Luke 21:8
Christian, Be Not Deceived!
CHAPTER V.
THE LAW OF THE LITERAL AND THE SPIRITUAL: THE PRINCIPLE OF "ACTED PARABLES."
The Bible contains both the literal and the spiritual. People holding divergent views recognize this fact. They differ, mainly, concerning the time and place of the literal or spiritual application. The true understanding of last-day prophecies depends on "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). The literal is the commencement of, or the foundation for, the spiritual. God leads our minds from the material world to the spiritual: from the seen and the known to the unseen and the things unknown to us through our physical senses. "That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual." 1 Cor. 15:46.
As the things belonging to the material world and those belonging to the spiritual realm were both created by God, the seen harmonizes with, and illustrates, the things of the spiritual realm. When on earth Jesus pointed to nature in teaching spiritual truths. In many of her books, such as "Christ's Object Lessons," God's servant has demonstrated to us that this was the Master's method of instructing His children. From the material things limited to certain places He taught spiritual truths which are of world- wide application.
BY "ACTED PARABLES" GOD INSTRUCTS IN SPIRITUAL THINGS.
"A wise purpose underlay every act of Christ's life on earth." D.A., p. 206. The physical work He accomplished in Palestine was done to illustrate the spiritual work which He would do in all the world.
"The work of Christ in cleansing the leper from his terrible disease is an illustration of His work in cleansing the soul from sin." D.A., p. 266. "In the healing of the paralytic at Capernaum, Christ again taught the same truth. It was to manifest His power to forgive sins that the miracle was performed. And the healing of the paralytic also illustrates other precious truths." D.A., p. 267.
Concerning the experience of the disciples in the storm on the Sea of Galilee, the servant of the Lord has written:
"In their efforts to save themselves, they forgot Jesus; and it was only when, in the despair of self-dependence, they turned to Him, that He could give them help. How often the disciples' experience is ours! When the tempests of temptation gather, and the fierce lightnings flash, and the waves sweep over us, we battle with the storm alone, forgetting that there is One Who can help us.... Then we remember Jesus, and if we can call upon Him to save us, we shall not cry in vain. . . Whether on the land or on the sea if we have the Saviour in our hearts, there is no need of fear. Living faith in the Redeemer will smooth the sea of life, and will deliver us from danger in the way that He knows best. There is another spiritual lesson in this miracle of the stilling of the tempest...." D.A., p. 336.
The miracles and experiences of Jesus in His Palestinian ministry were recorded as illustrations of world- wide spiritual truths, having their counterpart in the world-wide spiritual kingdom in the spiritual land of Israel. Employing the literal to illustrate the spiritual is one of the principles upon which the Bible was written—a principle clearly taught in the New Testament and in the Spirit of Prophecy. "Thus the Lord . . [in the days of Jeremiah] taught the people by means of a series of acted parables." P.K. 423.
"The cursing of the fig-tree was an acted parable. That barren tree, flaunting its pretentious foliage in the very face of Christ was a symbol of the Jewish nation. The Saviour desired to make plain to His disciples the cause and the certainty of Israel's doom. For this purpose He invested the tree with moral qualities, and made it the expositor of divine truth." D.A., p. 582. "Every act of His life, every word spoken, every miracle wrought, was to make known to fallen humanity the infinite love of God." P.K. 696.
After proclaiming a spiritual truth Jesus performed a physical miracle to illustrate His spiritual meaning, or, after performing a miracle, He then taught some spiritual truth illustrated by the miracle. Christ had performed His miracle of changing the water into wine before He informed Nicodemus concerning a change of heart. Christ's first cleansing of the temple also preceded His statement to Nicodemus. See John 2 and 3. The miracle of the new birth changes the heart and cleanses the heart-temple. The morning after Jesus stilled the storm on Galilee and spoke peace to the troubled hearts of His disciples, they encountered two madmen.
"The disciples fled in terror . . . He Who had stilled the tempest .. . did not flee before these demons ... Jesus raised that hand which had beckoned the waves to rest and the men could come no nearer." D.A., p. 337. The demons possessing the two men were the cause of their misery; and evil spirits were the cause of the troubles of the disciples, and are still the cause of the misery and the storms of all mankind. "The encounter with the demoniacs of Gergesa had a lesson for the disciples. It showed the depths of degradation to which Satan is seeking to drag the whole human race, and the mission of Christ to set men free from his power." D.A. 341.
After feeding the multitudes with the literal bread, Jesus gave a deeply spiritual sermon concerning "the Bread which came down from heaven," declaring, "I am that bread of life." John 6. In this sermon, Jesus applied the giving of manna to the children of Israel in the wilderness as the giving of Himself—the living Bread—to His children in their wilderness journey to the promised land. As the children of Israel partook of the manna daily so, also, must we partake of the spiritual bread each day.
In both the Old and the New Testaments operates the principle that the literal things which were enacted in Palestine were "acted parables"—illustrations or types of world-wide, spiritual things pertaining to Christ's kingdom of grace. As Jesus is the Author of the whole of the Word of God, we know that His method of teaching in the Old Testament is the same as in the New. As generally recognized, all the gospel was shown by the types—acted parables—of the sanctuary services. Ps. 77:13. "All" the recorded experiences of literal Israel "were our examples," or "our figures," as stated in the margin of 1 Cor. 10:6. "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [margin, "types"]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1 Cor. 10:11. In this instance, the Apostle Paul does not point out the types of the sanctuary services, but "all" the experiences of the children of Israel.
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning." Rom. 15:4. "In every page, whether history, or precept, or prophecy [including Ezek. 38-48, etc.] the Old Testament Scriptures are irradiated with the glory of the Son of God. So far as it was of divine institution, the entire system of Judaism was a compacted prophecy of the gospel. To Christ 'give all the prophets witness.' Acts 10:43. From the promise given to Adam, down through the partriarchal line and legal economy, heaven's glorious light made plain the footsteps of the Redeemer. . In every sacrifice, Christ's death was shown. In every cloud of incense His righteousness ascended. By every jubilee trumpet His name was sounded. In the awful mystery of the holy of holies His glory dwelt." D.A. 212.
After His resurrection, Jesus taught His disciples the spiritual nature of His kingdom: He had endeavoured to teach them these things before His death, but then they were too filled with the erroneous teachings of the Pharisees concerning the establishment of a literal kingdom. After Pentecost the disciples clearly understood the Old Testament. The New Testament writers reveal the principle for interpreting the Old Testament: to see in the literal, types of the spiritual and world-wide.
THE LORD REVEALS THE PRINCIPLE OF INTERPRETING THE SCRIPTURES.
| OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. | THE NEW TESTAMENT SPIRITUAL APPLICATION. |
|---|---|
| "The first Adam" father of a sinful, mortal race. | 1 Cor. 15:45-49. Jesus, "the last Adam," the Father of a sinless, immortal race. |
| Eve—Adam's wife. | Ephes. 5:31, 32; Gen. 2:23, 24. The church—the bride of "the last Adam." |
| Saved by the ark from the flood of God's wrath, and landing on to a new world. | 1 Pet. 3:19-21. Salvation from God's wrath and, some day, stepping on to a new world. "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us." Baptism, in its fuller meaning, points forward to the new life in the new world. |
| Melchisedec, the king-priest of Salem, the "king of righteousness." "the king of peace." | Heb. 7:2-6. Typified Jesus, the "King of Righteousness," the "King of Peace," Who reigns in "the heavenly Jerusalem." Christians are also "kings and priests." Rev. 1:6, etc. |
| Abraham, the father of the tribes of Israel. | Rom. 4:11-18. "The father of all them that believe." Rom. 9:7, 8; Gal. 3:7-9, etc. |
| Isaac, the promised seed. | Matt. 1:1: Gal. 3:16; 4:28. Type of Jesus, the promised Seed; also type of those who are Christ's. |
| Isaac, the miraculously born of a freewoman, was free. | Gal. 4:28. "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." The Christian, being born again of the Holy Spirit, is free and is a child of "the heavenly Jerusalem," which is built of God. |
| Ishmael, born of natural birth by a bondwoman, was in bondage, and persecuted Isaac, the freeborn. The bondwoman and her son were cast out of Abraham's camp. | Gal. 4:22-31. Paul applies as "an allegory." Ishmael, the persecutor of the promised seed, typifies those who oppose the children of God. As "dogs" that bite and devour, they will be "without the city," "the camp of the saints." Rev. 20:9; 22:15. |
| Jacob, the supplanter, whose nature was changed during the long literal night of wrestling with God. His name was then changed to "Israel." | John 1:47-50; Rom. 2:28, 29; Rev. 7:4-8, etc. Type of all whose characters are changed through wrestling with God during the spiritual night till the dawn of eternity. |
| Israelites. | Rom. 2:28, 29; 9:7, 8; Gal. 3:29; Rev. 7:4-8; 21:12-14, etc. Christians. |
| Circumcision. | Col. 2:11-13. Dedication of new life to God. |
| The ladder which Jacob saw in vision reaching from heaven to earth. | John 1:51. Typified Jesus, Whose sacrificial death has thrown a ladder from heaven to earth. |
| Joseph, the rejected brother, sold as a slave, later the saviour of the world, having abundant food for all who came to him. Raised to the throne. | Acts 7:9-13. Typified Jesus—Who was rejected, being sold for the price of a slave—the Saviour and Provider of spiritual food for all who come to Him. Raised to His Father's throne. |
| Moses, deliverer, lawgiver, etc. | Heb. 3:2-6; Acts 3:22; 7:37-40. Typified Jesus, the Deliverer, Lawgiver, etc. |
| Egypt, "the house of bondage." | Rev. 11:8, etc. The type of Satan's bondage. |
| The deliverance from Egypt. | Luke 4:18. The deliverance from bondage. |
| Israel going through the Red Sea, being led by the cloud and fire; partaking of the bread from heaven, and the water from the smitten rock. | 1 Cor. 10:1-11. Typified the Christian as he walks to the heavenly Canaan. Baptism, like Israel having passed through the sea, separates from the old life of bondage, and commences a new life in Christ's service. |
| Israel's pilgrimage to the land of promise. | 1 Pet. 2:11. Typifies the Christian's pilgrimage across the wilderness of sin to the land of promise. |
| The manna. | John 6:31-63. Jesus definitely applied the manna as a type of Himself, "the true bread from heaven." |
| The tabernacle in the wilderness-plain on the outside, but beautiful and full of glory within. | John 1:14. Typified Christ's Incarnation—His Deity veiled by humanity. See D.A. 23, 24. |
| Aaron, the High Priest. | Heb. 5:4, 5, etc. Typified Christ as High Priest. |
| The people of Israel bitten by serpents in their wilderness journey. | Rev. 12:9; 20:2. Typified God's spiritual Israel suffering from Satan's vicious attacks on their journey to heaven. |
| By looking to the uplifted serpent they found healing from the serpent's stings. | John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32. By looking to Jesus we, too, find healing from the wounds caused by Satan. |
| The unbelief of the Israelites in their walk to the land of promise, and their failure to reach Canaan. | Heb. 3:8-19. Applied by Paul to Christians who do not exercise faith, and who will not reach the heavenly Canaan. |
| Israel's promised rest in the promised land after their sojourn across "the wilderness of sin" (Ex. 16:1). | Heb. 4:1-16. Paul applies to the saints' eternal rest after their sojourn across the wilderness of sin. The Sabbath rest at the end of a week of toil is a type of the eternal rest at the end of life's labours. |
| National Israel. | 1 Pet. 2:9; Matt. 21:43.The church a "nation." |
| National Israel, a kingdom of priests. | 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6, etc. Christians are "priests." |
| National Israel had national enemies. | Rev. 11:1, 2; 20:8. These same enemies are employed as antitypical—spiritual—enemies of the church. |
| The Old Testament temple. | 1 Cor. 3:9-16; 2 Cor. 6:16; Ephes. 2:20-22. Typified the spiritual temple—the church. |
| The priests of the Old Testament. | Heb. 8:1-6. Typified (1) Christ in His heavenly ministry; (2) All of His believers ministering the spiritual things of His spiritual kingdom on earth. 1 Pet. 2:9. |
| The destruction and rebuilding of the temple. | Acts 15:12-19. Applied by James as a type of the re-building of Christ's spiritual temple—the church. |
| Treading down of Jerusalem by Gentile, or heathen nations. | Rev. 11:1, 2. Applied by Jesus, through John, to the treading down of spiritual Jerusalem—the church—by spiritual Israel's spiritual enemies. The "Gentile" or "Heathen" nations of the Old Testament who attacked Israel (mentioned in such prophecies as Joel 3; Ezek. 38; 39; Zech. 14, etc.) are applied by Christ as the spiritual enemies of spiritual Israel. |
| The measuring of the temple and city of Jerusalem. | Rev. 11:1, 2. Applied by Jesus, through John, to the spiritual measuring of the church. |
| Solomon reigning in his kingdom of peace and splendour, and people coming from afar to hear his wisdom. | Matt. 6:29; 12:42. Pointed to One Who is "greater than Solomon." |
| David, King of Israel. | Luke 1:32, 33; John 1:49. Typified Jesus "the King of Israel." |
| Zion. | Joel 2:32 compare with Rom. 10:13; Isa. 28:16 with 1 Pet. 2:6-8; Isa. 59:20 with Rom. 11:26, etc. "Zion," in the New Testament interpretation, refers to the church. |
| The camp of Israel, and, later, Jerusalem, with God's Presence in Israel's midst. | Heb. 12:22, 23; 1 Pet. 2:4-9, etc. Typified the church, and also the New Jerusalem. See Rev. 20:9; 21:2, 3, 12-14. |
| The precious stones on the breastplate of the High Priest. | Rev. 21:9, 20. "The breast-plate, the most sacred of the priestly vestments. . . . It was in the form of a square. . . . The border was formed of a variety of precious stones, the same that form the twelve foundations of the city of God." P.P. 350. |
| The feasts and services mentioned in Lev. 23, etc. | |
| The Passover, leaven. | 1 Cor. 5:7, 8. "Christ, our passover." "The leaven of malice and wickedness." |
| The first fruits. | 1 Cor. 15:20, 23. "Christ, the first fruits." James 1:18. "That we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." Rev. 14:4. "Being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." |
| Pentecost. | Acts 2:1. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come." |
| Blowing of trumpets. | Rev. 14:6, 7; Joel 2:1, etc. The Judgment-hour Message. |
| Day of Atonement. | Rev. 14:6, 7; Dan. 8:14, etc. The Investigative Judgment in the heavenly sanctuary. |
| End of Day of Atonement—cutting off of those who did not afflict their souls: who did not avail themselves of the ministry of the High Priest. | Rev. 22:11, 12; 14:9-11; 15:5-8, etc. Close of probation. Rev. 16; 19:11-21. Destruction of those who did not avail themselves of the ministry of Jesus, the High Priest, in the heavenly temple. |
| Lev. 16. Scapegoat sent to "a land not inhabited," where he eventually perished. | Rev. 20:1-10. Satan, the scapegoat, confined to this depopulated earth during the 1,000 years. Satan perishes on this earth. |
| Lev. 25. Jubilee—everything was restored to the rightful owners. | Acts 3:21. "The restitution of all things." |
| The land of Canaan promised Abraham. | Rom. 4:13. Typified the world. |
| The mountains of Israel. | Ezek. 34:13-16, 23-26, 28-31; Ezek. 38; 39; 40:2; D.A. 52, 479; A.A. 9, 10. Typified the spiritual, world - wide highlands where spiritual Israel feed in spiritual pastures. Ephes. 1:3; Isa. 58:14; Rev. 14:1. |
| Israel's enemies perish on the mountains of Israel. Ezek. 38; 39. | Rev. 16:16. "Har" means "Mount." Rev. 19:17, 18, 21 compare with Ezek. 39:4, 17-19. The prophetic picture describes the world-wide slaughter, on "the mountains of Israel," of the enemies of spiritual Israel. |
| The tabernacle was pitched in the midst of the children of Israel. Num. 1:51-53; 2:1-34. | John 1:14; Rev. 1:13, 20, etc. Jesus in the midst of His people. |
| "Israel, a people [literally] near unto Him." Ps. 148:14. | Heb. 10:22. Spiritual Israel is spiritually near to Him. |
| They literally approached His visible Presence within the Sanctuary. | Heb. 4:16; Luke 15:13-20. The movements of people away from, or to God, mentioned in the New Testament (after the rejection of the literal centre—the temple), are spiritual applications of the literal movements of ancient Israel. Rev. 18:4, etc. |
| The Gentiles inhabited lands far off from the literal centre—the temple. | Acts 22:21; 13:47, etc. "But now in Christ Jesus ye [Gentiles] who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ . . . and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh." Ephes. 2:13-18; Acts 2:39, etc. |
| Gen. 10:10; 11:1-9, margins, "Babylon," “confusion," rebellion. | Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10. Spiritual Babylon— rebellion, confusion. |
| Jer. 51:13; PK. 523. Literal Babylon built on the literal Euphrates. The Annotated Para. Bible comments on Jer. 5:13: "The Euphrates and its numerous canals, which passed through and near the city." | Rev. 17:1, 5, 15. Spiritual Babylon built on the spiritual Euphrates. |
| Jer. 50:38; 51:36; Isa. 44:27. The waters of the were "dried up." | Rev. 16:12. The waters of the spiritual Euphrates river Euphrates to be "dried up. |
| Cyrus, the deliverer of Israel, and the destroyer of Babylon. | Type of Jesus, the Deliverer of spiritual Israel, and the Destroyer of Babylon. For further details, see later chapter. |
| Jer. 50:8; 51:6, 46; Isa. 48:20. Israel called out of literal Babylon "to restore and to build Jerusalem" (Dan. 9:25); rebuild the literal temple the Babylonians had destroyed, and "repair" (Neh. 3;) the walls of Jerusalem. | Rev. 18:4. Spiritual Israel called out of spiritual Babylon to "restore all things" (Matt. 17:11; Rev. 14:6-14, etc.): to rebuild the spiritual temple (Rev. 11:1, 2; GC. 266) and repair the spiritual walls of the church (Isa. 58:12-14, etc.), which spiritual Babylon had attacked and spoiled. P.K. 677, 678. |
| Isa. 21:9; Jer. 51:8. Babylon's literal fall. | Rev. 14:8; 18:2. Spiritual Babylon's spiritual fall. |
| See "What is Armageddon?" pp. 34-36, for further citations of Old Testament references to the things of literal Babylon which are spiritually applied in the Book of Revelation. | |
| 1 Kings 16:30-33. Jezebel, aided by Ahab at the head of the State, fostered sun-worship among literal Israel. | Rev. 2:20. The apostate church, aided by the State, fosters Sunday observance among spiritual Israel. |
| Elijah calls Israel back to the true worship of God. | Mal. 4:5, 6; Rev. 14:6-14. Typified God's last-day Message calling professing Christians back to the true worship of God. |
| See my "Christ Conquers," pp. 76-85, for further consideration of the New Testament, spiritual application of the experiences of Elijah–typifying the experiences of the remnant church. | |
| Literal Babylon's "flood" the Euphrates. Josh. 24:2, 3, 14, 15; Isa. 8:7, 8; 28:2, etc. | Rev. 12:15, 16; 16:12; 17:1, 15. Employed to symbolize the people of Babylon who persecute the church. |
| Judg. 4:3. The Canaanites who "mightily oppressed the children of Israel" were destroyed: "there was not a man left" (v. 16) "by the waters of Megiddo." Judg. 5:19. | Rev. 16:16 etc. Typify those who will "mightily oppress" spiritual Israel; all Israel's enemies will be destroyed in the antitypical Megiddo "slaughter." |
| Dan. 3:1, etc. Nebuchadnezzar's literal image erected on the plains of literal Babylon. Decree—all to literally bow to image or suffer in the literal fiery furnace. | Rev. 13:15; 14:9, 11, etc. Spiritual image to be erected in spiritual Babylon. Decree—all spiritually bow or suffer spiritual, fiery furnace. |
| Jesus preserved and delivered from death, the three faithful Hebrews. | Rev. 17:14; 15:2-4. Jesus brings His people through their fiery ordeal (Rev. 3:10). "Jesus would be honoured by translating without their seeing death, the faithful waiting ones." EW., pp. 283, 284. |
These examples, and many others, show that the New Testament writers based their interpretations and their prophecies upon the principle that the Old Testament literal, national things pertaining to Israel and her enemies have their spiritual, world-wide application in connection with the church in this "dispensation of the Holy Spirit." Not only Israel's sanctuary and its typical services foreshadowed greater things to come, but the liberation from Egypt, the victory at the Red Sea, the desert experiences, the wars, the entrance into the promised land—all recorded in the Old Testament concerning Israel—were written as "types," "figures" (1 Cor. 10:6, 11, margins), or "acted parables" illustrating the experiences of the church and her enemies.
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