I was going through the Parable of the Yeast from Matthew 13 and I have a question. Normally in Bible, Man is the term used to represent humans (both men and women). Here in this parable “Women” is used. Does she represent EVE? Through Eve, sin has been spread and mixed all over the world till now.(“until it was all leavened” means “to the end of the world”) What do you think?
Although your conclusion is certainly valid, I think the Lord chose a female for this parable simply because women were the ones who prepared the bread. The phrase “3 measures of meal” traditionally referred to unleavened bread because when company came bread was needed quickly.
This tradition began when Abraham was visited by the Lord and two angels in Genesis 18:6, and was later incorporated into the Temple services as the fellowship offering as well as becoming part of their culture. The Lord’s Jewish audience would have known that by adding yeast the woman was using an ingredient that didn’t belong in the mix.
In the context of the Kingdom Parables the fellowship represents the Church and the leaven represents sin. The point is that the church would be populated by sinners, who shouldn’t be allowed in the Presence of God. In other words they’d be saved by His grace not because of their righteousness.