Warning and Vision for the Bride: Bondwoman and Free Woman

Warning and Vision for the Bride: Bondwoman and Free Woman - Jason May - Friday 2-6-26

“Tell me, you who want to be under law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the bondwoman and one by the free woman. But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise. This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar. Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother. For it is written,

“Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;

Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;

For more numerous are the children of the desolate

Than of the one who has a husband.”

And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say?

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son,

For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

(Galatians 4:21-5:1)

Preface

Since we started meeting on January 2 of this year, we’ve been looking at different pieces of the foundation of being the church, the bride of Christ. We’ve shared about obedience, faith and authority, the hope of glory, the love of the Father, and the breath of life from God.

As a reminder of what we’ve discussed, in Revelation 19:7-8, we see the bride of Christ, ready for His return. In Luke 12:35-36, Jesus commands us to be ready for His return. These foundations bridge the gap between. Tonight, we’re looking at a warning in Galatians 4:21-5:1 about slavery to the ways of the flesh that hinders us from being ready. But it also contains a vision of abundant life and joy in God. We must hold on to both the warning and vision.

These are things God has dealt with in my heart over the years quite severely, and I know are very common temptations and pitfalls for the church, especially where there is a culture of Christianity and ministry. Let us hear the word of God and humbly ask, “Father, show me. Is this sin in my heart?”

An Allegory

Imagine you are lost, wandering in a desert, following two other people. All three of you are dying of thirst and desperate to find help. You are walking behind the other two, carrying two large jugs of water, one tied to each end of a long stick braced on your shoulders. The water is very heavy. None of you have thought for a moment to drink from it. You are all pushing ahead as hard as you can in the direction where help may be found, but there’s very little hope you’ll find it before collapsing and dying of thirst. A young woman with you turns and looks at you scornfully, scolding that you must drop the jugs and leave them behind because they are making you too weary. She says you’ll never make it carrying those things. You resist her scorn because you know the water is important, but you do not think to drink from it.

Slavery and the Living Word

The water is the living Word of God. It is the written word and the Word of the person of Jesus Christ. It is the breath of God and the Holy Spirit. It is resurrection life. It is all that God the Father desires for the church to drink from to pass from death to life. From our first step into the salvation of our souls, to learning from Jesus and being sanctified all our lives, we are always passing from death to life.

Yet, often we carry life with us without truly drinking from it. We invent ways of bracing burdens on our shoulders without ingesting His promise of life. That is why we are thirsty. The reason for our folly begins with blindness. As we will see in the book of Galatians, we often fail to realize that we create burdens by acting in the flesh, as Abraham did; by doing seemingly good things for ourselves, our families, or even ministry, and relying on the power of our flesh rather than the promises of God. We create burdens for ourselves, tie them to our shoulders, and say that God wants us to carry them.

We place ourselves under the yoke of slavery of the law. There are many indications of this, like if you know God, yet the foundation of who you are is anything except knowing Jesus, if you are striving for some kind of performance to be seen by others, if you are discouraged by comparison to others, if you feel for any reason discontent, or lost, maybe as if God is against you, then you have created for yourself a heavy burden of the law braced on your shoulders. There is no hope in holding on to that burden of slavery and the flesh. The life of Christ cannot bear fruit alongside the death of slavery. Trying to have both is as foolish as carrying a burden of water on your back as you die of thirst.

[Read Galatians 4:21-5:1 again]

The history of Abraham and the bondwoman (Hagar) and the free woman (Sarah) is found in Genesis 13-18 and 21:1-21. God promised Abraham that through his descendants, he would be the father of many nations and through him all the families of the earth would be blessed. This promise is ultimately fulfilled in Christ (Galatians 3:29). But when Abraham received the promise, he was childless, and both he and his wife were very old. Because of impatience, Abraham’s wife, Sarah, gave him her slave, Hagar, as another wife to have the promised son. Ishmael was then born to Hagar the slave (bondwoman) because Abraham and Sarah acted in the flesh, eager to fulfill God’s promise for God. Acting in the flesh puts the burden of the law on ourselves. Like carrying water, but not drinking it.

Later, Isaac was born to Sarah, fulfilling God’s promise. Glory to God, for His promises are always true, but now Abraham has a son of slavery and a son of promise. As Galatians 4 describes, if we are in Christ, then we are children of the promise of God. We should not desire slavery. Slavery is bound up in the old covenant, represented by Hagar and Ishmael, the covenant of the law that Israel received at Mount Sinai. But the promise, represented by Sarah and Isaac, is life in Jesus Christ that will ultimately be fulfilled in heaven, or the new Jerusalem (“Jerusalem above” in Galatians 4:26).

Choose Freedom - Choose Life

When we do not drink from the living water of Jesus Christ, when we are acting in the flesh and with impatience, rather than resting in the promises of God, we take on a yoke of slavery. Slavery to the law cannot exist alongside real freedom in Christ. They are opposite. Sarah, rightly tells Abraham, “…Cast out the bondwoman and her son, For the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.” (Galatians 4:30). Slavery is death. We can carry burdens of the knowledge of God without drinking from His promises. The promises of God are the living waters of resurrection life.

Lay down the burdens. Repent and choose life! Just as the desolate will rejoice with many children, we rejoice in moving from death to life. Rejoice and choose freedom. Choose life. All of God’s promises are true.

“Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear;

Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor;

For more numerous are the children of the desolate

Than of the one who has a husband.”

(Galatians 4:27)

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”

(Galatians 5:1)

Who do you follow? Bondwoman or free woman? What will you choose?

Repeated at Friday Night Gathering on 2/13/26.