366. The Two Covenants

“Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.”

It is written that Abraham is the father of the bondwoman’s son and of the freewoman’s son. He became father to the son of the bondwoman when he sought God’s seed in unbelief. But the “Son of Promise” he received with the freewoman, Sarah.

The bondwoman’s son was born according to the flesh, but the freewoman’s son was born according to the promise. No sacrifice was required for the bondwoman’s son, but the freewoman’s son had to be sacrificed.

There is a deeper symbolic meaning here. “For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar.”

Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

“But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.

“For it is written: ‘Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.’

“Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.”

“For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.”

The law was added for the sake of transgressions. The law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai four hundred and thirty years after Abraham had received the promise: In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, and I will make you the father of many nations. The law was not given for all men, but for Israel only, until the coming of the seed for which the promise was intended, Christ.

During the entire time the law reigned, children from Mount Sinai were born into bondage, which is Hagar. Each Sabbath Moses was preached in the synagogues in Jerusalem. Therefore the earthly Jerusalem is the same as Mount Sinai, which is Hagar. It is in bondage with her children.

During the entire time the law reigned, the heavenly Jerusalem was barren, and the promise to Abraham was not yet fulfilled. Abraham had not yet become the father of many nations. A sacrifice had to be offered before God could send His Holy Spirit to the earth. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, had to be sacrificed, this Jesus of whom God spoke: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

God referred to Jesus when He said to Abraham, “Because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you. . . . In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” Gen. 22:16-18.

The law, Sinai, and Hagar have pertained to only a little nation, the Jewish nation, for approximately 1570 years. The free woman, the heavenly Jerusalem, has born children among all nations from the day of Pentecost until now.

Of course, the children of the heavenly Jerusalem are innumerably more than the earthly Jerusalem. This is where Abraham has become the father of many nations.