Galatians 4.21-26
“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”
This passage is a warning to anyone who believes that the way to God is by the observance of rules and the practice of rituals. Paul draws upon the Old Testament and uses the story of Abraham. This is Paul’s final argument against the Judaizers, and his message is that if we read Scripture allegorically, we will see that the stories of Abraham-Sarah-Isaac along with the stories of Abraham-Hagar-Ishmael make the very point that he has been making.
God’s way is through promise and faith, not through ethnicity and works. This final argument is from Genesis, and it complements his previous three arguments: from Scripture, from covenants, and from sonship. Most importantly, Paul anchors his argument in the OT patriarch that Paul claims is paramount: Abraham, not Moses.
Paul refers here to Genesis 16, 21, and 25. There we read that Sarah’s frustration over not having children led her to encourage Abraham to have children through her servant, Hagar, a custom that was apparently acceptable at that time. Hagar bore a son named Ishmael, but Hagar herself became disrespectful of Sarah; thus, Sarah punished her. Hagar fled Sarah’s anger, though she eventually returned. Ishmael, as promised by God, was disliked by the descendants of Sarah, departed from living with them, lived in the wilderness of Beersheba and Haran, and eventually became the forefather of the Arabs.
Paul focuses his attention on (1) the two women, describing Hagar as the slave woman and Sarah as the free woman, and (2) the births of the two boys—one according to the flesh (Ishmael) and one as the result of a promise (Isaac).. It should be noted that Sarah’s encouragement of Abraham to have intercourse with Hagar is considered in the Old Testament as unbelief and by Paul as “fleshly.” This latter sense is not fleshly in the sense of lust but in the sense of not living according to the promise of God to form a nation from him.
Paul’s message is that these two women correspond to two covenants. Hagar represent the covenant established on Mount Sinai (the place of giving the law) and her children are all slaves (the condition of those who seek the law for salvation). Jerusalem corresponds to Mount Sinai, because its inhabitants (the Jews) live under the law and are therefore “spiritual slaves.”
Hagar → Ishmael → Mount Sinai’s law → Jerusalem → Slaves
To make this assertion to Jews could not have been more controversial and shocking. Paul asserts that the present earthly Jerusalem and “her children” (the Jews who sought to follow the law) are in fact spiritual descendants of Hagar the slave woman and are not true descendants of Abraham.
Let me say it again for clarity: Jews who sought salvation in the law might be the physical descendants of Sarah, but they are the spiritual descendants of Hagar.
Paul then claims that “the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” This corresponds to Sarah, who gave birth to Isaac according to God’s promise and through God’s power. This is the new covenant in Christ, and all who trust in Christ are thus true descendants of Abraham through faith and thus heirs of the promise. This means that true Israel is made up of anyone (Jew or Gentile) who trusts in Jesus, not those who are physically descended from Abraham.
Sarah → Isaac → New Covenant in Christ → Jerusalem Above → Freedom
Paul asserts that being a true descendant of Abraham is a matter of faith, not a matter of ethnicity. To paraphrase, Paul’s message is this: “If you are Jewish but you reject Jesus, then you are spiritually a descendant of Hagar, the slave woman. If you trust in Jesus, then spiritually you are a descendant of Sarah, the free woman.”
This a powerful, dramatic theological truth that I’m not sure is understood by modern Christians or Jews.
More next week.
