All verses are quoted from the NASB anything in [square brackets] is added by me for clarity.

"You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread." Exodus 12:20

To eat symbolically means to study and obey . So what does leaven symbolise?

"Then they [the 12 disciples] understood that He [Jesus] did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Matthew 16:12

Here we see that leaven symbolises teaching.

"He [Jesus] began saying to His disciples first of all, `Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.' " Luke 12:1b

Here the "leaven of the Pharisees" symbolises hypocrisy.

"Therefore let us [Christians] celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:8

Leaven above is symbolic of wickedness and malice. Whereas unleavened bread is symbolic of truth and sincerity.

Thus we are not to have the leaven of wickedness, bad study or teaching. But we are to study with sincerity and obey the truth.

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