The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

L

Ladder to Lyrical Prophet

746. Ladder—A) A construction implement. B) A builder’s tool. C) Mobile stairs that allow the ascent and descent of workers and providers. Spiritually, a ladder represents the angels of God providing for the people of the earth. Jacob saw a ladder where angels ascended and descended from God’s throne to the earth. The meaning of the vision was that the Lord of his covenant showed him how he would be provided for throughout his life. Later, Jesus experienced the same thing. He told Nathaniel that because of his faith in the arriving Messiah he would see the angels of God ascending and descending upon Him as they did Jacob. The Lord revealed what furnished His ministry. The vision of the angels shows the Lord’s word on a minister’s success. 747. Lake—A still body of water that represents the abyss, death, and buried mysteries. Lakes for this reason symbolized death and confinement. In the past, they were often sites of ancient enchantments which practitioners of magic and divination resorted to for their arts. The mirror image of the lake meant one could always see themselves, and the clarity of the image was frequently sought as a huge crystal ball. That is how lakes came to be equated with the supernatural, in particular, clairvoyance. 748. Lamb—An innocent, pure, and sinless sacrifice designated as acceptable for the appeasement of a deity. Lambs were a common ancient animal sacrifice chosen because of their abject obedience to, and reliance upon, their shepherds. This was displayed in their characteristically mute submission to slaughter. The innocence of infancy made them effective sacrifices giving the lamb the reputation for being sinless and pure. Lambs were regularly used in annual spring offerings. The choice and timing was because their sacrifice coincided with two important events. The first is the lamb’s maturity as a sacrifice. According to their age, once they were freshly weaned from their mothers, they became eligible to sacrifice. Being just weaned from milk, and often before they turned to other food, the lamb was pure enough for the pre-war sacrifice ritual. The time for weaning, secondarily, often corresponded with the spring of the year when kings go to war, the annual royal war campaign.