Why Is This Allegory Here? (Galatians 4:21-27)
GIST: Life isn’t about you, but amazing grace has been poured out for you because of Jesus’ incredible love.
This morning we’re picking up where we left off in chapter 4 of Galatians. We’ve been in this “transitional section” for three weeks now, which is probably a long time to be transitioning ☺️. And... we’ll likely camp out here at least for one more as we’re coming to one of the more complicated sections of Paul’s reasoning, so I’m hoping taking it in two chunks will help us chew on it better. At least, that’s my plan ☺️.
Now, like I said, it is a bit complicated but only because we’re so far removed from the original context. Because of that, I’m just titling this sermon: Why Is This Allegory Here? ☺️ And after these next two discussions, hopefully, you’ll be able to answer that (and hopefully so will I ☺️).
Let’s just read verses 21-27, pray, and then break down what’s happening here.
“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; 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.”
Paul uses an example from Old Testament history (specifically Genesis 15-21) to hammer home his point that salvation is and has always been all about grace, not the stuff we can do in our own strength. Here he’s referencing a super significant occurrence in the life of Abraham, the father of the Jews. He points out that Abraham actually had two sons: Ishmael and Issac. The ethic line of the Jews came from Issac though, not Ishmael. In case you’re unfamiliar with what happened, Abraham and Sarah were very old when they were told by God that Abraham would be the father of a great nation. The problem was… they didn’t have any kids...and that ship had sailed ☺️. Still, God had promised them a son. They didn’t see any immediate returns on this promise, so Sarah tells Abraham to take her Egyptian servant, Hagar, as his second wife and have children with her. Ishmael is the result of this union. Now, if all you can think about right now is the polygamy thing, don’t worry. This definitely isn’t an example of the Bible approving such things. Like in every example from the OT, this is outside of God’s plan and just leads to pain and suffering. In fact, right after Hagar gets pregnant, she starts looking down on Sarah because not being able to have children was considered the deepest shame for a woman at this time. In fact, it meant you were worthless. However, Sarah isn’t completely innocent in this story either. She, with Abraham’s permission, also mistreats Hagar so much that she runs away (until God comes to her and brings her home). The whole mess ends with Sarah getting pregnant, which was God’s plan all along, and Hagar and Ishmael leaving because of how Ishmael treated young Isaac.
Admittedly, there is plenty in this story that reminds us the Bible is full of imperfect people being used by God despite their, often, glaring character flaws. However, this isn’t a commentary on the historical characters, but an example illustrating the realities he’s been pointing to...for this entire letter. So what’s our gist? What is at least one reason why Paul included this allegory? In part it is to remind us and his original readers that life isn’t about you, but amazing grace has been poured out for you because of Jesus’ incredible love. Let’s break that down. First, the oh so familiar truth I’ve been wrestling with for so much of my life (and you probably have been too)→
I. Life Isn’t About You
Look again at verses 21-23. “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.” Based on this example and some of the arguments he’s used earlier in the letter, it seems clear that the Judiazers who had come to these Gentiles telling them they needed more than Jesus to be saved were telling them they needed to follow the ceremonial laws and become true “sons of Abraham”. Paul takes this illustration as his final argument to say, “Listen, what I’ve been telling you isn’t new. This is what the whole Old Testament has been pointing to. You want to be sons of Abraham. Ok. But don’t forget: he had two sons!” If you want to put yourself “under the law”, make sure you know what the law actually teaches. The truth has always been that you have→
Two Options: Slave or Free. Ishmael was the result of Abraham and Sarah trying to take matters into their own hands. They believed God’s promise but felt like the fulfillment was, at least in part, up to them. Isaac represents what God’s plan was all along→ taking the impossible and using it to point to His glory. Just like we can’t save ourselves, Abraham and Sarah couldn’t have a baby or become the parents of a great nation in their own strength. They tried. It didn’t work. And imagine how much unnecessary pain would have been avoided if they would have just trusted God’s grace to be enough from the beginning!
That truth hasn’t changed. We still need God’s grace to save us, and we’re still trying to do everything on our own. This comes in different forms. And again, I’m indebted to Tim Keller for the thoughts behind this list. There are those of us who→
Believe We Need To Obey For Salvation & Are Striving To Do So Unsuccessfully. These are religious people. They jump through all the right looking hoops. They pray. They come to church services. They even go to Sunday school and midweek prayer meetings. Heck, they might lead some of those ministries among many others. They might be involved in humanitarian aid efforts or go on mission trips. They wear the right t-shirts and listen to the right music. They carry their Bibles or have the app on a front page of their phones. Their efforts look impressive, and they’ve worked hard to keep it that way. However, they’re doing it because deep down they feel like that stuff is what they need to be saved. If they can check enough boxes and put enough on the “good” side of their scale, they will earn their way to Heaven. Oh, they’d probably never use those words out loud, but the heart is there. This results in cold morality and self-righteousness.
Then, there are those of us who→
Believe We Need To Obey For Salvation & Know We’re Failures. Because of that, we’re not really trying very hard anymore. In fact, coming to church and being around people who seem like they have it all together (which is NEVER true by the way!) makes us feel uncomfortable because it forces us to face our shortcomings, so maybe we just don’t show up all that often. We’ll watch online or listen to Christian radio from time to time to keep ourselves just close enough to not feel completely backslidden, but our lives practically have very little to do with Jesus...and we know it. Because we think we have to check boxes we know we never can, we’ve allowed ourselves to be trapped by guilty consciences and are now spending our time hiding from the consequences.
Of course, there are also those of us who→
Resist Obedience To Anything More Than Our Subjective Morality. We don’t think we need anything. This is the stance of the secular world. Religion isn’t part of your life, and you don’t want it to be. Fulfillment is something that comes from how you choose to live right now, so you strive to do that how you see best. This perspective on the surface might seem to be the exact opposite of the first two, but they are all the same. Because their central belief is that life is about what they do or do not do, they are stuck in always trying to do or be enough. Here there is a rejection of objective truth that also leads to a rejection of true and lasting hope.
The alternative then is→
Believing We Need To Be Rescued & Obeying Out Of Love And A Transformed Set Of Desires. This is living in the Truth, but it’s not easy because it’s not natural. This requires us to admit that we need saving and embrace Jesus as our savior. However, the results will be transformational. We will obey God’s law, but not because we need to be perfect to be saved, but because our hearts have been changed and our desires flipped upside down. We want to be like Him, and we strive to serve Him because His love drives our hearts.
Ok, so that was a long point one ☺️. I’ll try to be more concise in point two here. This allegory reminds us that life isn’t about us→
II. But Amazing Grace Has Been Poured Out For You Because Of Jesus’ Incredible Love
Look at how Paul even introduces this allegory. It’s awesome! “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; 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."” Man, there are some really powerful truths here. Two in particular stuck out to me. First→
Religion Apart From Grace Is Just As Much A State Of Slavery As Pagan or Secular Living. I know that’s a long sentence for a “point” ☺️, but look at what Paul just said. He said the Jews worshiping in Jerusalem, the religious elite of the day, the religious elite he once represented better than nearly anyone else, are allegorically the children of Hagar. That’s huge! They would 100% have prided themselves on being descendants of Isaac, the child of promise. Paul tells them bloodlines don’t matter. If you’re living for yourself, you’re a slave. It doesn’t matter how good you look, or how impressive your morality is, or how influential your standing. If your identity is tied up in what you can do to achieve purpose and fulfillment, you’re still enslaved to sin. Period. That’s the slap across the face of this allegorical interpretation. Here’s the hug. It doesn’t have to be like that. In fact, the story of Sarah, in all her flaws, reminds us→
The Broken and Rejected Can Rejoice! Sarah couldn’t have kids. And old Sarah shouldn’t have been able to have kids. Because of this, she was considered worthless in the eyes of her culture. In fact, she went 90 years feeling like she wasn’t enough. In her mind, she was going to die like that. God had another plan. And guys, this is still true! Life is not about you, but a change was made for you! I don’t know what you’re feeling right now. However, I’m certain many of you have felt like screw-ups and misfits before. Even if the rest of the world thinks you have it all together, in your heart, you know you don’t. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses this story of brokenness to remind us that life isn’t about not being broken. It’s about being broken and coming to the one who designed you, and loves you, and conquered death to heal your brokenness. It’s about finding meaning and purpose in being known and loved by Him, despite your brokenness.
All that being said, and it was quite a bit this morning, let’s try and remember these→
TAKEAWAYS
Living life for yourself or trying to find meaning by your own actions is an empty pursuit with a destructive ending. Life is not about you!
However, you can live with confidence because you’re loved by Jesus. The barren can rejoice!
And this should lead to you living humbly and serving boldly. Though we didn’t get to this point of application in the text, it’s the implication of grace here. We’ve been loved. That’s what changed us. That’s what made the difference. We can walk with joy because of His grace. However, that isn’t something that should lead to self-importance. Instead, our changed desires should long to serve others for Him and like Him. There is no room for arrogance in a life changed by grace.
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