Chapter 2: The Faithfulness of The One (Who are the "Israel of God?")

By Hazel Holland

In the last chapter we briefly saw God’s plan in action of choosing one person after another from one generation to the next to make known His saving purposes to the rest of the world. We saw that the decision God made to call Abram revealed the path He had chosen to bring about the salvation of the many through the “faith of the one”.

In spite of the fact that the “faith of the one” faltered, the “faithfulness of the One” who had chosen Abram did not! Although God had said to Abraham, “Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that—too many to count!” (Genesis 15:5), Abraham’s faith grew weary. Fulfillment of God’s promise lingered.

So after waiting for around eleven years for a son, Abram and Sarai came up with a scheme to accelerate the timing of God’s promise. Abraham would have Hagar, Sarai’s Egyptian maidservant, give him a son. Since Abram knew that the meaning of the word “nation” (“goy” in Hebrew) meant “Gentile, foreign nation, or heathen”, he and his wife might have reasoned that having a son by the slave woman would be acceptable to God, because after all Gentiles were going to be a part of this great “nation” that God had in mind.

In view of the fact that God had told Abraham that all nations on earth were going to be blessed through him (the promise of the coming Seed) what harm could possibly come from helping God get the ball rolling by having Hagar give Abram a son? History reveals that our godless schemes and hidden agendas cannot frustrate the will of God.

God Confirms His Covenant

Ishmael must have been around twelve years old, and Abram ninety-nine years old when God confirmed His original covenant promise to Abram. Besides adding further details and instructions to the original promise, God also changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s name to Sarah, because they were going to be the father and mother of many nations.

God said that Sarah was going to give Abraham a son, and God would establish his covenant promise through his son Isaac whom Sarah would bear to him “by this time next year.” Abraham immediately fell down on his face. “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?" (Genesis 17:1-23).

A year after God confirmed His covenant promise, Isaac was born. However, it was a quarter of a century after God had first given Abraham the promise of making him into a great nation (Genesis 12). Can you imagine waiting for twenty-five years to see the fulfillment of a promise that God has given you? We have enough trouble waiting for a week, or a month, let alone a year for God to fulfill His word to us sometimes. As we have already seen, Abraham had trouble waiting, too!

Scripture goes on to tell us that on the day Abraham held a feast to commemorate the weaning of Isaac, Sarah saw that Ishmael, Abraham’s eldest son, was mocking. Sarah knew that Ishmael despised Isaac, and that Abraham still had his heart set on Ishmael as the heir. So she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac” Genesis 21:8-13 (NIV).

This malice that Ishmael had in his heart toward his younger brother, Isaac is confirmed by the Spirit in the following statement by Paul. “He that was born after the flesh (Ishmael) persecuted him that was born after the Spirit (Isaac)” (Galatians 4:29). We know the rest of the story. The next day Hagar and Ishmael left the household of Abraham and went into the desert, and God blessed Ishmael and his descendants and made them into a great nation.

Two Covenants

Now let’s go to the New Testament and read Paul’s allegory about these two women, Hagar and Sarah, who were in Abraham’s household. The Spirit reveals that these women represent two covenants, the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.

"These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother…

"Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.’ Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman’” Galatians 4:22-31 (NIV).

This allegory calls our attention to the distinct difference between the old covenant of works (represented by Hagar and Jerusalem) and the new covenant of grace (represented by Sarah and the New Jerusalem); between the physical seed of Abraham and the spiritual seed of Abraham. We shall begin to see how Ishmael and Isaac’s diverse seed separate the people of this world into two distinct groups. This spirit of enmity toward God that was first witnessed in Cain’s attitude towards Abel rises up again in Ishmael’s attitude towards Isaac.

The Ishmael’s

The Ishmael’s represent those who give their allegiance to the old covenant law of works. This Law from Sinai demands spotless righteousness and perfect obedience from all men. God’s words are brief and clear. Compliance ensures life, but any deviation or infringement of the law is inevitable death. The law says, “Do this, or die!” The law is like a slave master, giving lashes to its slaves, demanding that they work faster and harder while frowning on their failure to meet its demands.

Those who live under this covenant of works live as men according to the flesh. They live and they die trying to do everything that the law demands, but their efforts will always prove futile. Eventually, they will meet their judgment at the judgment seat of Christ, and the verdict will always be the same—“Guilty!” For the slave children who walk according to the flesh there is no rule of mercy in favor of eternal life, but only eternal death.

The Isaac’s

By contrast, the Isaac’s represent those who gratefully embrace the new covenant of grace. All that the old covenant of works demands, Jesus Christ has already performed and fulfilled. All the dreaded penalties for failure to measure up to the righteous demands of the law, Jesus Christ has already suffered for when He endured the shame of the cross. We are not left in hopeless bondage under Sinai's law, because One Man has utterly fulfilled every jot and title of that holy law. That One Man, Jesus Christ, gives us credit for His perfect obedience to that old covenant law of works!

Therefore, all men who embrace the new covenant gospel of grace, place their faith in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross. They become the spiritual sons of God who have been born by the power of the Spirit. Consequently, they are free from the terrors of not measuring up to God’s holy law. Instead, they have peace with God, are heirs of salvation, and know that they have eternal life.

The Conflict

In these verses we begin to understand why the earthly Jerusalem is still in bondage with her children (and it’s still true today!) because she still gives her allegiance to the old covenant law of works, demanding that her slave children, “Do this, or die!” On the other hand, the heavenly Jerusalem that is above; the city of the living God (also called the holy city or New Jerusalem) is free to all who believe that Jesus Christ fulfilled all the demands of the old covenant law for them See Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2).

Throughout this masterful allegory Paul builds upon what he has already shared with us in the previous chapter regarding Abraham being acceptable to God based on his faith in the coming Seed. Now, through this passage Paul gives us further evidence that it is through Isaac, the child of promise, that the spiritual Seed—Jesus Christ, would come.

These verses reveal that Christ is the Seed of that Promise, the same covenant promise in “seed” form that was given to Adam and Eve. Furthermore, Paul tells us that unless we are born by the power of the Spirit, we will not only remain slave children, and forfeit the promised inheritance (eternal life), but we will be cast out!

Consider with me for a moment the warning Christ repeatedly gave to those in His audience who were hypocrites; those who deemed themselves a part of the kingdom, but refused to believe on Him. Jesus told them that they would eventually be cast out into “outer darkness”, a place where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 24:51, 25: 30 and Luke 13:28).

The Enmity

Remember what God declared to Adam and Eve when he promised them a Deliverer? He told them that there would be enmity, scorn, and yes even hatred between those born of the flesh and those born of the Spirit. This has been the pattern throughout all time ever since man sinned. As already mentioned earlier, Cain and Abel are our first example of two sons, one born of the flesh; the other born of the Spirit.

Sadly, Cain lived under the bondage of the covenant of works, evidenced by the fact that he thought he could satisfy God’s requirements by offering vegetables as a sacrifice instead of the required lamb. He didn’t believe in the future promised Seed that pointed to the Lamb who would take away his sins.

On the other hand, Abel lived under the covenant of grace, evidenced by the fact that he obeyed God’s requirement by offering a lamb as a sacrifice. He chose to believe in the future promised Seed that pointed to the Lamb of God who would come and deliver him from his sins; not only him, but all those who believed.

The following Scriptures further remind us that those who are born of the Spirit will suffer persecution at the hands of those who are born of the flesh:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).

“Because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).

“All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12).

“Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

The book of Hebrews briefly recounts for us the lives of many more men and women who maintained their allegiance to Jesus Christ while suffering persecution and even death. Church history also gives us similar accounts of the Isaac’s who became martyrs, victims of savage cruelties. Even as they were on the rack or in the flames they glorified Jesus Christ, while the Ishmael’s looked on, relentlessly taunting them in their pain.

Go to Chapter 3: Go here.