Stones - Parallels to Today

Dear Jesus - Please send us Your Holy Spirit so we can awaken from our sinfilled slumber and see our true condition...

We've been considering the 15th chapter of 2nd Chronicles.  An amazing chapter to be sure.  In this post - our focus will be 'parallels' and the 'me' or the 'church' dimensions.  This means, we will be looking for parallels between the story, its setting and our day.  These parallels the Holy Spirit will show us and help us to discern their relation to our personal lives.

Before listing some of the verses that stand out, let's consider the context:

King Asa had faced the first 'million man march' on record and the Lord delivered Judah in amazing fashion (2 Chron. 14:9-12).  Chapter 15 gives additional context about the condition of 'the church' during these times:

Stones - God's Vocabulary

Dear Jesus - Our minds are sin filled and degenerate from generations of sin.  Please cover us with Your Holy Spirit.  Open our eyes, that we may behold wonderful things from Your Word.

A daily Bible reading program provides the reader with a free field, rich with treasure and ours for the digging!  There are lots of programs available.  I recommend Revived by His Word because it is only 1 chapter daily and there is an accompanying blog commentator who, read regularly, will expose us to many study principles for unpacking the chapter.

Last week, I read 2 Chronicles 15 and for the first time, my heart burned within me regarding a link to the New Testament.  The Bible is the language of God - His vocabulary if you will.  The more we take it in, the more patterns and pictures will pop out to us.  Much like learning any language.

Stones...

Dear Jesus - We understand that You use many symbols in the Bible.  Please send us Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth so we can understand You more...

To the right there are links to a solid source for Biblical symbols.  However, what do you notice as you review the list?  It is the Bible itself that is to explain itself.  As we have noted before, we must always approach the Bible with prayer for it is a Book like no other.  It is the Word of God.  Spiritual things are spiritually discerned and God in His great mercy promises us the Holy Spirit to guide us in our study. 

The next most important safeguard to keep in mind is that the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:1).  We must measure all we discover against the picture of God's character that it reveals.  We do this by comparing verse with verse. 

The topic of Bible symbols is a beautiful one - and therefore the enemy attacks it particularly vigorously.  But we are determined not only to pick up the gems lying on the surface, but to dig for buried treasure as well!  Our safeguard?  The Bible defines the symbols it uses.  How awesome is that?

Let's give this a go...