Contents:
Lucifer will abolish the seven heads and empower the ten horns to eliminate religious controversy and to prepare for war with Christ. The seven heads and the ten horns do not share power simultaneously. The Bible does not name or identify the ten kings. In fact, the Bible says very little about them, but we do know this much about the ten kings: It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings — and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.
About thirty days before the Second Coming, Lucifer will be unmasked. The wicked will recognize the truth. They will realize that Lucifer is the devil and worse, they know they will share his fate. When this revelation occurs, the wicked will not only loathe Lucifer, but they will also loathe themselves and their participation in his theocracy.
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They will [turn on the great whore and] bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire [their loathing will be so great]. When all the specifications concerning the leopard-like beast are assembled, Babylon is not too hard to identify. Babylon will be a monster-sized church-state. Babylon will rule over the nations with deadly power.
It will persecute and devour those who oppose it. At first, the seven heads the seven religious systems of the world will control the leopard-like beast. I understand that the pope will be selected as the leader of Babylon and he will lead the world in appeasing God actually blaspheming God until the devil appears at the fifth trumpet. At the sixth trumpet, the devil will suddenly abolish the seven religions of the world and put ten kings in their place.
Lucifer will assign these ten kings the task of rebuilding the infrastructures of Earth. The devil will demand the reconstruction of the world for the pseudo-purpose of establishing the kingdom of God and bringing in a thousand years of peace. Of course, this demand is a big lie. The devil will establish ten kings because he wants these kings to try to destroy Jesus at the Second Coming perhaps by nuclear arms. It is reasonable to assume that labor camps will be set up and everyone will be forced into hard labor.
Slavery will be imposed as a form of punishment. Civil authorities will punish those who refuse to work and obey. It is easy to see how the leopard-like beast mirrors its ancient namesake, the great city of Babylon, whose temporary splendor was created through years of forced labor and destroyed by God in a single night. Thus far, we have examined the identity of three beasts: The Lamb is Jesus, the great red dragon is Lucifer, and the leopard-like beast is Babylon.
John does not give a physical description of the fourth beast in Revelation other than this: He had two horns like a [the] lamb, but he spoke like a [the] dragon. I did this to direct your attention to an interesting point. A literal reading of the Greek text says: The Greek language uses anarthrous nouns for emphasis. This grammatical technique is sometimes used to refer to a specific element or character that has been previously introduced. John does not describe the second beast in Revelation The only thing we know about its appearance is that it has two horns like the Lamb who had seven horns — Revelation 5: The two horns on this beast indicate the devil will be two kings in one!
He will rule over church and state. The seven heads represent the seven religious systems of the world and the ten horns represent the ten kings who the devil appoints during the sixth trumpet. The devil will pretend to be the king of kings and the lord of lords, but we have to remember that Jesus has seven horns!
Even though Lucifer will appear to be invincible for a season, the Bible assures us that God will destroy Lucifer, his angels, and his government at the proper time. I call the nondescript beast in Revelation First, this beast speaks like the dragon. This is a strange specification because there is no record of the dragon speaking in the book of Revelation.
However, we do know that the devil is deceitful. The lamb-like beast will deceive the whole world through his mighty miracles. The fifth trumpet only lasts five months. During this time, the devil has to quickly deceive the whole world into thinking that he is Almighty God. The devil will heal the sick, speak wonderful words of hope and comfort, and perform amazing signs and wonders. Billions of people who refused to accept the gospel of Christ will embrace the devil on the basis of his counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders.
His charade as a benevolent and loving god will disappear. He will turn into a stern-faced king overnight, worse than Pharaoh, and the leaders of Babylon will be dethroned overnight. Lucifer will appoint ten kings to impose and enforce his harsh laws on the world. Loving every minute of his despotic plot, the devil will torture the wicked with outrageous religious laws, and he will kill anyone who quibbles against his authority.
In fact, four of his angels will kill a third of mankind Revelation 9: The first view is described in Revelation 9 and the second is described in Revelation In Revelation 9, the devil and his angels imitate the Second Coming. In Revelation 13, the lamb-like beast rises out of the ground as a miracle working world leader. If John had said that he saw the lamb-like beast coming up from the Abyss in Revelation Nevertheless, here is a fascinating point: Here are three reasons and there may be more why God obscured the fact that the lamb-like beast is the beast from the Abyss:.
Isaiah knew the devil would be permitted to physically appear before the human race. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. Those who see you stare at you , they ponder your fate: Ezekiel knew that God would permit the devil to physically appear before the human race. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas.
You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. Paul knew the devil would be permitted to physically appear before the human race. He also knew the devil would proclaim himself to be God. The coming of the lawless one [the physical appearing of the devil masquerading as God] will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.
They [the wicked] perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. The appearing of the devil will come as an overwhelming surprise to the wicked. The devil will come with an army of demons who will look like human beings as well: The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. They will rise silently from the Abyss and descend to the earth, literally, out the air.
Study the following verses and notice that Lucifer and his angels were cast into the earth; therefore, their release from the Abyss is synonymous with coming up out of the earth. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to [Greek: After the devil was hurled into the earth, he became invisible, and at the appointed time, he will be permitted at the appointed time to come out of the earth!
He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.
The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts [a swarm of angels] came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss , whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the [lamb-like] beast [with their own eyes] , because he once was [visible] , now is not [visible] , and yet will come [up out of the earth and be visible].
The glorious appearing of Lucifer will totally shock the wicked. Even more, they cannot imagine that this gentle and miracle working being would actually be the Antichrist! And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.
The lamb-like beast will be Lucifer masquerading as God. He will call fire down out of Heaven to prove to the wicked that he is truly God. His two horns indicate that he will eventually rule the world as lord of lords control over the religions of the world and king of kings control over the nations of the world.
The devil will eventually kill the work and influence of the two witness with his superior miracles. Lucifer is the angel king from the Abyss.
Lucifer is the lamb-like beast who will rise out of the earth. His title in Hebrew and Greek for Jews and Gentiles alike means destroyer. The devil will be released on mankind to destroy the world. He will rise to a position of absolute power, but his power will not come from nations or people. He will deceive the world and lead it to destruction. The release of the devil on the wicked is consistent with the full cup principle. When a majority of people in a group reach a point where extended mercy has no redeeming effect, God always sends a destroyer.
Now that we have carefully examined and determined the identity of the four beasts in the book of Revelation, we can proceed through the following two prophecies rather quickly:. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. This short prophecy is six verses long.
It consists of three characters: A pregnant woman standing on the moon, a great red dragon, and a male child who does not remain on Earth. Finally, Lucifer led a third of the angels into open rebellion and Jesus kicked them out of Heaven. I am speculating that it was thousands of years because the Godhead has spent thousands of years resolving the sin problem with human beings. I am sure that God loves His angels as much as He loves us, therefore He gave them every opportunity to repent. This prophecy has a cosmic setting. God used objects from the sky such as the sun, moon, and stars to frame this story because elements in this story go beyond events that have transpired on Earth.
This story covers thousands of years and involves millions of angels and human beings. John saw a pregnant woman clothed with the sun, who was also wearing a crown of twelve stars and was standing on the moon. The book of Revelation does not treat the sun, moon, and stars as symbols in this passage. God used a cosmic setting for this story because He wants us to understand the feelings, the actions, and the loathing that Lucifer has for Christ.
Who else but God could explain something so huge in eight sentences? Rule Three of Apocalyptic Prophecy indicates there are three types of language in apocalyptic prophecy: If an element is thought to be symbolic, the Bible will interpret the symbol with a relevant text. In other words, if something is to be treated as a symbol, the Bible will define the symbol so that everyone who reads the Bible will have the same conclusion.
The Bible is its own interpreter. For example, the woman wears a crown of twelve stars. The twelve stars are not symbols of twelve angels. Look at this text: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. In other words, Revelation 1: Now, look at this text: There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
The answer is literal because there is no relevant text that defines them as symbols. In summary, the Bible must speak for itself. When it does not define a symbol with a relevant text, no one has the authority to make the element symbolic. The woman standing on the moon is not the virgin Mary. This woman has been persecuted from the beginning.
This woman has existed ever since sin began and she was chased into the desert for 1, years. This woman represents the people of God, His church, a group of people who are the bride of Christ. This woman is in love with God and God loves her His people. She is pregnant with His Son. She His church loves God with all her their heart, mind, and soul and her their neighbor as herself themselves. Jesus used a woman to symbolize His affection for His people the very day that sin began.
The twelve stars represent the twelve tribes 1 of Israel. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter [indicating His reign on the throne cannot be broken]. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
We know that the red dragon is the devil. An iron scepter means that His rule cannot be broken. When Jesus established His church, you could say that a new religious system was established even though the woman already existed. The new religious system was a visible church. It became an organized body of believers. The visible church was defined by creeds and doctrine, and human beings directed it as they sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These individuals follow the leading of the Holy Spirit — wherever He leads. Individuals who make up the woman may worship in a visible church, but the woman and the visible church are two distinct entities and this confuses a lot of people.
Man looks on the outer appearance, but God reads the heart. Go over this carefully: After the first century A. By the fifth century A. The devil took control of the visible church and used it to persecute the invisible church. This warfare will be repeated. The woman fled to the desert for survival. The desert represents a desolate hiding place and the 1, days defines her period of persecution. The time, times, and half a time mentioned in Daniel 7: The Jubilee Calendar is in operation during this period, therefore the 1, days must be translated as 1, years Rule Four of Apocalyptic Prophecy.
Many prophetic expositors violate valid rules of interpretation in Revelation 12 because they want to make the enormous red dragon into something other than the devil. History does affirm that the devil worked through the little horn in Daniel 7 the Roman Catholic Church to persecute the saints for 1, years, but the enormous red dragon in Revelation 12 is not the papacy. If, in our rush to understand apocalyptic prophecy, we ignore or manipulate the specifications which God has given, we will never be able to arrive at the intended meaning of prophecy.
The enormous red dragon tried to kill Jesus at birth through Herod. Then, the great red dragon used the Roman Catholic Church to chase the woman into the desert for 1, years. The devil is a determined demon. He is not Herod nor is he the Roman Catholic Church. This brings me to the second point, which is also very important. The leopard-like beast is not the devil even though the devil will control the beast! Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him , standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Resist the devil , and he will flee from you. The Bible does indicate that the devil and his demons can and must be resisted or they may take control of us. We know demon possession is possible because Jesus cast demons out of many people. This loathing has not changed. If it were possible, Lucifer would kill Jesus right now.
Jesus did not have to go to the cross, but infinite love caused Him to be willing to give up His eternal life so that we might have it. Can you imagine killing the very person who would volunteer to die in your place? We have also learned that the devil uses demon possessed people and organizations to carry out his evil desires.
Lucifer, once the greatest and highest of created beings, has become a senseless beast, a raving destroyer. After chasing the woman for 1, years, he has one final chance to destroy her.
He is waiting for the leopard-like beast to rise. We have already noticed that the first prophecy began with the birth of Jesus and ended with Lucifer chasing the woman into the desert for 1, years. This prophecy begins with a war on Resurrection Sunday Revelation Zion and singing a new song. The first scene in this prophecy opens triumphantly!
Jesus has kicked Lucifer out of Heaven. The final scene in this prophecy also ends triumphantly!
Johns sees the , standing with Jesus on Mt. This final scene is very important to the people who will live during the Great Tribulation because most, if not all, of the , will be killed in the line of duty and the remnant of the woman will be totally decimated. As you study this prophecy, it is important that you see four chronological segments.
First, there is war in Heaven and persecution of the woman for 1, years. Second, the leopard-like beast rises from the sea. Third, the lamb-like beast rises from the earth. Finally, the , are taken to Heaven to gather around Jesus. Right now we are living between the first and second segments, Revelation In other words, this prophecy began on Resurrection Sunday and according to my calculations, it has less than ten years to go until it is completed.
Please understand that if time should last longer than ten years, this will have no effect on the meaning or the fulfillment of this prophecy. It just means that my calculation on the whereabouts of the 6, th year of sin is incorrect. With these things said, let us begin this study with Revelation This is the first verse of a new prophecy because, according to Rule One of Apocalyptic Prophecy, chronological order is broken between verses 6 and 7.
In other words, the war in Heaven verse 7 occurs before the dragon chases the woman to the desert verse 6 ; therefore, a new prophecy begins because chronological order is broken. He was hurled [in] to the earth, and his angels with him. This eviction took place on Resurrection Sunday. Because every war has a history of conflict, we have to start at the beginning of this story to understand the war that took place on Resurrection Sunday.
When God cast Lucifer out of Heaven the first time Isaiah Even though Lucifer was not permitted to live in Heaven, God did permit Lucifer to attend specific meetings in Heaven. Remember, God loves His enemies just as much as He loves His friends and He commands us to do the same. At these meetings, it appears that the angels discussed matters pertaining to the governance of the universe. Second, when Jesus died on the cross and shed His own blood, Jesus paid a great price to redeem and possess Earth.
You may recall that Lucifer tempted Jesus in the desert. The devil promised to give the world to Jesus if Jesus would bow down and worship him Luke 4: Everything in the universe belongs to the Father and Jesus knew the Father would give Him this world if He faithfully carried out the plan of salvation.
Judaism is a religious system that denies that Jesus is God. When the papacy received a fatal wound in , the devil called off the chase. Even though the papacy is only one of the seven heads on the leopard-like beast, it will prove to be the leader of the remaining six heads until the fifth trumpet occurs. Sheep often have multiple births, and since gestation is only five months, a herd of sheep can quickly double in size. A king has subjects and a religious system has subjects. This means the Lamb has sovereign power the number seven represents completion and horns represent authority. The devil is called by a variety of names in the Bible.
The Bible indicates that the war described in Revelation Many Christians erroneously think this war occurred before Adam and Eve sinned, but according to Scripture, this is not possible. Jesus was given this honor on the basis of His perfect redemption — much to the delight of the holy angels. Then, the verse continues as an angel proclaimed: If this war occurred before Adam and Eve sinned, then sinful people would not have existed and there would be no one for Lucifer to accuse. These accusations were baseless because God waited patiently for the angels to repent, but they would not.
Twice in the Bible, Lucifer is rebuked for promoting baseless arguments. When Jesus walked out of the tomb, the devil and his angels realized their fate and they had no intention of yielding to an honorable defeat. The only way the devil would surrender to Christ was through force, and that is exactly what happened. Jesus forced the devil and his angels out of Heaven!
But woe to the earth [land] and the sea [people and nations of the whole world] , because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his [remaining] time is short. The Bible says the war in Revelation Study the chronology that is declared in this text: There is no wiggle room. Verse 13 says that after the devil was cast out of Heaven, he chased the woman who had given birth to the male child. Therefore, the war in Revelation There is one more passage in Scripture that we need to consider.
No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name! Now [at this time] is the time for judgment on this world [that is, the moment of truth has now come to see who will win the contest for Earth] ; now [at this time] the prince of this world will be driven out [of Heaven. Adding John 12 to our study, we can assemble three facts. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
When God clothes a repentant sinner with the perfect life of Jesus, the devil cannot say a word. The war in Revelation Third, Jesus predicted in John Putting these three facts together, the following passage makes perfect sense: Who is it you are looking for? The Father had promised to give this world to Jesus and He had to go and receive His inheritance.
Even though Jesus gave up His life and He perfectly obeyed the will of the Father, Lucifer was still unwilling to yield his position to Jesus and step down. His loathing of Christ produced the second war in Heaven. Once again, Lucifer was thrown out of Heaven at the speed of lightning — this time for good!
After reviewing the background on the long conflict between Christ and Satan, this warning is easier to understand: He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. After Jesus ascended to Heaven, the devil used the Jews and the Romans to persecute Christians with unbelievable zeal. The Jews hated the Christians because they were tearing down the traditions of Judaism. Remember the stoning of Stephen and Jesus confronting Saul on the road to Damascus? The Romans hated the Christians because they thought Christians were another Jewish sect and they hated the Jews.
Remember the destruction of Jerusalem in A. Today, most Christians do not understand or appreciate the decimating persecution that fell upon the early church during the first five centuries after Jesus returned to Heaven. The Romans drove the woman into hiding, but the implosion of the Roman Empire forced the devil to take another approach to keep the woman out of sight.
He had very few options, so the devil joined the Church at Rome! Working through carnal minded church leaders, Lucifer gained control of the visible church. Amazing as it sounds, by A. The devil was determined to eliminate the woman, but Jesus would not allow him to destroy all of His saints. Our understanding of God and His love can be miles away from the truth. The divide between a changeless God and our finite understanding of Him and His plans may remain unknown until a crisis occurs.
For example, millions of Christians have been led to believe in a pre-tribulation rapture. They refuse to accept the idea that a God of love would allow His saints to remain on Earth to suffer persecution and harm during the Great Tribulation. I have several objections to the theory of a pre-tribulation rapture which I will share before I address the issue of God permitting His saints to suffer persecution.
The Bible does not support a pre-tribulation rapture for several reasons and here are at least three: First, a pre-tribulation rapture requires a pre-tribulation judgment. The Bible refutes both ideas. Second, the Bible says the devil is preparing to make war on the last or the remnant of the woman.
Hebrews 11 Abel was slain because he obeyed the Lord. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. The rapture concept seems incongruous when we know that God deliberately handed the woman the saints over to the Roman Catholic Church for 1, years of persecution! The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
God protected the woman from extinction, not persecution. More than fifty million Christians died for their faith during the Dark Ages! God does not view persecution as a horrible thing because His grace is more than sufficient for every challenge that His children may face. Keep in mind His wisdom goes beyond comprehension. The fires of persecution separate the faith-full the gold from the faith-less the dross. Many Christians will suddenly discover that they really do not have faith in Christ. Peter did not know it, but he had no faith in God. Peter admitted that Jesus was the Messiah.
It is one thing to die in self defense or in the defense of God and country, but it is altogether another matter to suffer death for no other reason than God requires it. This is the beauty of Isaac surrendering to his father on Mt. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
When he saw Jesus humbly submitting to inhumane treatment, he began to understand the meaning of submission to the will of God. He became ashamed of himself and wept bitterly. Persecution purifies the soul of the persecuted and it often changes the hearts of those who observe such submission. Persecution kept the faith of the woman pure for 1, years. When Jesus spoke to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the Christian faith was only sixty-five years old.
Already, six of the seven churches in Asia Minor had become corrupted by false doctrines. Because religion mutated quickly, God allowed the devil to chase the woman into the desert. God knows the desert is a good place for training people. This is why He took Israel into the desert when they first came out of Egypt. The desert is an unforgiving place, a hostile place, a lonely place, and not a place that allows self-indulgence and self-reliance.
The carnal nature hates the desert. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. When Jesus is leading, there is no way to know where you are going, but your destination is secure! Family and friends rarely understand or appreciate the faith experience. In fact, family and friends are often opposed to the faith experience. If necessary, He can make food fall from the sky and water flow from the rocks. The final benefit that comes from persecution is exclusion.
Persecution keeps those who love the world and the things of this world out of the invisible church. When the threshold for being a Christian is suffering, the woman remains healthy. When the threshold for being a Christian is easy, the church suffers. The visible church differs from the invisible church in an interesting way. This visible church exalts unity at the expense of truth. The invisible church exalts advancing truth, social consequences notwithstanding. The pure in heart are the poor in spirit ego. These people are willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary because they seek only to glorify God and to help their neighbor.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Some historians estimate that fifty million people were martyred for their faith during the Dark Ages, but miraculously, the invisible church did not perish! No doubt, many Protestants wished for the wings of a great eagle as they languished in filthy dungeons.
Even though Prophecy 1 Revelation This information also proves that the time, times, and half a time mentioned in Daniel 7: In other words, the 1, year A. All three instances must be translated using a day for a year because the Jubilee Calendar is operating during this time. For reasons presented in the chapter on the Two Witnesses, the time, times, and half a time in Daniel The 1, days given in Daniel Because these time periods occur after the expiration of the Jubilee Calendar in , these time periods should be considered a literal time of 1, days and should not be translated a day for a year.
This is a surprising contradiction. John saw the enormous red dragon spew water out of his mouth! Weighing a little more than sixty-two pounds per cubic foot, a torrent of water traveling at a high rate of speed is a deadly and utterly destructive force, but it is not annihilating. In other words, life resumes after a flash flood; in fact, vegetation often prospers after a flood. The dragon spoke an endless torrent of laws through church edicts. The devil tried to destroy the woman with wave after wave of persecution, but the blood of martyrs only fueled the growth of the invisible church.
The devil soon realized that perpetual persecution required perpetual darkness. In , the devil moved upon King Henry IV to decree that anyone owning or producing a translation of the Bible would be burned at the stake. In , Archbishop Thomas Arundel imposed punitive measures on anyone who would presume to produce any written material that departed from the Latin Vulgate. How does Satan keep so many in the dark? What do the majority believe the mark of the beast is?
As we have seen, this is wrong! Technology is probably the winner but as we have seen this is also not possible! How many consider that it could be associated with something that really does matter to God like His law? Millions of Christians do understand this but still the majority do not and why Jesus said that those who received the mark of the beast were deceived and that the beast would deceive the whole world.
Not literally the whole world of course. Clearly the real truth is something that people are avoiding, not considering or do not understand. Note how Deuteronomy Where does God now write His law under the New Covenant? So if the mark of the beast is truly linked with something that is immensely significant to God like His Ten Commandment law, then we would expect to find evidence of this in the passages associated with and the mark of the beast in Revelation. The very next verse following the passage in Revelation 14 on the consequences of receiving the number or the mark of the beast is a verse that describes those who do not get the mark of the beast.
What does this group do so that they do not get the mark? The evidence is overwhelming and you do not have to use an infinitesimal amount of speculation to come to this conclusion. This is not coincidence by any means. Every person on the planet will one day either get the Mark of God seal or the Mark of the Beast. You will find numerous times in the Bible that the forehead represents your heart and mind while your hands represent your actions.
This is all symbolic as is and the mark of the beast, which is something that is going to be a free will decision and will be something that God truly does care about. So what is imperative to God? What is the whole Biblical theme all about? It started when Adam and Eve sinned, which resulted in the need of a Saviour. The whole Old Testament is primarily about bringing forth the seed of Christ and God disciplining Israel, and for what?
The very same thing. When such things as plants, animals, or manifestations in nature are used to teach principles, they can be used without reference to a particular language, time, or people and can bridge the barriers of communication that often exist between ages or cultures. The use of a wave of the sea to represent a person whose faith is not firm see James 1: This symbol paints a clear picture of what is needed to be secure and stable, no matter what age or what culture people belong to. Because of the visual nature of a symbol, it will generally be remembered longer than a description or explanation of the same concept without the symbol.
He used this as a flag, and it became the symbol of liberty for the Nephite nation. Replicas were hoisted up on every tower in the land. Symbols can be used to reveal or conceal spiritual truths, depending upon the spiritual maturity of the individual. The Savior, for example, spoke to the people in parables because there were those among His hearers who were neither willing nor prepared to accept His teachings.
Use of symbolism contributes to an attitude of searching on the part of the student of the scriptures. A person who understands that there is more than just the obvious in scriptural passages will be inclined to search, ponder, probe, and pray about them to more fully comprehend and appreciate their prophetic message. Help students understand that it is not always easy to determine when a passage should be taken symbolically or literally; in fact, many passages have both a literal and a symbolic meaning.
However, there are clues. Notice key words or phrases that imply symbolism—words or phrases such as like, likened, as, as it were, and like unto. These are called similes and are common throughout scripture. Have students look at Matthew Look for symbolism when something being discussed seems unnatural or even impossible:. There is much that is natural that is also symbolic. When something is described or outlined very specifically, look for symbolism even though the passage may also be literal.
To illustrate this, select passages in Exodus 25—30 that deal with the planning of the tabernacle. Another example is the ordinances of the gospel that are outlined very specifically to represent important gospel teachings and concepts. Share the following guidelines to help students better understand symbolism in the scriptures. You may want to read and discuss the scripture references.
Determine if the scriptures give the interpretation of the symbol.
Doctrine and Covenants 77 gives many other helps in understanding the teachings and symbols of the book of Revelation. Sometimes the scriptures tell of angels explaining symbols to the prophets, or the prophets tell what the Spirit of the Lord helped them understand about the symbols. Nephi, for example, received instruction about the symbols in the vision of the tree of life that both he and his father saw. Later an angel interpreted the symbols in the vision. Look at the symbol in context. A particular symbol may be used to represent different concepts. An example of this is the metal iron.
At various times it is used to represent that which is firm, unyielding, or hard to penetrate see Leviticus Symbols may also be used to represent closely related concepts at different times. For example, blood represents life see Genesis 9: The context is important in determining the meaning of a symbol.