Bible Question:
Is it ever possible for scripture to have more than one meaning? I have heard the Sages of old said, "There are 70 layers to every Bible passage." I am not one to subscribe to 70 layers to every passage, but can there be more than one meaning? For example: Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, rejected. There is an obvious plane meaning to this. Joseph was sold into slavery. But, does this narrative foretell the Messiah being sold by his brothers, rejected, only to save them in the end like Joseph saved his brothers? Is this a Messiah picture, besides the plane obvious story? I was just curious what others thought about this. I think the above example is a Torah picture of the Messiah (kind of like the snake is seen as more than a snake in Gen 2). But . . . what do you all think? MJH |
Bible Answer: Hi! I too believe that when we read the Holy Scripture there are more values than the text itself... Jesus' prefiguration in Joseph is one such example! * Both were chosen by the Father to lead Israel * Both were hated by their bretheren to the point of desiring their death * Both were sold for mininal amounts * Both were obedient to the Father * Both forgave their bretheren * Both rescued their bretheren from death... There are many mirrors in Scripture that may or may not be made explicitly so through further Scriptural reference... (Abraham's sacrifice; Melchizedek, manna, the rock (Rock) which provided Israel with life-giving water; the Good Shepherd; the bronze serpent; the Passover Lamb; the various resurrections (people brought back to life--including the bones in Ezekiel); the various anointed ones of God (priests, prophets, kings)... Moses spoke to Israel and prophesized that there would come to them a Prophet like himself... so in essence Moses too was a prefigurement of Christ (he had complete authority and dominion over Israel as well as the responsibility of leading them to safety!)... But all of the prefigurement are as perfect as our mirror images (only a shadow of our existence); they could never replace the actual Anointed One that was to come! God Bless! Angel |