The Messianic Covenant (part 10)

· Gal. 4:21-31, Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband." 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Here is the background:

In Galatians 4 Paul is expressing his concerns over the Galatians who are reverting to some of their former practices which existed before they became believers. He describes their condition as “slaves”. He is talking about the difference of living “under the law” and “faith in the promise”

He has told them that as long as they were under the law, they were slaves to the law. But that under the promise they were heirs and no longer slaves. There were errors being taught by the Judaizers, such as circumcision, and Paul was rebutting these teachings by referring to the covenants which are designed to show the superiority of Christianity over Judaism. Paul’s tone is rather harsh as he writes to the Galatians even though he cares deeply for their well-being. So he decides to use the story of Abraham’s children and how they came into being to demonstrate his point. He begins by asking those who want to be under the law, that is to require circumcision, if they are aware of what the law says?

· Gal 4:21-24, Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants.

There is so much for us here in this short passage. Not only are we to understand that the Mosaic rites had typical significance, but the lives of the patriarchs had typical meaning. We should also pick up on the fact of God’s control by providence in the events and affairs of men. Paul tells us that the domestic affairs of Abraham were arranged by God, so that they would shed light on future events. The historical events in Genesis 16 and 21 contain profound spiritual truth.

Paul reminds the Galatians of the circumstances of the two women in this story and of the two children that were born to them. Then he tells us that the mothers are a hint of the two covenants, and the two sons as representing the results of the two covenants. In other words, Sarah and Hagar are seen as representatives of the two covenants and the sons as representations of the kind of worshipers those covenants were to produce.

Sarah was impatient for God to make good on His promise to provide a son to Abraham so she took matters into her own hands and told her husband to take her maid Hagar and have a child with her. This ultimately caused a lot of trouble around the dinner table, but God took this human action and turned it into achieving His plan.

Verse 22 tells us that one son was born of a slave woman and the other was born of a free woman, and further that the one born of the slave woman was born according to the flesh, or in the natural way, while the son born to the free woman was born according to the promise. Remember that Isaac was born to Sarah well after Sarah’s child bearing years. Therefore the birth of Isaac was miraculous. It had been promised and God miraculously caused it to happen.

By way of allegory, Paul shows us that the affairs of Abraham’s family represent a God ordained example of the basic principles in regard to the condition of spiritual slaves and spiritual freemen. They also hint at the bondage that comes with the Law of Moses and the freedom that is brought in by the Gospel.

Now of course Sarah and Hagar were certainly not “covenants”. A little hint on understanding biblical language: The words “is” and “are” frequently can be interpreted as “represent”. For example, when Jesus was instituting the sacrament of the last supper, He said, referring to the bread, “This is my body, broken for you.” Of course, He meant for us to understand this bread represents my body.

Likewise, when we read that the rock that was struck by Moses in the wilderness and gave water, Paul explains in 1 Corinthians that “that rock was Christ”. So the rock prefigured, or “represented” Jesus.

Well, according to some theologians, there is some debate over which covenants Paul was referring to in the letter to the Galatians. Was it the Abrahamic Covenant which produced the Law and the Messianic Covenant which freed God’s people from the hope of salvation by perfectly obeying the Law?

Or was it the Sinai Covenant where God laid out His governmental plan for the nation Israel and the obedience that was expected and the Messianic Covenant. Well we come to the same conclusion either way. However, Paul pretty well clears the air in verse 24 where he says that “One covenant is from Mount Sinai… etc. And Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and the earthly city of Jerusalem.

But the other woman, Sarah, who bears Isaac, is, or represents, the promise. This promise is the freedom from slavery to sin and the heavenly Jerusalem. So Hagar prophetically prefigured Mount Sinai, not the literal mountain, but the covenant that God made with the nation Israel. A large part of the nation really had no interest in the promise made to Abraham, which required faith, but of course were outwardly a part of Abraham’s family; yet they were in bondage to the law and all their outward obedience was actually a burden.

Back to Sarah; she prefigured the election of grace where all true believers are free from the bondage of the law. You see, Hagar’s place in the world was that of a maid, a servant. She was not free. Sarah on the other hand was a servant to no one. She was the legitimate wife of Abraham. So with respect to the women we can summarize as follows: the one was earthly, carnal, slavish, and temporary; the other was heavenly, spiritual, free, and eternal.

· Gal 4:25-27, But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband."

At this point Paul quotes Isaiah as foreseeing glory and triumph for Israel on the basis of the expiatory work of the Suffering Servant after the barrenness of the days of siege and captivity (Isa. 54:1). This change of fortune is put in language that reflects the history of Sarah, who, though barren at first and apparently forsaken in favor of another, came into her own, in God's good time, with a greater progeny than that of Hagar. The church was enjoying a rapid increase in apostolic days, whereas Judaism was largely static and was even losing ground because of the witness of Jewish believers to their faith in Jesus.

The parable in action which took place in the household of Abraham contemplated that which took place thousands of years to unfold. First, was the marriage between Abraham and Sarah which symbolized the covenant union between God and His people. Second, for many years Sarah remained barren. This foreshadowed the lengthy period during which God’s purpose in that covenant was suspended. Third, Hagar the bond-slave, took Sarah’s place in the family of Abraham and this typified his natural descendants being placed under the Sinai Covenant. Fourth, Hagar did not permanently replace Sarah, hinting the fact that Judaism was to have just a temporary duration. Fifth, ultimately Sarah came into her own as the one who would miraculously have a child, the supernatural seed, the symbol of the spiritual children of God under the New Covenant.

· "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children;

Here the Abrahamic Covenant is represented as a wife, like Sarah, who had long been childless. Very few natural children among the Jews had been believers from the time of Moses onward. It is true that Israel was in covenant with God and, like Hagar in type, had a husband (in a carnal sense), but all the subsequent children they had were like Ishmael, and was purely of the flesh and not spiritual.

But all this was to change with the death of Jesus. Though the Jews rejected Him, there would be a great increase in the spiritual family of Abraham. This increase would come from among the Gentiles.