Bible stories come in a variety of genres. The easiest to read are the parables crafted by the Master Teacher, fables illustrating spiritual truths: the Prodigal Son, the Farmer Planting Seed, the Pearl of Great Price, the Lost Coin, the Ten Virgins. Slightly more difficult to read are the historical records of actual events, such as Noah and the flood, Moses and Pharaoh, David and Goliath, Jesus being arrested, Paul being shipwrecked.
Finally, there are the most difficult Bible stories. These are the dreams and visions of the prophets (think Daniel and Revelation), symbol-heavy accounts that sometimes correspond directly to heavenly realities or future events—but sometimes do not. The dreams and visions of the prophets might best be read as symbol-laden records of the future. Yet the symbolism is so obscure and the dreamlike imagery so surreal, it is difficult to determine exactly what the dreams or visions are predicting. The combination of dream-imagery and dream-logic can leave readers shaking their heads.
Nevertheless, the underlying scriptural message of prophetic passages remains clear:
God is in control, God will judge evil, and God will redeem those who put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.
Moreover, there is a great deal of help available when you read prophetic passages. There is no need to flounder in the face of opaque symbolism.
An angel came to the prophet Zechariah and showed him a series of visions. One of them involved a huge flying scroll.
“I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones’” Zechariah 5:1-4.
Wait, what? A flying scroll? Yes. The prophet sees a flying scroll and the angel says it is the curse that will banish every thief and everyone who swears falsely. But what does stealing and lying have to do with a flying scroll?
The answer will be found in two of the keys to reading scripture. First:
Look at the notes.
Depending on the Bible translation and the publisher, you will often find many useful notes at the bottom of the page or in the margins. This is particularly true of study Bibles. The one I read today explains: “The judgment of the flying scroll was levied against those who violated God’s law, specifically by stealing and lying.”
Further answers can be found in the second key to reading scripture:
Look the verse up in a Bible commentary.
(Commentaries are resources that teach, explain, and “comment on” every verse in the Bible.)
I simply typed “Zechariah 5 and 6” into the online search bar and found a helpful commentary. The Enduring Word Bible Commentary explains that by emphasizing stealing and the taking of a false oath, the scroll image appears to have invoked the ten commandments. Stealing is one of the second five commands—those that concern our relationship with our fellow man. And a false oath is one of the first five commands—those that concern our relationship with God Himself. So God is not merely going to punish thieves and liars, but presumably all those who violate His law. And again—that is consistent with the underlying message of all prophetic passages as stated above:
God is in control, God will judge evil, and God will redeem those who put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.
But until that time, 1) look at the notes in your Bible, and 2) look things up when you need a little help!
AΩ.