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Galatians 4:21-31Page 992 in Pew Bibles

21. Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don’t you hear the law?

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22. For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.

23. But the one by the slave was born according to the flesh, while the one by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

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24.These things are illustrations, for the women represent the two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar.

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

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26. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.

27. For it is written: Rejoice, O barren woman who does not give birth. Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate are many, more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.

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28. Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

29. But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now.

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30. But what does the Scripture say? Throw out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never inherit with the son of the free woman.

31. Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

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You Fans of the Law:Have You Read It?

• Vs. 21 “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don't you hear the law?”

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Two Sons, Two Mothers

• Vs. 22 “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and the other by a free woman.:

• Vs. 24 “These things are illustrations…”

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Hagar & Ishmael

Genesis Chapters 16-21

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The Story

• God had promised to make a great people from Abraham

• Sarah had been unable to have children and was now 75

• So, to fix the problem, she told Abraham to use Hagar, her servant, as a surrogate mother

• Sarah would then adopt the child as her own >

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• Hagar gets pregnant according to plan, but it started to backfire immediately – Hagar thinks she is one up over Sarah and shows contempt for Sarah

• Sarah is so hurt she mistreats Hagar to the point she runs away, but God sends Hagar back, telling her to submit to Sarah

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• Thirteen years later, God appears to Abraham when he is 99 to announce the promised son will arrive in one year.

• Abraham asks God to bless his son Ishmael and God promises to make a great nation out of him, but Abraham’s offspring would be traced through Isaac only.

• The covenant and promises concerning the Promised Land and the coming Messiah would be inherited only by the descendants of Isaac. >

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• Sarah gives birth to Isaac, the promised son, when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 (17:17 and 21:5)

• At the feast to celebrate the weaning of Isaac, Ishmael, now around age 16 or 17, mocks Isaac

• Sarah is not going to stand for this!

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• “So she said to Abraham, ‘Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a co-heir with my son Isaac!’” (21:10)

• God reassures Abraham that it is the right thing to send Hagar and Ishmael away – so he does

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Ishmael:What Happens When We Rely on Our

Own Resources and Do Our Best

Isaac:What Happens When We Rely on

God’s Promise and Trust His Power

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Ishmael:Slaves beget slaves

Isaac:God’s promises beget

supernatural births

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We See…

• Two mothers• Two sons• Two cities

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Two Mothers:

Vs. 24-26 “…One is from Mount Sinai and bears children into slavery—this is Hagar.25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and 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. >

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Two Cities

• Vs. 25 “Now Hagar is Mount Sinai”– Where the 10 Commandments were given: the

Law• Vs. 25 “[Hagar] corresponds to the present

Jerusalem”– A city under the rule of the Romans

• Vs. 25 “She is in slavery with her children”>

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Two Cities

• Vs. 26 “But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”

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William Hendriksen

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Heaven then is the church’s mother, for it is heaven that gave birth to her children. Though many of them are still on earth, is not Heaven their homeland…? Are their lives not governed from heaven in accordance with heavenly standards? Are not their names inscribed in heaven’s register? Is it not to heaven that their…

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thoughts and prayers ascend and their hopes aspire? Their Savior dwells there, living evermore to make intercession for them. Some of their friends are there even now, and they themselves… will be there shortly to receive the inheritance…”

William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Baker, 1968, page 184

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Two Sons

• So your teachers are making a big deal of being sons of Abraham – you do remember that Abraham had two sons, right?

• And that one of these sons inherited the promise and the other did not, right?

• So, being descended from Abraham is not enough!

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Two Sons

• By Promise: Vs. 28 “Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.”

• Heirs: Vs. 30 “But what does the Scripture say? Throw out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never inherit with the son of the free woman.”

• Free: VS. 31 “Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.”

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Two Sons

We are not children of God by being children of Abraham… because we are not children of God by natural birth, but by a supernatural birth.

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People Who Live by Human Resources Resent Those Who’ve

Had a Supernatural Birth

• Vs. 29 “But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now.”

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Contrasts

• Slave woman• According to flesh• Slavery• Persecutor

• Free woman• Through Promise• Freedom• Heir

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Now in Plain Language

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Do You Really Want toGo Back to Slavery?

Vs. 9-10 “But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? You observe special days, months, seasons, and years.”

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In Slavery

• Vs. 3 “In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world.”– External, superficial – Law = training wheels

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In Slavery

• Vs. 8-9 “But in the past, when you didn’t know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods… how can you turn back to weak and elemental forces”– External, superficial – cheap substitutes

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Adopted

Vs. 4-5 “But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

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Assured

Vs. 6 “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’”

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Heirs

Vs. 7 “So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”

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You Have Your Freedom; Keep It!

5:1 “Christ has liberated us into freedom. Therefore stand firm and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

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