Allegory

2018-05-12

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. (23) But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. (24) Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. (Galatians 4:22-24)

Allegorical interpretation in the Bible is normally a bad thing. This type of interpretation usually means that we forget the literal meaning of the text in favor of some deeper, spiritual meaning. For example, I heard a sermon once where a pastor was preaching on the Man of God from Judah who stood up to Jeroboam (1 Kings 13). If you remember, the Man of God was tricked by the old prophet, and was on his way home, when a lion killed him, but the beast did not eat the carcass or hurt the donkey. The pastor said that the lion, the prophet, and the donkey all represented some mystical spiritual truths. This was unwarranted. The Man of God was disobedient to God, and he was punished for it. The lion was sent by God only for that reason, hence the lion had refrained from destroying the corpse or hurting the donkey. The lion did not represent Satan, or whatever the pastor had to say.

However, we see that in Galatians 4:24, Paul was using an allegory to explain a spiritual truth. The comparison of Ishmael and Isaac to the law and grace in Christ is truly warranted. However, Paul was given the words of the Holy Spirit, and we need to be careful before making connections to things that have no connection.