And when His disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.
Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them,
O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?
Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand,
and how many baskets ye took up?
Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread,
that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
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. Matthew 16:5-12
Jesus liked to take natural things and show the parallel to the spiritual.
He even did that in the Lord’s Prayer: Give us this day our daily bread.
More than one meaning, bread to sustain us while we live on Earth and He is the bread of life.
The parables were the way He explained what He was saying. We can ask God for understanding.
Jesus does not give spiritual understanding to everyone.
Since this writing is mainly about the leaven which is so prevalent in the gospel right now.
It likely was prevalent throughout history which is why we know about the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
There are those who doubt the works of God, there are also those who add to the works of God.
They give credit to themselves for hearing and acting upon the word of God.
Revelation gives a stark promise to those who add to that book and similarly remove the words that are written in that book.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18-19
God also has expressed anger for those who have taken and proclaimed God said
or promised something when He did not.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you:
they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
They say still unto them that despise Me, The Lord hath said,
Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart,
No evil shall come upon you.
For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord and hath perceived and heard His word?
who hath marked His word, and heard it?
Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind:
it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have executed,
and till He have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
Jeremiah 23:16-21
It is up to us to seek the Lord, to let Him hone our skills in His word.
To follow hard after Jesus and love the truth with everything within us.
The deception coming will be very persuasive and that deception is already here.
Many are already falling for it because they do not elevate God’s word above their own perceptions and opinions.
They add to it and twist it, just like Satan did in the Garden.