Isaac or Ishmael? (Galatians 4:21 – 5:1)

Isaac or Ishmael?

Galatians 4:21-5:1

June 15, 2014

 

Again a hectic schedule has caused a bit of a pause

In our study through the book of Galatians.

 

But hopefully you have a handle on the point of the book.

You know we are dealing with the concept of legalism.

 

The Galatians had come to Christ, but were deceived by the Judaizers

Into thinking that in order to be saved they must become Jewish.

And Paul has been violently refuting that.

 

It has been a book of heavy theology.

 

However, last time we discussed this letter

We actually saw a personal appeal from Paul.

 

We listened to Paul’s Plea as to a Brother

(12)“I beg of you brethren, become as I am”

 

We said Paul spoke to them like a recovering alcoholic

Begging his brother not to take that first drink.

 

We listened to Paul’s Observation as to a Friend

(15-16) “Where then is that sense of blessing you had?  For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.  So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

 

Paul had seen a change in this group.  Once a people who loved truth and loved Christ,

They had now been deceived and turned on Paul.

 

Paul saw a change, and it wasn’t a good one.

Like any good friend Paul confronted them with it.

 

We listened to Paul’s Warning as to a Sister

(17) “They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.”

 

The Judaizers had desire for the Galatians, but it wasn’t a pure desire. 

Like any good brother seeking to protect the purity of his sister, Paul sends a warning.

 

We listened to Paul’s Frustration as to a Child

(19-20) “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you — but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”

 

Paul literally felt like a woman having to birth the same child twice.

He had such great hopes and plans for them, but they were digressing.

 

They were missing the mark, and like any parent,

Paul wanted more for his spiritual children.
And to that we learned that this letter was not some cold, harsh, uncompassionate beat down of the Galatians.

 

Paul was writing passionately because he cared so much for them

He wanted them to enjoy all Christ intended for them.
He wanted them to avoid the dangerous deceptions of the world.
He wanted them to grow and mature in the faith.
He wanted them to be a blessing to others.

Well, tonight Paul picks back up the ferocious mantle.

·         Having already given personal testimony…

·         Having already explained deep theology…

·         Having already appealed with intense compassion…

 

Tonight Paul drives his point home with unmistakable analogy.

 

Tonight Paul draws a line in the dirt

And basically asks this question of the Galatians.

 

You must either choose to be Isaac or Ishmael, which will it be?

Now fortunately for you all tonight we have actually been studying the story of Isaac and Ishmael on Sunday mornings through our study of Genesis.

 

Go ahead and pull that information up into your mind,

And let’s hear this appeal that Paul has for the Galatians.

 

There are 4 points to the text tonight.

#1 THE CONFRONTATION
Galatians 4:21

 

Paul just walked us through a very heartfelt appeal to the Galatians,

But this verse clearly indicates that the nostalgia is gone

AND PAUL IS BACK TO SWINGING THE BIG STICK.

 

This confrontation comes in the form of a direct rebuke.

 

Paul is rebuking them for two reasons.

1) They want to be under the Law

2) They have no clue what that means

 

Notice what Paul says here:

“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?”

 

This is actually quite a direct reproach.

You want to be under the Law,

But you have no idea what the message of the Law actually is.

 

It’s a similar rebuke to the ones Jesus frequently gave to the Pharisees:

Matthew 12:3 “But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,”

Matthew 12:5 “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent?”

 

Matthew 19:4 “And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,”

 

And hopefully you are getting the point.

The idea is you have a person here running around elevating the Law,

But in reality they don’t have a clue what it says.

 

Today that would be akin to someone who claims to love the Bible,

But doesn’t read it and doesn’t understand its message.

 

That is what Paul is directing at the Galatians.

 

You want to be under the law (and that is bad enough),

But obviously you have never grasped the point of the law.

 

“do you not listen to the law?”

 

You obviously have not paid attention to the message it is presenting.

For if you had read the Law and listened to its message,

You would not want to be under it.

 

Confrontation

#2 THE ILLUSTRATION
Galatians 4:22-23

 

It is obvious the Galatians had not read all the requirements of the Law,

Or else there is no way they would want to be under it again.

 

However, there is one story in the Law

Paul really wanted them to pay attention to.

 

This is one of those stories he wishes they had learned.

 

(22-23) “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.”

 

Now you should be very familiar with that story by now,

Thanks to our Sunday morning study.

 

But you remember that Abraham did in fact have “two sons”

 

“one by the bondwoman”– that was Ishmael

“one by the free woman”– that was Isaac

 

 

You remember the story:

God had promised that Abraham would be the father of a multitude and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

 

However, there was a major obstacle to that promise.

Abraham was old and his wife was barren

 

Genesis 16:1-3 “Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children.  Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.”

 

Abraham would have a son through Hagar and that son was Ishmael.

 

Of course if you follow the story, God did fulfill His promise to Abraham through Sarah, opening her womb and allowing her to conceive.

 

Genesis 21:1-3 “Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.”

 

Sarah, in her old age, also had a son.  His name was Isaac.

So Abraham had “two sons”

 

And here is the distinction that Paul wanted the Galatians to make.

 

(23) “But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise.”

 

Now on the outside it might just look like those are parallel stories,

But they are not.

Those two women, and their sons were as different as night and day.

 

One was “according to the flesh”
The other was “through the promise”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

 

Well, “according to the flesh” simply means that what happened there was the result of human effort and works.

 

It was simply humans naturally doing what humans can naturally do.

There was nothing miraculous about it.

 

A man and woman come together and a child is conceived.

That was Abraham and Hagar.

However Abraham and Sarah conceived “through the promise”

 

Meaning that nothing about their conception was natural.

 

Look, Sarah had it right.

After God told her she would conceive, she didn’t think it possible.

 

Genesis 18:12 “Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

 

Do you know why Sarah didn’t think it was possible?

BECAUSE IT WASN’T

 

·         Do you remember how old Abraham was when Isaac was conceived? 100

·         Do you remember how old Sarah was? 91

 

Just let that sink in for a second.

100 year old man and a 91 year old woman conceiving a child.

It is just not humanly possible.

 

But, just as Jesus told Peter“with people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible”

 

The only reason Sarah conceived a child

Was because God promised she would.

So Abraham had one son by the flesh.

And Abraham had one son by the promise.

 

That is the story that Paul wants the Galatians to think on for a second.

 

And here comes the third point.

 

Confrontation, Illustration

#3 THE EXPLANATION
Galatians 4:24-30

 

Here Paul says “This is allegorically speaking”

 

The translation “allegorically” is a little misleading,

Since an allegory is generally a point made from a story that isn’t true, or from a story that has no obvious point.

 

But that certainly wasn’t the case with the Abraham and Sarah story.

It was true and it had a theological point as we have seen in our study.

This is really more of an analogy.

Paul is going to make a point to the Galatians

Based on the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac.

 

And he is going to make the point by revealing the differences

Between the two women and their two boys.

 

(already seen one is by the flesh and one is by the promise)

1) TWO DIFFERENT COVENANTS (24-28)

That is what Paul says right off the bat.

These women represent “two covenants”

 

“one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.”

 

You are familiar with “Mount Sinai”,

That was the place where the Law was given to Moses.

 

And Paul is drawing an analogy.

At “Mount Sinai” they received the Law which was bondage.
And that is also a picture of “Hagar”

 

So, when you think “Hagar” think “slaves”

 

And Paul is taking that analogy even farther.

(25) “Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.”

 

So now Paul adds a third person to the slavery camp.
We have Mount Sinai
We have Hagar
And we have “the present Jerusalem”

Paul lumps them all together in the same group – the slave group.

 

Of course Hagar actually was a slave
At Mount Sinai they became slaves the Law
And “the present Jerusalem” rejected Jesus, actually crucifying them causing them to remain in slavery.

 

Remember what Jesus told them?

 

John 8:31-38 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”  Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. “I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” 

 

Jesus is the One who makes men free,

But Jerusalem rejected Jesus and chose rather to stay in bondage.

 

They chose the Old Covenant.

The Old Covenant came at Sinai, and it was the Law, and it enslaved men.

 

But you know there was a new covenant.

 

Jeremiah prophesied of it.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Through Jeremiah, God promised that there would be a new covenant.

A covenant that did not depend upon the ability of man,

But a covenant that depended upon the power of God.

 

We know who that first covenant was –

It was Hagar, Sinai, and the present Jerusalem.

 

But there is a second

(26-28) “But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written, “REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.” And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.”

Here Paul doesn’t talk about the present Jerusalem.
Here he talks about “the Jerusalem above”

WHAT IS THAT?

Hebrews 12:18-24 “For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, “IF EVEN A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT WILL BE STONED.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I AM FULL OF FEAR and trembling.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.”

 

“the Jerusalem above”is heaven – it is the new city

 

And Paul says that as Christians that is the city we are a part of.

Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;”

 

Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

 

So we have a “Jerusalem above” and Paul says that Jerusalem “is free”

There is no slavery there.

There is no bondage there.

 

 “she is our mother”

 

AND HERE IS THE POINT.

We were not born through works of the flesh, into slavery.

We were born through the power of God into freedom.

 

What did Jesus tell Nicodemus?

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

 

We are those who are born of God.

We are those who are born from above.

 

Our birth was not the result of human ability, but of divine power.

 

And the one who benefits from divine power is more blessed

Than the one who seeks to do it all by their own power.

 

That is why Paul quotes Isaiah 54:1

(27) “For it is written, “REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR; BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR; FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”

 

That passage was originally given to comfort the Babylonian captives,

But here Paul applies it to Sarah who was barren.

 

And the blessing is that the barren woman (Sarah)

Would be filled with shouting

For God was going to do more through her

Than the natural woman could do on her own.

 

That is the point.

God was going to do more for the barren woman

Than the natural woman could do on her own.

 (28) “And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.”

 

That is to say that we were not born because of something we did,

Or because of our natural ability.

 

We were born only because of God’s great power in our life.

 

John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even  to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

 

SO HERE IS THE FIRST COMPARISON

Ishmael was a result of works (like the old covenant)
Isaac was a result of God’s power (like the new covenant)

There is the first distinction – they are two different covenants

2) TWO DIFFERENT THEOLOGIES (29)

You remember that story.

 

Genesis 21:8-10 “The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.”

 

Now we don’t know why Ishmael was mocking Isaac.

But Paul definitely saw his mocking as a fitting illustration.

 

See, Ishmael and Isaac were different.

Furthermore they were rivals.

 

Both of them would be competing for the same inheritance,

The same birthright, the same blessing.

 

And it would appear that Ishmael had the inside track since he was the firstborn.

 

So Ishmael is a picture of those who try to obtain the blessing

Through works of the flesh.

 

And Isaac is a picture of those who try to obtain the blessing

Through the promise and power of God’s Spirit.

AND WE SEE THIS TODAY

We have those who are in legalism and those who are of the Spirit.

Both want the inheritance and both go about obtaining it in different ways.

 

And because of the difference in their view point,“he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.”

 

Those who insist upon earning the inheritance

Persecute those who insist upon having it given to them.

 

One thing I know about people who work hard…

The harder you work the less you tolerate laziness.

 

Now if you don’t work,

Other people who don’t work don’t’ seem to bother you so much,

But if you are a hard worker, lazy people will drive you crazy.

Now that is not to say that those who are born of the Spirit are lazy,

But they are definitely not working to earn their salvation.

 

And to someone who is working to earn salvation – it drives them crazy.

And the natural response is persecution.

 

That is what Ishmael did to Isaac

That is what Legalists do to those who are faith today.

 

They have two different viewpoints of life.

Two different covenants, and two different theologies

 

3) TWO DIFFERENT DESTINATIONS (30)

Now this is what matters.

Up until now the verdict can really still be out on the two.

 

I mean because really,

We only care to know which one is going to actually get the prize.

 

If the slave who works hard gets the prize, then that is what we want to be.
If the free man who doesn’t work gets the prize, then that is what we want to be.

 

And Paul is quick to point out that way back in Genesis,

God already settled this argument.

 

(30) “But what does the Scripture say? “CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.”

 

God settled the argument didn’t He?

God settled who would receive the inheritance.

 

It was the son of the free woman.

You can argue all you want about the importance of works

You can argue the value of working for salvation

You can quote all the Law you want to quote

 

BUT IT DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT

THAT ONLY THE CHILD OF THE PROMISE

IS GOING TO RECEIVE THE INHERITANCE

 

Those who are slaves will be“cast out”

 

Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

 

Romans 10:1-4 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

 

Those who pursue the inheritance by works do not receive it.

Those who pursue it by faith do.

THAT IS PAUL’S EXPLANATION.

If you want to be under the Law, why don’t you try reading the Law first?

 

And when you do, read the story of Isaac and Ishmael

And see which one received the inheritance.

So let me ask you tonight, just as Paul was asking the Galatians.

DO YOU WANT TO BE ISHMAEL OR ISAAC?

 

Do you want to be the slave who works for an inheritance he will never receive?

Or do you want to be a son who receives an inheritance he could never have obtained?

 

Obviously we want to be Isaac.

We want to be children of the promise.
We want to be those who are born by the power of God’s Spirit.
We want to be those who receive grace

 

That is the whole point.

Don’t be Ishmael – be Isaac!

 

And then one final point

The Confrontation, Illustration, Explanation
#4 THE APPLICATION
Galatians 4:31 – 5:1

 

“So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free woman.  It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

What a great statement!

 

Do you know why Christ set you free?

So you would be free.

 

Well if Christ wanted you to be free, why would you run back to slavery?

 

If we were to carry the Isaac and Ishmael illustration out a little further,

It would be like this.

 

God command Abraham to send Ishmael away because he is not an heir,

But instead Isaac steps up and says,

“No, that’s alright you can give it to Ishmael until I earn it.”

 

Foolish foolish foolish!

Paul’s command is simple:

“keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

 

Resist those Judaizers
Resist their circumcision
Resist their temptation and their persecution
Stand firm against them

Be free – stay free – resist slavery.

 

 

Be thankful that you are Isaac.

Born of the Spirit
An Heir of the Promise
A child of pure grace

And don’t ever let anyone talk you in to being Ishmael.

There is literally no future in it.