The question about whether the Bible is to be taken literally is one that has been asked by Christians for centuries. Those that have answered “No” have created churches that bear little resemblance to the early church. They’ve based their belief systems on human authorities that have proven to be unstable at best. Those that answer an unequivocal ‘yes’ are faced with some conundrums. Are we to take literally such verses as “if your right hand offends you cut it off”? Believers with a modicum of common sense will say ‘No’ because taking that verse literally is to ignore greater principles in the scriptures. And, most would agree that symbols used in the scripture are not literal. So the Bible is clearly not to be taken completely literally. Some discernment on the part of the believer is necessary. If it is not literal then whose interpretation should we believe? Answering that with a person means that person has more authority than the scripture. Obviously, no one has a clear claim on that position. So we are left with the principle of letting the Bible interpret the Bible. To do so means having the faith that God inspired, not just the writing of the scriptures but also the compilation of the books of the Bible. If one believes that God had His hand in the canonization of the scriptures then it is no great leap of faith to believe the Bible interprets itself.
This brings us to Biblical symbolism. Using the Bible to interpret the Bible means the symbols used in the scriptures are explained in the scriptures. The question then arises, why does God use symbolism instead of simply stating what He wants us to know?
What you have to understand first is that the Creator of the universe is trying to explain the most profound spiritual truths to human beings with three-pound brains.
Think of the Bible as a kind of first grade primer that is an attempt to teach us how to read. It’s all we are capable of understanding so far and it still takes the Holy Spirit in us just to scratch the surface.
So God uses similes, metaphors and analogies of things we do understand to give us the faintest glimpse of those truths. We are, symbolically, looking through a glass darkly after all.
Marriage, fishing, carpentry and building, blood sacrifices etc. are all things that we can understand so God uses them to teach us.
Christ likens the church to His Body. He also likens it to a bride that He will marry. Additionally he likens it to His temple that He is building.
So we are part of Him in some way. He will become one with us in some way. And when we all fit together in a unified whole He will inhabit us in some way.
All these analogies teach some aspect of His relationship to us.
When Christ stepped out of Eternity to inhabit a mortal body and walk among us as one of us He did so as a carpenter. Ever wonder why? He is building His church, His temple.
King David, a type of Christ, designed the temple he wanted to build so carefully and in such detail that the stones for it could be cut away from the building site and when they were brought to the site they only needed to be slid into place.
Christ inspired some of the authors of the scriptures to liken us to stones that He is working with. He works with each of us away from the building site. He cuts away anything that won’t fit into His final plan.
Those that have already lived have already been cut to fit. So when Christ returns they will be raised first to fit into their places first. Then those that are His that are still alive will be changed and fit into their places. The whole structure will be built on Christ as the foundation. He will also be the cornerstone that allows the other stones to come together and function as one structure. He will build the New Jerusalem out of us. His body. His Bride. And He and the Father will inhabit us.
Christ and His bride will become one. How does He teach us that? By showing us the New Jerusalem that He is building out of us…His body, the bride that He will become one with, and the temple that He and the Father will inhabit.
Don’t fully understand it? We only have three-pound brains after all…
I Kings 6:7, I Cor. 3:16-17, Eph. 2:20-22, I Tim. 3:15, Heb. 3:6, I Pet. 4-5:1, Rev. 21:14
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