Spiritual Dictionary Section T-1

Thunder - A combination event that can be the thundering of a literal storm that is loud enough to shake the earth, or it can be a symbol of the voice of God, which can also shake the earth. Thunder is often used in a symbolic package of thunder, earthquake, hail, lightning and voices. CO

Physical event as in a storm:

At Noah's flood - PP 99

In the plagues of Egypt - Exodus 9:23,29

At the opening of the Red Sea - Psalms 77:16-20

At Mount Sinai - Exodus 20:18

God thunders and discomforts the Philistines at the bequest of    Samuel - I Samuel 7:3-10; 12:6-25

At the death of Jesus on the cross - DA 756

 

Symbol of the voice of God:

"I answered thee in the secret place of thunder..." Psalm 81:7

"The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice..." Psalm 18:13

"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God glory   thundereth..." Psalm 29:3

"The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered His voice." II Samuel 22:14

Jesus asks for a sign from God to glorify His mission and God speaks to Jesus for the third time (once at Jesus’ baptism, at His transfiguration and for Jesus’ preparation for Calvary) and glorifies His name. John 12:27-30; DA 624-625

In the book of Revelation, God speaking sounds like thunder -   Revelation 6:1; 4:5; 8:5; Chapter 10 - the 7 thunders; 11:19; 19:6

The 7th plague is started by the voice of God declaring "it is done" Revelation 16:17-18; GC 636-640

 

Tithe – A systematic process of giving by God’s people that keeps their hearts open to the awareness that all wealth comes by the gift of God and also allows the support of God’s ministers. CO

Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Proverbs 3:9-10

Abraham gives a tenth part of all his increase to Melchizadek, the priest of God, the symbol of Christ. Hebrews 7:1-10; Genesis 14:18-20

Jacob vowed to give a tenth of all that God gave him, including food, clothing, protection, and direction. Genesis 28:20-22

          The tithe is holy unto the Lord. Leviticus 27:30

Tithing is necessary to keep the house of God from being forsaken. Nehemiah 13:10-13

When the Levite received tithe he was to give a tenth of what he received. Numbers 18:26

One can rob Jesus of tithes and offerings and be cursed. Malachi 3:8-12

Jesus instructs that we must pay tithe of the smallest thing and still not ignore the weightier matters of the law. Matthew 23:23

Jesus commands that those who preach the gospel should live as a result of the gospel. I Corinthians 9:7-14

He that scatters shall increase but he that witholds shall tend to poverty. Proverbs 11:24-25

God loves a cheerful giver. II Corinthians 9:6-7

All wealth comes from God. Deuteronomy 8:18

We give back to God what He already owns. I Chronicles 29:14

 

Tithe – “In the Hebrew economy one tenth of the income of the people was set apart to support the public worship of God. (Leviticus 27:30,32; Genesis 14:20; 28:22)….The system of tithes and offerings was intended to impress the minds of men with a great truth that God is the source of every blessing to His creatures, and that to Him men’s gratitude is due for the good gifts of His providence….As an acknowledgement that all things come from Him, the Lord directed that a portion of His bounty should be returned to Him in gifts and offerings to sustain His worship….God reserved to Himself a specified portion of man’s time and of his means, and no man could, without guilt, appropriate either for his own interests.” PP 525-526

 

Tongue - "A wholesome tongue is a tree of life." Proverbs 15:4

 

Tongue - "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity…" James 3:6

 

Tongue - "But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison." James 3:8

 

Tooth - broken - "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint." Proverbs 25:19

 

Tower - "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe." Proverbs 18:10

 

Tower - (Parable of the vineyard Matthew 21:33-46) - "In the parable…The Tower was a symbol of the temple." DA 596

 

Tower of the vineyard (Mt. 21:33-46) - “And as the tower in the vineyard, God placed in the midst of the land His holy temple.” PK 18

 

Tradition – A principle, or behavior, or a truth, developed by the actions of people who went before us. This tradition can either be blessed by the Bible and be maintained or it can be an issue that ends up nullifying truth for it is not based on or blessed by the Bible.  CO

          Positive tradition –

Anyone who does not walk after the traditions established by the epistles of God’s apostles, and who walks in a disorderly manner we are to withdraw ourselves from them. II Thessalonians 3:6-15

Brethren, hold fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by the Word (the Old Testament Scriptures) or our Epistles (the Net Testament Scriptures). II Thessalonians 2:15

 

          Negative tradition –

Pharisees accuse Jesus’ disciples of ignoring a tradition of the elders in that they do not wash like the elders do. Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3,5

Jesus charges the Pharisees of transgressing the commandments of God by their tradition. Matthew 15:3

Jesus charges the Pharisees that their traditions make the commandments of God of none effect. Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:8

Jesus charges the Pharisees that they reject the commandments of God to keep their traditions.  Mark 7:9

Jesus says that the Word of God is made of none effect by the Pharisees traditions. Mark 7:13

Paul charges us to beware of being spoiled through the philosophy and vain deceit influenced by the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8; 20-22

Seeing you were not redeemed with corruptible things established by the traditions of your fathers, but by the precious blood of Christ, seeing you are purified by obeying the truth through the Spirit, we are to love one another, because we are born again by the Word of God. I Peter 1:18-23

Paul was profited by the Jewish religion because he was more zealous in the traditions of the fathers. Galatians 1:14

 

Translation - the act of taking a sinful person, preparing him to the point that he is pleasing to God, and then taking him to heaven without seeing death. CO "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Hebrews 11:5

 

Translation - examples of:

1. Enoch - Genesis 5:18-24; Hebrews 11:5; PP 88

2. Moses - God's original plan was to translate Moses but because of his sin he was to die and become the first person to be resurrected. PP 478

3. Elijah - II Kings 2:1-11

4. The living righteous at the second coming of Jesus. I   Thessalonians 4:13-18; See One Hundred and Forty-Four     Thousand.

 

Treason- “If the youth will consecrate their minds and hearts to God’s service, they will reach a high standard of efficiency and usefulness. This is the standard that the Lord expects the youth to attain. To do less than this is to refuse to make the most of God-given opportunities. This will be looked upon as treason against God, a failure, to work for the good of humanity.” MYP 41

 

Tree- "A man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord." Jeremiah 17:7-8; Psalms 1:3; Ezekiel 47:12

 

Trees - "It is not enough that they (Christians) are trees in the garden of God. They are to answer His expectation by bearing fruit." GC 601

 

Tree of Life – That tree that God gave to sustain life in man while in obedience and submission to Him. A tree of life can also mean anything that provides wisdom and truth in connection to spiritual life giving issues. Access to the tree, literally or spiritually, brings people into access to the blessings of God. CO

          The Tree of Life:

          God made the Tree of Life to grow out of the ground. Genesis 2:9

The tree of life was in the middle of the garden of Eden. Genesis 2:9

God commanded that man could freely eat of the Tree of Life. Genesis 2:16

God only restricted partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:17

Eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil brought death, in contrast to the Tree of Life which brought life eternal. Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:22-24

After sin God blocked access to the Tree of Life which would bring eternal life. It would appear that God did not want a sinner to have eternal life while in sin. Genesis 3:22

To protect the Tree of Life God drove man out of the garden of Eden and blocked access by Cherubim and a burning sword which turned every way. This protected the way of the Tree of Life. Genesis 3:23-24

God will grant to eat of the Tree of Life which is in the midst (Genesis 2:9) of the paradise of God to those who overcome. Revelation 2:7

The Tree of Life was in the middle of the street and on both sides of the River of Life which proceeded out of the throne of God. Revelation 22:1-2.

The Tree of Life produced twelve kinds of fruit. Revelation 22:2

The Tree of Life produced fruit every month. Revelation 22:2; Ezekiel 47:12

The leaves of the Tree of Life were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2

This implies that the way to the tree of life had been opened, the sword was not blocking, and the Cherubim were not blocking the way. Eden has been restored. CO

 

Other Trees of Life:

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Proverbs 15:4

Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when the desire comes it is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Proverbs 11:30

Wisdom is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her. Proverbs 3:13-18

 

Examples:

The contrast of the Sons of God and the daughters of men. Genesis 6:1-2.

Contrast of Noah and the world just before the flood. Genesis 6&7

Contrast between Israel and Egypt. Exodus 1-12.

Jesus is the tree of life at Pilate’s judgment hall and Barabbas was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Matthew 27:11-29 CO

The synagogue of Jesus versus the synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2:9; 3:9

The Christian church in contrast with Papal Babylon. Daniel 2:40-45; 7:19-27; 8:9-14; 11:28-39,45; II Thessalonians 2:1-13; Revelation 13:1-10.  This would be the time period of the 1260 days/time, times, and half a time. This period is 538 AD to 1798. CO

God’s people versus the people of Babylon. Revelation 14:1-12 and Revelation 17. This is the period of time just before the second coming if Jesus. CO

 

Trial - bitter – John 15:1 – “And every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth (prunes) it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” From the chosen twelve who had followed Jesus, one as a withered branch was about to be taken away; the rest were to pass under the pruning knife of bitter trial.” DA 676-677

 

Trials- “Trials and obstacles are the Lord’s chosen methods of discipline and His appointed conditions of success.” MH 470

 

Trophies of His labors of love - "Never before had the world seen such a triumphal procession (at the triumphal entry into Jerusalem). It was not like that of the earth's famous conquerors. No train of mourning captives, as trophies of kingly valor, made a feature of that scene. But about the Saviour were the glorious trophies of His labors of love for sinful man. There were the captives whom he had rescued from Satan's power, praising God for their deliverance. The blind whom He had restored to sight were leading the way. The dumb whose tongues He had loosed shouted the loudest hosannas. The cripples who He had healed bounded with joy, and were the most active in breaking the palm branches and waving them before the Saviour. Widows and orphans were exalting the name of Jesus for His works of mercy to them. The lepers whom He had cleansed spread their untainted garments in His path, and hailed Him as the King of glory. Those whom His voice had awakened from the sleep of death were in that throng. Lazarus, whose body had seen corruption in the grave, but who now rejoiced in the strength of glorious manhood, led the beast on which the Saviour rode." DA 572