INTERPRETATION OF PROPHETIC SYMBOLS
[Sidenote: Value of prophecy]
The value of prophecy in establishing the religion of the Bible as the
religion, of God has been generally recognized. Its value, however,
is not limited to the proof of the divinity of Biblical truth which it
furnishes: it serves a definite and most important purpose in the life
and work of God's believing children in all ages. By it we are better
able to understand God's own plan and purposes in human history, and
by it we are made conscious of our own whereabouts along the pathway
of time. The movements of God in the history of the past that were
predicted by earlier prophets have received their chief inspiration
from the conscious knowledge the leaders had of the prophetic
character of their work. It was Daniel's study of prophecy that
stirred his soul for the restoration of Israel to the favor of God
and to their own land (Dan. 9:2), and at the same time opened his own
heart for the wonderful revelation concerning future events. It was
the consciousness of prophetic fulfilment that gave John the Baptist
his inspiration for work (John 1:23); and in establishing the truths
of the gospel of Christ, the apostles placed leading emphasis on the
fact that these things were written in the law and in the prophets.
The love and care that Christ had for his people did not cease in the
beginning of the gospel dispensation; for he gave the promise, "I
am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." It is altogether
reasonable, then, that we should receive "the revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave unto him, to _show unto his servants_ things
which must shortly come to pass" (Rev. 1:1). Through the varying
conditions of time, Christ leads his people on to certain victory.
Since the mission of the church was to be world-wide and perpetual, it
is fitting that the church should be described prophetically in order
that we might have definite information concerning the operations
of the divine hand in working out the great problem of the church's
destiny after the close of the sacred canon.
[Sidenote: Prophetic symbols]
Before proceeding with our discussion of those prophecies which
concern the church, let us pause and consider briefly the character
of symbols. The prophecy of the Scriptures is presented to us in two
distinct forms--direct statements in the ordinary language of life and
in symbolic representations, but far the greater part is expressed
in symbols, as in the book of Daniel and in the Revelation of John.
Without an understanding of the nature of symbols we can not get a
proper understanding of such prophecies.
Spoken or written language is a very complicated affair, but it is
in reality an arbitrary arrangement. The name that we attach to a
particular object could as well be given to a totally different object
instead if we only agreed to make the change. For this reason spoken
language is variable. Changes are constantly taking place. The
language of Bible symbols, on the other hand, is not subject to
the law of change, as we shall see; it is not based on arbitrary
arrangement or mere convenience, but its foundational principles exist
in the very nature of things.
Webster defines _symbol_ as follows: "The sign or representation of
any moral thing by the images or properties of natural things. Thus,
a lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or
patience." Horne, in his Introduction to the Study of the Bible, says:
"By symbols we mean certain representative marks, rather than express
pictures; or, if pictures, such as were at the time _characters_, and
besides presenting to the eye the resemblance of a particular object,
suggested a general idea to the mind, as when a _horn_ was made
to denote _strength_, an _eye_ and _scepter_, _majesty_, and in
numberless such instances, where the picture was not drawn to
express merely the thing itself, but something else, which was or was
conceived to be, analogous to it."
According to these definitions, the main idea of a symbol is the
representation of an object or quality, not by exhibition of itself,
but by another object or character analogous to it. Nor are we limited
in the use of symbols to the exhibition of moral subjects alone.
Any object may be symbolized, provided a corresponding object can be
found.
[Sidenote: Analogy the basic law]
Analogy, then, is the fundamental law of symbols. This being true,
it is clear that symbols must be definitely applied. They are not
arbitrary. There is no reason why we could not call a book a table,
and a table it would be, provided we agreed universally to adopt that
designation; but we violate nature if we attempt to represent the
quiet, peaceful, gentle disposition of a child by a lion or a tiger,
or a cruel, vindictive, tyrannical disposition by a lamb. A polluted
harlot may represent an apostate church, but not the true church. A
proper correspondence of character and quality must be observed. We
must follow nature strictly. And this is the law of symbols.
Symbols are drawn from different departments--from angelic life, human
life, animal life, and inanimate creation. But in every case there
is in the selection and use of the symbol a proper correspondence of
character and quality.
[Sidenote: Twofold object of symbols]
The deciding factor in the original selection of a symbolic object
is the nature of the thing to be symbolized. In the field of Bible
prophecy the general design is in the main twofold--the representation
(1) of the affairs of the church and (2) of the political history of
those nations and kingdoms which were to exert an important influence
on the life and development of the church. It is evident that in the
divine estimation the church and its welfare is of infinitely greater
importance than the affairs of nations and kingdoms. Therefore we may
reasonably expect that, according to the nature of symbolic language,
symbols designed to represent the church will be found to be of the
most exalted type, whereas those representing political things will be
found to be selected from an inferior department. In accordance with
this fundamental classification we shall find that symbols drawn from
angelic life and human life invariably refer to the department
of ecclesiastical affairs, while those drawn from animal life or
inanimate nature represent political things. The only apparent
exception to this rule is that certain inanimate objects formerly
consecrated to the service of God and thus associated with the
department of the church are sometimes used to represent spiritual
things, because the analogy is obvious. Bearing in mind this
fundamental distinction between the representation of things political
and things ecclesiastical, we are prepared to understand other shades
of distinction.
Nations may be peaceful or tyrannical and oppressive, and churches
may be good or apostate; but the exact character can be analogously
represented by the symbolic object. A vicious wild beast stamping and
devouring would naturally represent a cruel, tyrannical government;
and a good woman represents the true church, while a vile harlot
represents the church apostate. But whatever the nature of the symbol,
whether beast, locust, lion, horse, temple, angel, or man, we may
know at once from the nature of the symbol where to look for its
fulfilment. This important guide in the study of prophetic truth--a
guide overlooked by most of the commentators--relieves us of much of
the uncertainty hitherto connected with the subject.
Since, as we have seen, symbolic language is based on analogy, it
is evident that there are some objects whose nature forbids their
symbolization, there being no corresponding object in existence.
God can not be symbolized. "To whom then will ye liken God? or what
likeness will ye compare unto him" (Isa. 40:18). There may be certain
symbols connected with his person setting forth the dignity, majesty,
and eternal splendor of his name, but he himself appears unrepresented
by another. The same is true also of the person of Jesus, our
Redeemer, although in this case we must distinguish between the
Christ incarnate and Jesus in his essential divinity. Considered as
incarnate--both God and man--the human aspect of his character as
manifested in his sacrificial death may be analogously represented as
a Lamb slain. But considered in his essential divinity, he can not
be symbolically represented. Therefore, whenever the glorified Christ
appears on the symbolic stage, he always appears in his own person
proclaiming his own name. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev. 1:18). "He hath on his vesture
and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords."
In Rev. 6:9 the souls of the martyrs are represented as crying unto
God for the avenging of their blood on them that dwell on the earth.
There is no object analogous to a disembodied spirit. It is easy to
give them an arbitrary name. Therefore they simply appear under their
own appropriate titles as "the _souls_ of them that were slain."
Whenever we attach a literal significance to a symbolic object, we
immediately destroy its character as a symbol. This should not be
done. With the exception of those instances where the nature of
an object forbids its symbolization and where the description must
therefore of necessity be literal, we should always look for the true
fulfilment, not in that department from which the symbol is drawn, but
in another department--that to which the symbol by analogy refers us.
[Sidenote: Field of present inquiry]
The limits and object of the present work preclude an exhaustive
treatment of prophecy in general. Our immediate purpose is to set
forth particularly those prophecies of the divine Word which clearly
portray and outline the character of a world-wide religious movement
in the last days. To do this effectually, however, we must briefly
consider those prophecies which describe the principal ecclesiastical
events in history which form the basis of, or lead up to, the Last
Reformation. The subject as outlined in the prophecies and as based on
the facts of history, naturally divides into four parts, or epochs, as
follows:
I The Apostolic Period
II The Medieval Period
III Era of Modern Sects
IV The Last Reformation
For the sake of brevity, we shall, as far as possible, exclude from
our present inquiry those prophecies pertaining to civil and political
affairs, retaining only such as have an important bearing on the
church subject.