Latest / Reformed Thinking / Like a Tree, Like the Chaff: Simile in the English Bible

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Like a Tree, Like the Chaff: Simile in the English Bible · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to reformed thinking. It is great to be here for this.
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Yeah, we are kicking off a brand new deep dive today.
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So I was thinking about this earlier.
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When a doctor points to a jagged white line on an X-ray, there's
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is no debate, right? You know, the bone is broken, it
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is visible, it is binary and it is precise.
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But step into theology and suddenly people act as though
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the X-ray machine is broken. Oh, absolutely.
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We enter this landscape that many treat as subjective or just
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entirely up to personal interpretation.
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Which is wild, because the documents we are analyzing today
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argue the complete opposite of that.
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Yeah, they do. To give you all listening a
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quick overview, today's deep dive focuses on 2 highly
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detailed, comprehensive documents analyzing the use of
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similes. Specifically the tiny words like
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and as in the English Bible. Right, and while words such as
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as seem small, maybe insignificant to a casual
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reader, the sources we are looking at argue they are
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massive theological hinges. They carry a staggering amount
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of weight. I mean, a child easily
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understands the phrase like a tree, yet that single image
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carries the full weight of divine judgment and grace.
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Yeah, we are looking at how these tiny grammatical
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structures carry the absolute heaviest theological realities
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imaginable. And that tension between the
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visible reality we experience everyday and the invisible
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theological reality we study is precisely where these documents
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begin. The authors make a crucial
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starting point here. They say these similes are not
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just decorative poetic flourishes.
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Right, they aren't just pretty words.
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No, not at all. And they're not primitive myths
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borrowed from ancient, less educated cultures, either.
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They represent a concept known as divine accommodation.
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Divine accommodation. Let's unpack that a bit.
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So the infinite, incomprehensible Creator uses
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the physical, tangible world to explain infinite spiritual
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realities to finite, limited human minds.
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When the text says God is a consuming fire or humanity is
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like wandering sheep, it bridges this massive intellectual chasm.
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It gives the human mind a sharp, clear, undeniable X-ray of
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reality. Because God actually made the
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world with those things in it, right?
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Yes, he made a world of trees, rivers, seeds, stones, birds,
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sheep, fire, winds, dust, bread, and light.
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He then utilized that specific physical world to communicate
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his truth. So the creaturely world is not
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some independent book of saving knowledge.
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No, rather, when the Holy Spirit speaks in Scripture, He takes
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created realities and makes them instruments of divine meaning.
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Let me make sure I'm grasping the scope of this concept of
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divine accommodation because it sounds incredibly fascinating.
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We go for it. Is this similar to a parent
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sitting on the floor with a toddler using wooden toy blocks
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to explain the basic concepts of gravity or architecture?
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That's a great visual. Because, you know, the toddler's
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brain literally cannot comprehend complex physics
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equations or structural engineering blueprints.
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Right. They just don't have the
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capacity for it yet. So the parent accommodates the
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child limitation by using the physical objects in the room to
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demonstrate a reality that is vastly larger than the blocks
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themselves. Is that what we were talking
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about when we say God uses physical elements like sheep and
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trees to explain spiritual truths?
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That is an incredibly accurate way to visualize it.
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The creator of the universe is interacting with finite
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creatures whose minds are constrained by space and time.
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We just can't get it on our own. We cannot comprehend the eternal
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uncreated essence of God, so He uses the toy blocks of the
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universe He built. That makes so much sense.
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But to thoroughly grasp the weight of these small
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comparative words, we first have to look at how they arrived in
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our English translations. And why the specific grammar
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matters so much? Right.
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And this is not just some dry linguistics lesson.
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It is a historical reality paid for with human blood.
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That is a heavy statement. When we look at the historical
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background presented in the sources, we are drawn back to
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the 16th century, to men like William Tyndale.
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And the scholars of the Geneva Bible.
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Yes, and eventually the translators behind the King
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James Version. These men operated under a
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redemptive historical conviction that every single word of
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Scripture is pure, necessary, and breathed out by God.
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The stakes in that era were unimaginably high.
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I mean, when we read a phrase like as the chaff in our modern
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context, we do not think about the absolute pair of the 16th
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century religious climate. No, we take it totally for
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granted. The religious and political
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authorities of that day held a total monopoly on the text,
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keeping it locked away in the Latin Vulgate.
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Owning a Bible in English was a capital offense.
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Literally a death sentence, Tyndale had to flee his home,
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live as a fugitive in Europe and smuggle his English translations
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back into his home country, hidden inside sacks of grain and
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flour. He possessed an absolute
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dedication to bringing the text to the common plowboy.
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And the authorities absolutely hated him for it.
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Tyndale was haunted down, strangled and burned at the
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stake is brutal. And why?
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Because he wanted to unleash the specific, vivid, penetrating
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force of these biblical images into the minds of everyday
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people. He fought, bought, and died so
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that a common laborer could read the specific comparisons God
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inspired. Building directly on that
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historical struggle for accuracy, the sources highlight
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a massive distinction in translation philosophy today.
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The formal versus dynamic equivalence debate, yes.
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We see this huge divide. Formal equivalence translations
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such as the King James Version, the New American Standard Bible,
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or the Legacy Standard Bible strive to preserve the exact
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words. The precise clauses.
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The precise clauses and the explicit comparative structures
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inspired by the Holy Spirit. And dynamic equivalence is
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different. Very different dynamic
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equivalence translations, like the New International Version or
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the New Living Translation, operate on another track
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entirely. They attempt to translate the
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thought or the general idea. Which often means they
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paraphrase the similes. Exactly, and the documents we
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are analyzing argue that this paraphrasing dangerously
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flattens the literary contours of the text.
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It obscures the original inspired flow of thought.
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Yes, if you obscure the explicit comparison, you risk severe
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theological misunderstanding. Can we break down the mechanics
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of that translation issue? I want to understand how a
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paraphrase actually unravels the theology.
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Sure, let's look at an example. If we look at a verse like Psalm
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one O 3 verse 15, a formal equivalence translation reads As
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for man, his days are like grass.
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It retains the simile right? But if a dynamic translation
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changes that into a generalized statement saying something like
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human life is temporary, what is is lost.
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Quite a bit actually. Look by ear.
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It feels like the specific biological life cycle of the
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grass is completely erased. We lose the imagery of something
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that sprouts, looks bright green for a very brief fleeting
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moment, and then completely whittles and blows away in the
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wind. Yes, the sharpness of the
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original photograph forces you to confront the image in a way a
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summarized concept simply does not.
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So if someone reads a paraphrase that smooths out the simile, is
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it similar to looking at a blurred painting instead of a
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sharp photograph? Are we losing the precise
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boundaries of what God is comparing?
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That is the perfect way to phrase it.
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What is lost is the structural architecture of the doctrine
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itself. The actual bones of it.
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Yes, the grammar of comparison is mathematically precise.
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In the original Hebrew, similes are often governed by the
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inseparable preposition cough right, which attaches directly
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to a word to mean like or as. And in the Greek language you
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see adverbs such as hus. So these specific grammatical
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structures form subordinate comparative clauses.
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And a subordinate clause provides the exact boundaries
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for the comparison. I see.
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When a translator removes the calf or the hus to smooth out
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the reading, they remove the boundaries the Holy Spirit
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established. They turn a vivid, visceral
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reality into an abstract philosophical concept.
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Which changes everything. The sources argue these
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structural words are not optional suggestions for
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translators, They are the literal framework of the
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doctrine being taught. So if translation philosophy can
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literally obscure the boundaries of God's judgement and grace,
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how does that actually change our reading of the text?
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We need to understand what happens when people view these
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words through a completely different lens.
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Well, the source has mentioned a very specific academic movement
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that attempted to dismantle this entirely.
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Oh right, I am talking about the 19th century German higher
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criticism. Yes, from what I understand,
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this was a secular academic philosophy that viewed the Bible
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not as divine revelation, but as a purely human evolutionary
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document. That is correct.
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The authors of our sources fiercely reject the conclusions
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of 19th century German higher criticism and liberal theology.
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Because those secular philosophies sought to strip the
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biblical text of its supernatural origin.
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They operated on an evolutionary model of human religion.
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They claimed that ancient Israelite religion evolved from
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polytheism into monotheism. And that the biblical similes
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were just leftover Pagan motifs borrowed from surrounding
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cultures. Right.
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For example, they would point to the Ugaritic ball cycle or the
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Babylonian and Pneuma Elish. Which are ancient texts filled
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with stories of storm gods and sea monsters.
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Yeah, and they would claim the biblical authors just copied
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their homework from those Pagan myths to describe Yahweh.
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So the liberal critics would say that when a biblical writer
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describes describes God roaring like a lion or appearing as a
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consuming fire, they were just using the standard mythological
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vocabulary of the ancient Near East.
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That was their argument, yes. They viewed it as a human
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invention, A cultural artifact, rather than God choosing
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specific words to reveal himself.
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Right. That entirely neuters the text.
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It makes the similes nothing more than ancient, uninspired
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poetry. It entirely strips the text of
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divine authority. The documents we are studying
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reject that premise entirely. Don't buy it for a second.
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Not at all. The authors insist that while
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historical and cultural context is helpful for eliminating the
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backdrop of the biblical world, the Holy Spirit sovereignly
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orchestrated history, culture and language to provide these
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exact vehicles for truth. So when the psalmist compares
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God to a rock or a fortress, he is establishing A covenantal
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reality that no Pagan deity ever possessed.
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Because the Pagan gods were capricious, unpredictable, and
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limited by nature, Yahweh is sovereign over nature.
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The Holy Spirit appropriated the syntax of human language to
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reveal the absolute sovereignty and holiness of God, distinct
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from any ancient Near Eastern myth.
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The physical world was designed from the moment of creation to
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provide the vocabulary for divine revelation.
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To test this concept and see how it practically functions, we
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need to look at the most prominent case study provided in
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our sources. Psalm One.
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Yes, Psalm one. This text is the gateway to the
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entire Psalter. It frames the world view for all
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the poetry and prophecy that follows.
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It really sets the stage. And it begins by tracking a
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highly specific downward settlement of human rebellion in
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the very first verse. Let's walk through that
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progression. It states that the blessed man
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does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of
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sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers.
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The movement described here is absolutely chilling when you
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analyze it. The progression highlights the
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comprehensive environment of human rebellion.
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Notice the nouns the author uses to define the scope.
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Counsel way and seat. Right wicked counsel shapes the
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mind. The way of sinners directs the
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feet and the habits, and the seat of scoffers becomes a
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settled, permanent identity. And then look at the verbs.
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They portray the social and moral gravity of rebellion.
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Walking is a casual engagement. Standing requires you to stop
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and linger. And sitting implies you have
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made yourself at home. The blessed man is not sinless
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in himself. I mean, the entirety scripture
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states that all humans have sinned, but he is characterized
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by a decisive refusal to be discipled by that progression of
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rebellion. His life has been turned away
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from the world's wisdom and reoriented toward the Lord's
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instruction. The text forces us to recognize
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a stark binary reality. There are only two ways.
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There's no middle ground. None.
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There's no third option where someone can blend the worship of
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God with the counsel of the wicked.
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And honestly, I cannot help but look at that phrase, the Counsel
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of the wicked, and think about how identically it functions in
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in our modern context. Oh, how so?
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It is remarkably similar to a modern algorithmic feed on
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social media platforms like TikTok or YouTube.
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Wow, that is a great analogy. An algorithm does not usually
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radicalize someone's worldview overnight.
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It starts by offering a slight, almost imperceptible shift in
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perspective. Just a passing video or a
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suggested article? Which is like walking.
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Then as you engage, it feeds you more of the same content,
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forming a daily habit of consumption.
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Which is like standing. Eventually, your entire feed is
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a curated echo Chamber of cynicism and rebellion against
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God's instruction. You are sitting in the seat of
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scoffers. Exactly.
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You are entirely discipled by a digital mechanism, feeling
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totally comfortable in a community of mockery.
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It shapes the mind, alters the habits, and dictates who you
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mock. That algorithmic analogy
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captures the mechanical nature of sin perfectly.
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So, following that deliberate refusal of wicked counsel, the
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Psalm pivots to the positive replacement.
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The blessed man delights in the law of the Lord, and on his law
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he meditates day and night. And this brings us to the first
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massive simile in the text. The righteous man is compared to
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a tree planted by streams of water.
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Every word in that comparative clause carries immense weight.
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Tell us about the verb planted. Well, the verb planted is
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passive. The tree did not plant itself.
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It stands where it stands because an outside force, a
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Master Gardener, intentionally placed it there.
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Grace precedes fruit. Yes, the like of holiness is
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never self generated, it's always the result of divine
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placement. The passive nature of being
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planted changes the entire focus.
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It removes any boast from the tree.
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It has nothing to brag about. Right, and the text says it is
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planted by streams of water, which indicates A continuous
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abundant supply. The tree lives and produces
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solely because its roots are constantly drawing from that
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hidden external supply. Which the text identifies as the
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word of God, but the specific timing mentioned here is what
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catches my attention. The in season part.
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Yes, it yields its fruit in season.
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That phrase feels like a direct correction to so much impatience
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and false teaching in the modern church.
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It absolutely functions as a corrective.
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True prosperity in this biblical context stands in stark contrast
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to the modern prosperity gospel. Which promises unbroken health
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and immense financial wealth. Right.
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The biblical simile of the tree corrects that false expectation.
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A tree experiences seasons of intense heat, drought and the
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dormancy of winter. The text says its leaves do not
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wither, meaning the internal spiritual vitality remains
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intact regardless of the external circumstances.
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But the fruit is not always visibly dangling from the
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branches. Biblical prosperity is defined
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as success according to God's standard.
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Which often means succeeding and remaining faithful even through
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intense affliction. The hidden supply sustains the
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tree when the external climate is entirely hostile.
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We see that reality throughout the biblical narrative.
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Joseph prospered while he was locked in a dark Egyptian
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prison. The Apostle Paul was incredibly
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fruitful while chained to Roman guards.
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Their external circumstances were agonizing, but their roots
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were drawing from the. Streams now having established
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the flourishing of the tree, the text introduces A jarring
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contrast. It simply says not so the
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wicked. They are denied the rootedness,
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they deny the nourishment, and they are denied the permanence.
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Instead, the simile used to describe them is chaff.
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And to comprehend the devastating force of this
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simile, we have to understand the physical reality of the
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ancient agricultural threshing. Floor What exactly is chaff?
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Chaff is the dry, scaly protective casing around the
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seed of cereal grain. During the harvest, it becomes a
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worthless husk. It is weightless, rootless, and
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entirely useless for human consumption.
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It might look incredibly substantial when it is piled up.
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It sits right next to to the actual grain, taking a physical
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space, but it possesses no life whatsoever.
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So what happens on the threshing floor?
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When the farmer takes up the winnowing fork and throws the
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harvested mixture into the air, the heavy, nutritious grain
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falls straight down to the floor to be gathered.
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But the wind catches the light lifeless chaff and drives it
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away completely. So the visual is a massive pile
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of material that looks like a successful harvest.
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But the moment the wind hits it, the illusion vanishes.
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Is gone. That perfectly exposes the
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absolute emptiness of wickedness, regardless of how it
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appears on the outside. Wickedness can look highly
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prosperous. It can look culturally
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influential, incredibly wealthy and totally respectable in the
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eyes of society. But it is spiritually
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weightless. The wind in this image is not
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just a random weather event, is it?
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No. It anticipates divine judgment.
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The chaff cannot survive the wind.
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The visual forces the reader to realize that external success
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means nothing if there is no internal substance.
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And the sources apply these exact grammatical structures
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across the entire biblical Canon to expose the raw, unfiltered
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reality of the human condition. The authors argue that these
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specific similes are designed to systematically crush human
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pride. We see this acutely in the
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prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 53 verse 6, the text
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states all we, like sheep, have gone astray.
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That single comparative image dismantles any philosophical
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concept of inherent human goodness or moral capability.
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It points directly to the total inability of humanity to save
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itself. We need to unpack the zoology of
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sheep to understand why that comparison is so devastating.
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People often think of sheep as cute and fluffy.
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But in reality, they are completely defenseless.
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They have no claws, no sharp teeth, and no speed to outrun
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predators. Furthermore, they are
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notoriously unintelligent when it comes to navigation.
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A dog can find its way home from miles away.
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A sheep will wander a few 100 yards over a hill, lose sight of
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the flock and have absolutely no capacity to find its way back.
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When the text says all we like sheep, it is showing humans as
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completely prone to wander into their own destruction.
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Possessing no internal compass to find the Shepherd.
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It leaves no room for the illusion of self-directed
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righteousness. The wandering sheep simile
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establishes our absolute dependence on outside
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intervention. Another devastating simile
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regarding human capability is found in Isaiah 64, verse 6.
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Where the Prophet declares that all our righteous deeds are like
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a filthy garment. This requires careful linguistic
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attention. The original Hebrew phrase is
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begged idim. It does not refer to a shirt
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that has some dirt on it. From working in the garden, the.
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Literal translation refers to menstrual clothes.
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The contrast the Prophet makes is highly intentional and
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overwhelmingly stark. I have to pause here and voice a
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serious tension on behalf of a listener.
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OK, let's hear it. That specific imagery comparing
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human righteousness to menstrual cloth is highly offensive to
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modern sensibilities. It definitely is.
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When people hear that their absolute best deeds are like
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filthy garments, they recoil. It sounds insulting.
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It hits very hard. I have to ask, why does the
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biblical author use such visceral, repulsive imagery?
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What is the intended effect on the original audience, and why
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must we retain that specific level of offense today?
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Those are great questions. It just feels like the language
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is engineered to strip away every last shred of human
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dignity. Well, I mean the language is
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specifically designed to completely strip away human
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pride, which functions as a false dignity.
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OK, that makes sense. We must understand the context.
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The text is not saying our worst, most heinous sins are
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filthy. It is saying our absolute best
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moral efforts, yes. Our most pristine acts of
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charity, our most dedicated religious devotion, our finest
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ethical achievements when presented to a perfectly holy
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God as a basis for our own justification, they are putrid.
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The biblical authors use this visceral, shocking language to
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contrast human frailty and depravity with God's terrifying
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holiness. Because if we maintain a soft,
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domesticated, highly manageable view of God, we will naturally
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maintain an inflated, highly impressive view of our own
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righteousness. The text utilizes extreme
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similes to shatter that false equilibrium.
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So the repulsion we feel when reading the text is actually the
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intended theological reaction. Exactly.
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It forces us to realize the vast gulf between US and God.
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We are bringing something we think is beautiful into the
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throne room of the universe, and the X-ray of the simile shows it
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for what it truly is. Correct, and that gulf is
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emphasized by how God is described through similes.
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Give us some examples of that. In Hebrews 12, the author states
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that our God is a consuming fire.
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In Nahum One, the Prophet writes that his fury is poured out like
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fire. These are not comforting images.
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They are meant to produce a massive sense of holy fear.
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They expose the absolute terror of a finite sinful creature
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attempting to stand before an infinite, unblemished Creator.
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If your very best deeds are filthy garments, you cannot
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survive a consuming fire. The intended effect of these
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comparative structures is to create an absolute theological
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crisis in the mind of the hearer.
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The text backs you into a corner, forcing you to realize
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your desperate, urgent need for an external, perfect
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righteousness. And because these similes are
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meant to shatter our false comforts and expose our true
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condition, the authors of the documents we're reviewing aim
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them directly at the theological and cultural controversies of
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our current era. They do not hold back.
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And just to be clear to you listening because we are about
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to touch on some highly charged cultural nerves, our goal today
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is to lay out what these documents argue, right?
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We are not taking any left wing or right wing political sides.
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Our job is to accurately report how the authors apply these
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ancient similes to modern socio political debates.
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We are just the tour guides to their argument, neutrally
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reporting the positions laid out in the material.
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So, operating strictly within that framework of neutral
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reporting, what do the sources say?
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We see that the sources fiercely criticized several modern
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movements, specifically critical race theory, wokeism, and and
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modern liberal theology. The authors argue that these
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contemporary movements attempt to redefine sin in purely
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sociological or systemic terms. By defining sin as a societal
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imbalance or an institutional structure, the authors claim
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these movements ignore the biblical simile of sin as an
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objective, personal moral stain before a holy God.
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They point to Isaiah 1 verse 18, which compares human sin to a
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stain like scarlet. The imagery of a scarlet stain
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is very specific. In the ancient world, scarlet
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dye was double dipped. It was fixed into the fabric so
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thoroughly that no ancient cleaning method could remove it.
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The cloth would disintegrate before the stain came out.
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The documents contend that no amount of modern social justice
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activism, corporate training or political maneuvering can wash
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away a scarlet stain against the Creator.
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The authors insist that sin must be addressed biblically as a
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lethal offense requiring divine atonement and a literal shedding
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of blood. Rather than treated simply as an
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issue of social inequity. The critique presented in the
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sources extends far beyond cultural movements outside the
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church, though. They bring it right into the
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building. Yes, it levels a heavy attack on
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modern church practices themselves.
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The authors specifically call out the Seeker Sensitive
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movement and the modern prosperity gospel.
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The source contends that many contemporary pulpits actively
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replace these terrifying, awe inspiring similes with soft
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psychological pip talks. They argue that pastors
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intentionally avoid or soften images like God acting as a
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roaring lion in Hosea 11 verse 10.
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Because they desperately want to appease a carnal, consumer
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driven audience. So instead of preaching the
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terrifying reality of the consuming fire, the devouring
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lion, they preach a highly therapeutic life coach version
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of Jesus. They offer for a deity who
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exists entirely to facilitate human self actualization.
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The documents argue that this pragmatic approach to church
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growth actually starves the congregation.
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It robs the listener of the actual inspired weight of
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scripture. Substituting divine
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authoritative revelation with highly produced human
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entertainment. It creates a massive crowd of
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people who think they are the planted tree, when in reality
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the lack of biblical truth means they are functionally chaff.
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Furthermore, the documents detail strong, unyielding
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doctrinal stances based on specific similes regarding the
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structure of the home and the practice of the Church.
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The source defends A strict complementarian view of
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marriage. Basing it entirely on the simile
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found in Ephesians 5, that text commands husbands love your
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wives, just as Christ also loved the church.
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The authors argue this is not a cultural suggestion bound of the
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1st century. It is a binding structural
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principle. The husband's sacrificial
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leadership is meant to function as a living, breathing simile of
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the Gospel itself. The sources also tackle the
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doctrine of baptism using comparative language.
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They use the simile of burial and resurrection found in Romans
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6, verse 4 to defend a believer's baptism view.
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In this view, going under the water and rising back up is a
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physical simile of the inward spiritual reality of
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regeneration. The physical act acts as a
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visible sermon of the believers union with Christ's death and
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resurrection additionally. The authors strongly reject
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ecumenical alliances with groups like Roman Catholicism or
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Mormonism. They argue that the true church
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cannot ally in spiritual enterprise with those who
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deviate from the biblical gospel.
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They utilize the logic of biblical similes to make their
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point here. Sheep cannot form a functional,
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safe alliance with wolves. The fundamental nature of the
26:00
creatures prevents it. The sources use these physical
26:03
comparisons to draw rigid theological boundaries.
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That brings us to a massive tension.
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If the law and these intense similes crush our pride, expose
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our absolute frailty and challenge every modern cultural
26:15
assumption we hold, the sources argue, they must also point to a
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singular, specific remedy. Let us look back at Psalm 1.
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No fallen human perfectly embodies the blessed man.
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I mean I have listened to wicked counsel.
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I have stood in the way of sinners.
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My delight in the word is inconsistent at best.
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So if you are not the perfect tree and you deserve the wind of
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judgment that blows away the chaff, where is the hope in the
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text? The documents point out that
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Jesus Christ is the only true, blessed man.
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This Christological connection is the absolute apex of the
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study. Christ is the only human who
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never walked in wicked counsel, who wholly and perfectly
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delighted in the Father's will, and who bore the curse for His
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people on a literal physical tree.
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He perfectly fulfills the righteous requirements of the
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law, but the connection goes further.
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He takes on the specific imagery of the similes themselves.
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We looked earlier at Isaiah 53 regarding humanity wandering
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like defenseless sheep. In the very next verse, Isaiah
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53, verse 7, the simile shift to describe the Savior Himself.
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He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.
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That is an astonishing reversal. Christ takes on the very nature
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of the sacrificial simile to bear the wrath described
27:27
earlier. He becomes the lamb to absorb
27:29
the consuming fire on behalf of the wandering sheep.
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He steps into the X-ray of divine judgement.
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He is the substance, the concrete reality to which all
27:37
the Old Testament shadows and comparative language pointed.
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The sources also point to eschatological similes.
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Comparisons regarding the end of history and the final judgement.
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Christ is not only the sacrificial lamb, He is the
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coming judge of the earth. He is the one holding the
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winnowing fork on the threshing floor, perfectly separating the
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heavy grain from the weightless chaf.
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He commands the wind that drives the wicked away into eternal
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judgement. We see that terrifying clarity
28:04
when we look at the glorified Christ in Revelation One, verse
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14. The text says his eyes were like
28:10
a flame of fire. The visual here is overwhelming.
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The X-ray clarity is terrifying. It is no longer just a metaphor
28:17
of judgement, it is a description of the judge
28:20
himself. The linguistic choice in
28:22
Revelation One, verse 14 is critical.
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The Greek word used for flame is flocks.
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And it does not mean a gentle, flickering candle on the dinner
28:31
table. It means a blazing, devouring,
28:33
consuming fire. The authors stress that this
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specific word choice demonstrates a Christ who
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completely penetrates all human hypocrisy.
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His omniscient burning gaze sees straight through the respectable
28:44
exterior of the chaff to judge the absolute reality of the sin
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hidden within. He functions as the ultimate
28:49
fulfillment of all Old Testament prophetic visions.
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This is the Christ of Scripture. The force of this image drives
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the hearer to realize they have no shelter in themselves.
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It forces them to seek refuge solely in his imputed
29:03
righteousness, knowing they cannot survive the flocks while
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wearing their own filthy garments.
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The gospel declares that Christ stood in the place of those who
29:12
deserve the fire, so that covenant Breakers, united to him
29:15
by faith, might be clothed in his righteousness and declared
29:19
justified. For centuries, scholars looked
29:21
at the Egyptian hieroglyphs carved into ancient stones, and
29:25
they had absolutely no idea what the pictures meant.
29:27
There were just mysterious disconnected symbols.
29:30
Then they discovered the Rosetta Stone, which contained the same
29:33
text in Greek, a language they understood.
29:35
Suddenly, the chaotic symbols locked into place.
29:38
They made total sense. They had a concrete, flawless
29:41
translation. It feels like the Old Testament
29:44
similes. The chaff, the planted tree, the
29:46
slaughtered lamb, the consuming fire, the filthy garments, are
29:49
those ancient, mysterious symbols.
29:51
We can study the ancient agriculture, we can look at the
29:54
mechanics of the threshing floor or the translation history of
29:57
William Tyndale, but we cannot save ourselves with that
30:00
academic knowledge. Then Christ arrives on the scene
30:03
and he functions as the Rosetta Stone.
30:05
The specific shape of his sinless life, his atoning death
30:08
on a literal tree, and his resurrection translates all
30:12
those ancient, terrifying symbols into the concrete
30:16
reality of salvation. That analogy effectively
30:19
captures the central argument of the sources.
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The biblical similes are not disjointed metaphors.
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They are a cohesive engineered framework pointing directly to
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the Savior. The tree shows the spiritual
30:30
life we lack and receive only in union with Christ.
30:33
The chap shows the eternal doom we deserve and escape only in
30:37
Christ. The Lamb shows the sacrifice
30:40
required. The authors urge the reader to
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approach these comparisons with immense reverence.
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We must read the text, recognize the massive theological
30:48
realities attached to tiny words like, like, and as, and allow
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the Holy Spirit to use those images to strike the conscience,
30:55
humble the proud mind, and drive the elect to the cross of
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Christ. We have covered a massive amount
31:01
of ground today looking at the immense structural weight of
31:04
comparative language. It has been a really great
31:06
discussion. We talked about the tree in
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Psalm One being passively planted by streams of water,
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receiving a constant hidden supply that allows it to survive
31:14
the scorching heat and produce fruit in its proper season.
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Such a powerful image. I want to leave you listening
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with a thought regarding your own daily reality.
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Look at your own habits. Look at the constant diet of
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your mind. Good.
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Questions to ask. What is the actual water you are
31:30
planted by right now? Are your roots drawing
31:32
constantly from the noise of the crowd, the algorithmic feed of
31:36
the scoffers, the endless anxiety of the culture?
31:39
Or are you planted by the quiet, steady instruction of the Word
31:42
of God? Thank you for joining us on this
31:44
deep dive. The next time you open your
31:47
English Bible and see the words like or as, slow down, look
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closer. The X-ray machine is working
31:52
perfectly.