(Ver 1.4)  In reading and studying the Book of Genesis I have found that it is essential to look at the first 3 chapters of this book using symbolic spiritual eyeglasses which allow us to see the concealed spiritual meanings that were hidden from the surface only reading that many Christians do.  By studying the book of Genesis I have discovered that most of the subjects written about in these three chapters contain natural symbols that convey a much greater and complex spiritual truth.  The difficulty comes in rightly dividing what is natural and what is spiritual and then interpreting both of these at the same time correctly.  Clearly the book of Genesis and especially the first 3 chapters contain both real naturally created realities and people, but at the same time it contains a vast number of spiritual symbolic references that are intermixed throughout the text in almost every verse.  This makes correct Bible interpretation of Genesis infinitely more complex, especially for carnal minded Christians.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 

I put this verse in this lesson to show you how important rightly dividing the Bible is to correct interpretations.  Here God says there are many who teach things in the Bible that are just from man’s own wisdom.  You can still find this in churches and on the internet everywhere.  But, God says there is a better way, let the Holy Ghost teach you spiritual things and then compare these spiritual things with other spiritual things. Most Bible scholars would certainly agree that this complexity is repeated in other books of the Bible like the prophets and especially the Book of Revelation.  Revelation is dominated by symbolic references throughout the entire book and it is widely one of the most controversial books with the most widely dispersed interpretations surrounding it.  So symbolism is an added layer of complexity that makes understanding these Bible books with it, much more difficult to comprehend and to understand correctly.  For example when God mixes natural fruit with symbolic spiritual fruit in the same chapter this forces us to see what is being discussed by the context and then to use the rest of the Bible to help us interpret the meanings of the spiritual side of the information given.  This is called “Comparing Spiritual Things with Spiritual Things” and “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth” and we are required to see it correctly or we will remain hopelessly confused.  We must therefore, choose to rightly divide the Word of God deciphering or decoding every word between the spiritual definition and the physical definition or we will wrongly divide it and make them all spiritual or all physical references.  To make them all spiritual or all natural, we would get most of our interpretations wrong when doing this.  So God did this all by a grand design.  God purposely hid complex information in the Bible to keep it from Satan and to allow Him to reveal it to us His church in His perfect time.  It is the designed process that I call “Hiding the Truth in Plain Sight”.   So in today’s blog I am going to focus on the symbols recorded in the first three chapters of Genesis and give you a list of the most important ones that I have found.  Here is the List of Symbols in Genesis 1, 2 & 3:

These are certainly not every symbolic reference in these three chapters of Genesis; these are just the ones that I have seen and feel are important to know.  You of course are welcome to look for others and if you find them please let me know so that I can add them to the list.  I will certainly confirm that I do not know everything and I like to learn new things.  God teaches me new things almost every day and it is very exciting when He does this.  I pray this list will be a helpful tool in your study of the Bible and specifically the book of Genesis.  God Bless!