I’m not a theologian, although I read books on theology, and sometimes even understand them. I’m an archaeologist, and I tend to approach Biblical topics from that perspective. Now archaeology, at least in the United States, is a branch of anthropology – the study of human beings – which is what my degree is. One of the other branches of anthropology is linguistic anthropology which, among other things, includes the study of how human use symbols (raise your hand if you knew that). All this is to say that when it comes to considering the Bible’s use of symbols, I’m not a complete amateur1.
Symbols always point to something beyond themselves. They carry meaning. And the use of symbols in everyday life is much more prevalent than most people recognize. All language is symbolic; lines and curves drawn on paper, or pressure waves in the air, are symbols representing ideas. But even more than that, thinking itself is done in symbols; the brain constructs a model representing reality and then manipulates that model in order to gain an understanding of how to manipulate the real world, both physically and socially.
So if we’re going to seriously consider the Bible’s use of symbolism, there are already two layers of symbols that we start with. Lines of ink on paper symbolize thoughts that God inspired within the symbolic system that was constructed in the human author’s brain. Any discussion of symbols in the Bible, then, needs to start with the understanding that at the lowest, most basic level, the Bible is entirely symbolic, just like all forms of communication. That realization should make us stop and question what it actually means to say that something is a symbol.
The Reality of Symbols
A misconception sometimes found among Christians is that interpreting a passage of Scripture symbolically means denying the physical, historical reality of what that passage says. That, however, is a misunderstanding of what symbols are and how they work.
Symbols are not defined by being non-physical, but by being meaningful. Every symbol is physically real. At the very minimum, a symbol takes the form of physical ink, or of stone, or metal or some other substance, or of electronic switches, or even of electro-chemical states in a brain. But to identify something as a symbol is to say that its physical nature is not what’s most important about it, but rather that its meaning is its most important trait. A symbol always points to something beyond itself.
This might seem like nitpicking, but it’s actually quite important, because it means that a physical object or action can be a symbol of a reality that is non-physical. For example, in John 8:12 Jesus says to the crowd, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” A little later, in John 9:39 he says, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” In between those two statement he heals a man who was born blind. The miracle is an object lesson, an acted-out parable to illustrate the message about Gods kingdom that he was teaching. (And just in case anybody missed it, Jesus repeated his claim to be the light of the world in John 9:5, immediately before healing the man.) This was a real, live human being who really had been born blind, and who really did gain his sight. But the healing was also symbolic of a spiritual reality.
This runs up against another issue, which is, what do we mean when we talk about interpreting Scripture “literally?” There is a lot of confusion among Christians, largely stemming from the fact that Bible scholars don’t use that word to mean what everybody else does, just as physicists have their own definition of the term “work,” that has only a very loose connection to what most people mean by that word2. What Bible scholars mean by a “literal” interpretation is that the passage of Scripture is interpreted “according to the original, grammatical meaning of the authors” (Stein 2011:22). In non-expert terms, this would be a literary interpretation, not a literal one. For example, a “literal” (in the sense Biblical scholars mean) interpretation of Isaiah 11:7, “The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox,” would recognize that it is part of a poem, and that earlier in the same poem the author introduces the Messiah by saying, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1) In other words, a literal reading recognizes that Isaiah is speaking metaphorically. He should not be thought to have predicted that lions will someday become vegetarian any more than he predicted that the coming Savior would be a tree. This is what Biblical scholars call a “literal” interpretation. To avoid confusion, therefore, I will avoid using the word “literal” for the rest of this article.
Heavenly Realities
None of us can see the world from God’s point of view. Nor do we live in heaven, but on the earth. All that it’s possible for you, or me, or any of us, to understand about heavenly things during this life is what God reveals. To do that, he uses things we know as symbols to teach us about the things we don’t know. Earthly realities are pointers to heavenly realities.
This requires a radical shift in the way we understand reality, to recognize that many of the things of this world, both objects and actions, are symbolic representations of the things of heaven. But at the same time, the things of this world are themselves fully real. They are important, even if they are not of ultimate importance.
I want to be very clear here, because a misunderstanding of this could lead to a very dangerous heresy. The physical world is at least partly symbolic, but it is not in any way an illusion. We are not living in the Matrix! The world we experience is real, and it was created by God for us to live in. Our ultimate destiny is not to escape the physical universe, but to rule over it as Christ’s agents, after it has been made new at his return3.
But real physical objects and real physical actions can also be symbols, pointing to something else. Something that is real and non-physical. This is why 2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us that, “we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” This doesn’t at all make what we do in this world unimportant. Just the opposite, in fact. What we do here is extremely important, in part because earthly things represent heavenly things.
True Circumcision
One example of this that is fairly easy to understand is circumcision. Paul writes to the church in Colossae:
He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:10-12)
Paul makes a connection here between circumcision and baptism, and one between baptism and burial. We died and were buried with Christ through baptism. We were also circumcised, in a circumcision that was “not performed by human hands.” We have been marked with the seal of God’s covenant people, proving our adoption as citizens of Israel (Ephesians 2:19). The circumcision that is done by human hands is not the true circumcision, but rather a symbol of it. Moses himself wrote:
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations – as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. (Deuteronomy 10:14-16, but see also Romans 4:11)
That’s why Paul can write, “A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.” (Romans 2:28-29) And I want to repeat again, saying that something is a symbol is not saying that it’s unreal, or not physical; it’s saying that it’s meaningful.
The True Temple of God
In the same way, the Jewish food restrictions and festival obligations were symbols, pointing to a reality that is in Christ. They are “a shadow of the things that were to come” according to Colossians 2:17. But I think that one of the most important symbols is one that is sometimes overlooked; the temple.
This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
Where will my resting place be?
Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord. (Isaiah 66:1-2)
No human built structure is a suitable dwelling for the God who created both heaven and earth. Solomon recognized this, and when he dedicated the temple he built he said, “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27) Centuries later, the apostle Paul said to a group of philosophers in Athens, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:24-25).
Both of the temples built in Jerusalem were symbols of the true temple, which is in heaven. But that true temple, the heavenly temple, has also appeared on earth. In John’s gospel we read:
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.” (John 2:19-21)
John, writing by the Holy Spirit, affirms that Jesus himself is God’s temple. God does not live in temples constructed by human hands, but God incarnate in human flesh lived in his own body, a temple not constructed by human hands. (John 1:14) A temple in which he is also both the high priest (Hebrews 4:14) and the sacrifice. (1 Corinthians 5:7)
You may have guessed where this is going. The temple, who is Christ, returned to heaven. But the true temple of God also still exists on earth. Paul writes to the believers in Corinth:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17)
Understand that I’m not saying the church is metaphorically like a temple. Just the opposite, in fact. The architectural structure in Jerusalem that was known as the “temple” was a physical metaphor for the heavenly temple, which is now manifested on earth in the form of the church. A temple not built by human hands, but by God’s Spirit. Christ is, himself, the actual temple of God, and all those who are in Christ are part of that temple. And in Christ we also are priests in that temple (1 Peter 2:9), and we offer ourselves as sacrifices (Romans 12:1), not to take away sin; that work is finished. But a sacrifice that is “your true and proper worship.”
This is why the way we treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ is of such concern in Scripture. Failing to love one another is not just an individual sin, it’s an attack on God’s holy temple. And Jesus’ prayer in John17:20-23, that believers would be unified, is not just a fond wish, it’s a vital part of the full realization of God’s temple on earth.
Conclusion
Symbols are not immaterial, unreal things, but physical objects and actions that have meaning. Things that point to something beyond themselves. And the physical universe, the reality that we see, is at least partly composed of symbols pointing to the reality we don’t see. The circumcision that is done by human hands is a metaphor, a symbol that points to the true circumcision done by God. The temple that stood in Jerusalem was a symbol of the true temple, built without hands, that is expanding and growing all over the world.
The universe is bigger than we can see. And the things we do in the reality that is seen point to the larger reality that is, for now, unseen. Therefore, the things we do matter more than we often think they do. Frequently, a lot more. And it’s because there is more to reality than the part we see that God commands, “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17)
- I am starting, of course, from the position that all of the symbolism in the Bible is human symbolism, just as all the languages used to write the Bible are human languages.. God created us to think in certain ways, so if he wants to communicate with us, the symbols he uses have to make sense in human terms.
- Work, in physics, is defined as a force applied through a distance. It is measured in joules. One joule is the work done when a force of one newton moves an object through a distance of one meter. I started college as a physics major before changing to anthropology.
- When John saw, in a vision, “a new heaven and a new earth,” (Revelation 21:1) the word translated “new” is the same word Paul used when he wrote that, “if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
References Cited
Stein, Robert H.
2011 A Basic Guide to Interpreting the Bible: Playing by the Rules 2nd edition. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids.