{"id":119,"date":"2018-04-14T17:06:02","date_gmt":"2018-04-14T22:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/?page_id=119"},"modified":"2019-04-25T05:53:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T10:53:34","slug":"symbols-signs-types-allegories-parables-copies-shadows-and-patterns","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/hear\/study\/hidden-mysteries\/symbols-signs-types-allegories-parables-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/","title":{"rendered":"Symbols, Signs, Types, Allegories and Parables"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong>
\nIn God’s wisdom, he has seen fit to load the Bible with mysteries and symbolism. After parables<\/a> the bulk of the mysteries in the Bible are found in its symbols<\/a>, signs<\/a>, types<\/a>, allegories<\/a>, copies<\/a> and shadows<\/a>. Knowing that the Bible is full of these symbolic references, disciples are challenged to understand the spiritual meanings of natural people, places and things so they can understand what God is trying to communicate. Doing this is a like assembling a zillion-piece puzzle<\/a>. It is a big project, and it will take time,\u00a0but you and those who work at it with<\/a> you\u00a0will all\u00a0benefit immensely from your effort.<\/p>\n

It must be said, however, that it success does not depend on fleshly effort (i.e. physical effort and intellect). People who read using only their intellectual minds will not hear the spiritual truth because they don’t listen with their hearts for spiritual wisdom and understanding that comes from the spirit of God (i.e. his voice)<\/a>. And, if they have only the literal truth of the Bible but do not have the spiritual truth that will set them free from religion<\/a>, they will remain slaves to religion<\/a>. They may have the intellectual truth of the literal Bible in their minds, but the spiritual truth of the Bible is not in their hearts.<\/a><\/p>\n

The point is\u00a0 worth repeating: We must listen to God’s voice<\/a> while we read the Bible. If we only read and process with our natural eyes and intellectual minds, we are in the category of people who have dull hearts that handicap them <\/a>from listening to God’s voice<\/a>. The principle here is that we must listen with our hearts in order to have the law written on our hearts.<\/p>\n

Even people who do not believe in God and\/or do know how to hear God’s voice<\/a>\u00a0can read the Bible randomly\u00a0or even regularly\u00a0to gain a small measure of wisdom from it without understanding its symbolism. But no one, not even the most educated, studious, religious people, will know the full\u00a0truth of the character (i.e. name)<\/a> of God and what he expects from his people unless they listen to God’s voice while reading.<\/p>\n

To know God fully, or as fully as possible, readers first need to reject the common teaching that the Bible should only be interpreted in its literal sense and not symbolically. It is also helpful to reject everything they have already learned about the Bible. They must, like little children, ask questions<\/a> every time they find a scripture they do not understand.<\/p>\n

Then, instead of\u00a0inspecting individual pieces of a zillion-piece puzzle scattered across a table (i.e. reading the Bible without relating one part to other related parts), they will learn how to relate all parts of the Bible to each other and be able to complete\u00a0the big picture that allows you to know God<\/a>. He gradually emerges out of the cloud and the dim mirror until he becomes visible and we see him face to face.<\/a><\/p>\n

Because the Bible is so full of mysteries, and symbolism, stopping to ask questions every time we find something we do not understand is a very slow process. It takes time to check concordance references. It take time to check the meanings of words in the original Hebrew and Greek languages. Study is hard work but there is great reward for those who ask, seek and knock<\/a> every time they ask God to explain a question<\/a>. This is what it means to be a disciple. They study to show themselves approved by God<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It seems like God could have made it\u00a0easier for us\u00a0to understand him, but he did not. He had his reasons for hiding himself in pillars of cloud and fire when he lead Israel through the desert. He was teaching them to learn to trust him who they could not see and learn to walk through the wilderness obedient to his written commandment. When they arrived at the promised land forty years later, however, Joshua (i.e. a type of Messiah) led them. But he was not hidden in a cloud. He was a very real spiritual presence leading and teaching Israel in its quest to conquer the land occupied by religious cities and nations<\/a> that resented Israel’s intrusion into their territory. He was a copy of the Holy Spirit who leads and guides New Covenant disciples into possessing their promised land<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another reason why God uses symbols, signs, types, copies shadows and patterns is found in the first the natural and then the spiritual pattern<\/a> that we discuss in Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 2. Putting it bluntly, the deep stuff of God is too deep for man to communicate through natural means like words written on paper or words spoken by mortal men. The full depth of God can only be communicated directly by God’s spirit to the spirits of men without any human mediator.<\/p>\n

The history of Israel is a pattern for all Old\/First Covenant religionists — including Christians — who must wander in the wilderness for a period of time (forty years symbolizes a long, indeterminate season of life) picking up their daily portion of natural. They are confined to this wilderness wandering until God finds them ready to go into the promised land and confront the religious giants who will be a constant source of trouble as enemies who do not want people to live in freedom.<\/p>\n

Along the way, Old\/First Covenant religionists must make do with their limited understandings of symbols, signs, types, copies shadows and patterns found throughout the Bible. These are only introductions to the mysteries of God presented in natural terms with which men are familiar. The spiritual knowledge comes later when the Spirit of God instructs New Covenant disciples directly by his spirit without mediation by written or spoken human words.<\/p>\n

The challenge for disciples is to study<\/a>. Study is the essence of what it means to be a disciple: learner<\/a>. People who really want to know God and his ways will study and listen for more truth because they know that the written Bible and God’s spoken word are not the same. <\/a><\/p>\n

This study, however, is not the same as picking up manna in the desert. That was done in response to one of God’s legal commandments. The physical manna did sustain them and man died in the wilderness even though they ate it. <\/a>They were obedient to eat the manna in the desert, but they could not enter the promised land because they were unwilling to conquer the religious giants who already occupied the land. <\/a>In other words, being partly obedient was not enough to have the right to enter the promised land.<\/p>\n

Those who are obedient and willing to go to war to conquer the religious giants, however, are the ones to whom God gives hidden manna <\/a>which is the spiritual explanation for the natural manna which is the written words of the Bible. They will study and listen to hear God’s voice which gives them life<\/a>. And after they do discover truth, they will keep studying because they have acquired a taste for God that satisfies but cannot be quenched. It is like the more they\u00a0learn the more they want to learn. Their capacity and desire to learn and study increases as they are filled with truth, wonder and amazement of knowing God face to face.<\/p>\n

But this truth that leads to life comes with a cost<\/a>. It is, as Jesus said, hidden manna. It is hidden in the symbols, signs, types, copies, shadows and patterns scattered throughout the Bible — in both the Old and New Testaments. It is impossible to see God face to face and know him intimately unless these mysteries are uncovered and brought into the light. They will only be revealed, however, to those disciples who are willing to pay the cost of hating the religious traditions into which they were born and which they have practiced. If they do not repent for following the teachings of Balaam and<\/a><\/span> the Nicola’itans, and do not overcome their affections for religion, they will not have access to the hidden manna that leads to eternal life.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

When you stop to think about it, this is the way it should be for people who say they love God. Those who are serious about that love will\u00a0seriously consider his promise that those who seek him will find him when they seek with all their heart.<\/a> In gaining a little understanding about who he really is, we understand that there is so much more to him that we do not know. And that should drive us to study<\/a> deeper and longer than we have ever studied before.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

DOUBT IS GOOD<\/strong>
\nIn the maturation process we sooner or later — but hopefully sooner — come to doubt that religious teachings offered by humans are not adequate to satisfy our desire for growth. We come to understand that neither church, nor synagogue, nor preachers, nor rabbis, nor prophets, nor apostles are able to adequately teach us about God. We hunger for good spiritual food<\/a> that comes directly from God’s mouth.<\/p>\n

We come to the realization that we do not want our maturity to be limited by the maturity or immaturity of others — no matter how mature they appear to be. When we begin to question (i.e. doubt) the effectiveness of human teaching, and question the legitimacy of religion, we can be sure that God is at work in the long process of setting us free<\/a> from Old\/First Covenant religion and transforming us into New Covenant disciples. This process begins with goads <\/a>from God that cause us to doubt the validity and efficacy<\/a> of our religion. Once these doubts set in, we will not want to let anything or anybody limit our knowledge of God or obstruct the maturing of our relationship to him.<\/p>\n

When we\u00a0 get to this point, many things change in our lives. First, we stop looking to others to give us evil, soulish food.<\/a> We take personal responsibility for feeding ourselves and digging our own spiritual wells<\/a>. Next, we will disassociate with religious institutions (i.e. churches, synagogues, ministries, etc.) and the religious leaders\u00a0on whom we have been dependent for spiritual food. We will find them to be inadequate to the task of feeding us and hundreds and\u00a0perhaps thousands of others who may not have the same appetite for God as we do. We will say to ourselves, and maybe to others, “My hunger for God is greater than\u00a0their ability to feed me. I must study<\/a> myself if I want to grow spiritually.”<\/p>\n

When we get to that place, the meaning of the narrow gate <\/a>takes on special meaning for us and we are no longer content to be a part of the crowd that enters the wide gate. If God is merciful to us, we come to understand that the wide gate that\u00a0we and others have historically entered is nothing better than and\u00a0Old\/First Covenant religion of religious do’s and don’t s that has snared and injured ignorant people who depend on teachers drunk with spiritual pride to direct their religious\u00a0behaviors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time, we also come to understand that God has been gently guiding us toward the New Covenant where the law is written in our minds and\u00a0on our heart<\/a>. Consistent with his word, he has used the finite, religious laws of men written on articles of incorporation, bylaws, doctrinal statements, weak spiritual leaders,\u00a0liturgies, programs and orders of service on Sunday mornings<\/a>\u00a0to frustrate us and cause\u00a0us to repent for trying to achieve righteousness by our religious works<\/a>. He has used the frailty of religious leaders and dead religious works as a tutor to\u00a0lead us to quit depending on them for spiritual food and lead us to Christ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And when we get to that point we are ready to say to God, to ourselves and others,<\/p>\n

“Enough of this religious stuff! Enough of depending on men for knowledge about God<\/a>. No more religion. From now on it is just me and God and his laws written on my heart<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

That is how it was for Saul the Pharisee when Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-22<\/a>. Paul later reports his version of the event in Acts 26:12-19<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Thus I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles–to whom I send you 18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,<\/p>\n

We all\u00a0 know this story. Saul was one of\u00a0 the most zealous religious people around. He made a career out of persecuting and killing followers of Christ. We learn from Paul’s report that Jesus had been bothering Saul before the incident on the road to Damascus. When\u00a0 Jesus said, “It hurts you to kick against the goads<\/a>,” he meant that God was trying to deliver him from Old\/First Covenant religion toward listening to his spoken voice<\/a>. In his zeal for maintaining Old\/First Covenant law and all the traditions associated with Judaism, he had attracted God’s correction (i.e. goads<\/a>.) And now, God had finally increased the pain of correction to the point that he blinded Saul to get his attention in a way he could not ignore.<\/p>\n

This story provides several object lessons in symbolism. First, physical blindness is equated with spiritual blindness. The blindness tells us that\u00a0Saul could not see (i.e. accept) that Jesus was the fulfillment of\u00a0The Law\u00a0that Paul so zealously advanced and protected. He was a religious Pharisee who took great pride in his knowledge of the written law and in\u00a0his ability to obey every last facet of it. His life was very closely tied to The Law of Moses and all its various religious requirements, including temple services and sacrifices which produced income for him and other Pharisees. He and his fellow temple leaders were greatly threatened by Jesus presence and his ability to attract people to himself. If the people followed Jesus, the power, status and income\u00a0of the Pharisees would be\u00a0greatly diminished.<\/p>\n

Next, we find symbolism in the scales that fell from his eyes after he received the Holy Spirit. The scales represent the rigid devotion he had to the legal system of the temple leaders. Their livelihood and very reason for living was wrapped up in the temple and everything for which it stood. Up until the point of being struck blind, the temple and The Law was all Saul could\u00a0see. He could see the letter of The Law clearly, but he could not intellectually understand (i.e. see) that there was an underlying “Spirit” to the law that Jesus had come to fulfill.<\/p>\n

Spiritually speaking, what Saul was blinded\u00a0from was the truth of Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding the New Covenant.<\/a> Being a student of The Law, he surely knew about the Jeremiah’s prophecy and other prophecies about a Messiah, but somehow he and other Pharisees had come to believe that the fulfillment of the prophecy would happen at some future date under other circumstances. It is curious that others recognized Jesus as the coming Messiah, but many, especially religious leaders, could not make that connection. We can imagine that the main reason Saul could not see this is because of his great investment in the temple’s religious ceremonies. To put that more succinctly, we could say that he\u00a0 was blinded by the letter of The Law to the reality of Christ as the spiritual fulfillment of The Law.<\/p>\n

Next, we can look at Ananias laying his hands on Saul as symbolic of anointing by the Holy Spirit<\/a>. Another way to look at this is that regaining of his physical sight and baptism represent a new ability to see spiritually and act\u00a0with the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometime thereafter, people started calling him Paul<\/a>\u00a0to reflect that his character (i.e. name) had changed also.Then, we can look at Paul’s training and release into ministry<\/a>.\u00a0Spending time with Damascus disciples is symbolic code for training.<\/p>\n

Finally, we can step back and look at the symbolism of Paul’s history and\u00a0how it\u00a0relates to our own lives. Paul is a type of Christ (i.e. he had new life after death in Old\/First Covenant religion), and he is a type of us who should also desire to be brought to new life after spending years in the captivity of Old\/First Covenant religion.<\/p>\n

Paul represents all people who are raised and indoctrinated<\/a> into religion. It does not matter that Paul is a kind of special case because he was a Pharisee. In our own ways we are all Pharisees if we hold to the doctrines taught by men.<\/a> It does not matter what religion (Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, etc.)\u00a0we\u00a0follow. If\u00a0we practice\u00a0some form of religion,\u00a0we are indoctrinated. And if\u00a0we are indoctrinated, we, like Saul, are blind to the truth of who Jesus is.\u00a0We\u00a0have scales on your\u00a0 eyes that must be removed before\u00a0we can see spiritually and be released into effective ministry empowered by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

Paul’s story, therefore, is every man’s story. We all are goaded like he was to change direction regarding our religion. We get little goads here and there as we wonder if our religious activities mean anything to God. We know that they mean something to those with whom we worship because they keep coming and keep paying for the religious services provided by the church, synagogue or temple where we worship. But, because things don’t appear to change much, despite all our prayers and worship songs, we entertain doubts about whether it all means anything to God. Doubts are God’s goads to move us from religion to New Covenant life.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, we keep attending our preferred place of worship and keep doing our same old religious rituals and activities because they make us feel righteous and good — even though we don’t see much tangible benefit from them. And because our friends and family show no signs of relaxing their religious zeal, we continue with our habitual religious practices.<\/p>\n

But, if we are honest with ourselves and with God, we notice that from time to time, doubt creeps in. The doubts are goads from God to open our eyes so that we will reject religion. We do well to pay attention to the doubts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

WE WERE BLIND BUT NOW WE SEE<\/strong>
\nPaul’s story is our (i.e. Authors) story. We were very religious for many years. We changed churches and denominations several times, but we were always religious. As we look back, we can now say with shame that we were very religious. We thought we were spiritual, but we were just plain religious.<\/p>\n

While we would say that we were blinded to the reality of Christ as\u00a0the fulfillment of The Law and the mediator of the New Covenant, we can also see upon review of our history that God was indeed goading us like he goaded Paul. We didn’t know a goad when we saw one then, but now we basically see them as doubt. Religious people will rarely confess doubt, but we are not religious anymore, so we will confess our doubts openly with the attitude that says we don’t understand God perfectly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We wondered why the churches we knew were so weak and ineffective. We wondered why people did not appear to change and had no testimony except for the one when they say they were saved. We saw\u00a0poor leadership in pastors and elder boards\u00a0who\u00a0caused great hurt for people in the church — especially pastors. We saw the needs of people in spiritual pain ignored for lack of faith that God might heal them. We saw all the same failings that most church-goers see in their churches. And we grieved for those who were stuck in\u00a0church even though the church did nothing to educate them or minister to them except in the most superficial ways. And we were angry because that was the way it was and there was no sign that things would ever change.<\/p>\n

That is basically how it progressed for us. While it may sound ungodly and insensitive, that is how we hope it will progress for our readers also because that, more or less, is what must happen. They must get disgusted with empty religion, cry out to God, get set free from religion and become New Covenant disciples. We might be wrong about this, but we don’t think any of that will happen, however,\u00a0unless they understand the mysteries<\/a> and symbols<\/a> of the Bible.<\/p>\n

Rigid, literal interpretations of the Bible will not lead anyone to deep spiritual truths. Literal interpretations lead people to a form of godliness that has no spiritual power<\/a>. God is not as simple as a\u00a0 few bullet points on a doctrinal statement or as a church service that is repeated week after week.. Anyone who represents that God can be reduced to a dozen or so doctrines and another dozen or so religious practices (i.e. baptism, confirmation, communion, Lord’s supper, regular mass or church, prayer, tithing, etc.) has a small and wrong view of a big God. These are all religious artifacts<\/a> of Old\/First Covenant religion. They are the physical efforts of people who are trying to act out in their flesh what should be spiritual realities. If the spiritual reality existed in them they would find no need to act it out in the flesh. They would know that God knows the condition of their hearts and they would not need or want to\u00a0try to convince themselves or others about that condition by acting it out in some religious way.<\/p>\n

But awareness of that flesh and spirit conflict will not come unless\u00a0people understand the meaning of mysteries and symbols. These are the spirit side of the equation. The Biblical symbols are the physical, or natural representations of spiritual truths.<\/p>\n

AUTHORS’ NOTE: See this link for a discussion of the “first the natural and then the spiritual” principle<\/a> found in the Bible.<\/p>\n

People who cannot get below or behind the natural facts to the spiritual truths that they represent, will be\u00a0stuck in the natural (i.e. the flesh). Or, to make the same point in other words, they will not mature spiritually if they are content with the limitations of what can be seen, heard or touched with their natural, fleshly capabilities.<\/p>\n

If we stop a moment to think about it, it makes sense that God, being a spiritual being, should be primarily concerned with spiritual things. Natural things of the world and flesh\u00a0are a part of life, of course, but God is trying little by little to\u00a0wean us off of the stuff of the world in favor of stuff of the Spirit.<\/p>\n

It is a stark reality that we must die to the world of religion<\/a> before we can become alive to the Spirit. Religious people know this truth, but they tend to think\u00a0that the stuff of the world and flesh only includes things like money, sex, power, pride, and so on. They rarely consider that religion, all religion<\/a>, is also deeply rooted in the world and flesh.<\/p>\n

Because religion can be seen, touched and heard, it is of the world and the flesh. It is not of faith<\/a>. No matter how it may be clothed with\u00a0fine-sounding spiritual words and activities, religion is still only laws created by and managed by people<\/a> — not God. And because this is true, religion must die in the hearts of religious people so that God can recreate them by writing his laws on their hearts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SYMBOLS <\/strong>
\nSee the following links for a few examples of natural things that the Bible uses to represent spiritual truths:
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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