Looking at the parables: Three measures of meal

Mat 13:33  "He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

Some of the translations render three measures of meal as fifty-sixty pounds of flour. Now that is a lot of flour and would make a gigantic batch of leavened bread. However, this is a parable. According to the dictionary the meaning of parable is as follows: "a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson as told by Jesus in the Gospels." In the Greek the word paroble means similitude or simile. It is a symbolic lingual device or a figure of speech.

Therefore, there must be significance in the fact that he said three measures. Three measures are three things and must therefore represent three distinct things. I think that the three measures of wheat or meal is a figure of three ages. There are three biblical ages that have lapsed and we are just beginning the fourth. These ages are roughly two thousand years each. They are as follows; the two thousand years between Adam and Abraham; The two thousand years between Abraham and Jesus Christ; The two thousand years since the resurrection of Jesus; and the new age, the two thousand years that began in 2,000 AD/CE. If the situation changed drastically every two thousand years through out the biblical timeline, what would make one think that it would not again change drastically in this new 2,000 year age?

Now then, if you research this parable you will find different understandings of its meaning. The two most prominent are that it is the gospel permeating the kingdom and the other is that it is the leaven of the Pharisees that compromises the gospel message in favor of a false gospel. The late J. Vernon McGee believed it was the latter and made what I feel is a very strong case for it. His argument is that leaven in the bible mostly represents sin and is something to avoid. Both Jesus and Paul used it that way in their references. Of course this is one of the uses of Jesus... so... did he switch streams of thought and tell us that leaven was now a good thing? That is very unlikely don't you agree. I do not think he was mixing metaphors so to speak. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that this leaven mentioned in this parable was not the kingdom expanding.

So what do we make of the three measures of meal/flour? Let me briefly make the case for it being three ages. God stated in Genesis 1:31 that when he made male and female on the sixth day it was VERY good. In the garden story, God clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of an animal and thus covered their nakedness. God demonstrated his love, grace and acceptance of humanity from the onset of creation forward. He had the Apostle Paul declare in Ephesians chapter one that God had purposed redemption before the foundation of the world. This is very significant because it means that God's purpose in creation was redemption. Paul gives a reason for God's purpose being redemption. It was to the praise of His glorious grace.

God being unchangeable has always been gracious. He has proved that time and again throughout the redemptive narrative. The problem is that with the advent of death, and the knowledge of good and evil, for the most part, humanity has not believed it. Noah did, Abraham did, Moses did, David definitely believed it, and even more so, Jesus in his earthly sojourn believed it with perfect faith. So now for the three ages most people did not truly understand God's grace. From Adam to Abraham humanity for the most part feared God and did not believe he was gracious. Then, from Abraham to Jesus Christ, the Jews, though called and set apart, did not believe that God was gracious. Then Christ came on the scene and for the most part, Christianity has not accepted how truly gracious God is. They have missed the true pristine gospel and the way in which God uses grace and the Holy Spirit to transform lives.

Yet Paul states that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. God's original gift and calling to humanity is found in Genesis 1:31. It was VERY good. This brings to mind a passage of scripture by Paul found in the middle portion of Romans. Yes there are three parts to Romans; chapter's 1-8, chapters 9-11, and chapters 12-16. At the end of chapter 11 we find this: Rom 11:26-36  And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob."  (27)  "And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins."  (28)  As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors;  (29)  for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.  (30)  Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience,  (31)  so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.  (32)  For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.  (33)  O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  (34)  "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"  (35)  "Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?"  (36)  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. I really love this passage. It is not properly understood by current evangelical and orthodox doctrine. I have emboldened the part I love most.

The end of the third age was the church age. So then, humanity by itself missed God's graciousness. The calling of Abraham and the Jewish Nation missed God's graciousness. Thirdly, the church missed God's graciousness. Now, in the current age, the one that began in the year 2,000, humanity will begin to realize that God has mercy on all! This indeed will bring PRAISE to His glorious grace!