Posted by Martin on June 10, 2014 at 04:02:04:
Literal versus figurative language
As the end approaches, things are going to deteriorate in a hurry. If we are to walk in truth, we
must guard ourselves against interpreting Scripture to fit our preconceived notions, for "The Lord
takes no delight in fools" (Ecc 5:4). The Bible is not "oral traditions" or "stories" as liberals
theologians would have us believe. It is a historic and sometimes prophetic account of God’s
dealings with man throughout the ages, written down by men in their stated historic settings.
Most of the Bible is written in plain language. The poetic books, the gospels, and the epistles are
primarily literal and should be accepted verbatim.
But God’s plan as recorded in Scripture embraces many writing styles: prose as well as poetry,
some literal, some figurative. Some is written in a nonliteral way (in figurative language) to
achieve an effect beyond the range of ordinary language. So how can we know when a passage of
Scripture should be literally or figuratively understood? The Bible itself tells us. Most figurative
passages contain sign posts that tell us they are figurative, figurative signpost words like: "I was
in the spirit" or "the kingdom of Heaven is "like," or "like unto," or "as" a wedding feast, a
mustard seed, a pearl of great price, a king going to a far country or a sower going forth to sow.
Now the kingdom of Heaven is not really a wedding feast, a king in a far country, a mustard seed,
a pearl, or a sower; it is only figuratively likened unto one!
Whether a passage is literal or figurative
is determined by the Author,
not the reader.
1. Interpreting literal language figuratively
results in false doctrine.
2. Interpreting figurative language literally
also results in false doctrine.
Figurative signposts are key to recognizing
a passage as literal or figurative.
Examples of Figurative Signposts in Scripture
“Like, Likened” or “Like Unto”
Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like unto
treasure hid in a field.”
Matthew 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a
certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mark 4:30 “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God?
It is like a grain of mustard seed
Luke 13:20-21 “Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like
leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal.”
“AS”
Not always a figurative signpost, must be determined by context.
Mat 9:36 “they fainted, and were scattered abroad,
as sheep having no shepherd.”
Mat 13:43 “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun.”
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and
shineth even unto the west.”
Mar 13:34 “For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey,
who left his house, and gave authority.”
Luke 10:3 “Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.”
Luke 17:6 “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed.”
“In The Spirit”
A different kind of figurative signpost.
Here the prophet is seeing through his spiritual eyes
rather than through his physical eyes.
Rev 1:10 “I was in the spirit on the Lord's day.”
Rev 4:2 “And immediately I was in the spirit.”
Rev 17:3 “So he carried me away in the spirit.”
Rev 21:10 “And he carried me away in the spirit.”
All show that the prophet is having a vision
and all prophetic visions are figurative!
Example of a Figurative Vision
Genesis 37:9-10 “And he (Joseph) dreamed yet another dream
(in other words he had a vision), and told it his brethren, and
said, ‘Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the
sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to
me.’ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his
father (who understood the vision as figurative) rebuked him,
and said unto him, ‘What is this dream that thou hast
dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed
come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?’”
Joseph’s dream is obviously about Jacob
and the children of Israel.
So are there any prophetic visions in the Bible
that are not figurative?
The Same Figurative Language is in Revelation.
Revelation 12:1 “And there appeared a great wonder in
heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars.”
The Bible has only one Author!
Since the figurative language in Revelation
is identical to the figurative language in Genesis,
who do you suppose Revelation 12:1
is actually identifying?
Why it’s . . .
ISRAEL of course!
Figurative language appears all over Revelation!
Rev 4:6 “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like
unto crystal.”
Rev 9:10 “And they had tails like unto scorpions.”
Rev 11:1 “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod.”
Rev 13:11 “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the
earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as
a dragon.”
Rev 16:13 “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out
of the mouth of the dragon.”
Rev 16:3 “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the
sea (of people, Rev 17:15); and it became as the blood of
a dead man; and every living soul died (spiritually) in
the sea.”
Revelation has over 60
figurative signposts
so Revelation is
primarily figurative!
Some of Revelation’s figurative language
is defined for us in the book itself . . .
Revelation 1:20 “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right
hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels
(a messenger) of the seven churches: and the
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”
Revelation 11:3-4 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they
shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing
before the God of the earth.”
Revelation 17:18 “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
Revelation 17:1-6 “And there came one of the seven angels which
had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come
hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore (In
the Old Testament, apostasy is always described as harlotry, so this
“whore” is the apostate Church) that sitteth upon many waters
(many people, Rev 17:15): With whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk with the wine of her fornication (with the unsaved
world). So he carried me away in the spirit (figurative signpost)
into the wilderness (of the Gentile nations): and I saw a woman sit
upon a scarlet coloured beast (compare with red dragon of
Rev:12:3, so this beast is Satan himself), full of names of blasphemy,
having seven heads (empires) and ten horns (kings or kingdoms).
And the woman was arrayed in purple . . .
Series (chronological) or parallel
Daniel’s bifid and chiasms prove
his prophecies to be parallel in time.
If Revelation is patterned like Daniel,
(and the same God inspired both books)
then Revelation is not about
suppositional events in a theoretical
“ Seven-Year Great Tribulation,”
but a series of parallel prophecies
primarily about the Christian era!
BUT HOW CAN WE PROVE IT?
Could the Seven Churches, the Seven Seals,
the Seven Trumpets and the Two Witnesses
be repetitive prophecies primarily about
the Christian Era?
We know the Seven Churches existed during
the Apostle John’s lifetime, but could the
the Seals, Trumpets and Two Witnesses
already be fulfilled?
Revelation is Bifidic
Chapters 2-11
Revelation 5:7 “And he (Jesus) came
and took the book out of the right
hand of him that sat upon the
throne.”
God the Father gives the “little
book” of Revelation to Jesus, who
then reads about the Seven seals, the
Seven Trumpets the 144 Thousand,
and the Two Witnesses.
Chapters 12-20
Revelation 10:10-11 “And I (John) took
the little book out of the angel's
(Jesus’) hand, and ate it up; And he
said unto me, thou must prophesy
again.” (Note the again!)
Jesus gives Revelation to John who
then reads about the woman with 12
stars, the three great beasts, the Holy
City and Babylon the Great.
So just like Daniel, Revelation is bifidic!
So the twelve prophecies in Revelation are parallel and
concurrent, fulfilled during the Christian era!
Revelation 1:19 is the key!
Revelation is a synopsis of the 6000 years
God has been dealing with man.
It is about events
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
from the time of John.
the Seven Seals were opened by the Lord
immediately after He was glorified.
The “little book” of Revelation is index
to the rest of the Bible.
Its 12 visions are God the Father’s repeated pictures
of major events that will take place
before, during and after the Christian era.