“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she and borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.”
Genesis 21:9-11
The story of Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael gives us an in depth illustration of the conflict within every man between the flesh and the Spirit, and the Law versus Grace (Galatians 3:19-4:31). We’re told by Paul in the book of Galatians that Ishmael is a picture of the flesh and Isaac a picture of the Spirit, as well as Hagar a picture of the Law (or Mt.Sinai, where the Law was given) while Sarah is an illustration of the new covenant, also referred to as Jerusalem where Jesus shed his blood and sealed the deal for salvation.
“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.”
Galatians 4:22-31
Abraham was in a hard spot. On one hand he had the love of his youth, his first wife Sarah, with whom he’d trekked for so long, waiting for the day when the desire of their hearts, Isaac, would arrive. On the other hand he had this relationship with Hagar that should have never happened, the path that should have never been taken, and the responsibility that he couldn’t put off due to the results of pursuing what he thought was best.
Sound familiar?
It’s exactly like us, when we choose to pursue our own desires instead of the way, God (the love of our lives), has called us to walk.
Now the time arrived for Abraham to choose which will be nurtured and which will be cast off. Will it be his first love and God given son, or will he choose the path which he tried to establish, the woman which wasn’t his wife, and the son which was birthed from disobedience and disbelief?
The option to raise and nurture both boys wasn’t available. Enmity was present between Ishmael and Isaac. That’s the way it is with the flesh and the Spirit. The fleshy sinful desires will always look to overcome, smother, and destroy the God given spirit-filled promises for your life. If Abraham didn’t choose, more than likely Ishmael would have killed Isaac, this might seem like speculation, but it wasn’t uncommon that a surrogate son who was old enough to realize all that he had coming to him as heir would do everything within his power to secure his inheritance, even if it meant killing the biological son. And so it is with the Spirit and the flesh, if we don’t choose which to nurture and which to cast away we’ll see that the flesh will grow, the things that were birthed from our own desires will seek to dictate over the Spiritual things of God, moving ever so slightly into the position to smother, destroy, and dispose of the promises of God for our lives.
This story seems kind of odd and a bit harsh, but in reality it’s a stark contrast to the human condition of sin and sanctification.
When confronted with the failures of the flesh we’re tempted to embrace the Law (Hagar) to control the flesh (Ishmael). We think, “If I crack down on the flesh, if I show it who the boss is and lay down the law, then I’ll be okay. A couple practical rules here and there and this will all be under control.”
The problem with that answer is the control never lasts, you’ll do fine for a day, a week, or even a couple months…but just when you think you’ve gotten things sorted and you let down your guard the flesh rises up and overcomes you. That’s why the Law can’t bring salvation. It will always condemn mankind, the Law isn’t bad, it simply shows us for who we are…fleshy and sinful. Hagar and Ishmael needed to go.
The answer is Grace, God’s promise of salvation through the greater-than-Isaac, Jesus Christ the Son and the deliverance of God’s desired outcome (Sanctification). We must embrace our Sarah and Isaac if we desire to see life and the best that God has in store for us, otherwise we will be living with conflict, strife, and under the oppression of the Law instead of the Liberty and Love of our Savior.
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