THE
METAPHORS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
May
27, 2015
Webster
defined the metaphor as: “A figure of speech in which a word or phrase
literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to
suggest a likeness or analogy between them.”
If
I read Webster correctly, the metaphor is made up of two different divisions,
the first segment consists of a statement composed of a figurative speech,
while the last segment is completed of another idea used in place of the former
that suggest a likeness or analogy between the two. And metaphor is pronounced meta’-for.
Therefore
the Biblical metaphor differs not from Webster’s description.
Many
are the metaphors in the Holy Scriptures. Some are in the form of prophecy while others
are references to Bible history, but all come to us in the form of a figure of
speech to be completed by those whom have met the challenge where Paul said:
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15
Hopefully
when considering the figurative speech brought on by the Metaphor it will bring
to mind an analogy that suggest a likeness to the illustration. A good example of that is where Daniel
described the first of the four beasts of Daniel chapter seven; He
begins the description through a figurative speech. He wrote: “The first Beast was like a lion, and had eagle's wings:
I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the
earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to
it.” Daniel 7:4
Let
it also be known the Holy Scriptures that held the figurative of speech also
holds the Scripture that denotes the subject. However such analogy is found
somewhere between Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21
Isaiah
got it right when he said: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:”
Isaiah 28:10
Examples of metaphors:
We
begin this study where it is written: “Daniel spake and said, I saw in my
vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the
great sea. [3] And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from
another.” Daniel 7:2-3
Now
what Daniel saw in his vision by night became a reality during the time of
JESUS’ ministry where Matthew and others saw and recorded it accordingly.
Now
to consider where Daniel said: “Behold the four winds strove upon the great
sea.”
Now
the four winds of Heaven that strove upon the sea of people was JESUS striving
with the mass of people with His everlasting Gospel.
Matthew
witnessed that situation and said:
“Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all
manner of disease among the people.” And said Matthew: “his fame went throughout
all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with
divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and
those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And
there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and
from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.”
Matthew 4:23-25
Matthew
continued: “And seeing the multitudes, JESUS went up into a mountain: and when
he was set, his disciples came unto him:” Matthew 5:1
Therefore
JESUS and His disciples were the first beast to separate themselves from what
Daniel described as a great sea, that in reality were people. Thus JESUS’ disciples were the first to
emerge from the great sea and thus the first beast to come up out of the sea.
Therefore
said Daniel: “The first Beast was
like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings
thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon
the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.” Daniel 7:4
Yea,
Balaam likened the remnant of Jacob as a lion, where he said: "Behold, the
people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion:
he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the
slain." Numbers 23:24
Micah
also gave his view on how the small remnant measured up to a lion.
He
said: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst
of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion
among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and
treadeth in pieces and none can deliver."
Micah 5:8
That
small remnant did tread down the strongholds of Satan as they went about
preaching in so much the cities rulers said: “These that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also;” Acts 17:6
Daniel
also said of the first Beast that had eagle’s wings. And said he: “I beheld till the wings thereof
were plucked.”
The
wings represented the Word and Spirit of the Law Covenant. Therefore
since JESUS said that the law and the prophets were until John (Luke 16:16) the
taking away of wings was the letter and the Spirit of the older Testament.
Then
John witnessed the restoration of new wings, which was the letter and the
Spirit of the new and better Grace Covenant., depicted as wings: “And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and
half a time, from the face of the serpent.” Revelation 12:14
Daniel continued to tell of the beasts that
he saw in his vision by night while setting the stage with another metaphor.
This is the figurative speech Daniel used to
begin the second metaphor: “And behold
another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one
side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of
it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much
flesh.” Daniel 7:5
Yea, the second beast to emerge from that
great sea of humanity was: “Like to a bear.” Solomon equated that second beast to evil
rulers and so it was. He said: "As
a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor
people." Proverbs 28:15
"And it raised
up itself on one side.” I believe what
Daniel saw (in his night vision) was that the first beast chose that which is
good; whereas that second beast being evil choose the other side, and thus “It raised up itself on one side.
May we, as did Mary, choose the good part
when serving our LORD JESUS CHRIST Amen!
“And it had three ribs in the mouth of it
between the teeth of it.”
JESUS identified that
bone crushing Beast as the scribes and the Pharisees.
He adjured: "Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear
beautiful outward, but are within full
of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27
The LORD GOD also identified the heads of
Israel as committing the same criminal acts during the Old Testament for He
told them: “Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off
them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the
pot, and as flesh within the caldron.” Micah 3:3
The
LORD GOD also expressed displeasure with the King of Babylon. He said: "Nebuchadrezzar the king of
Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel,
he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my
delicates, he hath cast me out."
Jeremiah 51:34
Then in the very next verse, The GOD of Heaven
said: "The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the
inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall
Jerusalem say." Jeremiah 51:35
That conspiracy continued long after
they had killed Jesus and many of His disciples.
Here
is yet another prophecy to important to ignore; yea, the Scholar that has read
and understood what the four Gospels and the first two chapters of Acts had to
say, is qualified to be a candidate filling in the analysis of the metaphor.
When prophesying of the coming of CHRIST
JESUS, Zechariah said: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall
cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there
shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the
north, and half of it toward the south.” Zech. 14:4
Realizing part of his prophecy was not
written as a metaphor but it was status quo and so much a part of JESUS
Himself, I deem it necessary to comment on it also.
Yea,
When Zechariah said, “In that day,” that meant that JESUS was to fulfill
both prophecies either at His appearing via the virgin birth or during another
event. But
JESUS standing on the Mount of Olives was one of the many signs GOD gave Israel
to confirm that JESUS was indeed their Messiah.
No,
it didn’t register with Israel in general nor does it score with many of the
modern day scholars. Many were the
times His feet trod upon the Mount of Olives, literally. Luke
said: “In the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the
Mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the
morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.”
Luke 21:37-38
And
JESUS said of Himself: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but
the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Luke 9:58
Now
that is most humbling to say the least. Especially since Luke said: “At night, JESUS went out, and abode in
the mount that is called the Mount
of Olives.
Taking
into consideration all that Luke recorded concerning JESUS of Nazareth and the
many times He stood on the Mount of Olives, that was to the satisfactory of the
prophecy which said: “And his feet shall
stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,”
Thence
the metaphor: “The mount of Olives shall
cleave in the midst.” Above, we dealt
with where Zechariah said: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.” Zechariah 14:4-a Yea, Zechariah furnished us with the
figurative speech leaving us the privilege of searching the Scripture to find
the analysis and that might be scattered throughout the Holy writ.
Knowing
first of all that the Mount of olive was symbolic in part in Zechariah 14:4,
while on the other hand: “The mount of Olives that cleave in the midst,” was
anything but, for it is supernatural and for most part it is understood through
a symbolic language.
Such was the case where Jeremiah told Israel:
“The Lord called thy name, A green
olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great
tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.” Jeremiah
11:16
That
goodly fruit, as it were, was the people of Israel thus they were the Mount of
Olives that clave in the midst. Then
Isaiah made use of the olive tree to portray what should befall the beloved
Israel in the latter days. He wrote: “When thus it shall be in the midst of the
land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree.” Isaiah 24:13-a Then holding true to form, the great Apostle
Paul told the Gentiles: “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is
wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree:
how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their
own olive tree?” Romans 11:24 Yea,
we’ve found Israel to be depicted as an olive tree and its fruit as her
members.
But
now to determine what it was that portrayed the feet which caused the cleavage
that clave Israel in the midst and caused them to scatter in all directions.
When
JESUS sent His apostles out to preach the Gospel, He told them: “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on
serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing
shall by any means hurt you." Such
treading was done through the Word they preached.
In
reference to His Testimonial, the Psalmist said: “Thou shalt tread upon the
lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under
feet.” Psalm 91:13 And
he prophesied: “Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall
tread down our enemies.” Psalm 8:13
Thus,
after JESUS began to minister, He and His ministry caused great divisions among
the people. This was to the fulfillment
of what Zechariah called: “A very great valley. JESUS did cause division, or cleavage among
the people. While at Jerusalem He warned them: “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. [35]
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.” Matthew 10:34-35
John
said of some: “And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him:
for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the
people.” John 7:12 “Others said, This is the Christ. But some
said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?” John 7:41 And
even until this very day division exists among the descendants of Abraham. The radio series “Unshackled” has dramatized
many a story that suggests that when one of a Jewish family becomes a Christian
the remaining members of that clan writes him/her off as dead.
Therefore
in our allegory Israel was an olive tree and each of her members was counted as
olives. And therefore since they
numbered as the sand of the sea, they were prefigured as a Mountain of Olives.
Yea,
after JESUS began to minister, He and His ministry caused humongous division
among the people and such division Zechariah called: “A very great valley.”
Here’s
hoping all the best for the Bible study.
Amen!
John
said in Revelation 13:17: “And that no
man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or
the number of his name.”
The
figure of speech in this metaphor is:
“And that no man
might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the
number of his name.” Now from a
different article which told us that they that “have the mark or the name of
the beast, or the number of his name” are sinners. And they are merchants that can buy and sell
in the supernatural market, but even then it is at GOD’S digression.
Yea,
JESUS CHRIST said: “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking
goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold
all that he had, and bought it.” Matthew 13:45-46
Now
a sinner is represented as the merchant man and the LORD JESUS CHRIST is the
pearl of great
As
the parable insists, the merchant sold all that he had “lock, stock and barrel”
in order that he might buy the pearl of great price. And
thus he did and that transaction rendered him or her penniless and thus he
could no longer buy or sell. But that was okay for he had that prized
possession. When Apostle Paul met JESUS
CHRIST while on the road to Damascus, he was likened to the merchant man in the
parable for he sold all he had in order to buy the pearl of great price, JESUS
CHRIST. And sell all, he did. Although the buying and selling process is
supernatural in nature and heartfelt, yet the Apostle Paul said concerning his
pedigree: “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
Philippians 3:8-9
You
know, selling out for the purpose of obtaining the PEARL of great price, can
and should and often does cause suffering to the flesh.
Paul
said: “We are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst,
and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour,
working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we
suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we
are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto
this day.” 1 Corinthians 4:11-13
Yea,
those men knew first hand what was meant where John said: “And that no man
might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the
number of his name.” Revelation 13:17
For
when CHRIST came in their life, He rid them of: the mark, or the name of the
beast, or the number of his name.
That
situation cannot be said and understood better than where the song says: “I surrender all; I surrender all; to thee,
my blessed Savior I surrender all.”
Now
as we’ve witnessed, the Holy Bible has used the simple things of this life to
express greater things in the life to come.
May
the FATHER and GOD of our LORD JESUS CHRIST be glorified.
