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Thank you for your input. I would disagree that looking at the story from an allegorical standpoint would take away from the historical context. Every story in the Bible has both an historical and an allegorical context. I can't think of one that doesn't. The fact that the stories in the Bible are both historical and allegorical attest to their divine authenticity.

Here the names of the various players in this story attest to both their divine mission on earth and the plan of salvation yet to come. It attests to God's control over our situations and how he works his plan in our lives. It speaks of divine appointments and how the will of God is worked in our lives. I would have thought you, of all people, would have appreciated that fact.

This is a broad overview of the book, it is not a line by line commentary. From a broad overview perspective the allegorical nature of the book is much more profound than the historical nature. You can state the historical context in one sentence. Which apparently you have already done. Thank you for that. You could write a million words on the allegorical nature of this book. Stedman has only scratched the surface. That was his intent. I think he did a good job, given the limitations of a single sermon.