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.
I have a reading recommendation for you. Pilgrim’s Progress in modern English is a great story of standing firm in the faith. I have read the Bible many times and I confess that my mind constantly glazed over this passage until I preached it but Pilgrim’s Progress makes perfect sense. First of all, the story of Hagar and Sarah meant something different than how Paul used it. Second, Paul spoke “allegorically”. He used figurative language to say that Ishmael was the son of the slave and that Isaac was the son of promise. That seemed a long way around to get to the punchline.
Pilgrim’s Progress is allegorical. John Bunyan had characters called Christian, Obstinate, Pliable, and my personal favorite, Worldly Wise. He was much less subtle than Paul. There is a hidden nugget in these verses. “These women are two covenants.” One makes you a slave to the law while the other makes you a child of the promise. When Jesus gave us the New Covenant at that Last Supper, he initiated the better of the two covenants.
Too many Christians are living the slave life of the old covenant, trying to get to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments. Today, pray that Christian would stand firm in the faith and not fall victim to Worldly Wise. May you be that Christian today and…
Be free.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church