Eric and I were truly happy for the dozens of friends around us who seemed to be popping out babies left and right. But God, when was it going to be our turn? And what happened to our babies who died before we ever got to meet them? Did we do something wrong? Since we suffered the pain of loss twice before Nicholas was born, questions like this plagued us until we were safely able to have him. To say we were expectantly awaiting Nicholas’s arrival would be an understatement. So when he was born, I never put him down. Well-intentioned loved ones told me I was going to spoil him, but I did not care. I loved being a mom and I just wanted to hold him. All of the time.
However, even during the pain of miscarriage and wondering if I would ever be able to bear children, never once did I think maybe Eric should get him another wife. I cannot imagine Eric Fillinger having two wives. He doesn’t even know what to do with one half of the time!
Who’s your mother?
In today’s passage, it’s not about who’s your father, but who’s your mother. Paul continues to argue with the Galatians as he asks, “if you love the Law so much, why haven’t you paid close attention to what it really says?” Then he proceeds to give them a history lesson.
Did Abraham have two wives? He had two sons with two different women. Hagar was a slave and Sarah, his wife, was free. Waiting on God is hard. And we are tempted to take matters in our own hands. But c’mon Abraham? Even though your wife suggested that you should maybe try to have children with her maid, should you really have taken her up on it? It was up to you to say no my dear beautiful wife. I know you are hurting and wanting a child so badly, but this is not God’s way. This is not best. We will wait on God. I will still love you just as much, even if we have to wait another 15 years for the child God promised us. But that’s not what he did. And a soap opera ensued.
The son of Hagar is Ishmael. He had a natural birth through human connivance.1 The son of Sarah is Isaac. She and Abraham were so old, their bodies were as good as dead when she conceived. Even though they waited and waited and waited a very long time, this was so there was no doubt that the child was born through God’s miraculous work and was the fulfillment of His promise.2
Two women, two covenants
Paul says the story of these two women can be interpreted allegorically in that they represent two covenants. Hagar represents Mount Sinai, where the Law was given. She bears children destined for slavery and corresponds to the present Jerusalem. Sarah represents the free Jerusalem above, which is the Messianic Kingdom of Christ.2 Then Paul quotes Isaiah who prophesies God’s judgment on Israel in exile and compares her to a barren woman deserted by her husband. This was partially fulfilled when Israel returned, but True Israel will be restored to that of a fruitful, spiritual mother in the growth of the Christian Church.3
Christians, like Isaac, are children of promise and spiritual heirs of Abraham. Just as Ishmael despised and harassed Isaac, the same is true today.4 Unbelievers who are born by natural birth according to the flesh will persecute those who are born according to the Spirit. We should expect this kind of treatment from those who preach a different gospel. But alas, we can also stand firm in the midst of it, because children born of the Spirit are free to receive an eternal inheritance from God to enjoy forever in His presence. Whereas, spiritually speaking, the slave woman’s children are in bondage to the flesh and will be cast out of God’s presence into utter darkness.5
How did they get it so wrong?
What is so remarkable is how wrong these Jewish heretics were that preached salvation had to include continuing to keep the Law. They prided themselves in being descendants of Abraham. The promise of God’s Offspring to Abraham came before the Law. They may have been physical descendants but what matters for eternity are the spiritual descendants. Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s just praise the Lord. Did you sing this song when you were a child? It’s only true if you are his spiritual children through the miraculous power of God’s promise.
Example of Hagar and Sarah
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;[a] 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,[b] 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.
Amplified Bible. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians: Only One Way. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1968.
