'Symbol' in the Bible

Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a [living] serpent [like the royal symbol on the crown of Pharaoh]; and Moses ran from it.

You shall say to the Israelites, ‘This shall be a holy and sacred anointing oil, to Me [alone] throughout your generations.

He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense of spices, the work of a perfumer.

he burned fragrant incense [as a symbol of prayer] on it, just as the Lord commanded him.

You shall season every grain offering with salt so that the salt (preservation) of the covenant of your God will not be missing from your grain offering. You shall offer salt with all your offerings.

Now on that same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it;

So Saul inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim [used like lots by the priest to determine the will of God] or by prophets.

Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

But he said, “Bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it for the people so that they may eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.

Yet they did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of the [royal] house of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin; but walked in them. And the Asherah [set up by Ahab] also remained standing in Samaria [Israel’s capital].

Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim [of the ark in the temple], You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.

David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house for the Name (Presence) of the Lord my God.

He shall build a house for My Name (Presence). He shall be My son and I will be his father; and I will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.’

but I have chosen Jerusalem that My Name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’

There I have placed the ark [the symbol of His Presence] in which is the covenant of the Lord [the Ten Commandments], which He made with the people (descendants) of Israel.”

that Your eyes may be open toward this house day and night, toward the place in which You have said that You would put Your Name (Presence), to listen to the prayer which Your servant shall pray toward this place.

So King Rehoboam established himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city in which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put His Name. And his mother was Naamah the Ammonitess.

‘If evil comes on us, or the sword of judgment, or plague, or famine, we will stand before this house and before You (for Your Name and Your Presence is in this house) and we will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear and save us.’

Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,You and the ark [the symbol] of Your strength.

“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Awake, awake, put on strength and might, O arm of the Lord;Awake as in the ancient days, as in the generations of long ago.Was it not You who cut Rahab (Egypt) in pieces,Who pierced the dragon [of Egypt]?

“Behind the door and the doorpostYou have set up your [pagan] symbol;Indeed, far removed from Me, you have uncovered yourself,And have gone up and made your bed wide.And you have made a [new] agreement for yourself with the adulterers,You have loved their bed,You have looked [with passion] on their manhood.

“You have gone to the king [of a pagan land] with oilAnd increased your perfumes;You have sent your messengers a great distanceAnd made them go down to Sheol (the realm of the dead).

Their hearts cried out to the Lord.“O wall of the Daughter of Zion,Let your tears run down like a river day and night;Give yourself no relief,Let your eyes have no rest.

It has made My vine (My people) a waste and object of horror,And splintered and broken My fig tree.It has stripped them completely bare and thrown them away;Their branches have become white.

“But I will remove the northern army far away from you,And I will drive it into a parched and desolate land,With its forward guard into the eastern sea (Dead Sea)And with its rear guard into the western sea (Mediterranean Sea).And its stench will arise and its foul odor of decay will come up [this is the fate of the northern army in the final day of the Lord],For He has done great things.”

Then he said to me, “This [continuous supply of oil] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel [prince of Judah], saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of whom the oil is a symbol],’ says the Lord of hosts.

And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the ephah (grain basket) going forth. This,” he continued, “is their appearance throughout the land

And he said to me, “To the land of Shinar (Babylon) to build a temple for her; and when it is prepared, she shall be set there on her own pedestal.”

[where their worm does not die, and the fire is not put out.]

Therefore the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, for the sake of the angels [so as not to offend them].

for this [first or outer tabernacle] is a symbol [that is, an archetype or paradigm] for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which are incapable of perfecting the conscience and renewing the [inner self of the] worshiper.

Greet one another with a kiss of love.To all of you who are in Christ, may there be peace.

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful [a warning of terrifying and horrible events]: seven angels who had seven plagues (afflictions, calamities), which are the last, because with them the wrath of God is finished [that is, it is completely expressed and reaches its zenith].