~ BiBLe ~

[MysteRy]

Symbolism of Colors in the Bible

In apocalyptic literature, color plays an important role in conveying symbolic meanings. For example, the colors blue, purple, and scarlet played prominent roles in the building of the wilderness tabernacle (Exodus 26:1; 27;16; 28:6). In Numbers 15:37-38, "The LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue'." The woman that John sees in the wilderness, however, sits on a scarlet beast and only wears purple and scarlet (Revelation 17:3-4) while the color blue is noticeably absent. Here purple and scarlet suggest that the woman has become affluent through evil means and not by the blessing of the Lord.

Below is a list of all the colors mentioned in the Bible with both their references and their meanings.

Amber   
Symbolizes the Glory of God


Black   
One of the more commonly used colors in the Bible; describes the color of the middle of the night (Proverbs 7:9); diseased skin (Job 30:30); healthy hair (Song of Solomon 5:11; Matthew 5:36); corpes' faces (Lamentations 4:8 ); the sky (Jeremiah 4:28); the darkening of the sun and the moon (Joel 2:10); horses (Zechariah 6:2; Revelation 6:5); and marble (Esther 1:6).
The color black symbolizes sin, death, and famine.

Blue   
Used to describe the color of a wound, but may refer to the wound itself (Proverbs 20:30). It also describes the sky, Heaven, and the Holy Spirit.

Brown   
A dark, blackish color referred only to sheep (Genesis 30:32-33, 35, 40).

Crimson
Crimson linen was used in the temple (II Chronicles 2:7, 14, 3:14); the color must have been indelible or permanet (Jeremiah 4:30), as crimson is used figuratively as sin. (Isaiah 1:18).
Often refers to blood atonement and sacrifice.

Gold   
As gold is the highest, most precious metal, so the divine nature is the highest nature, the only nature having immortality (Exodus 28:36; Psalm 21:3).

Gray   
Used only to describe the hair of the elderly (Genesis 42:38)

Green   
Normally describes vegetation; used of pastures (Psalm 23:2); herbage (II Kings 19:26); trees in general (Deuteronomy 12:2; Luke 23:31; Revelation 8:7); the marriage bed (in a figurative sense, Song of Solomon 1:16); a hypocrite compared to a papyrus plant (Job 8:16); and grass (Mark 6:39). A word meaning "greenish" describes plague spots (Leviticus 13:49, 14:37) as well as the color of gold.
Most often associated with the meaning of growth.

Purple   
The most precious of ancient dyes made from a shellfish found in the Mediterranean Sea. A total of 250,000 mollusks was required to make one ounce of the dye, which partly accounts for its great price. It was highly valued within the nation of Israel.
Used in several features of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:1, 27:16) and the temple (II Chronicles 2:14); the color of royal robes (Judges 8:26); the garments of the wealthy (Proverbs 31:22; Luke 16:19); the vesture of a harlot (Revelation 17:4); and the robe placed on Jesus (Mark 15:17, 20).
This color symbolizes kingship and royalty.

Red   
Describes natural objects such as Jacob's stew (Genesis 25:30); the sacrificial heifer (Numbers 19:2); wine (Proverbs 23:31); newborn Esau (Genesis 25:25); Judah's eyes (Genesis 49:12); the eyes of the drunkard (Proverbs 23:29); and the dragon (Revelation 12:3).
The color of blood, it often symbolizes life; it also suggests bloodshed in the carnage of war.

Scarlet   
Scarlet cord was tied around the wrist of Zerah (Genesis 38:28-30); used a great deal in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:4); the color of cord hung from Rahab's window (Joshua 2:18); a mark of prosperity (II Samuel 1:24; Proverbs 31:21); the color of the robe placed on Jesus (Matthew 27:28); though scarlet and purple were not always distinguished (Mark 15:17); color of the beast ridden by the harlot Babylon (Revelation 17:3) along with some of her garments (Revelation 17:4) and those of her followers (Revelation 18:16).
Often refers to blood atonement and sacrifice.


Silver   
Used to represent the truth. (Psalm 12:6)

White   
The color of animals (Genesis 30:35); manna (Exodus 16:31); both hair and pustules located in plague sores (Leviticus 13:3-39); garments (Ecclesiastes 9:8, Daniel 7:9); the robes of the righteous (Revelation 19:8 ); horses (Zechariah 1:8; Revelation 6:2, 19:11); forgiven sins (Psalm 5:7, Isaiah 1:8 ); a refined remnant (Daniel 11:35, 12:10); the beloved one (Song of Solomon 5:10); the white of an egg (Job 6:6); the shining garments of angels (Revelation 15:6) and of the transfigured Christ (Matthew 17:2); hair (Matthew 5:36); gravestones (Matthew 23:27); and the great throne of judgment (Revelation 20:11).
Portrays purity, righteousness, joy, light, and a white horse symbolizes victory.

Yellow
Indicates the greenish cast of gold (Psalm 68:13) and the light-colored hair in a leprous spot (Leviticus 13:30,32)

[MysteRy]

We Should Not Cease Our Prayers



There are some reasons why we should not cease our prayers.

To praise God

Prayer is worship. In prayer we celebrate God and our being His child. By doing so we not only please him, but we sharpen our attention to his goodness and care and mercy. God gives our lives meaning, purpose, and direction, and he provides that good will come from every event of our lives, no matter how hard our follies drive us in the other direction.

To draw near to God

Prayer honors God, for in it we acknowledge that he is our Lord and we are his servants. We should therefore pray regularly. Prayer also strengthens our bond to God. The more we think about him, talk to him, enter into his presence, the closer to him we will be.

If you remember that God is our friend, then the question, Why should we pray? It is the same as, Why should we talk to our friend? Communication builds relationships. The same is true with our relationship with God. We need to spend time with our friends in order to preserve and build a relationship with them. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? – Deuteronomy 4:7

To show gratitude

We thank God for all he has done and continues to do. We remember that he is the source of all good things. Prayers of gratitude remind us of just how much we receive at his hands. We live in such a glut of material benefits that we are tempted to overlook just how much we have, how blessed we are.

We can have hundred piece orchestras play for us on command, full house heat and air conditioning with the flip of a switch, hot and cold water at the twist of a knob and it’s water that won’t give us cholera or even dysentery, either. Just two hundred years ago, not even kings could live like this.

To ask for help for ourselves

Since God already knows what we need, why ask him for anything? To show our dependence on God, to remind us of it, to make us recognize it. To ask for his direct intervention. Of the several hundred references to prayer in the Old and New Testaments, more than 90 percent of them refer to petitionary prayer, either personal or intercessory. To get some of God’s power on our side. We are powerless; he is all-powerful.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. – James 5:13

To ask for help for others

Intercessory prayer is at least as common as prayer asking God to help us. We reach out to God for the sake of others, perhaps others who cannot pray or will not pray. We ask for guidance and protection for loved ones, that the light of Truth might come to those who do not yet know God, and that God will continue to be sovereign in the movements of every event in the world.

To persuade God to act on our behalf

Ivan Turgenev rather cynically said that the purpose of most prayers is to ask God that two and two will not make four – in other words, we often pray for God to deliver us from the laws of physics, or from the natural consequences of our actions. However, there is Biblical authority for the fact that God can sometimes be persuaded to change our future.

Prayer can have an influence on God’s actions. Such a fact is both glorious and terrifying, and it should make us careful about how we pray. In other words, be careful what you pray for because God just might give it to you. Remember that movie where someone said, “I want the truth,” and the other guy said, “You can’t handle the truth”? Well, the same is true with prayer.

To seek guidance and direction
We need help in our lives and in our decision making. We need to seek God’s will and his approval for our plans. The ever increasing pace of life is largely constituted in an increase in the number of decisions we need to make. So we need God’s help more than ever.

Prayer allows us to submit our thinking to God and to allow his direction to steer us. The saying is, “We can see only in a straight line, but God can see around corners.” Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen. – Acts 1:24

To show God and ourselves (and emphasize) what we really care about

We need to pray to show what really matters to us. Clarify our priorities. This is an answer to those who ask, “Since God knows not only what we need already, but even all our thoughts, why should we pray at all?” Prayer forces us to sort out our real priorities and concerns; it shows God how fervent we are about the things around us.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” -Luke 18:1 Prayer often serves to remind us that we have an ally, a friend, a helper, when we are in danger of forgetting. God won’t forget our needs, but we may forget God’s deliverance, unless we pray.

For spiritual renewal

We pray for comfort and for emotional cleansing. Simply communing with God refreshes us as we remember the purpose and goal of our existence and as we remember that there is something-and someone-greater than our current difficulties. It is said that you can walk up to any stranger on the street and say, “I heard about your problem,” and the stranger will reply, “Who told you?”

Perhaps all of us have unsolvable problems in our lives or problems that appear to be hopeless. We are powerless in the face of many events. Only God can either conquer for us or enable us to endure the things we cannot change. There is another saying that we often pray, “God, remove this mountain from in front of me,” when we ought to be praying, “God, teach me to climb mountains.” Prayer is refreshing just as talking with a friend about a problem is refreshing, even if the problem is not resolved.

To confess sin

Sometimes it is necessary for us to admit to God that we have been foolish, disobedient, downright bad. He knows it, but we are to confess it.

So friends, please don’t cease our prayers.

[MysteRy]

Are You Praying The Right Way?




In the Holy Bible, there are two types of occasions where Jesus does not respond positively to prayers.

Occasions of Praying in the Wrong Way

One is where a group of people ask Jesus to perform some miracles in their town. They asked Jesus to perform some miracles as they wanted to get excited by the miracles. None of them had a personal need or desire for a miracle. (Lk. 4:23, 23:8 ).

The second is where people ask Jesus to do something by complaining about somebody. ‘Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.’ (Lk. 10:38-41).

Here Martha is going to Jesus with a grievance. But she does not get any solutions from Jesus. But she gets only some advice from Jesus. The real need Martha had was that Martha should be able to do her work easily. And Martha should have prayed, ‘Jesus, I am burdened with a lot of work. Please make my work easy.’ Even though the grievance of Martha was genuine, she did not ask Jesus to redress her grievance. Martha did not have genuine desire to get her grievance redressed. Instead, Martha wanted and chose to blame it upon Mary, and she chose to put Mary also into the same trouble as she was facing.

Jesus did not grant what Martha had asked for. But Jesus chose to counsel her. The meaning of what Jesus told Martha was: Do not blame Mary for your troubles in life; your problems are results of your worries and distractions; Mary has no role in your facing problems; Mary is not the cause of your troubles; above all, the solution you have suggested is not going to solve your problems; stop being worried and distracted by many things, and your problems will be solved.

‘Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ (Lk 12:13-14). Again, the person who approaches Jesus is complaining about his brother. The genuine grievance he had might have been his poverty. He should have asked Jesus, ‘I am very poor. Give me enough wealth.’ But he chose to blame it upon his brother. And he wanted to get a share from the property which he had kept with him, thought illegally. Instead of trying to get his grievance redressed, he was worried about criticizing and making his brother upright.

So, instead of granting what he had asked for, Jesus counsels him: I am not going to judge and find fault with somebody as you wanted; that what you have asked me to do; do not lay the blame on your brother for your troubles; he is not the cause of your problems; and what you have suggested is not the solution for your real problems.

Prayer is not complaining

This is the way we generally pray. A wife complains about her husband to Jesus. A mother in law complains about her daughter in law to Jesus. A father complains about his son to Jesus. A son complains about his father to Jesus. A parishioner complains about his vicar to Jesus. A student complains about his teacher to Jesus and vice versa. But nobody tells Jesus his real need. And the only response from Jesus to this type of prayers is some counseling. And all say that Jesus does not heed their prayers.

So, it is very important that I pray to Jesus the right way. If our prayer is a blaming somebody for our trouble, be sure we are never going to be granted our prayer. It is not at all permissible for us to tell Jesus that somebody is the cause of our problems. When we approach Jesus, we should just tell him that we are facing this problem, and we want you to solve this problem of ours. And if we pray in this way, we can be damn sure that our problem will be solved.