Why is the woman in the parable of the leaven in Matthew 13:33 shown in a bad light?
In Scripture, leaven consistently represents evil and sin, so the parable uses it negatively. The woman took leaven and hid it in three measures of meal until the whole lump was leavened. She is therefore portrayed as the one inserting evil into the situation, an act with which God was displeased.
Les explains that in Scriptural analogy leaven is always referred to as something evil; sin is leaven. In Matthew 13:33, the kingdom of heaven is likened to leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole lump was leavened. He says this is used in a bad light because a woman was guilty of inserting evil into the situation, and consequently God was displeased with it. Earlier, the bad-light motif appears with Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess and seduced servants; Les asks if anyone would want to be that woman, and the answer is no.
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.