5 - The Nations Part 2 | Allusions, Images, Symbols

Since the Bible is about man, understanding his nature and laws is crucial to interpreting the symbols. God has determined where our spirit feeds - symbolized by the tree of life. We are to take from God and pass on his love to others. This is the only way we can satisfy our need for love. If we live according to this law, our body remains healthy - this is how Adam, Eve and Christ lived. Through the false identity after the fall of man, the tree of death has come to the entrance of the spirit. Man believes he is independent, but lives out of selfishness instead of love.

In history, there are two peoples: the children of God and Cain with his descendants, as well as two cities: the old and new Jerusalem and Babylon. The decisive factor here is not the place, but the symbolism: do we eat from the tree of life or the tree of death?

We look at God's history with his people: why did he call them and why did they disobey, which led them into Babylonian captivity? A central symbol is Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a statue that is smashed by a stone - an image of the return of Jesus and God's final kingdom.

Nebuchadnezzar refused to accept the interpretation of the dream and erected a golden statue for everyone to worship. Three of God's children refused and were betrayed - an image of the final battle between good and evil. This scenario is repeated in Revelation 13: there will be a mark on the hand or forehead for those who worship the image of the beast - they are sealed for death. But even in our day, people will trust God and not bow down, not accept the mark.

The battle between Satan and God's people ultimately revolves around one question: what am I dependent on? On God or Satan and people? This is the subject of the fifth part of our series “Allusions, images, symbols”.