36 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
36 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
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title = "Galatians 4:21–31"
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date = "2023-08-15"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians4.21-31)
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This allegory between Hagar and Sarah is a little weird, because the law came
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through Moses who was a descendent of Isaac. But that's how allegories work;
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you can't take them too literally. So then, the slave woman has a son naturally
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who is born into slavery and the free woman has a son because of God's promise
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who grows up free. In the same way, Paul says, Mount Sinai where the law was
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given and the earthly Jerusalem where the temple was built represent those who
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are in bondage to sin which the law makes known to them.
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Those who are in Christ, however, are represented by Sarah the free woman and
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the heavenly Jerusalem where God dwells. He cites [Isaiah
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54:1](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/Isaiah54.1) to emphasize the better position
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of the children of the promise over the children of slavery. He continues to
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draw parallels from the story of Hagar and Sarah by showing how the children in
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bondage persecute the children of promise, just as Hagar did to Sarah after
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Ishmael was born. But just as Ishmael did not inherit his father's wealth, so
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too will those enslaved to sin not inherit the eternal life given to the the
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children of promise.
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Again, we can't take the allegory too literally, or we would wonder how the
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Lord's blessing of Ishmael after he and his mother were cast out comes into
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play. It doesn't, and it shouldn't, because Paul ends the allegory before this
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event. Instead, he is making the point that those who believe in Christ and the
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free grace He has shown to us is in every way better than a slavish devotion to
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rituals and rules that do not have power to save.
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* * *
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You have skillfully orchestrated history for many purposes, in near and far
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contexts.
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