Let's deal with examples then. We both agree that "cows of Bashan" is a metaphor, I think one can take it naturally as a putdown for fat, lazy women. This is the correspondence of words to meaning, I think we both agree on this, though there seems to be problems with me referring to this as a literal way to take it as opposed to a mystical way. Amos was not being mystical, he was being poetic.I could list many hermeneutic books which try to reconcile the quandary we are in. You tell me I'm reading the wrong hermeneutics books, but you don't give me any examples of good ones I should read, the fact is most books on hermeneutics are not written by allegorists, because they have an inconsistent pattern of interpretation. Please show me any good hermeneutic book that espouses the allegorical view of interpretation. Don't just disregard my view as making no sense.
Why not the understanding of the meaning "1000 years"? There are at least three ways to take this, a literal 1000 years, a figure of speech, or an allegorical interpretation. Given the nature of the way God speaks to man, we should seek out the most natural way of understanding this. God does not purposely try to be obscure. Jesus spoke in parables but He gave the plain meaning to His disciples.
To take 1000 years as a figure of speech meaning a long time would be fine, if we could find any other example of this in Scripture. There are no other examples where Scripture says, 1000 years, and it really just means a long time. There's a verse that says "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His
covenant and His lovingkindness to a
thousandth generation with those who
..." but it's easily a recognized figure of speech. This could mean 4000 years, or more, it really means God keeps His promises. So while it's possible to take this as a figure of speech, there doesn't seem to be warrant for it from the book of Revelation, unless one says that every reference to time in Revelation is non-literal.
Finally, the term 1000 years can be taken allegorically, to somehow express a higher meaning that we can't fullly understand. There were many in the year 999 AD who were really worried that the end of the earth was coming. They understood this 1000 years as a literal time period they were living in now. When Christ didn't come, the understanding of 1000 years had to be further allegorized. The amillenialist today has to deny the literal meaning of 1000 years, and also has to deny the literal meaning of "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection." This can't be a real resurrection like every other reference to resurrection is in Scripture, it must only be a spiritual resurrection.
This is the difference between literal hermeneutics and allegorical hermeneutics.
As Job says, "Bear with me that I may speak; Then after I have spoken, you may mock."
