Reading for December 31st

 Read Galatians 4.21-5.1. In 4.21-5.1: The allegory of Hagar and Sarah. The mother image of v. 19 is developed in the comparison of these two mothers (Gen 16-21). In verse 21: Attraction to the law requires an argument from the law. In verse 23; Flesh: Ishmael's birth occurred through human conniving. Jacob's birth fulfilled God's promise to Abraham and Sarah (Gen 17). In verses 24-26: In allegory, things referred to in in a text are understood to have another, often deeper, meaning. Gen 16 describes Hagar as a slave-girl. Since Paul associates the Mosaic law with slavery (3.22; 4.3). Hagar can stand for Mount Sinai, where the law was given to Moses. It is now practiced in present in Jerusalem. Sarah, by contrasts, is free. She has no association with slavery (the Mosaic law), but instead symbolizes another reality., Jerusalem above. In verse 27: Isa 54.1. In verse 28: Those who have responded to God in faith (3.26) are like Isaac, Abraham's children. Now, as then, the two children fight: flesh (law) against Spirit (faith). In verse 30: Gen 21.10 gives scriptural basis for rejecting the Mosaic law. In verse 31: According to scripture, Abraham has two family lines, one leading through Hagar to slavery under the law, the other through Sarah to freedom as embodied in the promise. Paul urges the Galatians to trace their lineage through the later. In 5.1: Since Christ is Abraham's promised offspring (3.16), his is the link to freedom represented by Sarah. To begin observing Mosaic law is to switch bloodlines and resort to a yoke of slavery. Comments or Questions..