O understand this allegory, it will be necessary to make some general remarks upon the whole passage, and the context generally. And, first, the Galatia of the New Testament was one of the political divisions of Asia Minor, and perhaps the most important one. In this letter the apostle represents the Galatians, as all profane history does, as a people susceptible of quick impressions and very sudden changes, with a fickleness only equal to their courage and enthusiasm; and a constant liability to that disunion which was the result of their excessive vanity. They were a peculiar race, from whom had sprung one of the most powerful nations of modern times.

      Long before the Christian era, they wandered forth from their European home, burnt Rome, pillaged Delphi, and founded an empire in Northern Italy, and another in Asia Minor, of great importance. The "Galatia" of the New Testament was really the "Gaul" of the east, and the Epistle to [331] the Galatians, would more literally be entitled, "the epistle to the Gauls." And when the Greek historians speak of the inhabitants of ancient France, they use the name "Galatians." The terms Gauls and Galatians are simply the Latin and Greek forms of the same barbarian appellation. When the Galatians were once established in Asia Minor, they lost no time in spreading themselves over the whole peninsula, with their arms and devastations. But their territory and power were gradually curtailed, and they were reduced to the central district, known in the times of Paul as Galatia, surrounded by the other states or provinces of Asia Minor. The modern French people are the descendants of these ancient Galatians, or Gauls.

      Paul, on his second missionary tour from Antioch, in company with Silas and Timothy, having passed through Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, confirming the souls of the disciples, passed over into the "regions of Galatia." His reception there may be inferred from his letter to them, where he says, "And my temptation, which was in my flesh, you despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." Chapter iv:14. These fickle-minded Galatians, were, however, soon seduced from the faith of the Gospel, after the departure of the apostle from among them, by time-serving teachers, who opposed and perverted the Gospel of Christ. The doctrine of these Judaizers, concerning the necessity of circumcision in order to [332] salvation, the apostle terms "another gospel," or rather no gospel at all.

      In order to lessen the influence of Paul among the people, the Judaizers charged that he was no apostle, or at least that he was only an apostle of men, having received his commission to preach the Gospel, not from God, but from the brethren at Antioch; and that he had learned all he knew about the Gospel from the apostles at Jerusalem. These false accusations were listened to by many, which led the apostle to rebuke them sharply. He says, "O, foolish Galatians ! who hath deceived you, that you should not obey the truth?"

      And to refute these false charges, he narrates his journeys and labors after his conversion, and refers to his interviews with the other apostles, and then declares that he "did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before him," to learn the Gospel, but that he had received it by revelation from God the Father, and that he had successfully preached it for several years, before he saw any of the other apostles.

      In the third chapter the apostle proves that the promise of God to Abraham, concerning Christ, was not disannulled or set aside by the law, which was established four hundred and thirty years after the promise. That the inheritance bestowed upon Abraham that he should be the heir of a world, was to be enjoyed through the fulfillment of the promise, and not by law, and consequently the Jewish nation did [333] not receive nor enjoy the promised inheritance by the law. The reasons that the promise or covenant made with Abraham could not be disannulled by any subsequent arrangement, God was one of the high contracting parties, and Abraham was the other, when the covenant was made concerning Christ. But when the law was given at Mount Sinai, Abraham was not present, and therefore, though it was but a man's covenant, yet, without his consent, no one could change it or set it aside. As Abraham was not present to give his consent, the covenant could not be disannulled by anything that was done at Mount Sinai.

      The Judaizer would then very naturally ask the question, "Wherefore, then, serveth the law?" Of what account is the law, if it does not supersede the promise, nor put us in possession of the inheritance, which Paul declared was not enjoyed by the law, but by the promise? Paul answers, "It was added on account of transgression (till the offspring should come, to whom the promise was made), having been appointed through the service of the angels, in the hand of a Mediator." That is, the law was added to the promise four hundred and thirty years after the promise was confirmed to Abraham. Why was it added? "Because of transgression." How long shall it continue in force? "Until the seed, or offspring, shall come, to whom the promise was made." And he assures us that the seed or offspring to whom the promise was made, was Jesus Christ. [334] He then declares that the law could not give life, but that God has concluded all under sin; all under the law, as well as those who have not the law, so "that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ may be given to those who believe," whether Jew or Gentile. And he declares that, so far as the Jews were concerned, "the law was our pedagogue that led us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." But the Jew would ask, then, "Are we still under this pedagogue?" The apostle says, "But since faith has come (Christ the promised seed) we are no longer under a pedagogue."

      The question would arise in the mind of the Jew, as it does in the mind of many sectarianized Gentiles: If the law could not give us life, or put us in possession of the inheritance; but merely act the part of a pedagogue to lead us to Christ, who you say has now come; then, who are the heirs of this valuable inheritance, which you teach that God gives, not, by law, but through the Gospel? Are all the sons of Abraham made heirs unconditionally? The apostle answers:

      "For ye are all the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you, as have been immersed into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bondman nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's children, and heirs according to the promise." [335]

      Neither all the Jews, nor all the Gentiles, are heirs of the inheritance with Abraham; but only such as have become the children of God by faith in Christ, and have put on Christ, by being immersed in His name. All such are heirs of the inheritance according to the promise made to Abraham. Believers, under the law, and others who had believed from the beginning, are represented by the apostle, at the beginning of the fourth chapter, as minors, under guardians and managers, till the time appointed by the Father. But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might buy off those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father."

      At the eighth verse, he speaks of the condition of the Gentiles: "But, then, because you knew not God, you were enslaved to those who, by nature, are not Gods; now, however, after having known God, rather, having been known by God, how is it that you are turning back to the weak and beggarly rudiments to which you desire again to be in bondage, as at first?" At the seventeenth verse, he refers to these Judaizing teachers, and their reasons for trying to lead these Galatians astray, he says: "They are ardently attached to you, but, not honorably; indeed, they desire to exclude us, that you may be ardently attached to them." Then, to illustrate and bring fully to view the condition of those still under [336] the bondage of the law, as contrasted with those made free by the Gospel, he introduces the allegory of the bondmaid, and the freewoman. We give the allegory, from Anderson's translation of the passage, as follows:

      "Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not understand the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons; one by a bondmaid, and one by a freewoman. But the one by the bondmaid was born according to the flesh; the other, by the freewoman, was by promise. These things are allegorized; for these women are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, that brings forth for bondage, which is Hagar. For Hagar represents Mount Sinai, in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free; and she is the mother of us all. For it is written: Rejoice you barren, that do not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you that travail not; for many more are the children of the deserted, than of her that had the husband of the deserted. We, indeed, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But, as then, he that was born according to the flesh, persecuted him that was born according to the spirit, so even now. But what says the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. Therefore, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the freewoman." Gal. iv:21-31. [337]

      As to the design of this allegory, or parable, we think there can be no doubt. But we shall discuss the main features of the allegory, very briefly, and in doing so, we shall speak of:

      1. The bondmaid and her children,

      2. The freewoman and her children,

      3. The advantages of being children of the freewoman, as compared with the bondage of those who are born after the flesh--children of the bondmaid.

      An allegory is, properly, when persons and events present, or near at hand, with their qualities and circumstances, being understood, are considered as types or representatives of persons and events more remote, to which they have a resemblance. "Wherefore, since the apostle Paul tells us, that what Moses has written concerning the two women, Sarah and Hagar, though a literal history of the two women, it is an allegorical representation of the two covenants; and that Abraham's sons by the women, represent the persons born under the two covenants, together with the treatment they are to receive from God; we can run no risk in so using the history. And especially as the prophet Isaiah gives the same representation of these women and their children, in the fifty-fourth chapter. He says, verse 1: "Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear: For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife."

      1. Hagar was the bondmaid of Sarah, the lawful wife of Abraham. But, as Sarah was barren, she [338] gave her Egyptian bondmaid to Abraham, that by her, as a kind of substitute, she might have children; end Hagar had a son by Father Abraham, and called his name Ishmael. And she was afterward cast out with her son, from heiring with Isaac the large estate of Abraham. Hagar, was also one of the names given to Mount Sinai, by the Arabians, as the name signifies in their language, a rock; it was very properly applied to the whole mountain range in Arabia Petrea, of which Mount Sinai is a part.

      Hagar, being the name of Mount Sinai, where the Jewish nation received their law, and being a bondmaid, and bringing forth her son Ishmael to bondage, as the status of the child follows the condition of the mother; and as her son was not born according to the Spirit, but according to the flesh, that is, simply by ordinary generation, she is, therefore, with her son, a fit representation of the covenant given at Mount Sinai-which describes the condition of the present Jerusalem, which, like Hagar, is in bondage with her children.

      The apostle certainly intends to teach us, that the Jews are the children of Hagar the bondmaid, because, like her son Ishmael, they were descended from Abraham according to the flesh, and like Ishmael, had no title to the inheritance by their fleshly descent from Abraham. The Israelites became members of the Jewish church, because they were descended from Abraham according to the flesh. They are not after the Spirit, but of the flesh; and being [339] born under the institution of the law, were not only in bondage, but not entitled to the inheritance, which is enjoyed entirely upon the ground of faith and obedience. All, therefore, who are members of the church by virtue of a natural birth, or fleshly relation, are the children of Hagar, and are in bondage, and not entitled to heir with the children of the freewoman.

      2. The freewoman and her children represent the new covenant, and all those born under it. Sarah was the freewoman and Abraham's lawful wife. Yet she is called the deserted by the prophet; when Abraham took the Egyptian handmaid, by the advice and consent of his wife Sarah. Her son Isaac was born after the Spirit, as he was the child of promise. But Hagar and Ishmael persecuted Sarah and Isaac. So the present Jerusalem and her children persecute those who are born after the Spirit--the Christians.

      But Sarah, the freewoman, who represents the Jerusalem which is above, is simply the Church of God under the new covenant. It is above, and all her children are free, as the child follows the condition of the mother. As to the multitude of the children of Sarah, the deserted, as compared to the children of Hagar, who had taken Sarah's husband, it is to be understood of Abraham's spiritual seed, the apostle says, Rom. ix:8: "The children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for seed." In the light the [340] expressions in Scripture, concerning believers being begotten of God and of the Spirit, are allusions to the supernatural begetting of Isaac, and to what was typified thereby. For example: "To as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, who were begotten, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John i:12. Again, "Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." John iii:5, 6.

      In Genesis xxi:9, we have an account of the persecution of Isaac by Ishmael, referred to in this allegory. It consisted in his mocking at the feast of his weaning. We are not specially informed as to what words he used in mocking and persecuting Isaac, but it is very probable that the following was about the true state of the case:

      Ishmael was born in the year of the world 2094, and Isaac was not born till the year 2108, or fourteen years afterward. Ishmael and his mother Hagar, had, during that fourteen years, looked upon Ishmael as the sole heir to Abraham's vast estate; but when they saw the little stranger Isaac, the son of Sarah, they saw in a moment all their hopes dashed to the ground. He became envious and abusive of his younger brother. Finally, Sarah became so much displeased with Ishmael and his mother, that she prevailed upon, Abraham to send them away, and he expelled them from his premises. Hagar and Ishmael wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, [341] and when reduced to great distress and want, a voice from heaven said, "Fear not, Hagar, the Lord hath heard the child's voice. I will make him the father of a great people." They abode in the wilderness of Paran, where Ishmael became expert in archery, and his mother married him to an Egyptian woman.

      Now, there is a striking resemblance in this; Ishmael, born after the flesh, was scornful, and hated his younger brother Isaac, who was born after the Spirit, and persecuted him, until he was expelled from the family of Abraham. So the Jews, who were born after the flesh, like Ishmael, persecuted the Christians. Like Ishmael, for a long time they looked upon themselves as the sole heirs to the kingdom of heaven, and the only children of Abraham; and when they saw the great Messiah, and especially when they saw his kingdom established on earth, and the people flocking to his standard, they were filled with bitter hatred and envy against Christ and his disciples, and persecuted them "even unto strange cities." They followed this wicked course until it became necessary that they be expelled from the land and ancient home of Abraham, like Hagar and Ishmael, their great prototypes. This was consummated when Jerusalem was taken by the Romans.

      3. The advantages of being the children of the freewoman, as compared with the bondage of those who are born after the flesh-children of the bondmaid.

      All Christians are children of the freewoman, [342] and of course are themselves free. The Savior says, "If you continue in my word, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Again--"And if the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed." To be made free by the Son, and through the truth, is to be pardoned, and adopted into the heavenly family, and constituted a child of Abraham, and an heir according to the promise. And Paul describes this conversion very beautifully in the following Scripture:

      "For ye are the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; for as many of you as have been immersed into Christ, have put on Christ. In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bondman nor freeman; there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. iii:26-29.

      According to this testimony, then, no one is a child of Abraham, and heir according to the promise, except by faith in Christ, and obedience to the Gospel. The Gospel is the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus," by which Paul declares we are "made free from the law of sin and death." None, then, belong to Abraham's spiritual family, but those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, with all the heart, repent of their sins and obey from the heart the form of doctrine delivered them, by being buried with the Lord in baptism--planted together in the likeness of His death. All such are born again-- [343] born of water and of the Spirit, and according to the promise, as Isaac was. And then, all such are made free from sins, and children of the freewoman, or members of the church of the living God, which is the pillar and support of the truth.

      But the Hagarines, are those who claim to be children of Sarah--or of Jerusalem--which is above, free, and the mother of all Christians, upon the ground of mere fleshly relations. This embraces a very large class of professors of religion of the present day, as well as of past ages. Take, for example, all the descendants of Abraham, according to the flesh who claim all the blessings promised to Abraham, by virtue of the fleshly relation. Wherever they are found, in all our great commercial centers, and marts of trade and business, they are the same haughty, persecuting people. Though like their prototype Ishmael, they have been cast out for nearly eighteen centuries, still they maintain all their ancient hatred to Christ and to His disciples-those born after the Spirit.

      But we are laboring under a great mistake, if we suppose that the Israelites, according to the flesh, are the only children of Hagar we have among us. And we mean nothing meanly offensive, when we say that all national churches, as the Greek church of Russia, the Latin church of Rome--generally called the "Roman Catholic"--the church of England, over which crowned heads have long reigned, and all the pedobaptist churches in the old world and [344] in America, must be considered as represented by the bondmaid and her son. That we do them no injustice, all must admit, who have examined the subject with care. The great principle laid down here, not only by the Roman Catholics and the establishments of the old world, but in all pedobaptist churches in this country, is this: "The parents being members of the church, the child has a right to baptism and membership." Now, this is purely a fleshly relation, and is precisely such a condition as the apostle describes as "born after the flesh." All such are the children of Hagar, the bondmaid, "and shall not inherit with the children of the freewoman."

      1. The first advantage we shall mention is, that being the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus, and obedience to the Gospel, we know the Lord for ourselves. The prophet speaking of the new covenant, and the children of Sarah under it, says: "And it shall come to pass, that every man shall not teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'know the Lord,' for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them." Jer. xxxi:31-35. The very least and youngest of all the children of the freewoman, know the Lord for themselves, and have no need to be taught to know him by their brothers and fellow-citizens.

      But this is not true of any Roman Catholic or any other pedobaptist church. Hundreds and thousands of very small children, and young infants, [345] are sprinkled and taken into the church, not because they have any faith in Christ, but solely on account of the fact that their parents, one or both, were members before them, and perhaps brought in upon this purely fleshly relation. Now, all such members have to be taught to know the Lord, as they grow up, and become capable of understanding and believing the truth. In a word, it can not be said of them: "And they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest of them," because a very large element in the membership do not know the Lord!

      2. We notice, as a second advantage, that we are made free from sins.

      All the children of the freewoman are made free from sin, by being pardoned. Jesus promised that, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved," that is, pardoned. And God promised, by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more for ever." And Peter said to the inquiring multitude: "Repent and be immersed every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts ii:37, 38.

      3. We receive the adoption, and become heirs of God, and joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, our Master, is the owner and proprietor of the universe, and we are joint heirs with Him in this vast inheritance. Paul says: "All are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life [346] or death, things present or things to come; all are yours, and ye are Christ's and Christ is God's." "But what saith the scriptures? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman."

      4. As a fourth advantage, we may mention the Holy Spirit. All the children of Sarah--Christians--enjoy the Holy Spirit. "Because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father." Again: "The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." "We are his witnesses, and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to all them that obey him." "If you have not the Spirit of Christ you are none of his."

      But the Holy Spirit, as a comforter and a witness, is only enjoyed by those who have become the children of God, by faith and obedience to Christ. And, of course, those whose title to spiritual blessings rests on the fleshly relation, recognized in all pedobaptist communities, has no promise of the Spirit, and consequently can not enjoy it.

      5. A fifth advantage is, that we have the promise of a glorious resurrection from the dead, to immortality and eternal life. Paul says: "When this mortal shall have put on immortality, and when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, then shall be brought to pass the saying, that Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death! where now thy sting! Grave, where now thy victory?" Again the [347] apostle says: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then, we who are alive and remain upon the earth, shall, together with them, be caught in the clouds into the air, to meet the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." I Thess. iv:16-18.

      But, perhaps, some one is ready to say, the Scriptures teach the doctrine of a general 'and universal resurrection of all the dead. Very true, my hearers, all the dead will be raised up, but "every one in his own proper band, or order." The Christian will have part in the first resurrection, and shall be raised in their own order; that is, with all Christians. But the sinner has made choice of his company here, and in that order or band, will he be raised up. And Jesus says: "The hour is coming, when all that are in the grave, shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, shall rise to the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation." John v:28-29.

      6. A sixth advantage is, that being the children of the freewoman, we shall finally be permitted to enter in through the gates into the city of God above. "Happy are they who do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and shall enter in through the gates into the city." While upon the other hand, those who have no other title to heaven, but a flesh and blood relation, will [348] be without the city, among the unhappy throng, who have rejected the Gospel of Christ.

      Then, in that city of delight, we shall join the happy throng, in giving praise to Him who has redeemed us by His blood, out of every nation, kindred, tongue and people, and made us unto our God kings and priests!

      Then we shall enter upon the enjoyment of the rich inheritance of the saints in light. "But the bondwoman and her son, shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman." And Paul says: "For the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, to take vengeance on those who know not God, and who obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." II Thess. i:6-10.

      May the Lord enable us to be faithful until death, that we may at last receive the crown of life! [349]

[NTC3 331-349]