A Ministry of Similitudes

“I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets.”

Hosea 12:10

It’s hard to explain…

If you have ever tried to disciple a new Christian, answer a sharp skeptic, or simply teach your children the ways of God, you have run into a part of new life in Christ that is hard to explain. You look up the verses and believe them, but you fail to find the words to make the lights come on in your hearers’ eyes. The utterance is there, but the understanding is not.

Man seeks for spiritual enlightenment. Our problem is, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) Spiritual truths are simple, but they are not natural. They also do not come naturally. Paul describes the issue, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14) God’s word is supernatural.

Spiritual and Physical

Both the physical and the spiritual have the same Creator. God made them to compliment each other. Much like a window, it lets us see outside our own world. Further then, it is like a reading glass; it sharpens our vision of what we do see. “Because that which may be know of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:19-20)

So man can see it, but does he always understand it?

Seeing and Perceiving

Jesus Christ ran into this difficulty while conversing with the Pharisee, Nicodemus. Nicodemus had education, religion, and curiosity. He knew many letters, but he had no life (2 Corinthians 3:6). When the Lord dropped the bomb, “ye must be born again,” Nicodemus’ mind blew up. The Lord said to him, “Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (John 3:10) The man just didn’t get it.

And who can blame him? A new birth by believing in one Man send from Heaven as humanity’s only hope? This had never been heard before. To say it weighed heavy on the ears would be an understatement of the crushing import of those five spiritual words: “Ye must be born again.”

Jesus then answered His Own simmering frustration by opening up Nicodemus’– and along with his, every– natural mind. Christ brings the physical elements, water, wind and light into the discussion. These three unassuming attendants of life in all the ends of the earth become the word picture for perceiving the new birth. Surely Nicodemus would not miss the truth now.

Similitudes and Parables

I am forever grateful for a studious pastor to teach me the value of three small, insignificant words in the Bible. Those words are: “like,” “so” and “as.” They are the words for forming a simile (according to Hosea, similitude). They are the key for opening the door of understanding the unseen spiritual world.

How often has a simple illustration taught a truth that defied explanation. Those three little words, “like,” “so,” and “as,” allow spiritual truths to be seen, though they be silent. It is in the similitude that the student may be taught, the skeptic answered, and the disciple informed.

Volumes have been written to expound basic Bible illustrations. This platform does not tolerate the diligence required to handle even one of them. But I trust it will serve to whet the appetite to indulge in what else the Scriptures have to offer.

These are some of the richest passages to me for similitude in the Bible. You will find dozens, even hundreds more, but these are my favorites.

From John 3- What is regeneration like?

• A water birth
• Wind blowing
• Moses’ serpent on a pole
• Coming into light

From 2 Timothy 2- What is the life of a believer like?

• A son
• A soldier
• A wrestler
• A farmer
• A laborer
• A vessel
• A servant

From Mark 4- What is the kingdom of God like?

• A sower sowing seed
• A candle
• A good harvest
• A mustard seed

Again, there are many more to be found.

Summary and the Point

At the conclusion of the lessons in Mark 4:33-34, the Scriptures tell a peculiar characteristic of the Lord Jesus: “And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.” The Lord illustrated FIRST whenever He opened the mysteries of the spiritual world. Only AFTER the picture would He explain the truth.

How crucial it is then for us to both read the revelation of God in Scripture and in nature. According to Psalm 19, One was made for the Other. One makes the expression, while the other receives the impression. It is like a glove for a hand.

The fantastic truths describing a believer’s walk with God seem beyond words– but not beyond likenesses.

… and some never will ‘get it.’

The snag is faith.

Nicodemus sat across the table from the greatest Teacher, the greatest Explainer, the greatest Illustrator to ever grace the halls of time. Yet power to open a blinded mind is not power enough to open a benighted heart. There is evidence enough for Jesus Christ all over Creation every day– what good is one more lesson?

William Cowper lightheartedly used a snail to forewarn of missing the profound in the basic:

"To grass, or leaf, or fruit, or wall,
The snail sticks close, nor fears to fall,
As if he grew there, house and all
Together.

Within that house secure he hides,
When danger imminent betides
Of storm, or other harm besides
Of weather.

Give but his horns the slightest touch,
His self-collecting power is such,
He shrinks into his house, with much
Displeasure.

Where’er he dwells, he dwells alone,
Except himself has chattels none,
Well satisfied to be his own
Whole treasure.

Thus, hermit-like, his life he leads,
Nor partner of his banquet needs,
And if he meets one, only feeds
The faster.

Who seeks him must be worse than blind,
(He and his house are so combined,)
If, finding it, he fails to find
Its Master."

The conversion of Nicodemus is not spelled out for us in John 3, though we have proof that he did believe later (John 7:50, 19:39). Was it a well-appointed anecdote or punctilious parable that won him over?

Despite the excellent similes, the effortless reasoning, and the effective arguments, Nicodemus still had to place his faith on Jesus Christ. The necessary element of receiving truth is trust. The most wonderful teachings of the Bible are wasted upon men if they reject the Author and Finisher of faith. A lost man is not converted on the power of prose, but the power of the preaching of the cross, and his reception of that simple truth.

Like an electrical diagram without a key, the most intuitive design for man is lost in the details. Like a treasure map without a legend, the layout is clear, but you cannot find the direction to your desired destination. This is how faith pertains to the word of God. You must believe on Him, else the words He wrote will be “counted as a strange thing” (Hosea 8:12)

As the LORD by Hosea declared the use of similitudes by the ministry of the prophets, so God has enlisted the same for Gospel preachers today. Preach the word! Faith still cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God!

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