Paul, in Gal. 4:21-31 tells the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar.
Sarah was Abraham’s wife and Hagar was a slave woman. Sarah had no
children so Abraham slept with Hagar, who conceived and gave birth to a
son. God promised Abraham that Sarah would give birth to a son in her old
age which she did. So Abraham had a son from the slave woman Hagar, and a
son from the free woman Sarah.
This was a literal and historical event that took place centuries
before Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, yet Paul
"allegorizes" this historical event.
So what does "allegorize" mean?
Here’s what Paul says about this historical event. He says in Gal.
4:24 that "these things can be taken figuratively…" He
continues by saying these women represent 2 covenants. Hagar represents
the covenant God gave Moses on Mount Saini. This was the Law of Moses.
Since this covenant was given on Mount Saini, Hagar also represents the
city of Jerusalem.
Then Paul says that Sarah represents the new covenant and heavenly
Jerusalem where true believers in Jesus live in the Spirit.
The son born by Hagar was a slave and represents the Jews of Paul’s
day. The son born from Sarah represents true believers in Jesus that are
free, as in free from the Law.
What Paul was doing here is called "allegorizing". This means
he was taking a literal historical event and applying a symbolic meaning
to it. This symbolic meaning was somewhat spiritual and prophetic in
nature. Paul spiritualized, or symbolized historic personalities and
created a New Testament teaching.
This is the hermeneutical rule to be learned here. Paul can allegorize.
We can’t. Paul, and other Biblical writers are on a higher level of
authority and inspiration than we are. Anything you or I write is not on
the same level of authority and inspiration as the Bible. This is the
orthodox view of inspiration of Scripture.
Many people have claimed their writings to be equally inspired and
authoritative as the Bible. The Book of Mormon is one example, but neither
the Book of Mormon or what you are reading right now is equal to the Bible
as being the inspired Word of God. The Bible stands alone, and that’s
why Paul could allegorize and we can’t.
There’s a particular doctrine called the "doctrine of
covering" that I can use as an example of what I feel is an abuse of
allegorizing. In the Old Testament Ruth went out to find a husband. She
found Boaz one night while he was sleeping and she laid at his feet. He
woke up and covered her with the hem of his garment.
Some people have allegorized this historical event and have made a New
Testament teaching out of it. They say that Boaz represents pastors, or
the local church, depending on the finer details of the teaching. They say
that Ruth represents Christians. As Ruth was covered by Boaz, so
Christians must be covered by the pastor, or the local church and its
teaching. The details of this teaching vary from place to place, but some
teach that one can’t even attend a meeting outside of the local church
group without leaving God’s blessing that is only found when covered by
the pastor or the particular church group they’re involved in. Also,
many decisions, both personal and ministerial can only be made through
consultation with the pastor or church.
I know of one lady who would not attend a home prayer meeting because
she felt that she was leaving the covering of her pastor and church. If
she attended the home prayer meeting she’d lose the blessing and
protection of God in her life and could easily fall prey to whatever evil
is found outside of that covering.
Allegorizing Ruth and Boaz like this is bad hermeneutics. It’s beyond
the scope of good Biblical interpretation. This allegory from Ruth in my
opinion is a leap of logic. To take this historical event, symbolize it,
and create a New Testament teaching is not a valid method of
interpretation .
This teaching on covering as taught from this allegory is not really
New Testament thinking. The New Testament teaches on church issues very
clearly without us needing to allegorize Old Testament events. We simply
need to take what the New Testament clearly says and teach that.
When we symbolize an Old Testament event, we’re simply making up our
own personal allegory, our own personal teaching. This is not orthodox
thinking and leads to all sorts of unbiblical teachings.
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