through John, the Elder. Now He is warning us not to heed these purveyors’ sales pitches. Beware! They are selling poison!