Far-out interpretations of prophecy\u2014pure fantasy\u2014come from accepting symbols literally. Before we get into prophecy, we need to get the gist of prophetic code\u2014symbols, metaphors, similes, hyperbole. Yet, this is just the beginning.\u00a0 Never be happy with your reading, be on the lookout for better meaning. The purpose of these hurdles in scripture is not to fool the enemy (they wouldn\u2019t understand it anyway); it is spirit speak.<\/p>\n
Moreover, moving towards solutions pulls symbols together, solving every secret, matching consistencies with no additional prophetic mystery. Of course, we will not come to such an end-state until the prophecies come to pass. If interpreters have consistent solutions to far-reaching spiritual questions\u2014and I mean far-reaching\u2014such results indicate the best interpretations.<\/p>\n
Prophecy, apocalyptic literature, and the reader, you, should begin analyzing the work spoken in biblical symbols, assuming everything as symbols, nothing literal. To prematurely think literally at the beginning fixes detours that may stick with you. Always start with the assumption of symbols; everything is in symbols. You will find this insistence a challenge: not so easy. Readers will benefit in building symbol meaning and experience how they communicate a much deeper outlook, a more relatable vision of the time we live.<\/p>\n
Difficulties come from describing biblical symbols in straightforward concepts because they overlap with the literal-sounding objects. Symbols are literal objects or sometimes actions or states, used as containers, carrying or containing invisible (spirit) subjects. Most literal items used as symbols are appropriate in their association. Yet, they are not definitions designed for functioning in the material world. We are not talking simple code as in secret agent stuff, even though they naturally work that way.\u00a0 But, they are more of a learnable language consistent with spiritual ideas.<\/p>\n
The literal word has more of a definition that works well in the physical world. Symbols will point to spiritual things, things outside the physical realm. (God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth. John 4:24).<\/p>\n
Biblical symbols are different than abstract. The abstract takes apart ideas, in assemblies of thought, both in the physical and spiritual realm. However, Biblical symbols and metaphors provide a medium for invisible items that are real. Hidden objects have their real category; that\u2019s set apart from the visible category. The key to understanding these dimensions, curtain symbol properties cross with both domains, transferable, not precisely, but in a practical meaning, creating a working biblical symbol. That\u2019s how sense comes to the spiritual realm; a physical corridor to the spiritual domain. So then we\u2019re not working with code; we\u2019re talking selective similes contained in the symbol or metaphor that comes to an interpreter\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
Biblical symbols represent the invisible. They are placeholders for ideas where an entire outlay of the ideas could overcomplicate. I know this sounds ironic at this point, but a spiritual conversation substitutes complex notions (by way of a physical item) that would typically overload a simple discussion. We are talking about a specialized language in which everyone can become fluent with the help of the spirit. Of course, the problem with symbolic discourse is people ignorant of this type of language. They will assume prophetic movements materially, mixing the two realms inconsistently. So goes the situation as people first read over Danial and Revelation; readers keep the content literal and end up gleaning ludicrous ideas.<\/p>\n
Actual spiritual ideas reverberate through the bible. Keys to symbols appear all through the scripture. Danial and revelation seem to assemble the prophetic texts, drawing a picture of what\u2019s coming. Traditionally people looked for events in history and events to fit a code. Bible students have gone way overboard expecting answers in this direction. It\u2019s a language of visions that speaks in its meaning a meaning through an acquaintance with the bible itself.<\/p>\n
When prophecy readers master a sense between realities, symbols should have the heaviest weight for consideration first. Think in symbolic idea packages, and then rationally, look for a way to trace the literal. When thinking in the realm of the physical, keep physical laws in mind.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s think about Revelation\u2019s Holy City, Jerusalem. It says plenty, but to look at it as a literal city presents some problems physically. First, the size, some say it\u2019s about 1400 miles long and wide and high, made of gems and pure gold. If this city sat on the earth, it would look like game dice placed on an oversized tennis ball. Revelation describes it as made of pure gold, transparent gold. I take that to mean pure as reflecting a clear image like a perfect mirror, or you can see into it with nothing to hide. Seeing through the walls would not give much privacy, but yes, I\u2019m thinking practical. \u00a0Stopping here and seeing it through physical realities shows problems but not if the city is symbolic. The symbolic idea is people, a population of individuals with the characteristics of this city, New Jerusalem. It\u2019s the counterpart to Babylon with its type of people.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk about indications of a symbol. The walls would be so high to look over the top would require a spacesuit; there would be nothing to breathe. Looking down from the wall, the space shuttle in orbit would be more than 1000 miles below; you couldn\u2019t see it with binoculars. The great cube of soft gold would flop into itself like drooping Jell-O. The structure\u2019s weight would break through the earth\u2019s crust and sink to the center of the planet. However, there is a genuine intent in the city\u2019s description\u2014a comparison to Babylon.<\/p>\n
The people will be safe, fortified, and secure in the truth; it\u2019s the wall high and thick. The citizenry and their home will be the jewels of the universe. Such is only the start of the symbol\u2019s meaning. Symbols help us see things we haven\u2019t seen before, and their extreme descriptions give us something worthy and magnificent to grasp. However, when we know what symbols point to, we will speak of them plainly, forgetting them as figures or metaphors. We need to remember the levels of meaning when talking about them. Because you may talk symbolic meaning, listeners may only have the ability to listen literally.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go to another consideration. An empty tomb, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the missing body in the tomb\u2014do these elements say symbolic? If Jesus came back to life in a non-material body, they would have found his natural, material remains, his previous body, with his blanket. But they found only that burial blanket, clearly not part of his material body. These are clues that will conclude a reasonable connection with the physical. Then, when He revealed himself, He ate with his disciples, and a witness felt the scars from the nails and his pierced side. His disciples experienced him with their senses. And when he was with them for forty days, he talked about His kingdom coming, fitting the physical realm along with his body. These indicators tell me that his coming is going to be literal. When he lifted into the clouds, he left in that body. The last confirmation was the angel they found among them. The angel said he would come back in the same manner.<\/p>\n
Some will point to the account that Jesus disappeared apparently before their eyes. The disappearance doesn\u2019t say anything for sure connected with his body. External powers could explain this, although through powers at his disposal.<\/p>\n
Then another piece of history, at the earthquake when Jesus died, Matthew records some graves opened up, and the saints from those graves joined the living. Those saints, Lazarus and the others mentioned in the Gospels, must have come alive in their natural body, restored. There is no mention of these people going up with Jesus. These people must have had their physical body\u2019s life force rewound a bit from their first mortal death. With Jesus, he is the source of life, so any frame of Jesus will continue indefinitely.<\/p>\n
You might be wondering about the body the Apostle Paul described after the resurrection at the last trumpet, made of the things of heaven. Paul\u2019s new non-natural body description is a subject to go into later. I have faith that the prophecies will consistently take that understanding further than Paul did. Why don\u2019t you take a stab at placing what I call the twinkling resurrection?\u00a0 (1 Corinthians 15)<\/p>\n
We should not be sloppy with what we consider literal or symbolic. But first, the possibilities of symbolism must be exhausted and re-exhausted. Considering what\u2019s literal in an aspect of a prophecy, you must have a good reason why.<\/p>\n
Personal acquaintance with prophecy takes some time. You can\u2019t expect to go to a different country that speaks an alien language and assume you will understand it quickly. The good news is with the spirit; it doesn\u2019t take that long. My advice\u2014I will insist on it\u2014go to the prophecies expecting only symbols first, and then logically piece in the literal to maintain a rational faith, a complete world view made up of the physical and the spiritual domains.<\/p>\n
One other note: do not trust scholars with this subject. Most do not believe in Devine intervention or miracles, the mysterious movements of God. A fair share of them is entirely materialistic in their thinking, and many do not think anyone can know the future. Their attitudes will heap shame on outlooks like the one here. Don\u2019t be weak and let them, but pray for the Lord to be with you in your study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Personal acquaintance with prophecy takes some time. You can’t expect to go to a different country that speaks an alien language and assume you will understand it quickly. Continue reading