Robert Morris - Symbols
Today the title of the message is, "Symbols". Not like drum cymbals, with the S here, "Symbols", because I want to show you some symbols in Scripture, and the Bible is full of symbolic Scripture. And so, when I first saw this, when I was in my early 20's, I got saved at 19. This is what caused me to just devour the Bible, to read it and read it and read it, because I saw all of these symbols.
Now, let me say this, too, about the book and about us, okay? Let me say this about us first. We have a tendency to believe that we are humans having a spiritual experience, but the truth is, we are spirits having a human experience. So now let me make this statement about the Bible. This is a spiritual book, written by a spiritual being to spiritual beings. And, by the way, the natural man, which means the man who's not born again, here's what the Bible says, can't even understand this book. Can't even understand it.
So, I'm gonna show you some spiritual signs, so here's point number one. The Bible is full of spiritual symbols. The Bible is full of spiritual symbols. Psalm 105:40-41, "The people asked, and He brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven", the bread of heaven, "He opened the rock and water gushed out".
Now see, bread, water, rock. I talked about bread and water in the spring, in this series. Then you say, yeah, but I don't understand how you get the spiritual symbols. Okay, let me make another statement here. The Bible interprets itself. Here's another good one. You don't interpret the Bible, the Bible interprets you. But, the Bible will also interpret itself. When I say there's a spiritual symbol, I've got a book, chapter, and verse for it. So, let me show you spiritual symbols now. I read that in Psalm 105, now let me show you the New Testament that tells me what the symbols are.
1 Corinthians 10:1, "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, and they all passed through the sea". By the way, Verse 2 have three symbols in them. These are the three baptisms right here. "All were baptized into Moses", that was into their deliverer, which for us, we get baptized into Jesus when we get saved. "In the cloud", that would represent spirit", and in the sea", that would represent water. So, there are the three baptisms right there, symbols of 'em. But, watch. Verse 3, "And they all ate the same spiritual food, they all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ".
Okay, so where do I get spiritual symbols from? Right there. But do you see, it says right there, "spiritual"? They ate of spiritual bread, spiritual water, and that Rock was Christ. Now, look at Luke 10. I'm gonna show you some symbols, and I'm gonna show you how easy it is to let the Bible define symbols, okay? Luke 10:17. Luke 10:17, "Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name". And He said to them", really? No, He didn't say that. I just imagine them saying, even demons are subject, and Jesus go, wow! You know, that's amazing!
All right, watch what He does say. "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven". And then, in other words, here's what He's saying, I'm unimpressed. I'm unimpressed that demons are subject to My name. When Satan came against My Father and Me, we kicked him out and he fell like lightning from heaven. All right, but I want you to notice the context. We're doing, really, a contextual exegesis of these four verses. They were talking about demons, then Jesus uses the word, "Satan". Then, Verse 19, watch. "Behold I give you authority to trample on", here are two symbols, "serpents and scorpions", watch, "and over all the power of the enemy".
Look at the word, "enemy". See, I'm just showing you the context. "And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits", see the context, demonic spirits, "are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven". Did you see that? Jesus said, I give you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions. He is not talking about snakes and stinking critters. He is talking about demons, evil spirits, Satan, the enemy. That's the context. Everyone with me? But it says serpents and scorpions. But, let me just remind you of something. One guy wrote this whole thing. Listen. Thirty-nine men penned it, but there's only one author.
So, if serpents and scorpions represents demons in Luke 10, wonder what they represent in Revelation? Wonder what they represent in Genesis? Wonder what they represent in Ezekiel? Wonder what they represent in Jeremiah? Same thing. This is what got me so excited. This is why, when you hear me preach, I show you Scripture from all over this book, because I see it as one book, just one book, written by a spiritual being to spiritual beings. Are you following me? So, let me show you how easy it is to understand the Bible.
Many people say, I can't understand the Book of Revelation. Read it in context with the rest of the Bible. It's got all these things in it, all these nouns, and if you took those nouns and read 'em everywhere else in the Bible, like scorpions, you'd know what they are. Right here in Luke 10, scorpions represent demonic spirits. Watch Revelation 9:3. "Then out of the smoke, locusts came upon the earth".
Now, I wonder what these locusts are? Well, watch. "And to them was given power". See, I don't think these are natural locusts. "To them was given power", watch, "as the scorpions of the earth have power". Well, we know what scorpions are, 'cause Jesus told us. See? Demonic spirits. Now, watch how this works. "They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads". Okay, if you don't understand symbols, that's hard to understand. But, think about it. He said they can't harm green trees. That's basically what He said: grass, trees, and green things, green trees. They can't harm green trees.
Psalm 1 says, "A man who will meditate on the Word of God is like a tree planted by the water". When the demonic spirits are released in the end times, they can harm men who don't have the seal of God on their forehead, but they can't harm men who meditate on the Word of God! That's what that's saying. That's what that says. You might not know everything yet. There might be some things in this book you've never seen, and some things I've never seen, and that's why I read it every day. Every day, because this book was written by a higher being, a spiritual being, and it has all sorts of spiritual symbols in it. All right?
So, number one, the Bible is full of spiritual symbols. Number two, sheep have an enemy. The reason I'm doing this is because we know sheep represent something. Psalm 100:3, "We are His people and the sheep of His pasture". Everyone know that? So, we're called sheep. Right? Okay. So, now we're gonna read another verse. See, you already believe in symbols. You believe when the Bible talks about "the sheep of His pasture", it's talking' about the people of God, right? Okay? Ezekiel 34:1, "And the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Son of Man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel".
All right, stop for a moment. Do you think He's talking' about literal shepherds? Of course not. He's not talking' about a guy on the side of a hill with a dress and a stick. That's not what He's talking' about. What's He talking about here? He's talking about pastors, spiritual leaders. Right? But it says "shepherds". All right, and why does it say "shepherds"? Because we're sheep. Okay, "Woe to the shepherds. Prophesy against the shepherds and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?'""
You see that? So, shepherds are spiritual leaders, flocks are the people of God, right? Okay, so I'm gonna show you another verse where flocks mean people, the sheep mean people, shepherds mean pastors, but there's another symbol and you need to understand there's a symbol, that it means something too, in the spiritual language, all right? In the spiritual world that's going on around us. Ezekiel 34:5, "So they", that's sheep, that's His people, "were scattered because there was no shepherd", no shepherd feeding them the Word of God, "and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered".
Now see, here's what bothers me. We say, now sheep, it says sheep, but it doesn't mean sheep, Pastor, it means people. And it says shepherds, but it doesn't mean literal shepherds, it means pastors. But, beasts of the field? That means lions and tigers. No, it means demonic spirits, and I'll prove it to you. Okay, so here's the symbol. Here's Revelation 12:9, "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan". So, that tells us who the serpent, you see? You follow me? But, I'm not just making' it up. I'm not just saying, well, I think that this represents the devil. There's a verse that tells me it represents the devil. All right?
Now, remember I told you "beasts of the field" represented demonic spirits? Remember, when Satan fell, he took a third of the angels with him, and those are the demonic spirits, all right? And "beasts of the field", okay? Now, when you read Genesis 3:1, you read those first three words, "Now the serpent", you know the serpent represents something, right? It represents Satan. Watch the rest of the verse. You might see something you've never seen before. Genesis 3:1, "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made". He's the most cunning of all the fallen angels.
We just read that when the people of God aren't fed the Word of God, they become food for all the beasts of the field. And now we read that Satan is the most subtle of all the beasts of the field. He's the smartest one. You following me? Okay, Mark 4. "Then He taught them many things by parables". All right, stop. Did Jesus teach by parables? Okay. Did Jesus also say, I don't do anything unless I first see My Father do it? So, when did He see the Father first speak in parables? The Old Testament.
Now, everything happened, but there were many times God spoke in parables in the Old Testament. I've got one for you. In Ezekiel, He was talking about the king of Egypt and the king of Babylon, and this is not the king of Egypt with Moses, and Charlton Heston, and all of that. That wasn't this one, okay? There were lots of pharaohs, okay? Here's what He said. He said, I'm gonna break pharaoh's arms, but He never broke his literal arms. So, either God lied, or He was speaking allegorically. He meant, I'm gonna break his strength. Here's what He also said... I'm gonna strengthen the king of Babylon's arms, and I'm gonna break pharaoh's arms, and this is what He said. Both of them, this one that does this, and this one that does this. He wasn't talking about right and left arms, He was speaking in a parable.
So now, watch. He's gonna speak in a parable. Verse 2, "Then He taught them many things by parables, and He said to them in His teaching", listen, "Behold, a sower went out to sow, and it happened as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air came and devoured it". Everyone see that? "Birds of the air". "Then later, the disciples asked Him about it. They said, "What does this mean"? Here was His response, Verse 13. "And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable"?
Now, this is important and I don't have time to go into it; I wish I did. "How then will you understand all the parables"? I'd like for you to just think about that. Here we are in Mark 4. Jesus said, you don't understand this one? How are you gonna understand any of 'em if you can't understand this one? That's pretty strong. Might be a parable you might want to study later this week some, okay? 'Cause of what Jesus said. Okay, so He explains it. "The sower sows the Word, so seed represents the Word of God, and these are the ones by the wayside where the Word is sowed. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts".
Okay, Jesus, so you say, where do you get your symbols? I just showed you, from Jesus Himself. He talked about demonic spirits and He called them serpents and scorpions, right? Here He's talking' about Satan stealing the Word, and He calls Satan and his army, in essence, 'cause he has people to do his bidding, fallen angels, He called them "birds of the air". Okay? Jesus did that. Are you all following me? There's just a whole lot of symbols in this Bible.
So, here's point three: but God has a plan. God has a plan. Now, there's a tree in Daniel that's in a dream. Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, remember? And it's about a big tree, and nobody can interpret the dream, except Daniel. Why can Daniel interpret the dream? Because Daniel is a spirit that knows the Great Spirit, the Divine Being. He knows God. All right? And no one else could interpret it. But, just watch and see the symbolism in this dream, okay? Daniel 4:10, "These were the visions", this is Nebuchadnezzar speaking, "of my head while on my bed. I was looking, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth".
Okay, wait, I've got to tell you one more thing. When he finishes, Daniel says, the tree is you. The tree is Babylon and you. You represent the tree, and it's the king of Babylon. Babylon represents a mixture of the world and the church. The church went into bondage to Babylon, and they so co-mingled, get this. They were there for 70 years because they disobeyed God. When God set them free, this is gonna shock you, only 10% went back. 90% of them stayed. So, when you read Babylon, because remember, Babylon is also mentioned in the Book of Revelation. We're gonna read about it in just a minute. So, it represents something. It represents a mixture of the church and the world. It's a mixture. Okay?
So, watch. This tree that's growing' up is this worldly church, this worldly mixture of the church and the world. Look at Verse 11. "The tree grew and became strong. Its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were very lovely, its fruit abundant. In it was food for all". We keep seeing this word, "food". Now, watch this. "The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it". Just want you to know, it doesn't say spirit was fed from it, it says flesh. "I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven. He cried aloud and said, "Chop down the tree, cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts get out from under it, and the birds from its branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump".
Leave the stump. Okay. So, when they're going into bondage, the prophet is standing there prophesying, and he's saying the city that leaves 1.000, only 100 of you will return. The one that goes out by 100, only... He's already prophesying there's gonna be a remnant that comes back, only a remnant. And this is the tree, and it talks about this tree.
Isaiah, prophesying about this captivity before it ever happens, he talks about this bondage. But, remember the famous story of Isaiah. Everybody knows it. He goes into the temple, the Lord appears to him, and then Isaiah says these famous words. The Lord says to him, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us"? Again, "Us" represents the Trinity. Isaiah says the famous words, remember? "Lord, here am I, send me". Right? Lord, send me. Lord, send me. Then it says, I'm gonna send you to a people who have ears, but they can't hear, and have eyes, but they can't see. This is what I'm gonna preach on next week, spiritual sight, okay? And he said, and their hearts are dull, and they're not gonna repent. I've never heard anybody preach on this. Do you know what Isaiah said then?
So, the first time Isaiah says, Lord, send me. And then He says, okay, I'm gonna send you to a rebellious people, and you're gonna preach, and they're not gonna listen to you. Isaiah said, Lord, how long? Look it up, in Isaiah 6. That's the next thing he said. How long did you want me to hold that revival, Lord? And God's answer is, until I chop down the tree, but I'm gonna leave the stump. Now, watch this. Remember, we're talking' about symbols. I love it. Isaiah 6:13, "Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump". In other words, the true believers, the remnant, they'll be left when I bring judgment on this worldly church. All right?
Ezekiel 31:6, "All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs", that's branches. "Under its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young, and in its shadow, all great nations made their home". All nations; we're talking about a worldly church. Notice, birds and beasts, by the way. Oh, by the way, notice where the birds nest? Where do the birds nest? In the branches. Anyone got a Scripture on what branches are? John 15:5, "I am the vine, you are the branches". Let me just tell you...yes, demons would love to come and build a nest in your house. They would love to. They'd love to nest in the branches, if you let 'em.
Okay, so we're talking about Babylon. I've just got a couple more Scriptures. Revelation 18:1-2, "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great", this worldly church, "is fallen, is fallen". Now, watch the context and watch another symbol. "And it has become a dwelling place of demons", demons, "a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird"!
See, that's not literal birds. Also, by the way, I'm not saying if you have a parakeet, it's a demon. I'm not saying' that. But, how else would you explain that Scripture, when it says it's become a place for demons, foul spirits, and birds. And Jesus said the birds of the air come and try to devour the Word of God, and they say, what does that mean? He said, well, that's Satan. That's Satan, the work of Satan and that's all his demonic spirits. Are you all following me?
All right, two more Scriptures. Matthew 12:43, Jesus speaking. "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man", that means he can get in one. "He goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. And then he says, "I will return to my house", He calls the body a house, "from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it", watch three words, "empty, swept", and then of course, more than three words I guess, but just three sayings here, "and put in order". Empty, swept, and put in order. Empty, swept, cleaned up, and put in order. "Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of the man is worse than the first".
Okay, so how did the demonic spirits get back in? His house was swept. He cleaned everything, cleaned his act up. He put things in order, but he was empty. He didn't fill his house with Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Okay, but here it's saying' this guy gets kind of set free, but then he gets seven more. Okay, watch an Old Testament Scripture with a symbol in it. When the children of Israel went into the Promised Land, they were to drive the enemies out. Do you realize that many times we say, you know, the Promised Land represents heaven? No, it doesn't represent heaven, because there were still enemies there. It represents the overcoming Christian life, and the way you're gonna have an overcoming Christian life is if you drive the enemies out of your land. That's the way you overcome.
Okay. So, but watch what God says. Watch this symbol. This is the last Scripture, Deuteronomy 7:22. "And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you". I don't think that's talking about lions and tigers. I think He's saying we're gonna drive these nations out little by little, so you get stronger, and you have more faith, and you grow, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous, and I think that's a symbol to us that we've got to keep walking with God, we've got to keep reading the Bible, we've got to keep learning, we've got to keep growing, because we're driving out the beasts of the field out of our land. Are you all following me?
Here was the whole point of this message. I wrestled with it because I thought, I've got way too much to unload on them in one message, but here's the whole point. I hope you understand this is a spiritual book, written by a spiritual being to spiritual beings, and there are things in here that you probably have never even seen yet. And I hope you get so hungry for this book that you read it every day.