Allegory of Freedom and Bondage
1. Allegory is mentioned only once in the Bible, in Galatians 4:24; and in that single and powerful allegory the Jews of today and the Arabs of today, both children of Abraham under the law, do not faire very well. In fact not well at all. There are 3 locations in the famous allegory of the Bible: (1) Mt Sinai which is in Arabia; (2) the Jerusalem which is now; and (3) the Jerusalem which is above.
“Which things are an allegory: for these are the two
covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar
is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem
which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the
mother of us all.” (Galatians 4:24-26)
2. This single allegory of the Bible has more to do with
freedom and bondage than it has to do with physical
locations; and that transcendence from the physical and
mundane of the 3 locations to the idea and spiritual laws
of freedom and bondage is what makes the Galatians 4:
19-31 the most famous allegory of all time, far exceeding
the allegory of John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress and
perhaps given the inspiration for the allegory of Pilgim’s
Progress.
3. Today there is much interest in the 3 locations of
Mount Sinai, which recent archaelogical discoveries have
located right in Arabia where Paul said it was in
Galatians and very closely related to the new evidence of
chariot wheels under the real Red Sea crossing; there is
also much interest in the Jerusalem “which is now”,
disputed territory between the two largest tribes of
Abraham, Ishmael the firstborn of a bondwoman Hagar
or Agar, and Isaac the second born but to be first over
the firstborn, of Sarah and of promise—of course today
we know these two tribes of Abraham as Arabs and
Jews. One might say that in the world of today there is
less interest in the third location, “Jerusalem which is
above”; because of all the unbelievers in the world which
includes Muslims is much greater than the believers.
4. Yet among believers in the Divinity of Christ and
believers in the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, the “Jerusalem which is above”
looms very large in the “faith once for all delivered to the
saints” (Jude 3) in the first century; and the Apostle John
in the book of Revelation wrote about that what He called
the New Jerusalem which was lowered down from
heaven on Mount Zion which is now, and on which is
presently an ugly golden domed Mosque. {which is now
a Modern Allegory of Mount Zion, Sion often in the Bible,
to be presented momentarily}
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:2)
5. The Modern allegory of physical location and spiritual
reality is that where the ugly golden dome is located on
Mount Zion will be replaced with the beautiful New
Jerusalem, lowered down from heaven, made by God
Himself; and the allegory is that God Himself will
intervene as the Arabs and their Muslims followers attack
the Jerusalem which is now and wipe them out like He
will wipe out the golden dome.
6. The Modern Allegory includes 3 physical locations, first Mount Sinai and then Mount Zion (Sion), and then the Mount of Olives which is east of Jerusalem now.
“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be
touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto
blackness, and darkness, and tempest, And the
sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which
voice they that heard entreated that the word should
not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not
endure that which was commanded, And if so much
as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or
thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the
sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and
quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
and to an innumerable company of angels, To the
general assembly and church of the firstborn, which
are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect…”
(Hebrews 12:18-23)
“Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against
those nations, as when he fought in the day of
battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the
mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the
east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the
midst thereof toward the east and toward the west,
and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the
mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of
it toward the south.” (Zechariah 14:3.4)
7. Bottom line of this famous Allegory in Galatians while
talking about locations is about bondage and freedom,
and that freedom is not in law but is from the mother of
all believers, the New Jerusalem.
“But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the
mother of us all.”
(Galatians 4:26)
Many of you will be interested in reading the message of Spurgeon on this Allegory–
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The Allegories of Sarah and Hagar
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