Allegory

Galatians 4:24 We see "Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."

This reference of the story in Genesis being an allegory about the two sons of Abraham and the fact that one came from a free woman and one came from a bond woman is not be unique in scripture.

An allegory is "a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one." It is "a didactic narrative" and can include what is simply "a moral fable." The essential or viable purpose of a didactic narrative is to be instructive, teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson. If we focus to on the details of the story treating it as only a historical narrative we may miss the point the author is making.

While we may agree with Paul in Galatians and believe the story of Abraham to be true the Bible the Bible is full of allegories that are trying to teach us the moral code of God's Spiritual identity. That moral code is the character of name of God and manifests itself the deeds or works of men as social virtues.

An allegory is a metaphor whose vehicle may be a character, place or event, representing real-world or spiritual issues. It can readily illustrate complex ideas and concepts in ways that may not be comprehensible or memorable to the readers or hearer of the story but because the story and its images are memorable it is past down from generation to generation.

The people in bondage in Egypt came out under the authority of Moses who could have reigned as king and high-priest. But he empowered the people to manage their government without any kings to rule over them. Almost all the support for the government was based on freewill offerings in the form of tithes rather than taxes, a voluntary army, peoples courts, and an appeals court consisting of public servants who served the people through charity.

In Galatians 4:8 Paul asks the Celts of the Galatians, "Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. 9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? 10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

This reference is undoubtedly to the same unmooring of the symbols and metaphors of the Bible from the moral or political instructions intended. The Sabbath is a typical example of this unmooring and its effects. The commandment to keep holy the Sabbath which we see in Exodus 20:8 includes further instructions in Exodus 20:9 and an allegorical reference to why in Exodus 20:11 expressing a natural order of things.

The previous commandments of Exodus 20 were about not having any other gods or becoming subject to them where you had to serve them or claiming that you served and worshiped the God of heaven when you were obligated to serve the other gods. This dual status or two masters ends in the inevitable reality of taking His name in vain because you cannot Serve two masters.

Nothing makes men gods who can rule one over the other and force the service of other men than debt. The commandment about working first and then taking your earned rest is an instruction about staying out of debt to the men who will become the gods many of the world. But those who unmoore the symbols of the instructions and keep days like the Sabbath often find themselves in the bondage of debt entangled in the elements of the world even though they observed what they have misinterpreted to be the Sabbath.

Many people if not most who consider themselves Sabbath keepers by the keeping of days have fallen into debts as individuals and as nations where they must bow down and serve the gods many of the world.

Many look to the scriptures for answers and rightly so. But when people read words their mind is choosing one or more of the definitions of a word to determine the truth. They are accepting or rejecting information as allegory or technically historical account.

Allegory is also defined as a symbol. Words are symbols of idea and in Hebrew even the letters are symbols for the idea that is contained the word. The language is designed to create a multitude of metaphors that lend themselves to sophistry where to honor is to fatten or enrich, a rein of control is also a kidney, a pile of stones is also a council. Such

The words of the Bible can be easily misinterpreted because of the wide range of meanings which can be applied. We may look at the context of history, the opinions of scholars, or our own experience and observation but Relying on a spirit to guide you is what we are all reduced to do no matter what else we use in that process.

The spirit that we let live in us will filter all we see, read or hear. The understanding which results fro our studies and observation will be the results of that spirt. Is it the Holy Spirit of God or the legions of other spirits who desire to influence and even control us?

Over the centuries thousands of sects and denominations have risen among those who study scripture and only the Holy Spirit of God can actually guide them into becoming a peculiar people and allow them to enter the Kingdom of God at hand and for the living.

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