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Deciphering the Bible

My philosophy may be somewhat different then what is usually stated by the believing community and I would welcome any feedback on this.

I first developed this perception not too long after when I had begun reading the bible and when I started noticing a logical correlation between certain terms (the symbolic meaning of them), a correlation which forced me to acknowledge that there must be a God, because I could not accept that man was capable of writing the bible in light of the perfect correlation that I saw across hundreds of year’s span of written text.

For example, it may say somewhere in the bible that "the days of man are like grass" [Psalm 103:15]. If we therefore create a symbolic dictionary where grass = the days of a person’s life and apply this symbolic meaning every time the word grass is mentioned in the bible, you will find interesting meanings indeed. When, as an unbeliever, I started reading the bible [link to my testimony here], many things did not make sense, but I believe God gradually opened my eyes (see the light) and I started seeing these new meanings if I applied these symbolic meanings throughout the bible. For this purpose I created a dictionary of these definitions, to help me decipher the bible. Unfortunately, there are still many holes and word meanings I am not sure of. But I believe it is within God’s plan not to reveal everything now but later (unfortunately, I cannot find the verse where I once found that written).

To start then with my "noncontext perception of biblical meaning", I would like to make mention of Mathew 13:13 (which refers to Isaiah 6:9,10). Here, Jesus once again speaks in parables and once again his disciples ask him to decipher or explain the parable and where Jesus refers to Isaiah:

MT 13:13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

MT 13:14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" `You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

MT 13:15 For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'

In other words, people are so concerned about their own selfish lives they become blinded from the light of God, according to God’s plan.

1CO 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing <link to Death study>, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
1CO 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Those who are obsessed with their own agendas and personal indulgences are not interested in hearing a message of a judgement day or an all-knowing God who will one day hold them to account.

2TH 2:5 Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? [6] And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. [7] For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. [8] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath < of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. [9] The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, [10] and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. [11] For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie [12] and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Hence one should be able to deduce that the bible itself is written in parables:

PS 78:2 I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
HOS 12:10 I [the Lord, your God] spoke to the prophets,
gave them many visions
and told parables through them."

Of course, not all the bible has to be written in parables, such as:

EZE 20:45 The word of the LORD came to me: [46] "Son of man, set your face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest of the southland. [47] Say to the southern forest: `Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to set fire to you, and it will consume all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it. [48] Everyone will see that I the LORD have kindled it; it will not be quenched.' "
EZE 20:49 Then I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! They are saying of me, `Isn't he just telling parables?' "

The point is, many parts of the bible need not be taken literally, or, otherwise, they could at least have another meaning other than its literal meaning.

Because I started to notice this, I began compiling a dictionary of definitions. It is not a perfect dictionary and I am still working on it, but I sometimes see amazing meanings which I would not have seen if I had not applied the dictionary (unless of course God opened my eyes through the Holy Spirit so that I could grasp the meaning of a parable without this other approach).

Therefore, to give you an example of what meaning may arise when you use this dictionary, ‘noncontext’ approach, I will start with the opening page of the bible, which for me is full of this type of symbolism or parablism:

GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

In the beginning is quite an ambiguous concept and I don’t believe you can define it as a second. What is the beginning anyway? Before God existed? Here is for example one way God defines himself:

REV 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
REV 21:6 He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
2PE 3:8 With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
PS 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

I go into greater detail on this subject in my analysis of TIME, but I will say in short that I see God as eternal life, time itself. If you are the beginning AND the end, then you are essentially eternity and time does not really exist for you, for which reason a day seems like a thousand years.

For us though, we could say that the heavens (such as the stars, constellations..) and the earth were created over a period of a billion years. It does not matter how long and the "beginning" is not defined here.

We continue:

[2] Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

We might interpret sin as formelessness, darkness, lawlessness. Now waters is interesting because:

REV 17:15 The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.

So I could interpret this to mean that God was hovering over the peoples of the earth and saw only formlessness. Perhaps no righteousness, no love. Note that the NIV says in the translation that it could also be the earth became formless and empty. As in God created everything, but then it all moved towards formlessness and entropy, as is natural according to the laws of physics (link to study on Creation and Study of Evolution).

GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. [4] God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. [5] God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.

"Let there be light." First there was talk of creating the earth and heavens, now it is let. If we look at:

1JN 1:5 God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
1JN 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

If God is light and God is love, then we should be able to deduce that light is love, or perhaps the love of God. So God is hovering over his creation and sees how darkness formed or was over the deep and said, "let my love enter this darkness". God saw that this light was good and separated it from the darkness.

From this point of view you can see another possible interpretation of the concerned scripture.

The word day can be open to some interpretation, such as from:

GE 1:5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."
MIC 3:6 Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.
The sun will set for the prophets,
and the day will go dark for them.
2PE 1:19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
ISA 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

We should also note the seven spirits of God.

Now,

GE 1:6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." [7] So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. [8] God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.

GE 1:9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. [10] God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Calling the gathered waters seas means you can interpret seas to also mean the nations, languages, multitudes and peoples, which works in many parables in the bible.

GE 1:11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. [12] The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. [13] And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

Note that God said "let the land produce vegetation". This could allow for some degree of evolution, for the land produced vegetation, each according to its kind. (link to study on Creation and Evolution)

GE 1:14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, [15] and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. [16] God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. [17] God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, [18] to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19] And there was evening, and there was morning--the fourth day.

First there are lights in the sky, and then God also made stars. So if the lights are not stars, what are they then? I see these as some sort of heavenly bodies, such as angels, who for example govern the day and the night and to separate the light from the darkness. The literal meaning of this does not make so much sense.

Also, if you were to say that the greater light is the sun and the smaller light the moon, how would these govern the day or the night?

So these could refer to spirits in heaven in charge of governing and watching over the material and unmaterial worlds.

GE 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

GE 1:27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

So if man is male and female, then what? I personally do not believe that God is a male but a full being without sex.

For example:

LK 20:34 Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. [35] But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, [36] and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels.

So I would assume spiritual beings who do not have a physical body, and thus arguably, sexual differentiation.

<<< to work on further from here >>>

Note:

GE 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

GE 1:29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. [30] And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

GE 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning--the sixth day.

GE 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

GE 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. [3] And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

GE 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-- [5] and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, [6] but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground-- [7] the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.