I know that when we study the Scriptures there are so many symbols and parables that it can be quite confusing. Then there is the literal and the spiritual and when to take what is being spoken which way. So as I was reviewing this for myself I thought I would post parts of the LOF article 1. 'The Book of Revelation is a Book of Symbols.' Hope this review helps us in our studies.
http://bible-truths.com/lake1.html -----------------------------
It is most important to understand that the study of the Scriptures is not the same as studying a high school or college text book. And if we do not have even an elementary understanding of these many and varied figures of speech, we will hardly be in a position to TEACH God’s Word to others.
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Paul did not instruct Timothy to "STUDY" the scriptures if a mere casual reading is all that is necessary to comprehend its many deep and profound teachings. On the other hand, I believe that those who have "studied" God’s Word are able to open up much understanding to those who are not called to teach (even babes, or minors as our Lord stated).
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"...no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation" (II Pet. 1:20).
The Scriptures themselves really do interpret other Scriptures. This is true for interpreting prophesies and doctrinal issues.
The parables of Jesus are certainly true, but they are not literally true. Example: one cannot possibly put a "beam" (a large piece of lumber) in or out of one’s eye, Mat. 7:3-5. The moral of this parable is certainly a great truth. The symbols used to teach that truth (namely a large piece of lumber in one’s eye) is, of course, not literally or possibly true. The beam represents a huge character flaw, not foreign matter in one’s eye. It’s a figure of speech.
We also use such figures dozens of times a day without even realizing it. We say such things as "Don’t cry over spilt milk" although we are not literally speaking of crying, nor are we speaking of milk, but rather of a disappointment that has caused sadness.
When we show our respect for our country's flag, we are not even thinking about respecting a piece of cloth, but rather the nation that the flag represents. A flag is a symbol that represents a nation. A band of gold is just a band of gold, but a wedding ring is symbolic of something much larger, something huge, something GRAND!
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All languages have many, many figures of speech that are not literally true. And God also uses symbols, figures, idioms, metaphors and parables, over and over in His Word--hundreds and hundreds of times!
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I want to quickly show my readers just how impossible it is to assume most of God’s word is literal.
Again I state: All God’s Word is TRUE, however, much of it is figurative language which is not literally true to fact, but rather in what the figurative language of symbols, metaphors, and parables represent.
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BIBLICAL FIGURES OF SPEECH
Here are some of the fully substantiated figures of language used in Scripture. I borrowed many of these examples from an appendix in the back of The Concordant Literal New Testament.
We will begin with FIGURES OF LIKENESS which include:
--metaphors (where one thing is said to actually be something else) as in, "all life is grass" I Pet. 1:24. Therefore, the subject of this paper IS a metaphor and CANNOT be literal: John says, "...the lake of fire, This IS the second death" (Rev. 20:14), and "...the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which IS the second death" (Rev. 21:08)
--similes (when something is like, or as something else, it is a simile rather than a metaphor)
--implications
--parables (there are many, the shortest one being, "Physician, heal Thyself" Luke 4:23)
--allegories (as in the two women standing for two covenants, Gal. 4:22-28)
--visions (as in a sheet let down from heaven, Acts 10:11-16)
--signs (as in the sign of Jonah the prophet, Matt. 12:39)
--types (as in Adam corresponding with Christ, Rom. 5:12-21)
--shadows (as in the law being a shadow of good things to come, Heb. 10:1)
--examples (as in the tabernacle vessels being examples of what is in heaven , Heb. 9:23)
--images (as Christ is the image of God, Col. 1:15)
--impersonations or personifications (where things are spoken of as persons)
--condescension's (as where God takes on human attributes)
--diminutives (as in "little women, heaped with sins" II Tim. 3:6)
There are FIGURES OF ASSOCIATION which include:
--association or metonymy's
--appellations (as when a quality or office is used instead of a proper name, as in "Son of Mankind" instead of saying Jesus Christ)
--compound associations (as "the word of the cross" I Cor. 1:18, which has to do with Christ’s shameful and agonizing death)
--near associations (as in a phrase that is partly literal, "Then went out to Him Jerusalem [that is the people of Jerusalem]", Matt. 3:5)
--retention's (this one is too complicated to explain, but I’ll give you an example, "the tablets of the heart" II Cor. 3:3)
--circumlocutions or periphrasis (what is "circumlocution"? Well, it’s a descriptive phrase in place of a name in order to emphasize the association. Examples, "the product of the grapevine [though not named is, wine]" Matt. 26:29, "the city of David [though not named is, Bethlehem]" Luke 2:11,
--enigmas, and symbols (where a known object or something else is used to typify something else, or even an intangible quality such as love, power, beauty, etc.)
Here are many of the words from the book of Revelation used as SYMBOLS:
candlesticks
horses
locusts
beasts
birds
animals
dragons
heads
horns
teeth
tails
eyes
mouths
wings
hair
feet
hands
foreheads
odours
books
gold
seals
crowns
names
cities
nations
kings
tongues
Nicolaitans
Antipas
Armageddon
Balaam
Balak
Abaddon
Apollyon
Babylon
Sodom
Egypt
Jezebel
book of life
tree of live
water of life
hours
days
months
seasons
rod of iron
sickle
bow
blades
swords
reap
harvest
grass
trees
thrones
garments
robes
signs
images
wonders
marks
numbers
vials
trumpets
winds
rivers
lakes
seas
waters
clouds
floods
mountains
islands
lightnings
voices
thunders
earthquakes
hails
songs
winepresses
grapes
wine
balances
wheat
barley
oil
eyesalve
pebbles
manna
wreaths
palm fronds
whores
harlots
fornications
keys
doors
temples
synagogues
pillars
rich
poor
blind
naked
hot
cold
lukewarm
blood
deaths
fire
sulfur
brimstone
smoke
sun
moon
stars
There is no mistaking this language. The book of Revelation is written in SYMBOLS! So what is written externally, on paper, in symbols, has a SPIRITUAL meaning and application.
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And even heaven and earth are used as symbols in this great book of symbols.
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Now chapter one was pretty easy as God told us just what some of those symbols represented. But there are dozens and dozens more symbols in this book of Revelation that are not explained in the verses that follow immediately. How shall we understand all those symbols. First of all, without the spirit of God, the answer is we will never understand these symbols. But guided by God’s spirit, God can show us in other places in His Word what these mysterious symbols represent. It is God Who provides us with "ears to hear and eyes to see."
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The book of Revelation was "signified" by the use of signs and symbols. Signs and symbols always represent or mean something other than the sign or symbol itself. We are all familiar with symbols and signs so that we should never be confused as to what a sign or symbol is or is not.
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Be it known however, that the lake of fire and the second death DO INDEED picture something spiritual that relates to or has some properties of, LITERAL FIRE and LITERAL DEATH. Without some similar properties, the metaphor would be meaningless. I have read some extremely complex definitions of a metaphor which were totally wrong. A metaphor is where one thing is said to BE something else. Here’s a Scriptural example: "All flesh is grass" (I Pet. 1:24). That’s simple enough. Now then, is that statement by Peter true? Yes, of course, it is true. Is it literally true? No, it is not literally true. Then how do we know for sure what there is ABOUT this metaphor that is true? If a metaphor is not literally true, how is it true at all?
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Here is an) explanation of a metaphor and see if these things be so or not.
"The lake of fire, which, by virtue of being its cause, thus, represents the second death.
"...the symbolic subject [the lake of fire] is like the literal predicate [the second death]."
When one thing (or things) [in this case the lake of fire] which represents another thing [in this case the second death], is finally said to be that other thing [the second death], whether or not the representative thing itself is a literal entity [second death], in any case, that which it finally represents consists in a literal expression and is a literal entity [a LITERAL second death]."
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Is it true that one part of a metaphor must be literal or there is no way to understand the metaphor? No, that is not true. Let me give you an example that I doubt many have really meditated on:
"Now at their eating, Jesus, taking the bread, and, blessing, breaks it, and, giving to the disciples, said, ‘Take eat [this bread], This [bread] IS my body" (Matt. 26:26).
The greatest minds in theology have haggled for hundreds of years over this metaphor that Christ used at the last supper. Does the bread literally turn into the body flesh of Christ when we eat that bread as the Catholic faith demands? What a silly question. IT’S A METAPHOR! And the idea that one of the two parts of a metaphor must be literal is likewise silly.
In this metaphor, the bread is a symbol. Is there anyone who cannot recognize that Christ used bread from the table as a "symbol" of something? Then when used as a symbol, neither can it be any longer literal. Is there anyone who cannot recognize that Christ used His own body as a "symbol" of something? Then when used as a symbol it neither can be any longer literal. That being said then, the bread is symbolic AND Christ’s body is also symbolic! Jesus used literal "bread" from the table and used the literal words "my body." When Jesus picked up the bread and broke it, no one thought that He was talking about CHEESE! When Jesus said, "my body," no one thought He was speaking of His clothing or His shoes. Everyone at that table knew what "bread" was and what Christ’s "body" was. However ... HOWEVER, Christ used the words "bread" and "my body" in a METAPHOR! He said, "Take eat, this [bread] IS My body." That my friends is a METAPHOR! And as a metaphor, neither the bread nor Christ’s body is to be taken literally! "I am the BREAD OF LIFE..." (John 6:35).
We do NOT eat physical bread to partake of the symbolic or spiritual life-giving food of Christ’s body. Nor would we be partaking of spiritual or symbolic bread by eating Christ’s literal flesh and blood body. Can we not see that neither part of a metaphor must always be literal. The bread is used as a symbol because literal bread is called the staff of life. Christ’s body is used in this metaphor because our spiritual nourishment comes from no other source but Jesus Christ. They say that we are what we eat. When we partake of the real staff of life--the spiritual food of Christ’s body, we ourselves BECOME the very body of Christ ourselves!
Here’s the Scriptural proof:
"I am the BREAD OF LIFE..." (John 6:35).
"For we, who are many, are ONE BREAD, ONE BODY, for we all are partaking of the ONE BREAD" (I Cor. 10:17).
"The Jews, then, murmured concerning Him, that He said, ‘I AM the Bread which descends out of heaven." (John 6:41).
"I am the living Bread ... Now the Bread also, which I shall be giving for the sake of the life of the world IS MY FLESH" (John 6:51).
But just as most are totally blind regarding the meaning of Scriptural metaphors today, they were also ignorant of Christ’s words when He spoke them:
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Jesus said that the words that he spoke were SPIRIT (John 6:63). Jesus Christ changes not. His words are STILL spirit and they certainly were spirit when John wrote the words of Christ regarding His unveiling or revelation. Just as we physically feed on physical bread for PHYSICAL LIFE, thus also we spiritually feed on Jesus Christ’s spiritual body for SPIRITUAL LIFE.
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In many cases it is not difficult to determine whether a verse is literal or not. But, since we use figures of speech so often we tend to forget that much of what we say daily is not literally true. Many of us would hardly be able to carry on a conversation if we had to drop out of our vocabulary every word and every phrase we speak that is NOT LITERALLY TRUE. The English language, as well as all other languages, is just filled with symbolic and metaphorical phrases.
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Understand this! Some think that by accepting the Scriptures as they are given (in the case of Revelation that means AS SYMBOLS), that somehow this "spiritualizes away" the teaching. What? It is the "spiritual" aspect of these symbols that IS THE REAL THING; THE REAL UNDERSTANDING! Physical things "pass away" whereas spiritual things are eternal! The very FACT that this book is written in "symbols" is proof positive that the understanding of them is SPIRITUAL and not physical or literal.
Symbols, metaphors, and parables ARE NEVER LITERALLY TRUE! But they powerfully demonstrate SPIRITUAL TRUTHS!