symbolism and foreshadowing and all that fun stuff

In high school I was bored by them, but at some point in college I became fascinated by them: symbolism and foreshadowing and metaphors as literary devices. Hubby and I had a fantastic professor in college who sat on the edge of his desk in sloppy professor clothes and uncombed hair who overused air quotes but was able to pull Star Trek and medieval literature into a common theme. His lectures and discussions were the most interesting of all my English lit classes.

I once read an interview with William Faulknerin which someone asked if the bear in one of his stories actually meant this-or-that, and Faulkner replied that he’d never thought about it, but both ideas made sense. Much like Chaucer and the writers of Star Trek who lived hundreds of years apart never intended their writings to be similar, yet keen eyes pull together interesting similarities.

God, though, plans all of His foreshadowing, and as someone who loves the hidden nuggets in literature and especially in His Word, I am totally eating up what He’s showing me. Today I started on the Bible Gateway reading plan for Lent and I learned that Matthew uses Old Testament scripture to prove that “Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT predictions of the Messiah” (from the commentary in my NIV Study Bible). Here’s what stuck out to me today: In Matthew 2:14 Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s search for the King of the Jews in order that he might kill Him. And in verse 15 Matthew points out the Lord had said hundreds (thousands?) of years prior that this very thing would occur: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My Son.” Foreshadowing. I love it.

But look at what else! In Exodus 4:22-23 the Lord gave Moses some instructions on dealing with Pharaoh and the forthcoming death of Pharaoh’s firstborn son. Just like Jesus, our Lord’s firstborn (only) Son would come out of Egypt and die so that His people could be exiled from slavery and brought to the Promised Land. Symbolism! I love it. Also, I learned a few weeks ago that our name for “Jesus” is a mispronunciation of the word the Greeks used for Jesus, which in turn was a mispronunciation of the Hebrew word for Joshua. So, to all the Jews at the time of Jesus’ life who spoke Greek (as most of them did. Because of the Hellenistic period most of the Jews no longer spoke Hebrew), they knew Him as Joshua, or the man who brought God’s people into the Promised Land. Just as Jesus is bringing all who love Him into the Promised Land! I’m nerding out. I love God’s foreshadowing and symbolism.

God has it all there. He had it all planned before the creation of the world that Jesus would come to Earth, teach us and love us and die for us, and along the way God gave little glimpses into what would happen. And this English Lit major is eating it up.