“Your children shall be as olive shoots around your table.”
Psalm 128:3
What a beautiful symbol of promise for those who fear the LORD as stated in this Psalm. Olive shoots, our children, those vigorous, fresh, and full of promise offsets of a gnarled olive tree. For our little olive shoots to flourish and mature “like a tree planted by streams of water,” it is necessary for them to learn how to interpret and appreciate the richness in the vast examples of symbolism found in the Bible.
Examples of Symbolism in Life and Culture
Before broaching the complexities of symbolism within the pages of the Bible, take the time to define what a symbol is with a variety of examples. According to Webster’s College Dictionary, a symbol is “something used for or regarded as representing something else.”
- Numbers Explore basic examples of symbols with the use of numbers. Activity: Place five marbles in your hand and ask a student to come to the whiteboard and write the symbol that represents the number of marbles you are holding.
- Sign Language Discuss how sign language is used for people with hearing impairments. Using sign language, demonstrate a series of words and discuss why those particular signs are good representations of the words. Examples to use: Jesus, risen, church, crucify, and Bible. Find video examples here.
- Music Introduce children to the storyline of Peter and the Wolf. Explain how composer, Sergei Prokofiev wrote the story and composed the music using different instruments in the orchestra to symbolize the characters in the story. Story Synopsis: A young boy named Peter disobeys his grandfather and climbs over the garden wall. When he encounters a wolf, with quick thinking and the help of his friends – a bird, a duck and a cat – Peter captures the wolf and it is taken to the zoo. Find audio samples of each character here.
Examples of Symbolism in the Bible
Explain to your students that discovering God’s use of symbolism in the Bible can strengthen our faith and understanding of the deeper meanings hidden in scripture. In the New Testament, Jesus often made use of parables as a teaching tool. These stories contained everyday examples of people and events making the stories relatable to those who heard them.
In the curriculum, Here Comes the Groom, the symbolic representation of the groom, the groom’s father, and the bride are all presented thoroughly and repeatedly throughout each lesson.
Let’s examine a sampling of another symbolic message in the Bible. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?” (Matthew 5:13) Present the following facts about salt and ask the children what message Jesus was giving to His followers.
- The root of the word, salary, is salt. In the ancient world, soldiers were often paid with salt. Introduce the quote, “He’s not worth his salt.” Ask the students what they think that means. (He’s not worth what he’s getting paid.)
- Salt is used in the manufacturing of over 14,000 products. (Salt has great value.)
- Every cell in an adult human body contains salt. (Salt is necessary and vital to life.)
- Salt is referred to 31 times in the Bible. (Jesus was using an easily recognized example.)
- Salt was used to keep preserve meat, reduce decay, and treat wounds. (Should we as followers of Christ help reduce the decay of a fallen world?)
- Impure salt in the holy land was taken from the Dead Sea and filled with white minerals that resembled salt. (What does it mean to be pure?)
- Pure salt was made through the evaporation of seawater. Farmers piled mounds of pure salt on crops and used it as fertilizer because a small amount benefitted some soils. After the rain, true salt washed away leaving a useless white sandy substance and was used to provide a hard path to walk on. (What happens if Christians behave in an impure way?)
The Bible is a treasure trove of beautiful symbols and hidden meanings. For the sake of our little “olive shoots,” let us take every opportunity to help them grow in understanding of God’s truths, and someday may they join the psalmist in saying, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.” (Psalm 52:8)
