Each of these analogies discloses something about who Christ is in Himself. Some of them have a further lesson about who Christ is in relation to the Father. Others of them tell us who Christ is in relation to His people—which means that they tell us something about who and what we are as His people.

Some theologians grow concerned about the use of analogical language. They think that all our statements about God must be meant literally. By literally they mean that words we use of God must mean exactly what they mean when we use those words of ourselves. They fear that by admitting any element of analogy, we shall begin to slide down the slope toward meaningless language.

The Bible takes exactly the opposite perspective. The Scriptures seize analogy as one of the two most important ways of coming to know God. The other way is story—but that is a topic for a different discussion. For now, we need to consider the way in which God’s Word uses analogies to help us grasp the person and character of God and the nature of holy things. The Bible regularly employs metaphor and simile in their various permutations to give us glimpses of God’s person and works.

Metaphors and similes are analogies. Similes are indirect analogies: this is like that. Metaphors are direct analogies: this is that, has that, or does that. Many other tropes, such as merism, metonymy, and synecdoche, are just specialized forms of metaphors.

Consider one of the best-known analogies in Scripture: “The Lord is my shepherd.” This statement about God is certainly not literal. It is an image, a word picture. But it is not less important for that. It tells us something meaningful about God—at least, it does if we understand what a shepherd is and what a shepherd does. It also tells us something meaningful about ourselves. If the Lord is our shepherd, then we are like sheep. When we understand the metaphor, we gain knowledge of God. We also gain knowledge of ourselves.

This observation raises an important possibility. As we have already seen, the language we use of God is analogical. We know God through analogies. But what if we also know ourselves and our world through analogies? Analogues that help us to grasp holy things also help us to grasp where we stand in relation to those things.

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