Gal 4:21-5:1
Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar — for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children — but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written:
"Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband."
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage!
I think I would like to think more about the quote from Isaiah that Paul mentioned here.
ReplyDelete"Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband."
I noticed it says, "Break forth and shout you who are not in labor".
This makes me want to dance. FREEDOM!!!! This is what God has been leading me into these past two years. It has been hell breaking free of the bondages of the religious and familial systems I grew up in (my familial system is very religious). I am not totally free yet - but a far sight closer than I have ever been.
ReplyDeleteTo look the truth in the face and see it and walk back out through it can hurt like hell, but it is worth it. FREEDOM!! The biggest part of becoming free from both the religious teachings and the family dynamic came from this very root - WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER THE LAW. To let go of trying to keep a set of rules and just relax into Him and let Him lead where He will... scary at first, but freedom......
Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI seriously thought about highlighting parts of that quote... it's so rich, and full of the gospel! I'm glad you pointed out what you did.
Katherine,
Yep it's so true... there is so much to overcome when we're getting out of the bondage of religion... and one very key root is the law! Christians everywhere seem to keep mixing it back into the equation, and yet keep wondering why they're not free.
It truly is very scary to let to of law and jump fully into the vast sea of grace, but yep indeed, there is where the freedom is found!
This is awesome Joel, and also what Matthew pointed out!
ReplyDeleteWhen we look at OT, it's full of the messages which points us to rest and freedom. Another great example is the Israelites wandering in wilderness for years (living under the law) while all they had to do was entering God's promise land(place of rest). But they chose to live under law.
BTW, I have read a great book showing this message from the OT, written by Major Ian Thomas called 'The Saving Life of Christ and The Mystery of Godliness'. That is the only book I have seen so far sticking in OT and showing us what it means to be free in Christ. I highly recommend it.
Bino,
ReplyDeleteI love reading things from the Major. I've never read a full book from him but I've read snippets and quotes and such. I like what you say about this particular book, and I'll have to give it a look.
Hey, Joel,
ReplyDeleteYes my heart leaps from within at this scripture and the grace and freedom it exposes!
Can you do me a favor and expound a little on the quoted section that Matthew daelon brings up.
I feel like my spirit is just on the verge of getting the point there; I feel vulnerable to admit. I definitely get the main gist of the whole passage, but this one part needs clarification for me. I think I've only heard this out of context as some sort of hope and relief for the barren woman - that she could count on having innumerable spiritual children, or that God would someday bless her with her own.
Thanks!!
Free Spirit,
ReplyDeleteThis truly is a very freeing scripture, full of grace!
I think the context in which Paul quoted the Old Testament scripture means a lot here. He says "for it is written..." which means the stuff he's quoting has to do with what he's talking about.
In Galatians 4 he's talking about two covenants. The first one "from Mt. Sinai which gives birth to bondage." Mt. Sinai is the place where the Law was given. Paul contrasts this with the freedom of the new covenant.
He is also talking about Sarah vs. Hagar. Hagar, of course, bore a child out of her fruitful womb... but the child (Ishmael) was "born according to the flesh." But Sarah, whose womb had been closed all her life (barren, desolate), in her old age gave birth to the child of promise... Isaac.
So yeah, I really don't think this quotation has anything to do with actual promises of hope and relief for barren women (not that God can't, won't or doesn't do that), but rather is Paul's interpretation of the meaning of that scripture. To him, it all has to do with the difference between the bondage of the Law/Old Covenant and the promise/New Covenant.
I won't say that my words here are a full or proper explanation of all this, or if it will make it more clear for you, but it's what I see in this and I'm open to other thoughts as well.
Thanks Joel!
ReplyDeleteYes, that helps bring understanding. I think context is so important. It makes more sense when taken in context, and now that I have a better grasp of the Old and New Covenant, that are so diametrically opposed. In the circles I grew up in, it seemed we skipped that "little" detail all together. I don't remember getting a real revelation about it until well into adulthood.
I was thinking about something after reading a post from Craig's blog about some things Rob Rufus said.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if the passage here is saying stay away from people who mix the message? I understand it can be talking about changing our mind about trying to obey the Law and living in grace and freedom, but it does say that he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, and then says, "Cast out the slave woman and her son."
The tough part is discerning who are the slave woman's children and how to go about "casting out".
Free Spirit,
ReplyDeleteYep I can't tell you how many "little details" were left out of much of the teaching that I was under before. :) Not that I always get the full picture in everything, but it's just that so many little sentences or verses were ripped right out of the middle of a larger context, with entire doctrines being built around those out of context words. The tithe is of course one of the big ones. And to make Romans 7 to be a passage about Christian marriage totally misses the point. And the quote from Isaiah in this passage, as you said, was grossly taken out of context and made to mean something totally different.
Matthew,
Yep I think it's true that as that scripture says, "he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now."
I think the "children" (children of promise vs. children of the bondwoman) represent those today who are either "born again according to the Spirit" or who are still in bondage under the law. And Gal 5:1 (the last verse I quoted in the post) says "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage," so I do think that this passage is talking both about being out from under the law, as well as getting away from those who would put you under the bondage of it.
I guess the "casting out" could be done in several different ways. I think simply the "standing fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free," even if we're in the midst of legalists, can be one way to do that. In other words, sometimes you just can't get rid of them, but you can stand fast in your freedom. On the other hand, sometimes the bondage becomes to great and you pretty much have to get rid of them, or get away from them, in order to not let yourself be entangled with a yoke of bondage. In my life I was able to stand fast in many circumstances, but there came a time when I knew I needed to get myself firmly established in liberty and grace, and I had to get out!
Anyway, just thinking out loud here. You've brought up some great points to think about and discuss.
Matthew,
ReplyDeleteI'm about to post another sermon from Pastor Mark that talks about a lot of this. I picked this one to listen to at random today, and it's amazing how it fits right in with our discussion here.
The message is based upon the exact scripture we're talking about here from Galatians 4. Near the end, Mark briefly touches on the quote from Isaiah, and he hones in on the same word that you did... "labor."
It's those who trust in their labor who are in bondage, and it's those who don't labor who are free.