One day I was invited for a meeting near my city. The meeting started at 10am and I was waiting in the guest room for my time to preach. At that time I was inspired to read Galatians 4:22. I started reading that passage repeatedly, although I had already read it many times, because of the inspiration from God. “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond maid, the other by a free-woman.” While I was reading this passage I felt that God was revealing something new to me at that time.
In Genesis we can see that God gave promises to both Abraham and Sarah about Isaac, a heavenly promise from God who created everything. These were not just from a government or a man but a promise from the living God. By this time Abraham had already experienced the fulfilment of promises in his life in relation to wealth and prosperity. But in Galatians 4 we can see that Paul is referring to two women as two covenants. One was a godly covenant and the other was a fleshly covenant. A covenant is different from a contract. For example, marriage is a covenant and our relationship with Jesus is a covenant but the construction of a building or the finishing of a basis is on the basis of a contract. A contract is conditional but a covenant is unconditional. Even if it is a godly or a fleshly covenant you have a bond to that covenant. Breaking a covenant is more painful than breaking a contract so here the man who made the covenant is Abraham. God had given the promise to Abraham about a son. This promise came as a result of the covenant relation between him and God but out of this covenant a man with a godly promise made a new covenant with a bond or slave woman. Abraham and Sarah had been waiting for the fulfilment of the promise of children but since Sarah had not yet been able to conceive and was already a very old woman, both of them had their doubts that a child was possible with Sarah as mother so Sarah encouraged Abraham to sleep with her servant, Hagar, in order to produce a child in this way and through this ungodly covenant the son Ishmael was born (Genesis 15-21). In order to conceive new life, two things have to come together: a man’s sperm and the woman’s egg. I’m not talking only about conception in the physical realm. Here Abraham is a man who is carrying the sperm as a promise in his life. It has the potential to produce life. It will produce life when he is in a covenant relationship, but the problem is if the man or person carrying the godly promise fails to connect to the approved covenant from God it can produce an ungodly result or son. In the beginning you might be excited to see that son because he’s your son especially since he seems like the fulfilment of God’s promise. You may feel that you helped God for the fulfilment of His promise but sooner or later the promised son will come. That’s the point things will get complicated. Now you have two sons; one is from the bond servant and the other is from the promised one.
In Genesis we can see that God gave promises to both Abraham and Sarah about Isaac, a heavenly promise from God who created everything. These were not just from a government or a man but a promise from the living God. By this time Abraham had already experienced the fulfilment of promises in his life in relation to wealth and prosperity. But in Galatians 4 we can see that Paul is referring to two women as two covenants. One was a godly covenant and the other was a fleshly covenant. A covenant is different from a contract. For example, marriage is a covenant and our relationship with Jesus is a covenant but the construction of a building or the finishing of a basis is on the basis of a contract. A contract is conditional but a covenant is unconditional. Even if it is a godly or a fleshly covenant you have a bond to that covenant. Breaking a covenant is more painful than breaking a contract so here the man who made the covenant is Abraham. God had given the promise to Abraham about a son. This promise came as a result of the covenant relation between him and God but out of this covenant a man with a godly promise made a new covenant with a bond or slave woman. Abraham and Sarah had been waiting for the fulfilment of the promise of children but since Sarah had not yet been able to conceive and was already a very old woman, both of them had their doubts that a child was possible with Sarah as mother so Sarah encouraged Abraham to sleep with her servant, Hagar, in order to produce a child in this way and through this ungodly covenant the son Ishmael was born (Genesis 15-21). In order to conceive new life, two things have to come together: a man’s sperm and the woman’s egg. I’m not talking only about conception in the physical realm. Here Abraham is a man who is carrying the sperm as a promise in his life. It has the potential to produce life. It will produce life when he is in a covenant relationship, but the problem is if the man or person carrying the godly promise fails to connect to the approved covenant from God it can produce an ungodly result or son. In the beginning you might be excited to see that son because he’s your son especially since he seems like the fulfilment of God’s promise. You may feel that you helped God for the fulfilment of His promise but sooner or later the promised son will come. That’s the point things will get complicated. Now you have two sons; one is from the bond servant and the other is from the promised one.
In our life also some circumstances will force us to make ungodly covenants. Of course it will produce results but when God’s timing comes there will be a godly fulfilment. So now you need to take care of two or more sons. For example God promised you a life partner but you felt that you were getting older and you saw many people who you felt could be the right one. Sometimes through your human assumptions you concluded that someone was the right one even if she didn’t match all the areas that God had already placed upon your heart but because of fear, frustration or societal pressure you could make a wrong decision rather than waiting for God’s timing. Even after that God can honour your marriage but there will be consequences and responsibilities of fleshly choices. As Abraham faced the difficulties and challenges presented by Hagar and Ishmael, you may have to face the consequences of your fleshly choices. Who is Ishmael’s father? Abraham. Who is Isaac’s father? Abraham. But both of them will call Abraham dad and he will call both of them son. Abraham won’t call both of their mothers his wife; one of them is his wife, and the other is a servant. Abraham was happy when he saw Ishmael. There were times of laughter and fun, playing rugby and football. He bought toys for his son and Ishmael was the only one to enjoy all this. But when Isaac was born there was conflict between the two sons, as well as conflict between Sarah and Hagar while Abraham was stuck in the middle (Genesis 21: 4-21 and Galatians 4: 28-31).
Hagar and Ishmael are on one side and Sarah and Isaac are on the other. Ishmael was produced by human effort and human will but Isaac is born from God’s will and promise. From this we can see the difference between law and grace. In Galatians 3:2-5, Paul asks the question, “Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?” At the same time in v 6 Paul mentions that Abraham believed in God and his faith was credited to him as righteousness, but his human effort brought complication and burden into his life. In your life the same thing could happen. Sometimes God will ask us to wait. Sometimes we feel that waiting is a waste of time or we feel that we should do something to help God out, but you should understand that God’s waiting time is not a wasting time. I remember one of my friends whose call was to be a prophet but one day there was a special circumstance in his church. The pastor of his church died. At that time there was nobody left to lead and take care of the church. He felt that this was the time that he should act because of his experience in ministry, and his concern for the future of the church, and even some of the believers encouraged him to step forward and take responsibility. When I was talking to him he shared that he moved because he felt the urgency of the situation and believed that God would honour his decision even though he hadn’t heard anything from God. He shared that he lost nearly twelve years through struggling in an area of ministry that was not his call. His family was going through a huge mental strain at that time. After many years he found that he was doing these things because of a ‘zeal’ for God but he realised that it was something that God was not expecting from him.
I know many people who’ve planted churches from human effort, thinking that they’re doing something good for God but in the end they paid a big price for their mistake. Dear friend, this is my encouragement: remember that God is in control. Wait for His timing. Don’t try to do something for the sake of doing. Maintain the godly covenant and wait upon Him. If you do so you can see God’s hand in all circumstances. It doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect and painless but you can see God’s hand as he promised in Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” Sometimes Paul felt he wanted to visit the province of Asia because of his attachment to the area but the Holy Spirit restricted him from doing so (Acts 16:6-8). Sometimes we want to do something or visit somewhere because of a feeling but we need to find out whether the leading is from God or not. After Isaac was born, Ishmael and Hagar became a burden or headache for Abraham and Sarah. The family peace was broken. There were broken relationships, quarrels and fights.
If we compare this situation to our life we gave birth to many things in our life which were from our flesh, like some of our friendships and relationships, some of our ministry activities and some of the ways in which we spend our time and money. If you look back you can see a result or son through all your activities but sooner or later it became or has become a headache.
Finally, what is the solution? We have to remember the fact that our covenant is from above, the covenant which produces freedom. We have to say goodbye to the covenant which gives birth to bondage. When you are in a godly covenant, it will produce life, life in abundance. The things which flow through the godly covenant will be a blessing to you and a blessing to the coming generations. Galatians 4:30 says, “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’." This was a really painful time for Abraham, getting rid of his son Ishmael and his mother Hagar to protect Isaac. Isn’t it painful – his first son, his own flesh and blood, the one whom he first loved? But the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. For you, this means many things. You may need to say goodbye to some of your relationships, especially some of your dear ones, for example if you’re in an intimate relationship with an unbeliever. You might need to let go of a job which you’ve taken on just to make money, at the same time that job is taking away your peace or job. Righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is the kingdom of God (Romans 14:17). You may need to say goodbye to some of your ministry activities. When you do that, peace and joy will be restored. That is the best atmosphere for Isaac to grow. Even if it is painful we will see the fulfilment of God’s promise in our lives. Never, ever try to help God through your fleshly deeds but wait and trust Him for His perfect timing. He is in control. One you have a precious covenant relationship with Jesus based on grace not by human effort.. enjoy that and keep it up!!
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3 comments:
I was blessed. Thanks.
Thank you Timothy..May God bless you.
Blessan, you are so right. Many times believers try to "help out God" with their own efforts, but all it accomplishes is sowing toward the flesh. Waiting on the Lord can be hard at times, but He knows what's best for us. He knows whether or not we are ready for what He has in store for us. The most important thing for us to remember is to trust Him and His word. He will never let us down!
Samuel
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