Exodus 12-13, Matthew 16

I've gotten a bit behind in blogging about my scripture reading, but I chose these two chapters because they were together in my reading a couple of days ago and it's something that I've been mulling over in my mind. In Exodus 12 and 13 the Lord is describing the Passover celebration and what stood out to me is that for 7 days no yeast is to be used, or even be found in the house. Exodus 12:19 says "And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born."

Whoa! If you use yeast you're to be cut off from the community? God is taking this pretty seriously, what's the big deal? Is yeast sinful? If it was just having bread that was ready to go in a hurry when fleeing the Egyptians I don't think the punishment would be so severe.

As that question was brewing in my mind I read Matthew 16. In Matthew 16:6 it says "'Be careful,' Jesus said to them. 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.'" and like myself, the disciples were a little confused. They asked him about it and Jesus explained he wasn't talking about bread. Matthew 16:12 "Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Why does Jesus refer to their teaching as yeast? I kind of get it, but I felt I could benefit from further explanation so I looked up other references to yeast and found this verse:

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the hole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

From this passage it seems like yeast, like pride, starts out small but begins to work throughout you and become bigger and becomes malice and wickedness. Yeast represents that you must rid yourself of even "small" sins, because it is something that can grow. This is why it must be taken out of the house and if it is not you must be thrown out of the community, for your sin may grow and spread to the other people in your community.

I am praying for God to reveal in me any sin that I may consider small, and replace it with sincerity and truth.