BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF HEROD

Mark 8v15- 

And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

We are often told to beware of FALSE TEACHING (i.e Pharisaical or any other kind of error), but equally important is to beware of the LEAVEN of HEROD. Herod represents the world, all it's ways and thinking. It also represents MAN'S way of doing things (distinctly different from God's way) and the POWER that man tries to exert upon others to do things according to fleshly/sinful ways, for the interests of men alone (the interests of the Lord are not considered as the central and most important thing), and also the way of the enemy-- for often the way of men and Satan is one and the same thing, for Satan desires the Kingdoms of the Earth and all its honour/glory/riches (note: you will know if this is happening, for you will be asked to sacrifice the Lord's desires i.e 'bow down' in pursuit OR for the sake of the enemy's/man's desires):

Matthew 4-
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9“All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’e ”

Matthew 16-

22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

When we think of leaven, we think of something which represents a very small part of a whole, specifically a whole piece of bread. It is something that, if we don't pay attention to it, seems unnoticeable, intangible, non-impactful and unimportant. If we're not careful, we only start to recognise it when it has already done damage. Usually we ignore spiritual leaven because, like when we eat bread itself, we are only thinking of our hunger and about needing nourishment.

As there are still righteous things in the Earth, law and order, and things that show the goodness and grace of God, we need to keep a CONSTANT guard and watch for the LEAVEN OF HEROD. The reason for this lies in the fact that, as Christians (and often with good intent) we love to focus on whatever is good about our society and those that rule and have power (this is still a very good thing!), and so by default pay little attention to whatever may endanger those good things or have actually begun to corrupt them to our own (and others) spiritual detriment.

So because of the nature of leaven (hard to recognise), our hunger (physical and spiritual- not bad things in and of themselves), and our good intention to love those around us and obey those in authority (good things!), we need to remind ourselves to beware the leaven of Herod. To do this we need to be able to recognise it. To do this we need to understand that, like in the Matthew 4 scripture above, the way of Herod is EXACTLY the way of Satan (i.e Jesus saying to Peter 'Get behind me Satan'). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, the character of men and Satan is the SAME THING (i.e in the flesh dwells no good thing). It is selfish, self-centred, and sets itself up as the most important thing at the sacrifice of EVERYTHING ELSE and EVERY OTHER consideration. More importantly, the character of men/Satan/Herod is the OPPOSITE of all of the characteristics of God (think: fruits of the Spirit etc). Lastly, you can always tell what the way of men/Herod is because, like the way of the enemy, it STEALS, KILLS, AND DESTROYS life and everything Godly.

Beware the leaven of Herod/men/the rulership/Kingdoms of men, for, like leaven, it SEEMS harmless if you have unwittingly put on natural lenses, but spiritual leaven CORRUPTS subtly and COMPLETELY. Don't justify Herod's leaven for the sake of your physical and spiritual nourishment, for man shall not live on bread alone, but on EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD- THE BIBLE (and God will take care of all your needs when you put His Kingdom and righteousness first, even if it SEEMS as though the Holy Spirit is leading you to a wilderness)-- which is the most important nourishment, for all other nourishment comes from this.

Leaven can be made to look good, and be hidden in good things, so we must be diligent to obey the Lord, and beware the leaven of Herod.