Remember that the argument being made by the agitators in Galatia was in effect that history and God’s Word was on their side. God’s covenant was with the Jewish people and it centred on two things, ancestry through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Torah keeping. Paul has been systematically pulling apart this claim.
A look at the Text (Read Galatians 4:21-31)
The next part of Paul’s argument is to suggest that if people want to be subject to the Law, then they need to pay attention to all that it says. The Law, or Torah was not just a set of commands but included all of the first five books of Scripture, it mixes statutes and case law with narrative, poetry and prophecy (v21). So, Paul turns again to the example of Abraham, what does the Law/Torah say about him? Well, it tells the story of his two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. One, Ishmael, was the son of Sarah’s slave, Hagar, the other was Sarah’s son, the child of a free person (v22). Paul then distinguishes them by aligning the slave son with “flesh” and the free son with the promise. In other words, Ishmael was a result of human efforts and plans whilst Isaac was the result of trusting God to keep his word (v23).
Paul then goes on to use the mothers, Hagar and Sarah as the basis of an allegory with each representing two covenants, symbolised by the mountains where they were made. Hagar represents Sinai and the Law based covenant made there. We might be surprised to see this at first, expecting Sarah as Israel and Moses’ ancestor to be linked to Sinai. However, Hagar and Ishmael would be linked to the Arabia and the desert, and so Sinai. More importantly, Paul is distinguishing slavery from freedom and associates slavery with subjugation to the Law whilst freedom is tied to God’s promises and to true sonship. Paul then goes a step further, Sinai is now associated with the earthly Jerusalem because the Temple worship of Paul’s day was under his view linked with human effort (the Flesh) and with Slavery (v24-25).
Sarah, Isaac and the promise are linked with another mountain but not an earthly one. Paul says that there is a heavenly Jerusalem, a heavenly mount Zion and this is what they point to. Sarah is the mother not just of Isaac and her physical descendants but all who belong to the promise, she is our mother whether we are Gentile or Jew (v26). He ties this to Isaiah 54:1, which speaks to Zion, and likens the city to a barren/infertile woman who will become a fruitful mother to many children, just as Sarah had her infertility healed by the coming of Isaac (v27). All of this means, that in order to fulfil this promise to Sarah and to Zion of many offspring, we Gentiles are included as sons and daughters in the promise (v28).
In Genesis 21:8-21 we read that Ishmael, the older of the brothers mocked his younger brother, Isaac, even though Isaac was the heir. This led to Sarah insisting that Abraham banished Hagar and his son. Paul says that in the same way, those linked with law-flesh-slavery were attempting to bully God’s people, the children of promise out of their inheritance (v29). However, Scripture is explicitly clear, the son of the slave was not the heir of God’s promises and blessing. So too with God’s people in Paul’s day, the riches of God’s blessings in Christ came through faith and would not be found by joining with the agitators. So, the Galatians needed to withstand the pressure they were under (v30).
Digging Deeper
Paul’s use of allegory here shows that he is able to use a number of different approaches and perspectives to reinforce his point. Here, he uses creativity to retell the story of Isaac and Ishmael. He surprises us by going against our expectations. Isaac could have been associated with either Sinai or Jerusalem, the first because he was the ancestor of Moses, the second because traditionally, Mount Zion is linked with Moriah where Abraham was ready to offer Isaac as a sacrifice leading to God providing a substitute and confirming his covenant. However, Ishmael is linked to both. Shockingly, the holy places of Israel and even the Law itself are linked to one seen as an outsider. This is because Paul wants to reinforce the point that it has always been about faith and promise and he ties this covenant to no earthly mountain or city. The Covenant was established eternally and permanently in Heaven itself.
A look at ourselves
We now come to the punchline of chapter 4, if not the whole letter. Paul insists that we all, who are in Christ, as brothers and sisters belong with freedom, not with slavery and so with faith and promise. This included Jewish believers like Paul and Gentile believers in Galatia. By extension it includes you and me today. We are not under any legal obligation. We cannot do anything to add to what Christ has done. We cannot force God’s hand, we cannot earn his love. We came in by grace, through faith, that’s how we stay in and go on.
Faithroots 