LESSON XI.—SABBATH, DECEMBER 15, 1900.
19 "My little children, of whom I am again in travail until 20 Christ be formed in you, yea, I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I am perplexed about you. 21 "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear 22 the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one 23 by the handmaid, and one by the freewoman. Howbeit the son by the handmaid is born after the flesh; but the son by the 24 freewoman is born through promise. Which things contain an allegory; for these women are two covenants; one from Mount Sinai, bearing children unto bondage, which is Hagar. 25 Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is; for she is in bondage with her 26 children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother." NOTE.—This much-discussed portion of Scripture is really the simplest and most direct of any part of this Epistle. There is no possibility of misunderstanding it, if we but give heed to what is said, and hold ourselves to it. Of course it is necessary to be familiar with the incident in Abraham's life, to which the apostle refers; so we should refresh our minds by reading Gen. 16; 17:15-21; Heb. 11:11. We have this week only a part of the lesson that the apostle draws from the life of Abraham, and so must wait until next week to get the complete view; but if the verses that we have before us are thoroughly mastered, we shall find no trouble. See that not a thought escapes you. (1) In what affectionate manner does the apostle address his hearers? (2) In what words does he show his intense anxiety for them? (3) For what was he so burdened in their behalf? (4) What did he desire? (5) In what state was he concerning them? (6) What direct question does he ask? (7) What were some desiring? (8) This being so, what is intimated that they were not hearing? (9) What is written concerning Abraham? (10) Of whom were these two sons born? (11) How was the son of the bondwoman born? (12) How was it with the son of the freewoman? (13) What does this history contain for us? (14) What are these two women? (15) For which covenant does Hagar stand? (16) To what does that covenant bring14forth? (17) What is Hagar? (18) To what does Hagar, or Mount Sinai, answer? (19) In what state is old Jerusalem? (20) Who are in the same condition with her? (21) What about the Jerusalem which is above? (22) Whose mother is she? (23) Being free, to what must she bring forth? 1. "My little children." Very affectionately does the apostle deal with the erring Galatians, not as a matter of policy, but because he loves them as a mother loves the children whom she has brought forth in pain. In his labor in the Gospel, the apostle Paul gave himself, his own life, for souls, even as Christ did. Whoever labors in that way, will never deal harshly with any wanderer. 2. THE Galatians were in a doubtful position. They wanted salvation, yet they were choosing destruction. They were deliberately putting themselves under the law, in a state of condemnation, and that because they were ignorant of the law. Compare Gal. 3:10. The man who sets himself to get righteousness by the law, places himself under the curse, just as surely as the man who deliberately rejects it and tramples upon it. 3. "Do you not hear the law?" The law certainly speaks loud enough. Read Ex. 19:16-24. It spoke only death. By itself, outside of Christ, it is only the ministration of death. Every feature of the giving of the law from Sinai, every word, every lightning flash, and every thunderbolt, together with the fire and the earthquake, said most plainly, "There is no righteousness, but only condemnation and death, to be obtained by the works of the law." The inheritance of righteousness is not by the law, but by promise. Compare Gal. 3:18. 4. THIS was demonstrated in the case of Abraham. He made a great mistake and attempted to fulfil God's promise. A son had been promised him,—a true free-born son who could be his heir. It had been expressly stated that a servant could not be his heir. Gen. 15:2-4. Nevertheless, he hearkened to the voice of Sarai, instead of to the Lord, and took Hagar, Sarai's Egyptian bondmaid, by whom he had Ishmael. But since Hagar was a bond-servant, a slave, Ishmael could be nothing else. So Abraham had gained nothing. Afterwards Isaac, the child of promise, was born. He was free, and could inherit all that Abraham had. The history is so plain that no one can misunderstand it. The application is equally plain. 5. THESE two women, Hagar and Sarah, represent two covenants, known respectively as the first and the second, the old and the new. One originates at Mount Sinai, the other in the New Jerusalem above. In the first one the people promise to keep the law; in the second one God promised to write the law in their hearts by His Spirit. The first one can give nothing but bondage, condemnation, and death. The other gives pardon, justification, and life. The old Jerusalem is in bondage, together with all that look to it for help. Mount Sinai itself—the law for which it stood as the emblem—could never give freedom. It only, with thunder tones, warns people not to depend on works for righteousness, and drives them back to the promise and the oath of God. 6. JERUSALEM above is free, and is the mother of all who are of the faith of Abraham: "for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. 11:10. Here we may come and be adopted as free-born citizens. "For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more; for they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart; and so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake). But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Heb. 12:18-24.