Sarah and Hagar

Sarah and Hagar

Our working theme of Galatians: “Grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as taught in Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone”

CHARTING THE COURSE FOR THIS STUDY

Ø The Allegory Of Sarah And Hagar & Their Sons (Galatians 4:21-31)

Ø The Judaizers Wanted To Claim That They Were “Sons” Of Abraham. Paul Grants That The Judaizers Are Sons Of Abraham. (vv.21-23; Romans 9:6b-8)

Ø Paul’s “Allegory” (vv.24-27)

Ø Through Faith In The Suffering Servant We Are Children Of Promise (vv.28-31)

THE ALLEGORY OF SARAH AND HAGAR & THEIR SONS (Galatians 4:21-31)

INTRODUCTION

A. Paul says in Galatians 4:24 that he is speaking “allegorically.” This leads to the question, “What is Paul’s method of interpreting the Old Testament?”

B. Different methods of interpreting Scripture:

Hyperliteral interpretation – One of the main proponents was Rabbi Akiva (50-132 AD). He argued that if the Bible is God’s Word then the letters must be inspired as well as the words. His theory of interpretation led to gematria.[1] Gematria is a principle of interpretation seeks to find hidden meaning behind biblical letters and numbers. Modern examples would be bible codes.

Allegorical interpretation – This is a method of interpretation that came about when people began questioning the morality of Homer’s Greek gods. The gods lived such wicked lives that nobody wanted their children to emulate them. Some teachers came along and suggested that there were deeper meanings in Homer and that there was really a philosophical lesson to be learned from each story. This method was able to interpret (respectfully) wild, outlandish, and immoral stories.

This was also applied to the Bible and one of the most famous allegorizers was the Jewish philosopher Philo (20BC – 50 AD). What Philo did was look for a “deeper” meaning explaining some of the hard stories of the Bible and thus tried making them acceptable on a popular level. Philo defended the O.T. the same way that the Greeks defended the works of Homer.

Allegorical interpretation overlooks the historical and narrative level in favor of a deeper “spiritual” meaning.

“To indulge in such imaginings, appears to me something worse than ingenious trifling. It is using a most undue freedom with Him who says, ‘Add not to my words;’ and its tendency is to lead the mind away from the truth which the Holy Spirit does mean to teach us, and which is always, when clearly perceived, and rightly improved, ‘profitable for doctrine, and reproof, and correction, and instruction in righteousness,’ to the mere figments of the human imagination. Of the persons who indulge in such an abuse of the Holy Scriptures, it may well be said, ‘They feed on ashes; a deceived heart has turned them aside’” (John Brown, Discourses and Sayings of Our Lord; Vol.1, p.440).

Was Paul using an allegorical method of interpretation in Galatians 4:24-27? This is an important question because it will affect how we interpret the Scriptures.

How can an ancient text which was written in an ancient culture foreign to ours and separated by thousands of years meaning mean something not arbitrary but significant to us?

Does the Bible mean something for us that it didn’t mean when it was originally written? Can we really understand the meaning of the Bible for us in the 21^st century without first understanding the context and meaning that it had to its original audience?

What does Paul mean by “allegory” (v.24; cf. 1 Cor.9:9-10; 10:1-4; Eph.5:31-32)?

Is Paul disregarding historical context? Is Paul pulling a meaning from the text which the text did not originally have?

THE JUDAIZERS WANTED TO CLAIM THAT THEY WERE “SONS” OF ABRAHAM. PAUL GRANTS THAT THE JUDAIZERS ARE SONS OF ABRAHAM. (vv.21-23; Romans 9:6b-8)

A. Abraham had two sons: Isaac and Ishmael. Both of these sons were circumcised. But the outcome of these sons was very different.

What differentiated Isaac from Ishmael? (v.23; see also Gal.3:18,29; 4:28)

Based upon his natural descent from Abraham, what did Ishmael inherit from his father Abraham? (Genesis 21:12-14)

B. The blessing of salvation did not come to Ishmael because he was a natural descendant of Abraham nor because he was circumcised. The blessing of salvation would have to come through faith.

How did Abraham try to fulfill God’s promise? (Genesis 16:1-3)

Abraham’s not the only one who had to choose between faith and expedience? Are you living your life on the basis of God’s promises?

PAUL’S “ALLEGORY” (vv.24-27)

NOTE: When Paul asks in v.21, “you who want to be under law, do you now listen to law?” it is evident that by the law Paul is referring to the books of Moses and also the prophets because in v.27 he quotes from Isaiah 54:1.

A. Present (1^st century) Jerusalem was enslaved because it was the city that crucified Jesus. It was apostate and did not believe in the promises of God which find their yea and amen in Jesus Christ (v.25; see Matthew 23:38)..

B. Isaiah’s barren woman and the larger context (v.27; Isaiah 54:1).

Isaiah 53:10

10 But the LORD was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

Isaiah 54:1

1 “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;

Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;

For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous

Than the sons of the married woman,” says the LORD.

“Notice that the verse immediately following Isa 53:2–12 is Isa 54:1. The suffering of the Lord’s servant is followed immediately in Isaiah by the call for the barren one to rejoice. Paul’s citation of Isa 54:1 sets up waves of resonance with Isaiah’s proclamation of the suffering servant and Jerusalem’s future that ripple through the entire probatio of Gal 3:1–4:31” (Jobes, Karen H. “Jerusalem, Our Mother: Metalepsis and Intertextuality in Galatians 4:21-31.” Westminster Theological Journal. Vol. 55, No. 2, Fall 1993, p.312).

KING JAMES TRANSLATION MISTAKE

"To-remain Bible" 1805: in Galatians 4:29 a proof-reader had written in "to remain" in the margin, as an answer to whether a comma should be deleted. The note inadvertently became part of the text, making the edition read "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit to remain, even so it is now."

THROUGH FAITH IN THE SUFFERING SERVANT WE ARE CHILDREN OF PROMISE (vv.28-31)

A. Just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so too, Paul was being persecuted by the party of the circumcision (v.29; Gal.5:11-12; 6:12,17).

B. If you want to listen to the law (v.21) then cast out the bondwoman and her son (v.30).

[1] Also referred to as a cryptogram; the Greeks called it isopsephia.