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Example of Hagar and SaraGalatians 4:21-31?(ESV)21?Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law??22?For it is written that Abraham had two sons,?one by a slave woman and?one by a free woman.?23?But?the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while?the son of the free woman was born through promise.?24?Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two?covenants.?One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.?25?Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;?she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.?26?But?the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.?27?For it is written,“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;????break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!For the children of the desolate one will be more????than those of the one who has a husband.”28?Now you, brothers,?like Isaac,?are children of promise.?29?But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh?persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit,?so also it is now.?30?But what does the Scripture say??“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”?31?So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but?of the free woman.Paul continues to stress the gap between being a free child of God and being a slave to the law, sin, and false gods. This passage is taken from the Old Testament (Genesis 16-1 and 21). Abraham's son Ishmael who would technically be the firstborn represents the slave sons of Abraham and therefore enslaving Sinai covenant because he was Abraham's son through the slave woman Hagar. Isaac, on the other hand, represents the free sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7 & 29).Verse 23 But?the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while?the son of the free woman was born through promise. The “flesh” represents human desires and the sin that has contaminated them. Ishmael was the son born when Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands by trying to continue their family line through Hagar. The “promise” is the opposite of the flesh since it is a word from God that will be fulfilled by God (Romans 4:18-21), just as Isaac was born through God's miraculous work. Question? How often do we take things into our own hands because we get tired of waiting on God? We get impatient, and we run ahead of God. Think of a time you may not have waited on God. How did it turn out?Our timing may not always be God’s timing! He may need to wait at times.Verse 28 - 31Now you, brothers,?like Isaac,?are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh?persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit,?so also it is now.?But what does the Scripture say??“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”?So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but?of the free woman.“Like Isaac’s,” miraculous birth, the Galatians have become God's Children by an act of God's gracious and extraordinary power, not by human effort. Critical Thought: Those who seek justification through their efforts are following a false concept of the Bible of what it means to be made right before God. This idea of salvation should not be taught in the church. Why? It is by faith through Jesus Christ that one is saved. It is not by our effort but what God has graciously given to us through Jesus!Citations:?- Bible: (Galatians 4: 21 - 31), [English Standard Version Study Bible, 2008] ................
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