W. H. GRANGER (Canton, Ohio) “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar . . . and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” There are two classes of people in the earth who can claim Abraham as their father: (1) those who are the natural descendants after the flesh; (2) those who are the children of promise. The first are citizens, or children, of earthly Jerusalem; the second are children of Jerusalem which is above. The first, are born servants of sin, and are in bondage under the elements of this world. The second are freeborn. They know the truth, and the truth has made them free. They are not the servants of sin; “for sin shall not have dominion over you.” This latter class, the children of the freewoman, are those who are “heirs according to the promise.” “For it is written . . . Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” The inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed embraced the world (Rom. 4:13), not “this present evil world,” but “the world to come,” “the new earth,” “the kingdom of God.” And bear in mind that no person of whatever nation or race he may be, can claim heirship in that kingdom by right of natural birth, after the flesh. This is where the Hebrew nation stumbled to their ruin. They supposed themselves to be the seed of Abraham, to whom the promise was made, simply because they were the descendants of Abraham after the flesh. Hence imagine the astonishment of Nicodemus when the Saviour said to him: “Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” We must be “born of the Spirit.” We become rightful heirs to that kingdom by the new birth, by being children of faith (Gal. 3:7, 29), by being adopted into the family of God as sons; “for if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Gal. 4:5-7. We are not of the earth earthy; but our “citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We are the seed, begotten to Abraham, as was Isaac, by the direct power of God. We obtain the inheritance, not by works, but by right of birth, even the new birth. Again: you will notice that Gal. 4:27 is quoted from Isa. 54:1, and proves that Jerusalem which is above is the mother of the children who are heirs according to the promise. In this verse we have the two cities represented as two women. Paul gives us a key to this chapter, by telling us that one represents Jerusalem which is above, and the other, earthly Jerusalem with her children, who are the seed of Abraham after the flesh. Jerusalem which is above is represented as a woman in mourning because of having no children. However, she is bidden by the Lord to rejoice; for in the end she is to have many more children than has earthly Jerusalem. She is bidden to enlarge the place of her habitation in order to make room to receive them. This will be very plain when we understand the fact that Jerusalem which is above is the original home of Adam and Eve, the garden of Eden, enlarged and beautified to accommodate the nations of them which are saved. It is the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world. Matt. 25:34. In Isaiah 54 we have the promise of what God will make Eden. In Revelation 21 we have, by the seer of Patmos, a description of her glory when she shall receive her children. In Isa. 54:15, 16, we have the gathering of the wicked together against her at the end of the one thousand years, and their destruction. For further study on that thought, see “Patriarchs and Prophets,” pages 61, 62; “Great Controversy,” pages 646-648. Eden, or Jerusalem which is above, has been robbed of her children by Adam’s fall. For had man proved faithful to God, every child who should have been born into the world would, by right of birth, have been an heir of Eden and the kingdom it represented; but man sinned and forfeited his right to the inheritance. He was driven from Eden before a single child was born who would have been heir to it by right of birth. Therefore it is clear that of all the family of Adam who have been born after the flesh, not one is heir according to the promise. Thus has Eden been bereaved of her children. But, thank God, the One who made her has espoused her cause (Isa. 54:5), and through the plan of redemption, by the new birth, there is begotten to her many more children than has earthly Jerusalem. It is written, “I have made thee a father of many NATIONS.” These “many nations” are the seed of Abraham, those who are of faith, children of Jerusalem which is above. They are none other than the nations of them which are saved, who walk in the light of the holy city, and inherit the new earth. Rev. 21:24. These nations are twelve in number. The twelve apostles of Christ reign as kings over these nations in the earth made new. Matt. 19:27, 28. Thus the distinction between the two classes of Abraham’s seed is clearly seen: One class are the natural descendants of Abraham after the flesh. “These are not the children of God.” They are the children of earthly Jerusalem, and are in bondage, and shall not be heir with the children of the freewoman. Gal. 4:27-29. The others are the children of promise, begotten to Abraham, as was Isaac, by the direct power of God. They are born of the Spirit, born from above. They are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. These are to be many more than the former; yea, as many more as twelve nations are more than one. The seed of Abraham after the flesh have never composed but one rightful nation, while his seed to whom the promises are made are to be a “multitude of nations.” Gen. 17:4, margin. By this truth it is also certain that the popular theory of a temporal millennium, during which the Hebrew nation is to be re-established in the land of Palestine, with Christ reigning over them as king on the throne of David, in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham and his seed, is a delusion which can end only in disaster and disappointment to all who court it.