Under the Lamb

Over the year’s archeologist, anthropologist, theologians, missionaries and many others have found countless examples where certain elements of a certain people group's customs or traditions point directly to the God of the Bible and Christ’s finished work. Missionaries in turn have been able to use these elements, which appear to have been strategically placed, to win souls for Christ. An example of this was presented in the previous post regarding the custom of the Sawi tribe's offering of a "Peace Child". What follows is yet another example.

The Chinese system of writing is based on 214 signs, or “roots”. These 214 roots are combined to produce between 30,000 and 50,000 characters. Many missionaries who have had to learn the Chinese language have understandably met with great difficulty. However, one day certain missionary was studying the Chinese character for the word "righteous". The missionary noticed that the character is made up of three symbols which form two distinct parts, an upper and lower portion.



The upper portion consists of the Chinese symbol for a lamb.



The bottom portion is actually made up of two symbols.

The symbol for hand



and the symbol for spear or knife



When these two symbols are used together they form the first person pronoun I.



So in total the word "righteous" consisted of the symbol for the first person pronoun I underneath the symbl of a lamb.



The missionary had made an extraordinary discovery; here, hidden within the complex Chinese writing system was the heart of the Gospel:

I under the Lamb am righteous!

The Chinese were baffled when their attention was drawn to this hidden message. They had never noticed it before, but now they saw it very clearly. From that point forward missionaries would point out this message hidden within the Chinese’s very own writing system and ask them, "Under which lamb do we have to stand in order to be righteous and just?" When the Chinese could not provide an answer the missionaries would joyfully tell them about the "the Lamb which was slain" Rev. 5:12, the same "Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world" John 1:29, none other than The Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, God does not leave Himself without a witness! Acts 14:17

Note: It is very interesting that the symbols used to form the pronoun I are a hand and a spear/knife. Perhaps this points to the sacrifice which was required of this Lamb in order for us to be made righteous. In addition to that, this could also point to the fact that this Lamb would be pierced. Psalms 22:16, Zec 12:10, John 19:34, Rev. 1:7. There is no limit to the lengths our Father has gone to, to gather us back into His arms. We truly serve an Amazing God!

Taken from Don Richardson's book: Eternity In Thier Hearts