d made them for His purposes, because God is sovereign.
Paul also makes clear that this is indeed the case. 1 Corinthians 10:11 says "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." Paul first says they happened. They were real events experienced by real people. Then he says that they happened as examples (KJV, "ensamples") of how God deals with people. Paul concludes by saying they were written down for later people, particularly the church, to hear, know, and be warned by. This leaves the reader with the paradox that God allowed judgment for the sake of warning others away from judgment. In fact God allowed the Israelites to make their choices, and judged them according to the choices they made, but not without warning them first as well. What He commanded was that the events be written down for others to hear, learn, know, and fear. The second rule of Biblical allegories is they always have a purpose: to avoid judgment on people by showing people their need to repent and obey God.
In the first reading Aristobulus explains the used of body parts in relation to God, Whom Jesus says (John 4:24) is Spirit. Aristobulus presents a very good exposition and explanation of an allegory. Generally, one uses an allegory because the actual subject is more difficult to understand than the illustrative subject used, so one can obtain some measure of understanding from one's audience instead of none at all. God, of course, wants to communicate with His creatures, so He communicates in their own language. Aristobulus points this out by noting how even in that day the word "hand" is used as much metaphorically as it is used literally.
Thus, as Aristobulus points out to Ptolemy, it is only a mind with no understanding that conceives of this God having a body because these passages speak of body parts. Jesus is God in a body, no longer metaphorical ...