The bible says: "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honour of kings (Those in authority) is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2)
From biblical prophecies, we see that God conceals truth at times, by "encoding" it. He does this "That none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise will understand." (Daniel 12:10)
An example of this is seen in Isaiah 51:9-10.
AWAKE O ARM OF THE LORD:
"Awake, awake, put on strength O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not it that has cut Rahab,and wounded the dragon? Are you not it, which has died the sea, the waters of the great deep; that has made the depthes of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over.
The term "Rahab" here is familiar to many of us, from the story of the woman of Jericho, called "Rahab the Harlot; or "inn-keeper;" who hid the 2 spies, sent by Joshua to scout out the land, in the conquest of Canaan. When they came to her house, she refused to betray them to the King of Jericho, risking her own life. When the spies were demanded of her, she hid them on the roof of her house under stalks of flax that she had laid out in order to dry. She then pretended that they'd escaped before shutting the gate, thereby throwing their pursuers off track.
Rahab told the spies of the fear the coming of the Israelites had created in the minds of the Canaanites, saying: "Our hearts melted...For Yah your God, He is God in heaven above and in the earth beneath.
She asked the men to promise to spare her family; her father, mother, brothers and sisters and all that they had." They promised on the condition that they would remain in her house, and that she would keep their business secret.
She let down a cord through the window, her house being built on the town wall, and gave them directions to escape. She and her family were saved for her heroic faith in God. (Joshua 2:1-24)
WHO OR WHAT IS RABAB IN CODE OR SYMBOL?
We are not so familiar with why God would use this name Rahab in the book of Isaiah. Here, the stress is on the meaning of the name RAHABH: Which means: "Fierceness, storm, arrogance, insolence, pride." In this it becomes a "code name" for a "a mythological sea monster," (Job 9:13, 26:12, Ps. 89:10, Is. 51:9, where it is used in parallellism with "tannin" the dragon; (This second symbol placing emphasis upon the world governement leader) and in particular a certain world government whom God calls, "The boaster that stands still." (Is. 30:7, Ps. 87:4, Ps. 89:10)
This is similar in language to the prophecy of Isaiah 24:21:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit; and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited."
In this instance, the hosts of the high ones here, speak of the demonic principalities and powers and the "kings of the earth, the human agency through whom they operate. The saints of the Most High God, must certainly understand the authority given them in binding and loosing in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, through the power of His shed blood.
DISCERNING THE THREE POWERS:
In Isaiah 27, we read:
In that day, the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that twisted serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
It's easy to gloss over this passage, but closer examination reveals three separate types of demonic powers here. The first is called the "piercing serpent." The second is "that twisted serpent." And lastly, the "dragon that is in the sea."
In these are three ancient biblical kingdoms, or world governments, of Egypt, Assyria with Nineveh as the capital at that time and Chaldea (with Babylon as it's capital.
Nineveh was located on the Tirgress River, called Chiddekel, for the swiftness of it's course and dangerous rapids. Babylon stood on the Euphrates; which wound like a labyrinth, especially in the vicinity of Babylon.
God speaks not only of these world powers or governments, but of the warring principalities behind the governments. One advancing by rapid aggression, like that personified by the leopard in Rev. 13;2. Another in slow insideous deceitfulness, but nevertheless on course toward it's intended goal. Is it any wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ told His people to be "as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves?" (Matthew 10:16)
The key to understanding prophecies of this type is the "key of knowledge." Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, saying: "Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in you hindered. (Luke 11:52)
I was in a church once, when one of the strangest prophecies came forth that I had ever heard. I had to go home and get into the word of God, and as I did, the whole thing unfolded in a beautiful way.
When I have received personal prophecies, I look up any references or phrases in God's word that are not immediately familiar to me, and I pray for that God will grant me the "Spirit of wisdom and revelation" spoken of in Ephesians 1:17, that God will open the message to me, that I might understand all that he has for me from this.
Besides "encoding" a prophecy, the Spirit of revelation resting on a message will cause one person to hear it in a certain way, and another seems to receive with emphasis on another word or phrase from it. This is one reason why we are admonished:
"Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sits by, let the first hold his peace." (1 Cor. 14:29-30) There must be enough liberty of the Spirit of the Lord in a place, to allow this to happen. When the Lord can walk freely among the 7 Golden Lampstands; you will see many things that have been hidden suddenly become unsealed!
And so we see prophets prophesying by the Spirit of the Lord in "symbol" at times, or in "codes." To Western Christianity, these will make little sense, if they have little understanding of the bible, including the Old Testament. Because you will see "The Two Witnesses, The Great Red Dragon, The Bride, and so on.
The closer we get to the end of time, there will be greater and greater need to allow God to draw us into the fellowship of His word and prayer, that He might lead us by His Spirit. So we are admonished to: "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and all the more so, as you see that day approaching." (Heb. 10:25) One of the types of prophecy through which God speaks is that of exhortation. And through them God will give us peace about the future and what it is that He is directing us to do. All we have to do is follow...Having judged the se prophecies by God's word.
