The Two Covenants and the Law was shown to Abraham in the form of his own TWO SONS. Paul described the life of Abraham, his wives and his son as these two covenants, all an allegory, in Galatians 4-5.
Abraham, though a real man, also lived his life in allegorical (read-spiritual) showings in our behalf, as seen by Paul comparing spiritual matters to spiritual matters.
We all know who Isaac represents don't we? The Son of Promise. Isaac was not that son, but a fleshly showing of Christ to come. God always shows these things in the natural order first. Just as Israel of the flesh is a natural showing. Or even Jesus Himself was a natural man showing FIRST.
The real question in the equation is what does Ishmael show allegorically? To understand this matter is problematic.
We know many things about Ishmael by observing the matters, how he derided Isaac for example. Yet God also promised blessings on Ishmael himself and even heeded the prayers of his mother. It is NOT like God hated them as people. That is not the point of the allegory whatsoever, to deride them as people. They both show 'spiritual matters' in election and salvation in the converse/adverse direction.
Here is the Old Testament's depiction on Ishmael:
Genesis 16:12
And he will be a wild man;
his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
This showing still exists today in the Middle East in the natural.
But it is in fact a spiritual matter that applies to all of us as believers, as Paul showed here, in Galatians 4:
29 But as then
he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
The question will still remain. Knowing these matters are allegorical, what are they allegorical of?
This 'persecution' is something we all carry within us. It does not 'cease' by stopping to observe the fact or ignoring the fact. This persecution is A DIVINE PROMISE. And the first covenant, that of the Old Testament LAW still remains written against all 'sons of the flesh' which we all in fact carry and that Covenant will REMAIN against these sons of the flesh and their evil workings.
It is impossible to eliminate this fact. The Covenant of the Law remains firmly fixed against all lawlessness in whomever it is found and it is found in ALL.
To understand any allegory/parable/metaphor Jesus gave us a very very simple dissection, spiritually, of these exact matters, to understand the identity of the parties involved. And His Understanding MUST be applied to everything we think we know about these matters in order to have a complete and accurate picture.
The difficulty is also and always the same. Every time Jesus' Revealing of this matter comes to the heart,
the son of flesh will resist this fact as personally applicable. Those who can not accept this fact for themselves don't really know who they are
or who the enemy is that they themselves carry.
And that too is by Gods Exact Design of our present 'situation' and identifies which party is raised in the lump of flesh BY HIS CALLING in Truth. It can be put up all the day long and very very few will connect the dots, simple as they are. I use Mark 4:15 because it is the most forthright statement, although 2 other Gospel writers used similar depictions, also for specific differences in reasoning on this matter. And the reason I use Mark 4:15 is because Mark is the only writer that quotes Jesus as saying
this parable is the basis for understanding ALL parables. Understanding allegories/parables and metaphors ALL revolve around this single PARABLE. If the components are missing in any dissection, the dissectors only serve to show they do not know their Word:
15 And these are they by the way side,
where the word is sown; but when they have heard,
Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown
in their hearts.
Only disciples are called in to have this revealed to them, personally. Jesus did not describe these same matters to the 'masses' that He spoke to. He instead VEILED this same matter in different terms.
There is a reason He called His Disciples aside for a real look. Because they are to believe EVERY WORD He says and they must understand His Words personally. If they do not, they are NOT yet a disciple and they will understand almost nothing of anything else He Says. It is as simple as 1, 2, 3. And this count will apply to every matter in the text.
Now, who here is a disciple?
Who does Ishmael represent, allegorically?
And where is the location of what Ishmael represents?
Knock yerselves out.
?
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