(Old Testament)
Genesis – heaven and earth
‘In the beginning God created the heaven & the earth.’ Genesis 1:1
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Exodus - Red Sea divided waves
‘Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. . .
& the waters were divided.’ Exodus 14:21
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Leviticus – wilderness sanctuary
The Levites were to teach the laws of God & serve in the sanctuary.
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Deuteronomy – open book
‘And Moses wrote this law,...
...At the end of every seven years,...
...read this law before all Israel...
Take this book of the law, & put it in the side of the ark...’
Deuteronomy 31:9, 10, 11, 26
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1 Samuel – septre
‘...now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ 1 Samuel 8:5
The septre is for Saul being the 1st king in this book.
The septre has the shape of a ‘1’ for ‘1 Samuel.’
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1 Chronicles – 1 roll scroll with 29
The record of generations from Adam to David.
The 2 & a 9 on the ends of the scroll are for the 29 chapters in 1 Chronicles.
An ‘A’ for ‘Adam’ is drawn with his 2 hands taking the apple.
And since David had the ark brought to Jerusalem, a ‘D’ for ‘David’ is drawn on its side with green grass on the bottom & the gold rectangle to illustrate the ark & the white half circle to depict a cloth, covering the 2 golden angels on top of the ark.
The top of the 9 is made into a gold nugget and the bottom, a beam of wood, to portray all the building materials David collected during his kingship for his son, Solomon, to build the temple for God.
The left side of the 9, makes a ‘C’ for 1 ‘Chronicles.’
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Psalms – music note stem down
‘I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever...’ Psalm 89:1
The upside-down musical note has the shape of a ‘P’ for ‘Psalms.’
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Ecclesiastes – preacher holding mirror
‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preach, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.’ Ecclesiastes 1:2
Ecclesiastes means ‘preacher’ & the mirror is to associate with ‘vanity.’
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Isaiah – angel with 6 wings ...saying
‘Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, & with twain he covered his feet, & with twain he did fly.’ Isaiah 6:2
The angels with 6 wings is the amazing vision Isaiah saw so this angel is the icon for Isaiah.
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Jeremiah – dungeon with mire under building
‘They took Jeremiah, & cast him into the dungeon...
And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire:
so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.’ Jeremiah 38:6
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Ezekiel – 2 wheel cart
‘...and their appearance & their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.’ Ezekiel 1:16
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Daniel – feather pen & parchment paper
‘In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream & visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream.’ Daniel 7:1
Since Daniel wrote down the visions of prophecy he saw, the feather pen & paper are the icon for Daniel.
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Jonah – great fish
‘Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days & three nights.’
Jonah 1:17
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Malachi – large jewel
‘And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts,
in that day when I make up my jewels...’ Malachi 3:17
Malachi is the only book that says we will be God’s jewels.
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(New Testament)
Matthew – M-a-t-t-h-e-w crown
Gospel portraying Jesus as a King,
‘...there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews?’ Matthew 2:1, 2
Matthew is the only book that recorded the wise men coming to see Jesus when he was born. The crown spells out M-a-t-t-h-e-w at the top.
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Mark – towel
Gospel portraying Jesus as a Servant,
‘...The sabbath was made for man, & not man for the sabbath.’ Mark 2:27
Jesus washed the apostle’s feet & used a towel, so a towel is the icon for Mark.
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Luke – L-u-k-e man
Gospel portraying Jesus as a Man, ‘And she brought forth her first born son, & wrapped him in swaddling clothes, & laid him in a manager...’ Luke 2:7
‘Behold my hands & my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, & see; for a spirit hath not flesh & bones, as ye see me have.’ Luke 24:39
The ‘L’ is his nose. The ‘u’ is his face. The ‘k’ is his body, And the ‘e’ is his hand.
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John – God's hands holding world
Gospel portraying Jesus as God,
‘All things were made by him...’ John 1:3
‘For God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten Son...’ John 3:16
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Acts – stage
Acts are performed on a stage.
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Romans – Roman column on land
A familiar Roman building structure.
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1 Corinthians – 1 palm tree on peninsula
‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.’
1 Corinthians 2:9
Corinth is on a peninsula, almost an island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Palm trees can be associated with islands & seas, to think of paradise.
The bottom of the tree you can think is pointing to where the city of Corinth is located.
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2 Corinthians – 2 palm trees with sun on peninsula
‘For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ 2 Corinthians 4:6
‘How that he was caught up into paradise,
& heard unspeakable words’ 2 Corinthians 12:4.
The 2 palm trees, for 2 Corinthians, & a sun is drawn in the icon for all the verses that speak of ‘light’ in 2 Corinthians.
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Ephesians – 1st church (in Revelation) by sea
‘Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write...’ Revelation 2:1
‘And hath raised us up together, & made us sit together in heavenly places...’ Ephesians 2:6
In Revelation, the 1st letter to the churches is written to the church of Ephesus, so ‘1st’ is put on the top of the church. Ephesus is also located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Since the phrase ‘in heavenly places’ is mentioned 4 times in the Bible & they are all in Ephesians, a blue cloud with birds above the church are drawn to depict ‘in heavenly places.’
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Colossians – angel with 4 clouds over land
‘Let no man beguile you of your reward in...
worshipping of angels.’ Colossians 2:18
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1 Thessalonians – lady Thessalonica on tower by sea
‘For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; & they shall not escape.’ 1 Thessalonians 5:3
Thessalonica, a city on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, was founded in 315 B.C. & named for a sister of Alexander the Great.
One of the principal landmarks is the White Tower on the waterfront.
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1 Timothy – baby
‘Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith...’ 1 Timothy 1:2
‘Let no man despise thy youth...’ 1 Timothy 4:12,
‘For we brought nothing into this world, & it is certain we can carry nothing out.’ 1 Timothy 6:7
Since Paul thought of Timothy as his own son,
& 1 Timothy is where it says we brought nothing into this world,
which would be as a baby, the icon for 1 Timothy is a baby.
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Hebrews – cross & burnt offering altar
‘...Sacrifice & offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings & sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
...He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second.’
Hebrews 10:5, 6, 9
Hebrews is written to the Hebrews to help them understand that their old system of sacrifices had now been done away. Instead of bringing a lamb, Jesus, to be sacrificed for their sins & burnt with wood on the altar, the real Lamb was sacrificed on the wood of the cross, therefore, a cross and a burnt offering altar is the icon for Hebrews.
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1 Peter – 1 light green stone
‘Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)...’ Luke 6:14
Since Jesus renamed Simon to Peter, which means a stone,
1 light green stone is the icon for 1 Peter.
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2 Peter – 2 dark green stones
‘Simon, (whom he also named Peter,)...’ Luke 6:14
Since Jesus renamed Simon to Peter, which means a stone,
2 dark green stones is the icon for 2 Peter.
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1 John – 1 pink heart
‘...God is love.’ 1 John 4:8 & 16
Since John is the beloved disciple & John speaks about love so much in his writings, the icon for 1 John is John drawn as a heart, because when people saw John, they saw his love.
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Jude – person falling
‘Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling...’ Jude 1:24
Jude says God is able to keep us from falling,
so a person falling is the icon for Jude.
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Revelation – 12 jewels in an ‘R’ shape
‘And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones...’ Revelation 21:19
The 12 jewels are drawn to represent the 12 foundations of the city in heaven. They are made into the shape of an ‘R’ for ‘Revelation.’