Galatians 4:21-31

Galatians 4:21–5:1 KJV (WS)

21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. 1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

Introduction

When we think of the “law” we probably think more about the rules and commands of the last 4 books of Moses.

Paul tells the Galatians, if they are going to listen to the law, the need to familiarize themselves with an important story in the 1st book of Moses.

This story is an allegory according to verse 24.

An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning.

Some people like to make all or most of the Bible an allegory.

This is not a good interpretation style.

But, here we have an example of a biblical author, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit calling this passage from the Old Testament an allegorical tale.

This doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

It does mean that God has embedded deeper meaning into the real life events of this family.

Though Abraham had other children, the most well known of his kids are definitely Ishmael and Isaac.

In their story, we see an illustration of the conflict between law and grace, slavery and freedom, flesh and promise.

Paul addresses this allegory to those that seem to think they want to live under the law.

This is a position that they can try to take, but they need to understand which side they are aligning with.

What is the deal with Abraham’s two sons?

Before we get into that, we have to remember an important part of Abraham’s story.

In the beginning of his story, God made a promise to Abraham.

Genesis 12:2 “2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:”

In order to become a great nation, Abraham would need to produce children.

At this point in his life, Abraham and his wife had no kids.

Decades would go by and yet God had not come through with his promise to give Abraham a child.

This is where the story starts to pick up.

In Genesis 16, Abraham’s wife Sarah comes up with a plan for Abraham to produce an heir.

In their travels, Sarah had picked up a slave girl in Egypt named Hagar.

She offers Hagar to Abraham as a means of producing a child.

God had made a promise, but since they had seen no results, and Abraham was getting older, maybe they could help God along a bit.

So Abraham goes in to Hagar, whom Paul refers to as the bondwoman.

She conceives and gives birth to Ishmael.

Paul refers to him as a child born of the flesh.

Ishmael is not the child of the promise.

There was nothing miraculous about his birth.

It was as natural as could be.

Ishmael was the product of humans trying to do what God had promised He would do.

In this case, we are talking about God giving Abraham a true heir with his wife, Sarah.

Man’s failure did not prevent God from keeping His word.

In Genesis 21, God miraculously worked to give Abraham and Sarah a son together, and they named him Isaac.

The name Isaac means “the son of promise.”

This is how Paul refers to him in his letter.

Isaac and Ishmael were not the same.

Isaac’s mother was a freewoman.

Ishmael’s mom was a bondwoman.

Isaac was the result of a miracle of God.

Ishmael was the result of men trying to accomplish God’s will in their own ability.

Paul clearly defines the allegory.

Isaac and Ishmael represent the offspring of the two covenants.

Ishmael is the offspring of Hagar who is representative of the covenant at Sinai.

Hagar is the one answering to the Jerusalem of Paul’s day.

Talk about an exercise in futility.

The center of Judaism after the death and resurrection of Jesus?

She and her children are still slaves.

Paul asks the Galatians, “you really want to be under the law?

It means you will be slaves with the bondwoman.

Why be a slave, when freedom is available?

Anyone can be Isaac.

Isaac doesn’t have to work to become Isaac.

He is Isaac by the work of God.

He does not answer to the earthly Jerusalem.

Instead, he is a child of the Jerusalem that is above, the city of God.

Isaac’s life is a miracle.

Paul then pulls his readers into the conversation by informing us that we are as Isaac was.

What does it mean to be as Isaac was?

We could make some inferences based on we’ve already read, but let’s just focus on what the next verse tells us.

Those that are born of the flesh will persecute those that are born of the spirit.

Those that are born of the flesh are any who try to earn or work their way into right standing with God.

They reject God’s plan for their own.

They try to produce morals or righteousness in their own power.

They try to attain the blessings of God on their own merit

Then, the people that do things God’s way are offensive to them and they persecute them.

This is what Ishmael did to Isaac.

This is what the Judaizers did to the Galatians.

This is what unbelievers do to believers today.

Those that are born of the flesh, will be cast out.

Hagar and Ishmael were sent away.

They were not part of the family.

Though they lived among them for a time, there came a point where they were forced to separate.

Those that are freeborn will be the heirs.

Genesis 25:5-6 “5 And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 6 But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.”

This is an incredible truth for the people who are sons of the freewoman.

Those that are born of the Spirit will receive all that God has prepared for them.

Sounds like a good deal for them right?

Good news brethren! We are sons of the freewoman!

If you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins.

If you have a desire to be cleansed of your sins.

If you come to him in faith for forgiveness of your sins.

Then you are a child of promise, a child of the freewoman, you are like Isaac and an heir of your Father, who is God.

Now, we believe all that, we say that’s we stand for.

But when it comes to living it out sometimes we balk.

Which is why Paul says in Galatians 5:1 “1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

This verse actually belongs to the end of chapter 4.

You see rather than desiring to go back into bondage where...

You have to have the answers for everything...

You have to be able to work hard enough to get the results you desire...

You have to be everything for everyone...

You have to live up to their expectations of you...

Paul reminds his readers who they are and they freedom that they enjoy.

Stand fast in the freedom that comes when you realize the miracle that saved is the miracle that will sustain you.

The God who heard your prayer for salvation is the God that heard your prayer this morning.

When we try to go back into a performance based way of living, it’s like volunteering to be slaves again.

It is entanglement.

It is not the abundant life that God desired for us.

We must make the transition in our minds from law to grace, from slavery to freedom, from flesh to promise.

This one change in our approach to living will make all the difference in the world.

But it does come at a cost.

If God is going to do what we cannot do, then God must get the credit for what we did not do.

And that is the great human obstacle to living out the freedom that God has made available to us.

We don’t get the credit when we give up performance based religion.