The prophet's dictionary guide to the supernatural

stories that use figures of speech to communicate their spiritual and eternal principles. Parabolic stories are replete with axioms, morals, metaphors, and similitudes. As a rule, they are highly illustrative and draw on everyday life details common to the hearer. This approach enables them to grasp the lofty messages being conveyed in their own understanding. Often parables are accompanied by or presented with riddles to heighten the hearer’s quest for its truth. The process is further intensified by God’s annexation of enigmas to His stories to correspondingly challenge His audience to dig for their meanings and relationship to them. The objective of parabolic teaching is comparative instruction in the high things of God. Their use is based on the reality that what hearers lack to hear and understand, parables render to them spiritually, emotionally, or academically because they are unable to capture its truth. Nevertheless, the need for parabolic wisdom far outweighs people’s inability to promptly comprehend them. To scale down God’s superlative wisdom to their understanding, figurative stories that listeners can relate to are told with subtle nuances that prick their hearts. Hearers can then translate God’s parabolic messages to their speech and circumstance in life. The word parable is mentioned in the Bible nearly fifty times. Seventeen of those times are in the Old Testament. Its first occurrence is in the incident with Balaam and Balak in Numbers 23:7. The Hebrew word for parable is mashal and in the Greek it is parabole. Both terms define the figurative use of comparisons to illustrate the enigmatic and heavenly truths of Creator God, using earthly similitude and stories that captivate and perplex the hearer. Their goal is to teach the ways of God, the rules and ordinances of His kingdom and to reveal His mind on the matters pertaining to humanity. In addition, Proverbs adds that parables are difficult for fools, that is, the unenlightened novitiate. This is mostly because parables are the product of prudent and often deep meditation. Much time and concentration is required to probe their insight and rightly apply their wisdom. Our Lord Jesus often used parables to present His heavenly teachings to a spiritually dead populace. They served to keep His hearers in spiritual darkness until He had completed His work on earth. The parables worked because the time for people to hear Him and be moved to repentance by what He said was reserved for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Opening their understanding for redemption likewise was reserved for the Holy Spirit. Before our Savior’s use of