THE BIBLE MADE SIMPLE 
Volume 2

William T. Barrett

© 2007

Lesson 8

1. Opening Prayer

2. Jesus teaches us through Nature

Object of Nature: Cedar Tree

3. Bible Text Discovery Job 24:13

Those that rebel against the Light

4. The Acted Parable of 1 Samuel 18:1-4

5. The Bible designed for the common people.

6. Closing Prayer

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Jesus teaches truth through Nature:

The Cedar Tree

“Teachers should copy the example of the Great Teacher, who from the familiar scenes of nature drew illustrations that simplified His teaching and impressed them more deeply upon the minds of His hearers. He connected the visible works of the Creator, with the Words of life which He spoke that whenever these objects should be presented to the eyes of the hearer, their thoughts might revert to the lessons of truth He had linked with them”. 9

The Cedar Tree and Jesus

Psa.92:12 “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon”.

Question: Why should Christians (the righteous) grow to be like the Cedar Tree ?

The Cedar Tree is not beautiful on the outside: its shaggy, paper like bark, hanging in peeled off strips on the outside of its trunk is not attractive.

Similarly, Jesus was not beautiful on the outside: “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him”. Isa.53:2

But, the Cedar Tree is beautiful on the inside!!! It has a beautiful smell and a beautiful blood red color inside.

Similarly, Jesus is beautiful on the inside!!! His righteousness, represented by the beautiful smell, and His Blood shed for us, represented by the blood red color. “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour”. Eph.5:2

The Cedar Tree is not like other trees whose leaves die each year. It remains always Green.

Similarly, Jesus is not like other men who must die without hope. He has conquered death and lives forever to give us Hope.

As the smell of a Cedar Tree protects our clothing from being eaten by moths, so the Righteousness of Jesus protects our spiritual garment, our character, from Satan’s attacks.

Now we know why Christians are to grow

to be like the Cedar Tree. By growing to be like

the Cedar Tree we are growing to be like Jesus.

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Bible Text Discovery Sheet (401)

Bible Verse Job 24:13

(RESIST) (TRUTH)

“They are of those that rebel against the light

(JESUS) (DOING RIGHT)

they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof”.

What is the Main Physical thought of this text?

There are those that refuse (Physical) light and as a result, they cannot see the (Physical) way nor stay in the right (Physical) way.

What will be the Main Spiritual thought of this text?

There are those that refuse (Spiritual) light and as a result, they cannot see the (Spiritual) way nor stay in the right (Spiritual) way.

Substitute the Spiritual meaning for the Real Objects.

Paraphrase:

(rebel) (light)

There are those that RESIST against the TRUTH
(The Way)

As a result they do not know JESUS nor do
(paths)

WHAT HE SAYS TO DO .

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HOW TO DISCOVER THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF:

An “Acted Parable” or Bible Story“

The Apostle Paul tells us the reason :

1 Cor 10 : 1, 5, 11 “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ;… But with many of them God was not well pleased : for they were overthrown in the wilderness…. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come“.

Thus, the “stories” of things that happened long ago to the people of God are models or ensamples or Acted Parables of things to be repeated again during the last days of earths history !

Strong’s Concordance gives the meaning for ensample from the Greek as :

# 5179 tupos (from # 5180 tupto) a model for warning, a type, a figure # 5180 tupto repeated blows.

The Spirit of Prophecy has this to say :

“In the days of Jeremiah, the Lord taught the people by means of a series of Acted Parables”. Prophets and Kings (page 423).

“He taught spiritual lessons in every miracle performed… the cursing of the fig tree was an Acted Parable”.

Desire of Ages pages 266, 267, 336, 341, 582.

Thus in both Old and New Testaments there are “Acted Parables” for us to learn from.

“I have been shown that in both the Old and New Testaments are mines of truth that have scarcely been touched. The truths revealed in the Old Testament are the truths of the Gospel of Christ. Heavenly veins of truth are lying beneath the surface of Old Testament history. Precious pearls of truth are to be gathered up, which will require not only laborious effort, but spiritual enlightenment”. Review & Herald Feb.4,1890.

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UNDERSTANDING AN ACTED PARABLE

1. Read the Bible story to get an overview of what is happening.

2. Go through the “story” verse by verse and in your own words first write down what happened Physically or Literally. Write the word “Physical” before each Real Object. Read what you have just written but substitute the word “Spiritual” every place you wrote the word “Physical”. If you had written “Physical sword”, you would now think “Spiritual sword” or the Bible etc..

3. Locate the Key Words in the story and substitute their Spiritual Meaning into the story and re-read the story in that manner in order to see the deeper meaning of the story that is not on the surface.

4. Notice any “familiar phrases” that you recall from the New Testament, because this will positively identify the Main Theme of the Acted Parable and lead you to the Spiritual Meaning.

5. Notice any “names” of people, cities, or objects and look up those names in a Concordance such as Strongs to see the meaning of the name in the Hebrew or Greek Dictionary as the meaning will lead you to the main thought.

6. Identify who the “actors” in the story are and “who they represent”, and whether they are on the side of “good” or “evil”. Let the context of the story tell you whether you have chosen correctly. All of the “pieces” must fit together and harmonize completely with the rest of the Bible.

7. Then, using the knowledge you have gained from studying the Spiritual Meaning of Key Words, names, actors you have identified, and phrases, re-write the “Acted Parable” in your own words with the Spiritual Meaning!

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Old Testament “Acted Parable” of:

Jonathan and David (1Sam.18:1-4)

1Sam.18:1 “And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. 3 Then Jonathan and Davis made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle”.

1. Read the story and think about the Physical:

Jonathan, the son of Saul the King, loved David as his own soul. Jonathan loved David so much that he made a covenant with him and gave him his Physical robe. Jonathan also gave David his Physical garment, his Physical sword, his Physical bow, and his Physical girdle!

2. Identify the “Actors” and who they represent, and if they are on the side of good or evil.

Actor Represents Good or Evil

Jonathan Jesus Good

David Us Evil

Reasoning from context and Bible

Jonathan was a King’s son (1Sam.17:55, 19:1)

Jesus was a King’s Son (Heb1:1-8)

Jonathan means “God given” #3083 Concordance.

Jesus was given to us by God (John 3:16)

Jonathan loved David as himself (1Sam.18:1)

Jesus loved us as Himself (John 15:13)

Jonathan made a covenant with David (1Sam 18:3)

Jesus made a Covenant with us (Heb.8:8-13)

(His 10 Commandment Covenant) (Ex.34:28)

Jonathan gave David his Phys. robe (1Sam 18:4)

Jesus gave us His “Spiritual Robe”

(His Robe of righteousness) (Isa.61:10)

Jonathan gave David his Phys. garment (1Sam 18:4)

Jesus gives us His “Spiritual garment”

(His Righteous Character) (Zech.3:3,4)

Jonathan gave David his Phys. sword (1Sam 18:4)

Jesus gave us His “Spiritual Sword”

(The Holy Spirit) (Eph.6:17)

Jonathan gave David his Phys. bow (1Sam 18:4)

Jesus gave us His “Spiritual Bow”

(The Bible) (Hab.3:9)

Jonathan gave David his Phys. girdle (1Sam 18:4)

Jesus gave us His “Spiritual Girdle” (Eph.6:14, Isa.11:5, Rev.1:13)

The Girdle of Truth and Righteousness and Faith and Love.

3. Re-write the “Acted Parable” and think about the Spiritual:

Jesus, the Son of God the King loved Us as His own soul. Jesus loved Us so much that he made a Covenant with Us and gave Us His Robe of righteousness. Jesus also gave Us, His Character, His Spirit, His Word, and His Faith and Love and Truth!

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HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE

The Mind Which Obtains Knowledge

“A knowledge of the Word of God depends not so much upon strength of intellect as upon pureness of purpose, the simplicity of an earnest, dependent faith.

To those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance, angels of God draw near.

The Holy Spirit is given to open to them the rich treasures of truth.

But the most valuable teaching of the Bible is not gained by occasional or disconnected study. Its great system of truth is not so presented as to be discerned by the careless or hasty reader.

Many of its treasures lie far beneath the surface, and can only be obtained by diligent research and continuous effort.

The truths that go to make up the great whole must be searched out and gathered up “here a little and there a little”.

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William T. Barrett

Bible Made Simple Ministry

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