CHAPTER FIVE

SOME SYMBOLS AND THEIR MEANINGS

i. ANIMALS/INSECTS
Snail slow progress or retrogression
Duck taking things lightly or with levity [unseriousness]
Tortoise worldly wisdom or trickery
Dog sexual immorality, lust or human wickedness (Phil.3:2)
Goat unbeliever (Mat 25:33, 41); stubborn enemy or recurring problem
Snake deception or high level of manipulation difficult to detect (Gen 3:1-7). But in Numbers 21:4-9 snakes have both good and bad meanings.
Cheetah rapidly spreading danger or destruction
Chicken a fearful person; one who disrupts or scatters a plan or place
Owl bad omen
Rat betrayer
Fly (housefly) lie (Satan is Beelzebub, lord of flies Luke 11:15)
Lizard monitoring spirit (especially one difficult to detect); someone who has unhindered access to get unnecessary facts or information about people or thing (Pro 30:28)
Cat witchcraft /control (demonic, charismatic, business, work).
Elephant big challenge or problem
Frog falsehood, uncleanness, destruction (Rev. 16:13-14, Ps. 78:45)
Bat pretender, double dealing
Chameleon unreliable/independent person who changes his beliefs with circumstances or time
Ostrich cruelty, selfishness (Lam 4:3-4), greatness with great limitation (for it cannot fly)
Penguin elegance but with limited ability
Rabbit rapid productivity, talkativeness; a poor performer in a competition; a writer or speaker incoherent or disjointed in thought
Hare speed; a person making rash decisions
Parrot talkativeness, gossip
Sparrow cheap and difficult life due to poverty or hardship (Lk 12:6-7), wretchedness
Peacock beauty with tendency of pride; someone fond of showing off something pleasant but in pride
Horse strength with speed (Ps. 32:9 refers to over speeding of a horse due to its lack of understanding of timing)
Eagle strength (Is 40:31) with supremacy; far-sightedness; someone who has a long-range plan
Lion − victor (Rev. 5:5); enemy of victory (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
Mule strong-headedness (stubbornness) and slowness (sluggishness) see Ps. 32:9
Donkey durability; someone or something that is long-lasting
Camel − endurance; someone who is strong under pressure
Fish − soul winning (Mat. 4:19)
Spider network (mostly evil); someone causing confusing circumstances or setting traps for others
Ram aggressiveness, aggressive provision (Gen 22:13-14)
Butterfly [flies in the day] lack of focus; lack of specific direction in life; zigzag or disorganized lifestyle/plan
Moth [flies at night] somebody or something that makes things short-lived or not long-lasting (Mat 6:19-20)
Crocodile dangerous enemy that can operate both secretly and openly; highly dangerous pretender
Fox someone difficult to deal with or understand or a trickster; a crafty person (Lk. 12:32, Ezek 13:3-4, KJV)
Dove peace (Gen 8:8-12); gentleness (Mat 3:16-17, Mat. 10:16); somebody who is dense and easily deceived (Hos 7:11, NIV)
Raven greed
Wolf greed
Cattle egret somebody or something that brings great comfort with little discomfort to you; a person who creates small challenges for you, but helps you solve greater ones
Pigeon one's duty or business
Vulture death looming around
Goose a foolish or thoughtless person; a dullard; someone who is slow at learning or grasping things
Hawk someone who embraces or supports an aggressive or warlike policy; someone selling goods from place to place
Swan leisure
Ant (usually tiny and black) diligence; state of being hardworking (Pro 6:6)
Note: small brownish ants may speak of people trying to share your blessings with you
Soldier ant demonic soldier
Hippopotamus (in water) a challenge or danger that may be bigger than it appears
Tiger someone who loves fighting even his own friends, relations, and so on
Maggot decay, rottenness
Pig dirtiness; spiritual filthiness; a glutton (that is, one who eats too much); someone with bad manners; a complex thing
Guinea pig someone or something used for trial and error; a person whose life is toyed or played with by those over him
Bear a rough person with bad manners
Bee someone you should handle extra-carefully to enjoy the sweetness or blessings (the bee's honey) he will bring to your life but whose anger you must not incur because it will have devastating effect on you (the bee's sting); someone who is as good as he is bad, or as sweet as he is bitter, or as nice as he is wicked
Locust noisy and wasteful destruction (Amos 7:1-2)
Termite silent destruction
Monkey great intelligence usually used wrongly to outsmart others; intellectualism
Crab fault-finder; grumbler
Bulldog great courage; stubborn determination; tenacity
Bull/cow fierce, strong enemies (according to Strong's Dictionary); oppressor; people who delight in war (Ps 22:12, Ps 68:30, Amos 4:1)
Fat cow great abundance; great financial or material prosperity (Gen 41:17-21, 26, 28-29)
Lean cow poor harvest; famine; scarcity; austerity or economic hardship (Gen 41:17-21, 27, 30-31)
Note: the fact that some cows swallowed up some other cows in Pharaoh's dream above showed that what was swallowed up will pale into insignificance and will not be remembered because of the strong influence of what swallowed it up (see vs 20-21, 29-31).

ii. COLOURS
White righteousness, purity, justice (Rev. 19:8, 11), victory (Rev. 6:2)
Purple royalty or authority (Judge 8:26, Est. 8:15, Mk. 15:17), prosperity (Lam. 4:5, Lk. 16:19)
Green peace, productivity, prosperity (Jer. 17:7-, go ahead, unripe time, immaturity, patience (compare Amos 8:1-2)
Black suffering, famine, mourning (Rev. 6:5-6)
Red danger, lack of peace (Rev. 6:4), blood of Jesus
Amber (yellow/yellowish brown) glory, radiance (Ezek 1:4 KJV); fear, carefulness
Blue realm of the Spirit, Holy Spirit, Heaven, male
Blue and white royalty or authority (Est. 8:15)
Orange lifestyle of repentance (to do God's will), consecration, death to flesh (Job 42:6)
Brown carnality or being ruled by the flesh (Gen. 2:7; Mt. 7:26); governed by the will of man or flesh, not God (John 1:2-13, KJV)
Pink female


iii. PEOPLE
Former boss/master [if you are born-again] Satan (Col 1:13)
New boss/master [if you are born-again] the Lord Jesus (Col. 1:3, Eph 6:9b)
A second wife spiritual adultery, unneeded dual church membership (James 4:4-8, KJV); unfaithfulness
Giant a great challenge or problem (Num 13:31-33, 1 Sam 17:23-24); a great problem solver
Banker financial support
Thief enemy that wants to steal, kill and destroy your destiny (John 10:10)
Baby a young church, ministry, establishment or business
Brother /sister brother or sister in the Lord
Mother Mother church where you are born-again and brought up in the things of God
Father - God, mentor, pastor
Woman/lady church (Eph 5:23-25)
Son/daughter those who look up to you for counsel, instruction and help in life, ministry, and so on
Stubborn child outcome of a wrong idolatrous relationship with someone that wants to be worshipped as a hero, etc; difficult and disturbing assignment [1 Sam 15:23]
Madman somebody who jokes to deceive others (Pro 26:18-19); somebody who has lost his spiritual or natural senses/sanity (2 Pet 2:16); someone who can destroy your self-image or public image if you identify or interact with him because he his abnormal.

iv. NUMBERS
1 − divine oneness, marital oneness (Mat 19:5-6), priority/primary concern (Mat 6:33); beginning (Rev. 22:13)
2 − alliance (Eccl 4:9), division, testimony (Jn 8:17)
3 − divine trinity
4 − seasons, affecting the whole world
5 − grace
6 − carnality, demonic activities, humanity (Gen. 1:26-31, Rev. 13:18)
7 − perfection of work, divine rest/peace
8 − newness, new beginning
9 − establishment, fruitfulness
10 − commandment, law, judgment (Ex 20)
11 − rebellion (Dan 7:24-26); last moment (Mat 20:6)
12 − divine structure, divine government, apostolic structure
30 − maturity
40 − consecration

v. MISCELLANY
Barred gate/door dispute or disagreement
"An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city and DISPUTES ARE LIKE THE BARRED GATES OF A CITADEL" (Pro 18:19 NIV).
Leaking roof/ leaking house/ caved-in roof / sagging rafters negligence of duties and responsibilities due to laziness or idleness
"If a man is LAZY the RAFTERS SAG; if his hands are IDLE the HOUSE LEAKS" (Eccl 10:18 NIV).
Water spreading all over the floor of a house /room/office /church auditorium strife
"The beginning of STRIFE is as when ONE LETTETH OUT WATER so DROP THE MATTER BEFORE A DISPUTE BREAKS OUT" (Prov. 17:40 KJV, 14b, NIV).
Rain/dew falling on someone/plants refreshing teaching anointing (Deut 32:2); blessing (Ps 133:3)
Hailstone falling on someone judgment or destruction
Staying in the house roof exalting oneself in pride (2Sam 11:12,); avoiding quarrel (Pro 21:9, Pro 25:24)
At a crossroads/ junction state of confusion/indecision; the point of parting way
unclothedness shame; shameful practice; trusting in human strength/effort/ability; helplessness; change your wardrobe, buy some new/good clothes so that you can dress better (Rev. 3:17-18, Rev 16:15, Eph 5:12)
Note: unclothedness can also mean trusting in man rather in God.
Jeremiah 17:5-6 reads, "Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
For he shall be like the HEATH in the desert"
According to 'The New Strong's Expanded Dictionary of the Words in the Hebrew Bible,' the word translated 'heath' in verse 6 above means 'a juniper (from its nudity i.e. unclothedness of situation).'
The Amplified Bible puts verses 5 and 6 like this, "Cursed [with great evil] is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man
For he shall be like a shrub or A PERSON NAKED and destitute in the desert"
It could also mean openness or transparency, especially between husband and wife (Gen 2:25).
Blindness ignorance or lack of knowledge of the truth (Is. 56:10, Eph. 1:17)
Deafness not sensitive to hear from God/man and respond rightly (Ps. 38:13)
Dumbness not speaking God's mind with others (Ps. 38:13); keeping quite
Cooking − preparing spiritual or intellectual food
Silver redemption/money
Gold treasured possessions (material or human); durability; long-lasting influence
Crown headship/leadership/reigning (2 Chr 23:11, Est 2:17, Ps 8:5-6), glorious destiny (Lam 5:17, Ps 8:5), wealth (Pro 14:24), good wife (Pro 12:4), award [or general spiritual reward]/honour/glory (2 Tim 4:8, Rev 3:11, 1 Cor 9:25, Job 19:9, Ps 8:5); someone like your spiritual/natural child that makes you rejoice (Phil 4:1, Pro 17:6)
Shoe preaching the gospel (Eph. 6:15, Acts 12:; vocation/idea that will take one's destiny to places
Television vision in life or ministry
Camera secret vision or idea, not to be made public yet
Note: The idiom 'in camera' means 'in secret or in private.' Matthew 17:9 and Proverbs 29:11 exemplify this.
Handset channel through which you can network with others to fulfill your destiny
Yeast/leaven few false teachings or teachers wreaking great havoc; wrong practice or wrong doer that may appear little and harmless but whose evil influence spreads gradually and pervasively to corrupt a great number of people; lack of sincerity and truth; malice [that is, a desire to injure or harm others spiritually, emotionally or physically] and wickedness [that is, the active exercise of an evil intention] (Mt 16:11-12, Gal 5:9, 1Cor 5:
Note: Gal 5:9 (AMP) reads, "A LITTLE LEAVEN (A SLIGHT INCLINATION TO ERROR, OR A FEW FALSE TEACHERS) leavens the whole lump [perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church]."
1Cor 5:6-7(NLT), 8 (NIV) reads, "Your boasting about this is terrible. Don't you realize that this SIN is like A LITTLE YEAST that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old 'yeast' by removing this WICKED PERSON from among you.
Then you will be a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of MALICE and WICKEDNESS, but with bread without yeast, the bread of SINCERITY and TRUTH" (Mt 16:11-12).
Bread daily provision, job/vocation bringing one's daily provision (Mat 6:11)
Rice provision that requires much of it to be enough or meaningful
Yam provision that requires little of it to be enough or meaningful
Egg (if uncooked) fertile life/assignment in an immature stage; (if cooked) − unfertile life/assignment in an immature stage
Mushroom someone or something that rise to fame and falls to disgrace quickly; something that grows or spreads fast but without strength or solid foundation; someone/something that appears and disappears fast
Fan comfort
Stabilizer that which makes someone/something stable in thoughts, in lifestyle, and so on
Generator something that generates/produces power, for example: prayer and fasting
Fuel − source of energy, for example: God's Word
Faeces (excrement/poo-poo) hatred; something that chases or repels people from you
WARNING
Sometimes, a person, object, place or so in a vision or dream may have a literal interpretation, not a symbolic meaning as earlier explained. For example, a baby in a dream or vision may mean a literal or natural baby just as buying a car in a vision or dream may mean one is going to buy a car in the natural or they may have spiritual or symbolic meanings.
So we need to listen to the Spirit of God to lead us into all truth as regards interpreting visions and dreams as well as in all other areas of life for as many as are led by the Spirit of God are His sons (Ro 8:14, John 16:13).
ADVICE
"And the LORD answered me, and said, WRITE THE VISION, and MAKE IT PLAIN UPON TABLES, THAT HE MAY RUN THAT READETH IT" (Hab 2:2).
Always try to record the details of your dreams, visions and prophecies in a note book for reference purposes and visit it as often as possible so that you will not be found wanting in whatever God says or reveals to you.
I have kept such records for some years and they have proved tremendously helpful to me.
 
CHAPTER SIX

PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

After Peter had seen a vision of a vessel containing all kinds of animals descending unto him, a voice spoke to him three times to arise, kill and ... (See Part 3).