That's a good point... I don't quite agree with this statement though
IOW, those initiated into those mysteries so that they understood the true meaning of the symbols and metaphors being used.
I would put it differently. They were intended for those who were willing and able to think about spiritual truths rather than just literal, physical meanings.
A good example is in John 6 where Jesus talks about whoever eats of his flesh and drinks of his blood would have life. His followers found this a hard teaching and were like "that's just crazy, how can we eat his flesh." But Jesus was talking about a spiritual reality, and comparing what he offered to the manna in the desert. The people who grumbled were taking it literally and did not "have eyes to see and ears to hear" the
spiritual message that he was teaching.
But I agree with your overall point. I have said something similar before that those who get caught up in understanding the Bible literally, miss the greater message even though they think they are preserving the spiritual message.
As an example, I work with the youth group at my church (16 years now!) and at the time we had a family attending that are hard core literalists, YEC, the whole shebang and one of their daughters was in the youth group at the time. I was doing a lesson about the exodus and basically told the whole story from Joseph to the Israelites leaving Egypt. When I got to the part where they were leaving, I said "The number given in the Bible suggests there were about 2 million people who left Egypt. Now this seems like an incredibly large number and there may be some other ways to understand these numbers, but the point is... that God brought them into Egypt as a family and he brought them out as a nation. He used their experience (a seemingly negative one) in Egypt to build them into a nation." That is the(a) main point of the story.
Well this created a significant backlash with accusations that I don't believe the Bible is true etc... which I found utterly ridiculous. They want to make a big issue over whether the specifics of a number is correct or not and so miss the big picture. I thought the lesson was very impactful and had a good message; that hard times can prepare us for something even greater than we had when we started. But instead of hearing that, they focused on the literalism. It's just ludicrous.
biblical literalism is a fool's errand in the extreme.
Again, agreed.
HBD
Whoever calls me ignorant shares my own opinion. Sorrowfully and tacitly I recognize my ignorance, when I consider how much I lack of what my mind in its craving for knowledge is sighing for... I console myself with the consideration that this belongs to our common nature. - Francesco Petrarca
"Nothing is easier than to persuade people who want to be persuaded and already believe." - another Petrarca gem.
Ignorance is a most formidable opponent rivaled only by arrogance; but when the two join forces, one is all but invincible.