First of all, that one in Galatians,
our usual text, verse 21 through verse 27. Emphasis on verse 27. Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written, Abraham
had two sons, the one by bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he of the bondwoman was born
after the flesh, but he of the free woman by promise. Which things are an allegory? For these are the two covenants. the one from Mount Sinai, which
gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar in Mount
Sinai is Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and
is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above,
is free, which is the mother of us all. Verse 27, For it is
written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not, Break forth
and cry thou that travailest not, For the desolate hath many
more, For the desolate hath many more children than she which
hath an husband." Then in Isaiah chapter 54, one verse, verse
1, Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear. Break forth into
singing and cry aloud, thou that didst not prevail with child. For more are the children of
the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the
Lord. Now, we'll be back here later
and look at some of the other passages here in verse 1 through
verse 10. But we begin over in Galatians
again and the great allegory. When we started our study some
weeks ago, this passage as our text and as our subject, we took
note at that time of a couple of things that are connected
under this passage. One being the words of Paul to
this effect. These things are an allegory
in verse 24. which things literally, it would
say, are allegorized. Or they contain an allegory. They have been allegorized by
the prophet Isaiah. So I agree with the commentators
who believe it is not Paul that assigns to this an allegory. It is not Paul that is making
the allegory, but those events in the house and the family of
Abraham. The apostle Paul found them already
allegorized, and so he refers to them under that heading. Now,
a couple of points as we move along. The things which are allegorized. What are they in this passage
of the scripture? Which things, verse 24, are an
allegory, are literally, are allegorized? And then the two
words, which things, quote unquote, are those things mentioned in
Galatians 4, 22 and verse 23? And they are these facts, that
Abraham had two sons, and he had those two sons by two women. And one of those women was a
bondwoman, a slave in the house, and the other was a free woman,
the legal longtime wife of Abraham. Now, the first son, says Paul,
was born after the flesh. The second son, Isaac, was born
in accordance with a promise of God that he had made unto
Abraham. Now remember that to allegorize
is to use literal or historical facts in another way in order
that they might illustrate particular spiritual truth unto us. For example, James Haldane called
Psalms 80 and verse 8 through 16 a very beautiful allegory. And that's that allegory of a
vine that the Lord said he had brought out, he had made a wonderful,
perfect vineyard for it, and had put that vine in that vineyard. And it became fruitful, and it
became very prosperous, and it spread its branches and its fruit
throughout the land in a wide place. So that is an allegory. Israel is that vine. and he planted
her in the land of Canaan. So we must admit, in reading
the history of Abraham, we must confess to ourselves that those
two women, those two sons, one a bondwoman and the other a slave
woman, would never in a thousand years enter our mind to make
the application and the spiritual lesson that Paul does in Galatians
4. We would never, I guess, in a
million years See in those two women and their two sons, the
two covenants and the application that Paul makes of that. But
then the second thing is, no less than three times in this
short passage, Paul writes that familiar thing, it is written. You'll find it, I think, in verse
22, verse 27, and again in verse 30. We've already alluded to
that. in an earlier study. By the way, notice, if you would,
in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 30, that Paul attributes these
words unto the Scripture. Nevertheless, what saith the
Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman, and her
son. In fact, these words were actually
spoken by Sarah, the wife of Abraham. And they were spoken
in Genesis chapter 21 verse 9 and verse 10. They were spoken after
she looked out one day and there she saw Ishmael mocking her young
son Isaac. And so the casting out and the
deserting of Ishmael was by the demand of Sarah. This is what she demanded of
Abraham, her husband. For Ishmael was cast out, he
was disinherited completely, and the mother was cast out with
him. Because an animosity had arisen
between the two women against each other, and then between
their two sons. It grieved Abraham to hear these
words from his wife Sarah, for Ishmael was his son of the flesh. Genesis 21 verse 11. But God,
in verse 12 of Genesis chapter 21, commanded Abraham to hearken
to the words of his wife, Sarah, as it would in no way affect
the promise that God had made unto him. Because not Ishmael,
but Isaac, was the promised seed, and in him would the seed of
Abraham be called. It was in accordance with the
secret providence of God. And it was, by Sarah, in a very
real sense, very prophetic for the future, and was highly typical,
as Paul shows in Galatians chapter 4, of the two women, the two
sons, and the two covenants. Now, God impresses it upon the
heart of Sarah to insist that it be done and God also puts
it into the heart of Abraham to do it and to a hearken unto
the voice of his wife as God's promise God's providence and
God's purpose moved forward so we come now to verse 27 of Galatians
chapter 4 which as we know Paul quotes from Isaiah chapter 54
and and verse 1. May I read verse 27 one more
time? This is our focus. I believe
it is the hardest verse in this passage of the scripture to understand
and to explain and to get right. So look at it again. Paul says,
it is written, Rejoice thou barren that bearest not, that would
be Sarah, break forth and cry that that travailest not, that
would be Sarah, for the desolate hath many more children than
she which hath a husband, and that in the allegory would be
Hagar. So let's see if we can determine
how it fits with the Apostle's flow of thought here in Galatians
chapter 4. How does it solidify the case
that he is making? How is it relevant to the two
covenants and the two sons and the two women? Let's pay close
attention to how it connects in Paul's flow of thought here
by the word for. When you see that word for, for
sometimes because we might render it. For it is written. Or because it is written. So that the word for, used so
many times in the Bible, can refer to something that has just
been said or done. It can confirm it. It can draw
a conclusion. You can see that again back in
chapter 3 and verse 13, where Paul declares, for Christ has
made a curse for us. You see it again in Galatians
5, twice, in verse 3 and in verse 5. Here it follows what is said
in verse 26, and Paul saying that Jerusalem, which is above,
is a mother of us all. But it also relates to the two
women, Hagar and Sarah, and their respective experience with Abraham
and bearing children by him. Hagar bearing, but only bearing
a common, ordinary son after the flesh. And Sarah, a long
time barren, and for a time forsaken by her husband. I'll deal with that a little
bit later, but plant that thought in your mind. Sarah for a time,
forsaken by her husband, and was reproached for her barrenness,
particularly by Hagar, but then in due time was blessed of God
to become a mother. And not just a mother, but the
mother of the promised seed, that would carry forth the purpose
of God. And you see the description here
in verse 27, barren, that barren one, the one not bearing, literally,
not having children. Not bringing forth, and that
was her lot for a long time. Not giving birth unto a son by
Abraham. She was the one not travailing. She had never gone into labor.
Having a child, she was barren and childless. And not going
into labor as the forerunner of giving birth. And she bared
out up to this time the son of Prometh. Now, under the old economy,
we recognize from several places that barrenness was considered
a reproach. Here are some scriptures, Genesis
30 verse 23. Luke 1 and verse 25, the case
of Elizabeth who was old. Now just for what it is worth,
in the scripture, when you read the word of God, you notice that
no woman is referred to as barren until she is a wife and in a
conjugal union. Now we have several that fit
that category. There's Sarah, there's Rebecca,
Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth, to name some out of the scripture. Mary is not called barren, but
called a virgin in relationship to these things that we are discussing. Now, the passage that Paul quotes
from the prophet Isaiah in chapter 54, from which Paul fetches his
proof text that these things have already been allegorized,
they've already been allegorized long after they happen, not at
the time, but long after, and long before Paul ever refers
to them as an allegory. Now, notice two things. Two women
are contrasted. First of all, the desolate. The
woman with a husband but no children. The woman who never had conceived,
never had labored. And secondly, the married wife. the one who did bear a child
by Abraham. And I agree with those who think
that there is an illusion here, an indirect reference to something
that is known by the Jew that they were familiar with from
their study of the scripture. And that was that the prophet
had Hagar and Sarah in mind and that he allegorized their situation
to the Jews who were then in or under Babylonian captivity. They were in captivity in Babylon
and that's why Isaiah 54 and verse 1 is so appropriate under
them. Now the desolate wife now would
answer unto Sarah, the married wife, under Hagar who is given
to Abraham not as a concubine only but as a wife. Genesis 16 and verse 3. Sarah said take Hagar as your
wife. Now the desolate in Isaiah was
Israel in their then state. in Babylonian captivity and they
were likened to a wife that was temporarily forsaken and because
of that was barren and bringing no fruit. So let's see the first. The first 10 verses in Isaiah
chapter 54, we notice something. Verse 1, desolate. Verse 4, the
reproach of widowhood as a wife forsaken. For though, verse 5,
her maker was her husband. Then look at verse 6, where she's
called a woman forsaken Refused look at verse 7 for a small moment
have I Forsaken thee verse 8 in a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment not forever But for a time and then he would
return to her and she would become fruitful now remember Abraham
for a time and turned from Sarah, forsook Sarah as it were, and
to Hagar he turned, and she brought forth a son forthwith but after
time Abraham put away the surrogate wife and did cleave unto Sarah
the rest of their natural days together and Sarah brought forth
at God's appointed time the son of promise now There's another
set of facts in Isaiah chapter 54 that we want to consider beside
those that we have just mentioned, such as in verse 1 again. More will be the children of
the desolate forsaken wife like a widow than the children of
the married wife. And then look also at verse 4. in that chapter of the prophet
Isaiah, chapter 54 and 4. Fear not, for thou shalt not
be ashamed, neither shalt thou be confounded, for thou shalt
not be put to shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy
youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood
anymore. That's the promise made to Israel
in Babylonian captivity. Verse 6. for the Lord had called
thee as a woman forsaken. Verse 7, and the last part, with
great mercies will I gather thee. Verse 8, with everlasting kindness
will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord. And verse 10, my kindness
shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be
removed. Now something is interesting
in Isaiah chapter 51 and verse 2. As the prophet says to Israel,
look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bared you
for I called him alone and I blessed and I increased him. Chapter
51 and verse 2. And to repeat, it is clear that
Isaiah chapter 54 that two women are now in view and they remind
us of Hagar and of Sarah. That would be when the one was
barren and the other was fruitful and married and not barren. It
is also clear that the prophet's words are directed toward those
that he calls the barren wife. His words are directed to them
under that likelihood or that figure, and assurance then is
given unto her that she will have many more children than
the married wife. So she is bidden. in chapter
54 verse 1. Sing, cry loud, rejoice, be happy,
O barren woman. Paul says rejoice in Galatians
4 and 27. Break forth in singing, cry loud,
for the offspring that is to come unto thee. The prophet exhorts
her to forget the shame of her barrenness, and that from a young
lady, to not remember the reproach that had been heaped upon her
because of her barren time, what one called her comparative widowhood. And in this allegory and such
like, this barren woman is likened unto widowhood, though she had
a faithful husband. She was in grief, but God declares
himself to be her husband and will fulfill unto her the work
of a husband. Now the question to consider
here is who or what does this once barren woman, but now prolific
woman, represent in both places in Isaiah 54? and that Paul refers
to it in the Galatian. Not the literal Sarah, the woman
herself, for she had long gone the way of all flesh. She had
long been dead and in her grave. though Sarah was typified of
the one long barren woman in Isaiah chapter 54 who was then
made to travail with child and in labor and experienced birth
pain and exhorted to rejoice and say, as in Genesis 21 and
verse 6, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear
me will laugh with me." When she had born the promised son,
Isaac. Now there can be little doubt
that in the context of Isaiah chapter 54, it refers in some
way unto Israel, to the house of Israel, to the nation, while
they were in Babylonian captivity. Now that exhortation keeps ringing
in our ears found in Isaiah 51 and verse 2. Look unto Abraham
your father that bear you and unto Sarah that bear you as if
to say look to your parents your father and mother, Abraham and
Sarah. They, as a people or a nation,
sprang from this couple, Abraham and Sarah. Calvin was of the
opinion that it was an exhortation to encourage those that were
true believers among them that followed after righteousness,
as we read in our text, to hold out the hope of a better condition
to them as the people of God. That by remembering the low beginning
in Isaiah 51 and 1. Look on to the rock from which
you are hewn and to the hole or the pit out of which you were
digged, Isaiah 51 and 1. Then look to Abraham and look
unto Sarah. And when we do, what lesson or
what example or what is typified there us. The answer in the end
of verse 2 of Isaiah chapter 52, I called him alone. Not just that he was alone or
by himself. when he was called and given
the promise and the covenant by God. But when he was called,
he was alone. That is, he was without any issue. He had no child when he was called
and none long thereafter. Not only childless, but he was
married to a woman that was barren, but also in verse 2, I blessed
him, increased him, till he was the father, not just of a family,
but the father of nation and the father of multitude, and
that in a twofold sense, physically and spiritually. Now, I hope
in view these texts that you won't misunderstand what I'm
about to say or take it in the wrong way. But as it concerns
and connected to the promise of a promised son from Abraham
and Sarah, Abraham was for many years as if he had no wife and
In that one respect, a child. And Sarah, for that matter, was
as if she had no husband respecting the child because they were childless
into their old age. They had no issue. And yet, in
God's due time, for God does all things in his due time, God
fulfilled that promise unto Sarah and Abraham that a 100-year-old
man and a 90-year-old woman became the parents of the promised son
and of the heir that the once barren brought forth, not only
the first promised son, but then through and out of him abundantly. And then let's fast forward into
the time of the captivity. where there is an allusion there
to the case of Sarah and Hagar. Well, how so? Well, in some ways
their condition resembled that of Abraham and Sarah in that
in their captivity. They were so repressed that they
had no issue. But Abraham, being called alone,
and long thereafter, then he had a child. And so they, in
due time, grew to be capable of procreating. But from all
outward appearances, it looked as if the promise of God would
die, first with Sarah and Abraham, and then with the Jew, their
captivity down in Babylon. Now as we've already seen there
are two attempts that is Abraham and Sarah. There are two attempts
and we looked at them already but I need to mention them again.
There are two attempts in the flesh to attain the promise of
God and a promised seed and a promised heir. And those two attempts
were one by Abraham, one by Sarah. Now first of all, Abraham's willingness
to substitute the head of his servants for his own seed, and
that's in Genesis chapter 15. Perhaps this server, chief server,
born in the house, shall be my heir. Sarah's attempt is found
in Genesis chapter 16. to substitute the son of a bondwoman
for their very own issue, Genesis 16. Their reasoning was this. Both Elisha, the house servant,
and Hagar, the house bondwoman, were in their house. In fact, Elisha was born there. I don't know about Hagar. But
they were installed in their house. And so both of them thought,
perhaps this will be the plan of God. But then, going back
to Babylon, the Jews, by the river of Babylon, in severe and
great bondage, their number dwindling, dying off, being killed, mistreated,
tortured, and such like, and their number depleting there
by the rivers of Babylon. Calvin likened Abraham and Sarah,
quote, they had been diminished to such a degree that they were
in appearance on the edge of of being reduced to nothing,
unquote, that is the Jewish nation in bondage, unable to go free,
moaning and crying by the rivers of Babylon. Calvin also likened
them to a widow. as if her husband was no more,
or a woman having been put away from her husband and not bearing. Now the promise to Abraham was
he would become the father of a seed, but also the father of
a multitude of nation and of kings that would come out of
him. And here they were down by the
rivers of Babylon in bondage. banished from their land, taken
by force out of their land, and brought down into the land of
Babylon. Few left were their number. They
were depleting, dwindling away. And Matthew Henry put it like
this, as to the fulfillment of the promise of God unto them. Quote, a sentence of death seems
to be upon all the means that lead to the performance of it."
That is, the performance of the promise. Now, everything seems
against it, in hope and against hope. Yet in allegorizing Abraham
and Sarah, the prophets speaking to Israel mystically or spiritually
to them said, in Isaiah 54 and verse one, the verse of the passage
that Paul quotes in Galatians 4 and 27. Sing, O barren, shout
for joy, ye barren. Break forth into singing, you
that never have prevailed. Now the occasion of her rejoicing,
singing, shouting, and crying is not her barrenness, for that
gave her grief and shame and reproach. There are two examples
of this. In Genesis 16 and 4 again, When
Hagar knew that she was with child by Abraham, her mistress,
Sarah, was despised in her eye. As soon as Hagar knew she was
carrying the child of Abraham, she looked with despise upon
her maid, her mistress, Sarah. She was despised, reproached
her, for her baronet, thinking, did Hagar, that she had now a
great advantage over Sarah, for she was with child by father
Abraham, and likely by that to rise higher in the affection
of Abraham. and perhaps even rise from being
a bondwoman to a cherished wife in the house of Abraham. And
she provoked Sarah again and again. She provoked Sarah to
deal with her very harshly, which Sarah did in chapter 16 and verse
6. But then the barren woman, the
barren true wife, was blessed by God with a promised son, and
Hagar became not the wife, but one cast out of the house. Now, I think of one more example,
and that being 1 Samuel 1, 4 through 7, the case of Hannah, another
barren wife, greatly loved by her husband, and he gave her
all that her heart desired, but no child. And in verse 5 and
verse 6, 1 Samuel 1, We read this, the Lord had shut up her
womb and her adversary also provoked her sore. The margin has it,
angered her. Her adversary angered her for
to make her fret because the Lord had not let her give birth. Till Hannah wept, do you remember
that? Hannah wept and would not eat. She was so down about not having
a child. And yet, by God's blessing, she
did give birth. And she gave birth to a most
special son, Samuel, who became special in Israel and a prophet
of God unto them. And her reproach was taken or
rolled away. And in the second half of Isaiah
54 and verse 1, the cause of her joy, that is, Israel, was
the Lord would cause the desolate to be more fruitful than the
married wife. Now in that scenario, in Isaiah
chapter 54, the once barren is assured of having a greater posterity
than her adversary. She's told to forget her former
shame. and the reproach of them that
reproached her again and again. For Isaiah 54 and verse 5, thy
maker is thy husband. And then in due time, Zion prevailed
and brought forth her children. Isaiah 66 and verse 8. So let's revive a point from
an earlier study now. that in the three situations,
number one, in Abraham's family in Genesis, number two, the Jews
in captivity, and number three, the Galatians to whom Paul wrote. The emphasis is not on successive
dispensation, and not between the old and the new covenant,
but of two sorts of person living at the same time, under the same
dispensation. If you will, two kinds of seed,
unbelievers and believers. Children of the flesh and children
of promise. They that live and walk after
the Spirit. They that live and walk after
the flesh. Now consider. mentioned this
earlier, that Ishmael and Isaac were not types of the two covenant,
the old and the new, but they were figures of two types of
people living at the same time, professing the same religion
and worship of the one and the same God. in the same time period
or dispensation. Let me put it this way. There
has always been, since the fall of man in the garden, a holy
war about religion. There has always been animosity
between people, between two groups of people about religion. Beginning
with that enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed
of the serpent in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, I will put enmity
between thy seed and between her seed. And then again, it's
seen working itself out in Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter 4. They had a disagreement about
religion and Cain slew Abel, his brother. And then came Jacob
and Esau and the struggle continued. as they struggle together while
they were yet in the womb. Their mother being told, two
nations are in your womb, one shall be stronger and the elder
shall serve the younger. But the giving of the law at
Sinai gave a new focal point to the animosity over religion
and largely from that point forward was confined to Israel. But it did not die with the appearance
and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. but it continues even unto this
day in Christendom. Not from outside, but now from
the inside. There is turmoil and disagreement
and animosity within Christendom. One older writer, his name was
Robert Bell, wrote that from the giving of the law at Sinai,
there were always two parties or types of people in Israel. The ones seeking their justification
and eternal life from, by, or through the law. and the other
seeking their justification and their righteousness, resting
in the promise of God made unto Abraham, imitating the faith
of their father Abraham, walking in his footstep, the one by deeds
of law, the other by grace and by faith. And these are the two
sorts of people that came to be, and it was magnified after
the coming of the law at Sinai. Now these two views, justification
by law, justification by grace, and by promise, are contrary
one unto the other. And they that are of the law,
or trust in the law, or put themselves under the law, or seek to be
justified by the law, they despise those who hold to free, sovereign,
unmerited grace. They have gone in under the handmaid
instead of the good wife. They have chained themselves
to Mount Sinai and there seek their justification. If you listen
to Paul in Galatians 4 and 29, so then as now. As it was then, he said, so it
is now. He born after the flesh persecuted
him that was born after the spirit. As it happened then with Ishmael
and Isaac, it is happening even now. So I bid you this morning,
look out upon Christendom today in its present condition, those
that profess Christianity. And we see in them those that
we call liberal or progressive or apostates from the gospel
of our Lord who fornicate with false gods and false religion. They welcome and they hug the
Muslims while hating and making mocking the true gospel of Jesus
Christ our Lord. They hate the doctrine of depravity
and of divine sovereignty. And they have more in common
with Muslims than they do with us who believe in the gospel
and the word of God the way we do. They embrace Islam and they
fight Christianity. There is enmity between them
of long standing. They profess, or they prefer,
I should say, the slave wife. They would side with Hagar instead
of Hera. Sarah. They would call Sarah
a bigot and an Islamophobe for throwing the bondwoman, the Egyptian,
out of her house, putting her away, and her son, for banishing
Hagar and her son from her house, her son, her family, and the
inheritance. They would call her a bigoted
woman. Now, you see animosity in Abraham's
house. Hagar taunting Sarah. You see it in the elder brother
of the prodigal. Oh, this sly brother wasted his
living, and he hated the free forgiveness that the father heaped
upon the returning prodigal. You see it in the carnal Jew,
who in the New Testament were the bitterest enemies of the
gospel of Christ. They were the first and the bitterest
enemies of the gospel of Christ. wanting to bring in the law,
wanting to put the Gentiles under the law, wanting to put believing
Jews again under the bondage and the yoke of the law. We rejoice. We say, thank God, praise God,
our mother grace. Jerusalem above seems to be slow
in begetting her children. in our time, but when she brings
forth, when she does, they are genuine heirs of God and joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. They're not born of the flesh.
They're brought into being by a supernatural regenerating work
of the Spirit of God, so that they are indeed the promised
children, the children of God. I want to read in closing, Galatians
chapter 4 and verse 31. So then, brethren, we are not
children of the bondwoman, but of the free. We're not children
of the law. We're not children of the Jerusalem
that now is or the children of Hagar. But down through the line
in typology, Sarah, And then that good work of God in Isaiah,
and finally that work in and through Christ. So we are not
children of the bondwoman. She's not our mother. The Jerusalem
that now is not our mother, that is Judaism. And the law is not
our parent. It has not saved us. It has not
given us life. The grace of God, the promise
of God has done that. So we see how Paul uses the allegory.