Sarah and Hagar: Grace and Law (21:9-13)
Sarah was wrong when she told Abraham to marry Hagar (Gen. 16:1-2), but she was right when she told Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael out of the camp. The apostle Paul saw in this event an allegory involving the law of Moses and the grace of God (Gal. 4:21-31). Sarah represents grace (the heavenly Jerusalem), and Hagar represents law (the earthly Jerusalem under bondage). The lesson is simply that God’s children are to live under the blessings of grace and not the bondage of law.
The conflicts in Abraham’s home could have been solved four ways. Isaac could have been sent away, but that would mean rejecting the promises of God and all that God had planned for the future. Isaac and Ishmael could have lived together, but that would mean constant conflict. Ishmael’s nature could have been changed to make him more agreeable, but that would have required a miracle. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6), and it always will be flesh. The only solution was to send Ishmael and his mother out of the camp and make Isaac the sole heir.
When you consider the facts about Hagar, you will better understand the relationship between law and grace in the Christian life.
To begin with, Hagar was Abraham’s second wife. She was added alongside Sarah. Likewise, the law was “added” alongside God’s already existing promises and was temporary (Gal. 3:19, 24-25). God did not start with law; He started with grace. His relationship to Adam and Eve was based on grace, not law, even though He did test them by means of one simple restriction (Gen. 2:15-17). The redemption of Israel from Egypt was an act of God’s grace, as was His provision, the sacrifices, and priesthood. Before Moses gave the law, Israel was already in a covenant relationship with God (“married to God”) through His promises to the patriarchs (Ex. 19:1-8).
Second, Hagar was a servant. “Wherefore then serveth the law?” Paul asks in Galatians 3:19, and he gives the answer. The law was God’s servant (a “schoolmaster” or “child tutor”) to keep the infant nation of Israel under control and prepare them for the coming of the Redeemer (3:24-25; 4:1-5). The law was given to reveal sin (Rom. 3:20) but not to redeem us from sin. Grace does not serve law; it is law that serves grace! The law reveals our need for grace, and grace saves us completely apart from the works of the law (vv. 20, 28).
A third fact is obvious: Hagar was never supposed to bear a child. The law cannot give what only Jesus Christ can give: life (Gal. 3:21), righteousness (2:21), the Holy Spirit (3:2), or an eternal inheritance (v. 18). All of these blessings come only “by grace [Sarah] … through faith [Abraham]” (Eph. 2:8-9).
This leads to a fourth fact: Hagar gave birth to a slave. If you decide to live under the law, then you become a child of Hagar, a slave, for the law produces bondage and not freedom. The first doctrinal battle the church had to fight was on this very issue, and it was decided that sinners are saved wholly by grace, apart from keeping the law of Moses (Acts 15:1-32). Legalists in the church today are turning sons into slaves and replacing freedom with slavery (Gal. 4:1-11), yet God calls us to freedom (5:1)!
Hagar was cast out. There was no compromise: She was cast out completely and permanently and took Ishmael with her. Instead of subduing the flesh, the law arouses the flesh (Rom. 7:7-12) because “the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56). Believers don’t need to put themselves under some kind of religious law in order to become Christlike, for they are already complete and full in Christ (Col. 2:8-23) and have the Holy Spirit to enable them to overcome sin (Rom. 8:1-4).
Finally, Hagar never married again. God gave His law to the Jewish nation only and never gave it to the Gentiles or to the church. Nine of the Ten Commandments are quoted in the Epistles as applying to believers today, and we should obey them, but we are not commanded to obey the ceremonial laws that were given only to Israel (Rom. 13:8-10). Paul affirms that it is love that fulfills the law. When we love God and love one another, we want to obey God; and in the Spirit’s power, we do what is right.
Before leaving this section, we should notice that there is a lawful use of the law (1 Tim. 1:1-11). While the law cannot save us or sanctify us, it does reveal the holiness of God and the awfulness of sin. The ceremonial part of the law illustrates the person and work of Jesus Christ. The law is a mirror that helps us see our sins (James 1:21-25), but you do not wash your face in the mirror! It is also a mirror that reveals the glory of Jesus Christ, and as we meditate on Him, we can be transformed to become more like Him (2 Cor. 3:18). Any religious system that leads you into bondage is not magnifying the New Testament gospel of the grace of God (2 Cor. 3:17; John 8:31-36).