Galatians 5:9 – A little leaven

This persuasion is not of Him Who is calling you. A little leaven is leavening the whole kneading.

By “persuasion” Paul is referring to the claims with which the Judaizers tried to persuade the Galatians. They pressured them to be circumcised (5:2,3). Paul makes it clear that all this is at odds with the Evangel with which God had called them. Entering a ritual may seem like a small thing, but it’s like leaven. It is spoilage that proliferates and in no time it will leave the whole dough sour. “Leaven” in the Bible always has the meaning of proliferating corruption (Mat.16:6,11; Mar.8:15; 1Cor.5:7). Similar to as we speak of ‘a rotten apple’.

Not circumcision or a feast day or any other ritual in itself , is the “leaven”. The leaven is the misguided motive for applying the law to the nations. Including the idea that one can only be righteous by following the law of Moses. That is ‘leaven’ because once on this road of ‘Judaization’ it never stops with one ritual.

The teaching of the Judaizers is “leaven.” It spoils everything. The joy disappears, because it orients man towards “the old” (yeast > yesterday) instead of “the new” which is incorruptible !

Delen: