Rasaka Figurative

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000" background="040c8c00erkjxk.jpg"> <div> <B><U>Greg Rasaka</U></B></div> <div> <B>is the editor of </B><I><B>Eschatology Review</B></I><B>.  </B><I><B>Eschatology Review</B></I><B> is a free publication available by contacting Greg at 32080 N.E. Corral Creek Road, Newberg, Oregon, 97132.  You can also reach him via e-mail at gjr@viclink.com.</B></div> <div> <B>This article is from the December 2003 issue of </B><I><B>Eschatology Review</B></I><B> and used with his kind permission</B><I><B>.</B></I></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Restoration Ministries</B> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" >  | </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#00FFFF" FACE="Arial" >    <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Restoration Ministries"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="1391c480.jpg" border=0 width="540" height="72" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>by Greg Rasaka</B></div> <div> <B>____________________________________________________</B></div> <bR> <div> Figurative language can be a real obstacle when studying the Bible. If we read a passage and do not realize it is figurative language, we automatically process it as literal and are immediately headed in the wrong direction. If we do not correct ourselves, we soon have an entire theological system built upon a false assumption.</div> <bR> <div> Next, the teaching goes on to the ears of others who do not question the system and blindly follow along. After time it has spread like an epidemic and the infected are trapped in a paradigm from which they refuse to budge. The failure to detect figurative language is not the only culprit for the birth of false teachings, but it is definitely a major one.</div> <bR> <div> I have heard it said so many times that the Bible should be taken literally unless it is obviously evident that it is otherwise. That, in my opinion is foolish. Just as we need to constantly keep the covenant in mind as we read the Bible, we need to keep a watch for the different types of figurative language. The goal is not to take everything literal, but rather to understand the text as it was intended. If a passage is meant to be literal, we need to understand it that way. </div> <bR> <div> Likewise, if a passage is symbolic or figurative, we need to understand it as such. When we realize that a given passage is figurative, we then need to try to understand the concept that the writer was attempting to communicate. If we fail to understand what the writer had in mind, the line of communication has failed.</div> <bR> <div> A false teaching has the potential to be more damaging than no teaching at all, so consequently, we must always try our best to teach the truth. A personal agenda, or a group agenda will always poison the truth. God is the one we can count on for truth and righteous guidance. Man always seems to have a way of ruining a good thing.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>A Variety of Terms</B></div> <bR> <div> There is a variety of terms given to the many kinds of figures of speech such as, simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, parable, allegory, idiom, personification, hyperbole, proverb, etc. As far as these terms go, I will not try to specifically define them all, only certain ones. The reason being that there seems to be much inconsistency and overlapping of these terms, which does more to “muddy the water” than to assist one in understanding the recognition and interpretation of figurative language. </div> <bR> <div> Writers claim to have this all sorted out and classified, yet they are not only differing in opinion between one another, but even betraying their own definitions. This is something I want to avoid. I am not interested in classifying figures of speech, nor compiling an inventory of these classifications. I am interested in extracting the message that the writers of the Bible meant to convey to their audience. The rest is merely “frosting on the cake.”</div> <bR> <div> Basically, an allegory differs from a parable in that the allegory contains its own interpretation. An example of an allegory can be found in Galatians 4:21-31. Here the text tells us that Abraham had two sons, one of a slave and one of a free woman. The slave woman corresponds to Sinai and the present Jerusalem. The free woman corresponds to the Jerusalem from above. The allegory has its own interpretation. The parable does not. A parable may make use of simile or metaphor.</div> <bR> <div> A simile differs from a metaphor by the fact that the simile gives a comparison of two items. The metaphor simply is a replacement of one item with another. The similarity is there, but is not shown like the simile. Examples of a simile would include: </div> <bR> <div> “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed...”</div> <bR> <div> “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven...” </div> <bR> <div> “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field...” </div> <bR> <div> “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking pearls...” </div> <bR> <div> “The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea...” </div> <bR> <div> Examples of a metaphor would be, </div> <bR> <div> “I am the door...” </div> <bR> <div> “I am the good shepherd...” </div> <bR> <div> “I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser...”</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The Language Barrier</B></div> <bR> <div> Above, I made use of two figures of speech, “muddy the water” and “frosting on the cake.” This is so common in our everyday language that we both hear and utter such figures of speech and hardly notice. I can assure you that one who is foreign to our contemporary figures of speech would be puzzled by many of them. It is even possible to get the exact opposite from the intended message if the figure of speech is overlooked or improperly interpreted.</div> <bR> <div> To show my point, let me make a simple illustration:  You have a friend from a foreign country visiting you one summer. This friend knows the English language quite well, but being from another area, he is not familiar with our common terminology. You take him on a tour in the mountains and ask him, “Would you like to stop by the hot springs? They<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>re really cool.” </div> <bR> <div> He looks at you as if you are nuts and replies, “What?” </div> <bR> <div> You continue, “There is this really cool place with hot springs all over.” </div> <bR> <div> He is asking himself how hot springs can be cool. Puzzled he turns to you and says, “You are joking, right? You say they are hot springs, yet they are cool.” </div> <bR> <div> Then you realize he does not understand that “cool” means “neat.” Yet he thinks “neat” means tidy. You then have to explain to him that “cool” and “neat” both mean “very desirable.” He gets the idea, but when you get there and see all its beauty, and see he likes the place, you ask him, “This place is awfully nice isn’t it?” Again he is puzzled, “Awfully nice? How can something be awful and nice at the same time?...”</div> <bR> <div> You see what I am getting at. Language can be a communication barrier at times. We are removed thousands of years from the original writers of the Bible. Our languages are completely different. Our cultures are completely different. It is so easy to get off track. </div> <bR> <div> Today we write with a computer and can change and rearrange what we write with the greatest of ease. Two or three thousand years ago, they didn’t have an inexhaustible supply of paper. They wrote on papyrus or parchments and needed to write with the fewest words and still get the message across. </div> <bR> <div> The old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words” is very true. The writers of the Bible used words and phrases that painted a picture in the reader<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s mind. With these word pictures, volumes could be conveyed. Even today with our paper and computers, good word pictures are many times the best way to convey a message. Of course the symbols used have to be familiar to the readers.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Jesus Used Figures of Speech</B></div> <bR> <div> Jesus used much figurative language. He very often quoted the words of the prophets, which were largely figurative. He spoke in parables to bring a spiritual truth out to his listeners. These parables used analogies that stuck in the people<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s minds. Perhaps they only understood them later. </div> <bR> <div> Those who were enemies of Jesus, were oblivious to many of them. Jesus used them in such a way that he could pour guilt on the scribes and Pharisees without coming right out and saying it, thus sparing his life for some time. These parables had the ability to reveal or conceal profound truths, depending upon whether or not the listener had “ears to hear or eyes to see.”</div> <bR> <div> The metaphor, “one who has ears to hear and eyes to see,” simply meant that this person was seeking God and open to receiving truth. Those who were self-righteous were deaf and blind to these truths.</div> <bR> <div> The Gospel of John is loaded with figurative language and bursting with spiritual truths. I love the Gospel of John and would go so far as to say it may just possibly be the single most important book of the Bible. John brings out Jesus<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT> extensive use of metaphors.</div> <bR> <div> For instance, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“I am the bread of life”</FONT> (John 6:48). No one takes this literally, for Jesus is not a loaf of wheat bread. But this metaphor tells us that Jesus is the sustainer of spiritual life. He had just fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes. They understood naturally how the bread and fish sustained their physical life. But Jesus wanted them to understand something much deeper and much more important. The miracle got their attention and he later elaborated on a spiritual truth, so that they may all believe and gain eternal life through him.</div> <bR> <div> Jesus also said, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“I am the light of the world”</FONT> (8:12). We understand that he is not physical light, but as light allows us to see where we are going, Jesus is that source of spiritual light that we may use to lead us to eternal, spiritual life. John makes reference to Jesus as life and light in 1:4,5 and 1:7-9. Without light, we live in darkness. This is both true in the natural and spiritual. We get an idea of the spiritual aspect because we fully understand the need of physical light.</div> <bR> <div> John the Baptist said of Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (1:29). Although Jesus was not a literal lamb, he was the spiritual counterpart of the sacrificial lamb used in the temple rituals. Being the ultimate sacrifice, who God himself supplied, perfect in every way, was a once for all means of dealing with sin. Jesus spoke so often in figurative language. </div> <bR> <div> We need to pay heed to that and understand those spiritual truths. We need to have “ears to hear and eyes to see.” God rewards those who seek him (Heb. 11:6). Jesus was not trying to teach natural things that man already understood. He was trying to teach those great truths from above, those spiritual, heavenly truths. He wanted all to step into the light and focus on the spiritual.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Water of Life</B></div> <bR> <div> Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) that he could give her living water and whoever drinks of that living water would never thirst, but become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. Of course Jesus was not referring to H<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >2</FONT>0, but rather to the gospel message, which if embraced, gave eternal life.</div> <bR> <div> I want to look much further into this idea of living water. We find reference to it in many places in the Bible. In John 7:37,38 we find Jesus saying, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink He who believes in me, as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'“</FONT> </div> <bR> <div> Then in verse 39 John explains,<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" > “But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”</FONT> Here we see that the Holy Spirit was to be behind this gospel message and be given to those who believed. This elaborates further than what Jesus had revealed to the Samaritan woman. What scripture was Jesus quoting in verse 38? I have been unable to locate any such scripture. If any of you can point it out me, please do so.</div> <bR> <div> “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost”<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > (Isaiah 55:1). This verse will be important to recall a bit later when we get into Revelation 22. </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Another related verse is found in Isaiah 58:10, 11. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in the scorched places, and give you strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”</FONT> Here again we find both water and light being the symbols of true life for those who follow after God. </div> <bR> <div> In Jeremiah 17:13 we find God referred to as a fountain of living water. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.”</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Reading from Zechariah 14:8, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea.”</FONT> Yes, this reminds us of Ezekiel 47 where the prophet is shown water flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east. The further he went the deeper it became. </div> <bR> <div> First it was ankle deep, then to the knees, then to the loins and finally, too deep to ford. It brings life to all the creatures in the water. It even causes the water of the sea to become fresh. There are trees along its banks for food that will not fail. They will bear fruit every month because their waters flow from the sanctuary and their leaves are for healing.</div> <bR> <div> Now let us take a look at Revelation 22. In verse 2 we read, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“Then he showed me a river of the living water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the free were for the healing of the nations.”</FONT> This is part of the description of the new Jerusalem, the holy city that begins in chapter 21. </div> <bR> <div> How do we know this is describing the holy city, the new Jerusalem? It tells us so in 21:2 as well as 21:10. This is not some future utopia on earth as so many claim. The city has walls (21:12) to keep out the murders, dogs, sorcerers, liars etc. (22:15). There are also gates that are open by day and there is no night (21:25). This tells us that the kingdom of God is open to all who would wash their robes and enter in. God<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s offer stands, but those who do not take the offer are left out.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >I want to point out 21:6, </FONT>“Then he said to me, ‘It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT> “<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > We find this reiterated in 22:17, </FONT>“The Spirit and the bride say ‘Come.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT> And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT> And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” </div> <bR> <div> Remember the passage we read above from Isaiah 55:1? Revelation is declaring the consummation of all things with the destruction of Jerusalem and the entire Jewish theocratic system that was based on the old covenant. Now in these last chapters of Revelation, the covenant has changed into the new and better covenant, making all things new. </div> <bR> <div> Let us not overlook 22:14, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the free of lift, and may enter by the gates into the city.”</FONT> The free of life and the river of living water go together. We find the springs of the water of life also in 7:17. Chapter 2, verse 7 says the tree of life is in the paradise of God.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The Garden of Eden</B></div> <bR> <div> There is another place where we may put all this together to help us complete this picture of trees, water, life and the paradise of God. This idea is first shown in Genesis chapters 2 and 3. I ask you to consider these two chapters from a figurative point of view. It is most common to take these chapters as literal, yet is that proper? </div> <bR> <div> We can cover this whole idea in detail in a later issue, but for now I want to focus on the garden, the rivers, and the trees. This will only be a briefing, to cause you to think about this from another perspective—to prime you for more, if you will. Maybe you will see some things from your own study that I will bring out later on, thus giving you a jump-start on what I will be considering.</div> <bR> <div> In Hebrew, the word used for garden is <I>gan</I> (Strong’s 1588), meaning an enclosure or garden. The word for garden in the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, is <I>paradeisos</I> (Strong’s 3857). It means garden, park, garden of frees, pleasure-park. It is where our word “paradise” comes from. In the Old Testament, it is rendered garden. </div> <bR> <div> In the New Testament, it is used only three times and rendered as paradise, while another word is used for garden. So we have a word meaning garden or paradise. The Hebrew word Eden means delight or luxury. In the Septuagint the term is garden of delight. Is it proper to use the word Eden as a proper noun? Perhaps not. Perhaps we should render it for what it means, delight.</div> <bR> <div> In the Genesis narrative, there is a river that flows out of Eden (delight) to water the garden. It then divides into four heads. Two of these circle or surround certain lands. Because this makes no sense taken literally, does it make better sense from a figurative point of view? Could it be that this water flows from God out his own delight to water this garden, or paradise where he placed the man and the woman? Could it be that this represents the same thing as the living water Jesus spoke of?</div> <bR> <div> The man and the woman were free to partake of any free in the garden except for one. That was the free of the, knowledge of good and evil. The other tree specifically mentioned is the tree of life. Now let us consider these trees for a moment. The fruit of an apple tree is apples. The fruit of a banana tree is bananas. The fruit of a peach free is peaches. </div> <bR> <div> Jesus used the figure of speech that a tree is known by its fruit. So what can we expect the fruit of the tree of life to be? Would not it be life? What would we expect the fruit of the free of the knowledge of good and evil to be? Would it not be the knowledge of good and evil? If the man and the woman were free to eat of the free of life, wouldn’t this tell us that they had true life, that is, spiritual life? Wouldn’t this whole idea, if it is figurative language, tell us that the man and the woman had spiritual life in the presence of God? </div> <bR> <div> The one thing they lacked was the knowledge of good and evil. They had no concept of sin or righteousness. If they were to disobey God and choose to gain the knowledge of good and evil, they would then be held accountable for their sins. Once held accountable for their sins, death was the result. Not physical death, but a death brought about by sin.</div> <bR> <div> Think about what these passages mean if they are figurative. Perhaps many of will see the same things I am seeing. If you can see it for yourself, you are better off than if I point it out for you. I am bringing these ideas out for your consideration and I will elaborate on them further after you have had time to put some thought into it and read these passages over again with this in mind. </div> <bR> <div> I want you to also consider the real cause of the fall of man in the garden. Was it really Satan as commonly accepted? I want you to consider what the implications would be if man had not fallen. I want you to also consider the very purpose of God<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s creation and why he did things the way he did. If man began in paradise, fell from his standing with God, and was brought back into the paradise of God as Revelation shows, what was the reason behind the whole circle? What was gained from this whole ordeal? Couldn<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t God have made us perfect from the very beginning? </div> <bR> <div> I know that has been a life long question for me. Did God really allow an evil being, Satan, to wreak havoc on his creation? Did God really have to implement countermoves in reaction to those of man or the devil? These are all things that need to be considered and we will work on them as we go, and hopefully we can understand what God was doing and why he did it. </div> <bR> <div> Perhaps things are not as we have always been taught. Perhaps there is far more spiritual and figurative meaning in the Bible than we have imagined. I want you to consider one more thing, and that is the concept of opposites as follows.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Opposition</B></div> <bR> <div> Can reality exist without opposition? “Sure,” you answer. Perhaps your answer is a bit premature. Let<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s examine some things a little closer.</div> <bR> <div> Can hot exist without cold? Don<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t the two make a differential called temperature? If there were no cold, then all would be alike, and there would be no reason to acknowledge the existence of heat. Can there be large without small? If there is no small, all would be alike and there would be no reason to acknowledge the existence of size. </div> <bR> <div> If there were no sad, could there be happy? Without sad, by what means would happiness be measured? Can right exist without left? Right without wrong? Can we understand sfrength without there being weakness as well? Good without bad? Without bad, could we understand what good is? </div> <bR> <div> Is it just possible then that the reason there is evil, is so we can understand righteousness? Without evil could we appreciate the wonderful qualities of God, such as love? Everything we know and love about God is positive, but without a frame of reference consisting of positive and negative, how would we understand any of this? Everything in nature and thought has opposition.</div> <bR> <div> Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant physicist, mathematician, and biblical scholar. He stated that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is known as Newton<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s third law of motion. Try to think of an action that is without an equal and opposite reaction. You can<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t. But is this idea confined to physics? Now fry to think of an <B>idea</B> that is without an equal and opposing counterpart. Forces, feelings, descriptions, motives, emotions, attitudes, size, time, direction, etc, are all subject to opposition.</div> <bR> <div> Even atoms, the particles that make up matter consist of positive and negative. Without both of these forces the atom does not exist. Everything in our life consists of opposites. God separated light and darkness so we may know the difference.</div> <bR> <div> Think for a moment about the beginning of Adam and Eve. They did not know the difference between good and evil. Try to imagine that. It is impossible for us to imagine because we do know the difference. Can you imagine what it would be like to be born blind? We can<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t really understand that world, because of the images in our minds — we cannot remove them. </div> <bR> <div> On the other hand, the man who is born blind cannot imagine what it is to have sight. It is impossible. He does not know the difference between being blind and having sight. The only reason he knows a difference exists, is because others tell him so. But as for what that difference is, he cannot imagine. So his inability to understand is twofold. Just as he cannot grasp vision, he also does not grasp blindness. He cannot understand one without the other. If he were to subsequently gain eyesight, he would then understand the difference, because it would then be reality to him. So it was also impossible for Adam and Eve to understand what good and evil were until they experienced both, and then becoming a reality to them.</div> <bR> <div> You say, “Well just because the blind man cannot understand sight or blindness, doesn<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t mean it doesn<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t exist. Likewise, just because Adam and Eve could not understand good or evil, it still existed.” You are correct. But to the blind man, sight and blindness do not exist. Also, to Adam and Eve, good and evil did not exist. Even though the blind man is blind he doesn<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t understand what it means. He cannot understand one without the other.</div> <bR> <div> So we can see that it is necessary to have opposition in order for us to understand anything. God created good and evil. You say, “God is perfect and did not create evil.” Yes, God is good and perfect. He is also almighty and can do anything. How could we understand good if he didn<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t create evil as well? How could we know and appreciate love, if we have never known hate? God created everything. What<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>s more, is the fact that God is the only creator as well. We cannot create — not good, not evil. Satan cannot create, and he did not create evil. He is not capable of it. Man and Satan can only use the things that God has provided.</div> <bR> <div> Proverbs 16:4 says, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.”</FONT> Surprised? Isaiah 45:7 says, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“The one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.”</FONT> The same verse in the Septuagint says, <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“I am he that prepared light and formed darkness; who makes peace and creates evil; I am the Lord God that does all these things.”</FONT> </div> <bR> <div> Is Satan then, an evil being, or is he symbolic of the evil side of man, the “voice of temptation?<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT> No doubt God could have created an evil being such as we normally consider Satan to be. But did God need to create such a being when man has evil built within? This evil within us is for the purpose of teaching us and refining us, in order that we may be suitable sons of God with whom he can have fellowship. If we don<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" >*</FONT>t know love, we are unable to love God in return. And how can we know love if there is no evil by which to contrast it? Love is pleasant, while hate is unpleasant. But how do we know if both are not presented as reality?</div> <bR> <div> If black lettering is put on black paper, we cannot detect the presence of what was written, and the message is not conveyed. But if we have black lettering on white paper, the contrast is defined and the message can be received.</div> <bR> <div> A contrast is required. The puppet knows nothing, yet God gave us the ability to know the difference between countless opposites. Therefore we are able to make decisions and hopefully please God in the process. We have all partaken from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” By believing in Christ, we partake of the “tree of life.” It is the difference between life and death.</div> <bR> <div> Give some thought to all of this and we will dig deeper next month. Try to keep figurative language in mind and try to “think outside the box.” Try to keep the covenant in mind as well as a spiritual mind-set. <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" >“But a natural man does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised”</FONT> (1 Corinthians 2:14).</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>