The Kingdom of heaven has leaven

Mat 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

If this refers to the remarkable growth of the church, then we must also observe what the word leaven means as it is used elsewhere in scriptures.

The first reference to leaven referred to it as a picture of sin. This was part of the Passover service.

Exo 12:15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

Leaven referred to the contrary hearts of the religious leaders.

Mat 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Leaven referred to false doctrines.

Mat 16:12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Leaven stands for malice and wickedness.

1Co 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So the kingdom of heaven on earth, all that profess to be of God, this kingdom contains leaven, sin, false doctrines, malice and wickedness.

What of the three measures of grain? These were affected by the leaven. Perhaps they refer to an individuals body, soul and the human spirit? All these are affected by the leaven of sin.

It is evident that the world has gotten into the earthly kingdom of God.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

When Jesus comes back, his kingdom will be purged of the leaven of sin.

I made cookies last night with baking soda as leavening. I think the soda had lost its leavening, because the cookies were flat and they ran together in the baking pan into one large cookie This could be a picture of the church without the puffing up of leaven; we all become one in Christ. By the way, the cookies were called sugar and spice and they were delicious.