3763 - Symbols by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 28, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 21.

3763 — Symbols

By Editor

What do the symbols, earth, heavens, and seas, fire and brimstone, represent in Scripture usage? E. H.

It is somewhat difficult to answer a question of this kind, because there are so many figures of speech used in the Scriptures, so many times that words are used with various shades of meaning, sometimes literally, sometimes symbolically, sometimes both are combined. The earth may refer to the mere material planet itself, it may include that planet and all that dwell upon it, and it may refer to the people themselves, as, "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord." So the term "heavens" may refer to the place where God dwells, to the sidereal heavens where the sun and stars are, to the atmospheric heavens where the clouds float and birds fly; and it may also refer to a spiritual world, as in Rev. 12:1, "A great sign was seen in heaven," that is, in the spiritual world. The "sea" in Dan. 7:2 is used as symbolical of the nations of the earth (see also Rev. 17:15). Fire is the symbol of a purifying agent, a destructive agent of everything that will admit of destruction. Fire and brimstone together, of course, would indicate a destructive burning.