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Sermonette: Dominion and Leaven (Part Two)
Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven
#1427s
David C. Grabbe
Given 07-Apr-18; 18 minutes
summary: Dominion Theology is derived in part from a misapplication of two parables in Matthew 13:32-33, both of which assume that the phenomenal growth of the mustard plant into a tree housing birds and the leavening which spreads through 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.
transcript:
Well, as Bill mentioned, we are going to pick up where we left off last Sabbath with the parable of the Len. You might recall that those following dominion theology interpret that parable to say that the church is going to spread into all the earth, and then Jesus Christ will return to that kingdom. Now this idea is largely based on a quick conclusion of what the kingdom is, and yet the Bible speaks of the kingdom in multiple ways. We saw in the parable of the wicked vinedressers the one highly significant usage of the kingdom of the physical nation, the kingdom that was in existence at the time. Jesus prophesized that God would take the dominion from the priests, elders, and Pharisees, who were unfaithful vinedressers, and He would give the kingdom to a nation bearing the fruits of it. Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 13, as we continue to review. We saw in several verses that Christ's audience for the 1st 4 parables in this chapter was not the disciples. Disciples were in the audience, but Christ was speaking, it says, to great multitudes. He was speaking about the national kingdom, such as it was at the time. The nation was even then part of the dominion of God, the dominion of heaven. The 1st 4 parables in this chapter were a testimony of the state of the nation, and it was a distressing report. Now you may be itching to start looking at the parable of the 11, we are going to take another detour first. We're going to look at the parable that comes before because it forms the groundwork for understanding. So we will begin in Matthew 13:31. Says another parable he put forth to them, saying the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Now aside from this parable, the only other mention of a mustard seed is where Jesus speaks of the faith of a mustard seed. Now this doesn't mean that the mustard seed is faith, but that it is the symbol of something that has faith. The seed is tiny, but the presence of faith means that the impossible becomes achievable. Jesus says that the mustard seed is the least of all the seeds. This has a tie-in with the dominion of God in that he describes Israel as the least of all peoples. Israel's first human king Saul protested that he was from the smallest tribe, and his family, he said, was the least of all the families. But the real beginning of the kingdom was Abraham. It was through Abraham's faith that God began the family kingdom. It was because of Abraham's belief that the nation grew. God specifically promised Abraham that kings shall come from you. Hebrews 11:12 describes the same tiny beginning in a different way. It says, therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. And thus we see that from one man who had great faith came the least of all peoples who continued to grow into a multitude. God worked through Abraham's faith to achieve the impossible. This parable contains several, several elements to keep in mind. First, Jesus draws attention to the fantastically humble beginning, which we saw relates to Abraham in Israel. Second, Jesus points out the tremendous growth, but it is growth relative to the minuscule beginning. Even with this surprising growth, Israel did not overshadow many other kingdoms. The mustard plant, it says, grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, but not all trees. The kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon are also represented as trees in the Bible, but they are depicted as huge and majestic trees against which a mustard plant or tree is insignificant. And indeed Israel was no match for those kingdoms when God removed his favor. Now a third key element is that the final state of the mustard plant or tree is a host to birds. Now this point is central because Jesus used birds as a symbol for Satan and his demons back in verse 19 in the parable of the sower. For the mustard plant with its faithful beginning and dramatic growth became a place where the demons felt at home. The gospels show that during Christ's short ministry, demon possession and oppression were a major problem in Judea and Galilee, and casting out demons was a significant part of the work of Jesus and the disciples. Because of Israel's unfaithfulness, God had removed his protection, and now demons were nesting everywhere. The kingdom was spiritually unclean, and this defiled condition was an invitation to unclean spirits. And remember this parable was part of Christ's preaching to the multitudes after he cast out a demon in chapter 12. The Pharisees though were unable to give God glory for the man's deliverance. They were so blind that they mistook the power of God for the work of Satan. The parable thus describes the degenerate state of the nation that God founded through Abraham. It's not about the positive growth of the church, as dominionists teach. Coming back to Israel, Moses foretold what would happen when Israel became prosperous. We'll find this in Deuteronomy chapter 32, if you would turn there with me. Deuteronomy 32, beginning in verse 15. It says Jeshri. That's a name for Israel. It means the upright one or the beloved one. Jerin grew fat and kicked. You grew fat. You grew thick. You are obese. Then he forsook God, who had made him and scornfully esteemed the rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with foreign gods, with abominations they provoked him to anger. Verse 17, they sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. Now the previous verses show Israel's vulnerable position before God intervenes and how dependent Israel was on him. But then Israel prospered and started feeling his oats. He forsook God and started sacrificing to demons, and this is just like what Jesus described in the parable of the Mustard seed. Without the new heart and new spirit of the New Covenant, Israel followed the world's course into spiritual uncleanness and demonic activity. And so during Christ's ministry, he had to contend with birds that had built their nests in the kingdom, which pointed to the spiritual darkness that had overtaken the land. And now we can move on to the parable of the Len, which I'll read to you. This is Matthew 13:33. Another parable he spoke to them. The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Now the three measures of meal first show up in Genesis 18 and verse 6, if you'll turn there, which is close, which is why we did not turn before. Genesis 18:6 is where Abraham and Sarah are meeting with the Lord. And so Genesis 18:6 says, So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, Quickly make 3 measures a fine meal, knead it, and make cakes. This was the meeting when God promised them a son. This was the next step and a miraculous one in the growth of the family kingdom, and the meal is symbolic of the fellowship between God and the family of Abraham. The Jews were quick to claim Abraham as their father, and the three measures of meal is something they would easily recognize in their history. But then something negative is introduced. Levin is always used as a symbol of corruption and especially of corrupted beliefs. Israel took of pagan belief systems from the nations around her and introduced those corrupt ways into her relationship with God. The Judaism that Jesus encountered was a noxious blend of some scripture plus beliefs and practices picked up during the Babylonian captivity as well as the influence of Greek thoughts. This mixture had hardened into traditions that made the word of God of no effect. And by the time of Christ's ministry, the peaceful accord between God and Abraham's family had become completely debased. Now God left us a second witness to make sure the meanings of these two parables are clear. Please turn with me over to Luke chapter 13. Luke 13. The context begins in verse 10. With Jesus healing a woman, it says with the spirit of infirmity. And later in verse 16, he describes the woman as being bound by Satan, which again points to the problem of birds or demons in the nation. The healed woman glorified God, but the ruler of the synagogue reacted with anger. Luke 13:14. Say, but the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and he said to the crowd, There are 6 days on which men ought to work. Therefore, come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day. So in response, Jesus points out the double standard because the people were willing to care for their animals on the Sabbath, but objected to a miraculous act of liberation. The Jews' beliefs and practices were so corrupt, so leavened, that even though they were keeping the fourth commandment on the right day, they completely misunderstood the liberating intent of God's law. Their worldview was so warped that they could only feel indignation at divine deliverance from spiritual bondage. This shows how far their hearts were from their Creator and how welcoming they were of the wrong sort of spirit. Now just as in Matthew 13, Luke also tells us who the audience is. Verse 14 refers to a crowd, and then verse 17 uses the same word as before. It says there was a multitude. And then to underscore his rebuke, Jesus gives the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven inverses 18 through 21. The parables illustrate the event that had just taken place. The entrenched demons pointed to the condition of the kingdom. And the response of the synagogue's leader showed that the relationship between God and Abraham's family had become all leavened. Notice though that there is nothing at all to suggest that these parables contemplate the growth of the future church or that the church would take over the world. Rather, Jesus gave these parables because of how badly the kingdom then had deteriorated. Now, even though the object of the Parable of the Levin is the kingdom of Israel, it should still give us food for thought, if you will. Paul warns in Romans 11:21 that if God did not spare the natural branches, meaning Israelites, He may not spare us either if we follow their example. He told the Corinthians to keep the feast of Unleavened bread, which we've just done, and so the principles of physical and spiritual leaven still apply to us. Now on one hand, Paul says in I Corinthians 5:7. That the church is unleavened on the basis of Christ's work, and that is the church's fellowship with Christ makes the church unleavened. Jesus promised that the gates of the grave would never prevail against the church. God always has a faithful remnant. We can trust in that. And so our primary concern shouldn't be that the church as a whole will become all leavened. But on the other hand, it is possible for us as individuals to become all leavened such that we cease being in Christ and are no longer a part of His unleavened body. The feast is over for this year, but the principles remain. The New Testament gives us several examples of Levin that we can use to evaluate ourselves against. Christ first identifies Levin as hypocrisy. In the Greek world, a hypocrite was an actor in a stage production. The show that the actor put on was his hypocrisy. Jesus used this word repeatedly for the Pharisees and others who are more interested in appearance than in true godliness. Playing a part had become second nature. Who they were inside and who they presented themselves to be were very different animals. And so at times they flattered Christ and pretended to be interested, but their hearts were not with them. They had an agenda. Their words and displays were calculated according to the effect on others. Of course Jesus saw right through them, as did John the Baptist before him. Now in contrast, there was no pretense in the Son of God. There was never incongruity between what he said and what he thought. There was no manipulation. He played no games. He embodied truth, and so there was never a show to put on. Yet hypocrisy was so common that when Jesus saw Nathaniel, Jesus pointed him out with a solemn declaration proclaiming that Nathaniel was a true Israelite in whom there was no deceit, no guile. That was a scarce character trait. Where there is guile or where appearance matters more than righteousness, then leaven is at work. Whether we allow ourselves to become all leavened depends on how actively we work to purge it when we find it. Jesus also warned his disciples about the leaven of Herod. Which was similar. Herod was Jewish, but he was also a political leader and concerned about secular power. And so he would use religion as a pretext to further his political goals. It was a card he would play when it suited his purpose. When what we say and what we do fail to line up, particularly regarding ambition and a desire for power, Levin is at work. Levin does not remain idle, but it reaches out to others as well. And so Proverbs 29:12 says that if a ruler pays attention to lies, all his servants become wicked. If deception is found to be effective, the leaven will spread. Jesus also identifies Levin with false doctrine. The doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees are too numerous to mention, but one prevailing characteristic is that they allowed tradition to override the holy and pure word of God. Now these were not the godly traditions that Mark Schindler wrote of recently, but traditions and rulings of men that did violence to the word of God. They honored God with their lips, but their hearts were on other things. One of the consequences of this is that they were essentially unteachable because the sayings of men were so deeply engraved that they could not tremble at the word of God. And this is why we used to hear over and over, do not believe me, believe your Bible. Where tradition overshadows truth, the community becomes corrupted. Now we are familiar with the Levin and Corinth, so we will not spend much time on it. It included malice, wickedness, and celebrating the sin that was in their midst when they should have been mourning it. But we also find leaven in Galatians, where Paul again warns that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. A Gnostic form of Judaism was influencing the Galatians. They too were on Levins because they were in Christ, but Paul still had to remind them about Levin because it was corrupting them and drawing them out of Christ. There was a spirit from the world that was blinding them. It says, beguiling them. In principle, the same thing can happen to us too, whether it's dominion theology or humanism or Protestantism or any other belief we allow into our minds and lives without critical examination. And so Paul instructs us elsewhere to test all things and hold fast to what is good. God gives Israel as an example for us, for she embodies what a people will do where there is not faith or faithful obedience. God is not finished with physical Israel, but He has created a new Israel and gifted us with tremendous blessings so we can succeed where Israel failed. Jesus was greatly displeased with what he encountered in the kingdom then. But we have the chance to do it right. And inherit the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
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