America Asks More Questions about the Second Coming of Christ
Question Isn't the book of Revelation just so many symbols and
thus should not he placed on the level of other clearer messages
of the Bible?
Answer The book of Revelation is replete with symbolism; but so
is much of the rest of the Bible. We should give no less
credence to it than to any other part of the Bible. Symbolisms
were used to guide an entire nation of ancient Egyptians and to
protect and give hope to generations of Israelites. All of this
was done in the very first book of the Bible, so if we are going
to lessen the veracity or the practicality of biblical symbols
we would have to start at the beginning of the Bible. If we
start there, we will find countless other symbols not to trust
and in the end we will have chopped up a great deal of Gods
word. We don't have the right to remove even one letter from
Gods word physically, but we are not to remove it by
spiritualizing it or nominalizing it either.
When Egypt was about to undergo one of the worst droughts in its
history, Pharaoh had a dream filled with symbolism that deferred
the worst from happening. When Joseph interpreted Pharaohs dream
he secured a future for his own generation of Israelites.
Genesis 41:1f
It might do well to note that the very first recorded prophetic
message in the Bible was a dream also filled with symbolism.
Genesis 37:5f Joseph's dream of the sun and the moon and the
stars would outline the history of his people forever. Why then
should it be hard to see Revelation and its symbols as the
outline for only one small seven year long period.
The very first prophetic utterance in the Bible is referred to
as the Prote-Evangelium, and it uses symbolism. Genesis 3:15
There is where the first promise that Christ would overcome all
evil is found. Highways around the world are covered with
universal traffic symbols. Language and lore is embellished with
symbols. Theater, television, business, culture, and our own
daily conversation are saturated with the use of symbolism. How
is it that we have thought God couldn't use symbols to covey
part of his message to us, and that it could he trusted. And how
is it that those who are so quick to point out that this is the
most educated generation in the history of the world, cannot
seem to find a way for implicit and explicit teachings in the
Bible to co-exist and compliment each other. To persist in this
silly fear of the symbol comes under the heading of hypocrisy
rather than confusion, if we would he honest enough to admit it.
Question Aren't many of the pictures and symbols of Revelation
much like those of the Old Testament and are they just borrowed
from the Old Testament?
Answer I find it hard not to answer this question with a simple
yes, but so what, but for the sake of the more serious student
of the Bible I will try to address the question in a more
persuasive manner. Many New Testament references are made from
the Old Testament. Jesus, the apostles and many others referred
to the Old Testament scriptures and its symbols.
Have we forgotten that the Bible is to the Christian after all
only one book, not two? If God were not so faithful in his
revelation to us we might find huge differences between the
symbolism of the old and new testament. That would no doubt give
rise to another group of people who would argue against the
validity of the Bible because of the enormous disparity in the
images presented in the Old Testament as compared to those of
the New Testament.
Doubters will never be satisfied with anything. Believers are
glad that God has given us one comprehensible picture of his
intentions in sixty six books, spread out over thousands of
years.
This alone is a miracle. When John received the Revelation of
Jesus Christ on the Isle of Patmos, we can imagine how relieved
he must have felt when he saw it didn't diverge very much from
the messages given to Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and others. If
it had been that radically different, he may have been inclined
to dismiss it as not having come from God in the first place. We
can thank God that John knew the voice of his Savior as Jesus
promised he would, John 10:27 and he could see its consistency
with the rest of the messages given to his predecessors.
I am also thankful that when I saw a vision of the sun darkened
and the moon glowing the color of blood, that when I finally saw
that description in the Bible it wasn't something unfamiliar or
strange. It takes no genius to comprehend that though the
symbolism of the New Testament is similar to that of the old, it
is only to supplement, advance or further elucidate the message
not just to borrow from it. Borrowing from the Bible or any
other source to enhance a vision that purportedly came from God
would make the messenger not a visionary or prophet but a common
liar. The last time I looked, God was still calling only those
who are searching for, living for and willing to die for the
truth, to become his messengers.