FIRSTBORN SONSHIP OF CHRIST
Volume Seven
The New Birth
CHAPTER SIX
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
TYPES, ALLEGORIES, SYMBOLS
1 "Sing,
O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have
not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of
the married woman, says the LORD," Isa 54:1.
Here is an excellent allegory where we have a great
advantage over the Old Testament saints in understanding God's overall purpose,
because the same allegory is much more fully explained in Gal 4:21-31. Paul gives more
details from the same life experience of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael, and Isaac. Yet
the language in Gal 4:21 and context indicates that the Law Covenant saints should have
understood this symbolism as certainly, though not as clearly, as we can with
Paul's fuller development of it.
It should have been obvious to the Old Testament
saints, and much more so to us, that symbolism was and still is God's paramount
method of revealing His plan of covenant salvation in semi-cloaked ways. The Holy
Spirit uses this method to conceal God's will from the wise and arrogant and gives
good understanding to the poor and lowly who diligently seek to know God's will, Mt
11:25-26; 13:10-15; 1Co 1:26-29; Ja 2:5.
Metaphors, for instance, abound in the New Covenant
of the body of Christ; the temple of God; the salt of the earth; the light of the
world; transforming our lifestyle into the image of Christ; bearing the cross;
crucifying the flesh; bearing about in our bodies the dying and the life of the Lord;
putting off the old man and putting on the new man; baptism; being baptized into the
body of Christ and thereby becoming members of His body; eating Christ's flesh and
drinking His blood symbolized in the Lord's Supper, which also symbolizes our
feeding on Christ by feeding on the Word of God; washing feet; daily presenting our
bodies a living sacrifice; being crucified daily together with Christ, dying daily
together with Christ, being buried daily together with Christ, being daily raised again
together with Christ, being metaphorically born again in baptism together with Christ;
and many others. These are all meaningful symbolic representations of past, present,
and future events.
A BARREN WOMAN
1 "Sing,
O barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have
not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of
the married woman, says the LORD," Isa 54:1.
Here are two married women: one is barren with no
children and the other has many children; yet, the barren wife who has not borne a
child has many more children then the wife who has many children. And the wife who has
not labored in birth for physical children, has labored far more in birth for spiritual
children. Birth pains for physical children primarily require painful laboring in the
flesh, while birth pains for spiritual children also require laboring in the flesh but
produce spiritual, deified children. The children of the one are earthy and mere flesh,
while the children of the other are heavenly and filled with the fullness of God – the
full array of the divine attributes, Eph 1:22-23; 3:19; 5:31-32; Col 1:19; 2:9-10; 2Pe
1:4; Jn 10:30-36; 14:8-11; 17:21-23; et al.
THE TWO WOMEN
21 "Tell
me, you who desire to be under the Law (Covenant), do you not hear the Law?
22 "For it is written that Abraham had two
sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
23 "But he who was of the bondwoman was born
according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
24 "Which things are symbolic. For these are
the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is
Hagar.
25 "For this Hagar is
Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage
with her children –
26 "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is
the mother of us all.
27 "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.'
28 "Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are
children of promise.
29 "But, as he who was born according to the
flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 "Nevertheless what does the Scripture say?
‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir
with the son of the freewoman.'
31 "So then, brethren, we are not children of
the bondwoman but of the free," Gal 4:21-31.
In this maze of multiple mixed metaphors, both
Sarah and Hagar represent Israel, the covenant people. Hagar represents not only
Ishmael, but also Mount Sinai, the Law Covenant, the earthy Jerusalem, and Israel in
the flesh or the covenant people walking according to the flesh in both Old and New
Covenants. While Sarah represents Israel or the remnant within Israel or within the
covenant people (in both Old and New Covenants) who are walking according to faith.
In the end, Hagar gave birth to and represents
flesh born sons of all ages, born after the normal pattern of life, who mind earthy
things and will forever be mere flesh sons. Sarah gave birth to Isaac as a son of
promise, which required God's special divine power in giving life to the dead, Rom
4:17-25. Isaac was therefore the son of promise – the promise of a divine
sonship.
COVENANT DISCIPLINE
2 "So
Sarai said to Abram, ‘See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children.
Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.' And Abram heeded
the voice of Sarai," Gen 16:2.
It was foremost in Abraham and Sarah's mind to
have the promised son. For years Sarah had prayed and hoped to conceive and bear the
divinely promised heir of Abraham. The persisting barrenness caused Sarah great agony
in an unparalleled distress of giving her husband another woman to bear the dearly
cherished son.
As an integral part of this extremely broad and
meaningful allegory is the ever present covenant discipline of intently waiting on the
Lord for His divine guidance. A part of this covenant discipline required Israel as a
nation to be cut off, divorced. More on this shortly.
Isaac's birth was not a normal conception and
birth: it was the result of walking patiently by grace through faith over many trying
years. It required obedience to God's covenant disciplinary training of
"waiting on the Lord." As Abraham and Sarah
(especially Sarah in this context) endured with much agony and grief, praying and
praying and hoping for conception and birth for this divine promise, so all of
Sarah's "children of promise" must learn
obedience by patient suffering for the divine resurrection birth, Heb 5:8-9; 12:1-29.
Hagar's children will forever be servant sons of the physical laws of the physical
universe (Gal 4:3,9,19-31; 5:1-4; Col 2:8,20-21; 3:1-10); while Sarah's children
will be free from the limitations governing the physical universe. As "children of promise" we have come to understand that we must
sharply reflect the image of Christ in these earthen vessels to qualify for that divine
birth, 2Co 3:17 thru 2Co 5:21; et al.
Sarah has now brought forth that promised son that
Isaac symbolized in the person of Jesus. And Jesus also had to "learn obedience by the things He suffered," Heb 2:10-13;
5:8-9; 12:1-2. He was crucified, died, was buried, and then rose from the dead to
become the firstborn human, yet fully divine, Son of God (Col 2:9), the Son of Promise.
We too must endure these birth pains within ourselves and for one another, as Paul did
(Gal 4:19), in order to be approved for that divine birth when Christ returns, Gal 4:19
thru 5:5; 6:7-9; Heb 12:1-29.
It appears that a great many saved covenant people
abort that divine birth by fainting under the covenant discipline, 1Co 10:1-12; Heb
3:6-19. Indeed, we must labor in spiritual birth pains in this life, for that divine
resurrection birth at the return of Christ, Gal 4:19 thru 5:5; 1Co 15.
MIXED METAPHORS
In this allegory of Gal 4 and
touched on in Isa 54, we have multiple and mixed metaphors where Hagar is one of the
two wives, she is Mount Sinai, the Law Covenant, the earthy Jerusalem, and she is also
Israel in the flesh walking in the flesh. Her children are destined to be earthlings
eternally. Her sons are not firstborn sons, but are sons over whom the firstborn sons
will be divine lords, Gen 27:27-37; Gal 4:19 thru 5:5; Heb 12:8,15-21; Rev 2:26-27;
21:23-26; 22:2.
Sarah is the first and choice wife of the same
Husband, and represents the heavenly Jerusalem, the New Covenant, and the remnant in
Israel who walk by faith, and who themselves are laboring in birth pains to qualify for
the resurrection birth into the firstborn sonship and the divine bride of Christ
relationships.
WHO IS THE HUSBAND?
5 "For
your Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the
Holy One of Israel; He is called the God Elohim of the whole earth," Isa
54:5.
Israel's Maker is her Husband in both Isa 54
and Gal 4. Her Maker is Jehovah of hosts. He is her Redeemer. He is the Holy One of
Israel, and He is the Elohim of the whole earth, Isa 54:5. Obviously, the faithful
covenant people from all ages (whatever their status in this life) are predestined to
be one and the same bride of Christ.
DIVINE ONENESS
31
"'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife, and the two shall become ONE flesh.'
32 "This is a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the church," Eph 5:31-32.
".....that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God," Eph 3:19.
21 "That they all may be
one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the
world may believe that You sent Me.
22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have
given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be
made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved
them as You have loved Me," Jn 17:21-23.
This "oneness"
mystery includes far more than Christ and His church: it includes the Godhead and the
firstborn covenant sons of the ages in a divine oneness. This is the pervasive theme,
the main stream of the Scriptures, seen in all the animal sacrifices, types, metaphors,
and ceremonies of both Old and New Testaments. We will continue to have much to write
of this divine oneness. The divine firstborn sons will never be infinite, but will
receive of the full range of God's divine attributes according to their by grace
through faith faithfulness in this life – according to their works, Ecc 12:13-14; Mt
24:14-30; Lk 19:11-26; 2Co 5:12; Rev 22:12; et al.
A BIT MORE
Here (Gal 4:21-31) the Scriptures
embellish the allegory in very descriptive and meaningful language, yet the allegory is
still so diverse and profound that it needs further clarification with additional and
more definitive explanations. We will try to provide some of these as we proceed. At
the moment we further, through briefly, define the two women.
Sarah was the first and true wife of Abraham, but
Hagar is described first in the allegory and represents the flesh and earth related
things which stand first and foremost in human experience. Hagar was honored with ason,
while Sarah was held barren until the ability to conceive and bear children was lost
through old age. However, as we observe, Sarah represents the heavenly Jerusalem, but
was the barren wife, forsaken, but is to be received back as the wife of God, of
Elohim, of Christ, Isa 54; Eph 5:31-32; Rev 19:7-8.
During this forsaken and divorced period of time
(Hos 2:2; Isa 54:6-8; Hos 1:8-10; 2:23; Rom 9:24-26), the engrafted church, as
God's Israel (as the body of the Lamb of God, the body of the Sin Offering), is
laboring in birth pains for that firstborn sonship. Christ Himself is the Chief Corner
Stone, the Foundation Stone, the Stone which the builders rejected, a stone with other
stones (His disciples) in the same building, 1Pe 2:4-8; Mt 21:42; Isa 54:11-13.
Christ is a "living
stone," yet He is the Husband. His disciples are His mother, His brothers,
and His sisters (Mt 12:44-50), yet they are His children (Isa 8:13-18; Heb 2:11-13),
and they are also the woman who is His bride, 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:22-32; Rev 19:7-8. In
this maze of many mixed metaphors we have the bride in a unique "oneness" with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The time of life was past: it was impossible for
Sarah to conceive and bear children when she was about ninety years old. The Scriptures
say that Abraham's body was also past fathering children when he was about a
hundred years old. This was done to reveal God's grand plan to give divine life to
the dead in a resurrection birth, and thereby speak of "things
which are not existing, as though they are existing" (things which be not,
as though they were, Rom 4:17), which language is well cloaked in a Scripture-wide
metaphor of "the body of Christ," Ex 12:3-4; 1Co
10:18; Rom 4:17; 6:2-14-23; 8:1-13. This "body of
Christ" metaphor permeates the entire Bible as we will continue to see in
further writings. In the Passover Israel ate the lamb, just as we eat Christ and drink
His blood (symbolically) in the Lord's Supper, Gen 12:3-4; 1Co 10:16-18. The bodies
of the animal sacrifices represented toe body of Christ, and the Israelites eating the
Passover lamb portrayed Israel eating Christ's flesh and drinking His blood in the
paschal wine, 1Co 5:7-8; 10:16-18.
THE METAPHOR
17 "(As
it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations') in the presence of Him
whom he believed – God, who is giving life to the dead and is calling things which be
not as though they were...
22 "And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for
righteousness.'
23 "Now it was not written for his sake alone
that it was credited to him,
24 "But also for us. It shall be credited
(will be literally infused imbued, endowed in the resurrection) to us who believe (who
are believing) on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25 "Who was delivered up because of our
offenses, and was raised because of our justification," (being made the
righteousness of God in Christ, in the body of Christ, requires the divine birth), Rom
4:17,22-25; Phi 3:9; 2Co 5:21.
Abraham's justification (and justification in all cases in the Bible) points to the
resurrection birth of Christ and the resurrection birth of the faithful covenant people
in the resurrection. The human body of Christ was born into a divine state of being in
His resurrection which constitutes Him the Firstborn from the dead and the Firstborn of
all creation, Ps 2:7; 89:27; Col 1:15-19; Act 13:29-33; Heb 1; 1Co 15:3-4,44-50. But
God will bring many other sons into that divine firstborn sonship to be the bride of
Christ, 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:23-32; Rev 19:7-8.
The language, somewhat but not altogether, conceals
specific reference to the covenant people as the body of Christ. "Calling things which are not existing as though they are
existing," modifies the words, "God, who is giving
life to the dead," Rom 4:17. This cannot be properly understood and
explained apart from the metaphor of the covenant people being addressed as
"the body of Christ," as in the bodies of millions
of animal sacrifices throughout the Bible, Ps 40:6-8; Heb 10:5-10. The application of
the allegory requires the children of the bondwoman will be cut off from Christ – from
the body of Christ (Gal 4:31; 5:1-4; Jn 15:1-6) to be illegitimate or non-covenant
sons, Heb 12:8; Gal 4:19 thru 5:5.
BREAK FORTH INTO SINGING
"Sing, O
barren, you who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you who have
not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of
the married woman," says the LORD," Isa 54:1.
By way of introduction to Isa 54, one writer wrote
words to the effect that after the cross of Isa 53 comes the singing and rejoicing of
Isa 54. In this context, the "cross" refers to
Christ's sufferings of Isa 53, while the singing and blissful shouting of Isa 54
properly addresses the incomparable joy of the resurrection morning of Christ's
return.
However, this deeply anticipated divine birth of
our earthy body into a heavenly deified body is also the occasion for great joy at the
present time. This is our "hope" of divine glory,
Rom 5:2; 8:17-25; Col 1:5,23,27. In this earthy mortal body we should be groaning and
laboring in birth pains to insure that we qualify for the unsearchable riches of
Christ, Eph 3:8; 1Co 2:9. Those unsearchable riches are resident in the divine body
that Christ now possesses in heaven at the right hand of the Father. That is the house
(body) we are hoping for as we groan in this earthy body, Rom 8:23; 2Co 3:17 thru 5:5;
Phi 3:7-14,21.
ENLARGE YOUR TENT
2
"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your
dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
3 "For you shall expand to the right and to
the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities
inhabited," Isa 54:2-3.
Here is a call, not only for the incomparable joy
of the resurrection morning, but also a call for more positive and more intense
dedication to good works in soul winning that will produce immensely greater glory and
joy in that day and forever thereafter. Why enlarge the tent, stretch out the curtains,
spare not, lengthen the cords, strengthen the stakes?
Why expand to the right and to the left? The answer
is to make more room for more children, more converts, more free sons. We must strive
to be more evangelistic, more missionary, more enthusiastic and dedicated in our
efforts to win others to share this glorious resurrection birth into God's divine
oneness. We must "groan" in this earthy body,
desiring to be clothed in that heavenly body, Rom 8:23; 2Co 4:7 thru 5:5. We must
"groan" with great compassion for the souls of men
as Jesus, Paul, and others did, Mt 9:35-38; Lk 19:41-44; Act 20:19,31; Rom 9:1-2.
HEIRS OF THE WORLD
3 "For
you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the
nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited," Isa 54:3.
13 "For the promise, that
he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the
Law, but through the righteousness of faith," Rom 4:13.
21 "Therefore let no one
boast in men. For all things are yours:
22 "Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the
world or life or death, or things present or things to come – all are yours.
23 "And you are Christ's, and Christ is
God's," 1Co 3:21-23.
32 "He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things?" Rom 8:32.
The firstborn sons will be joint heirs with Christ
(Rom 8:17), which means joint heirs of all creation, Rom 8:17-32. The inheritance is to
all of Abraham faith descendants, not just those in the church. Covenant-wise, we
Gentiles in the church are wild olive branches grafted into the tame olive tree, and we
are warned not to boast, Rom 11:11-32. Lack of fervent prayer, and lack of giving all
diligence to make our calling and election sure will result in being cut off from the
election, Rom 11; 2Pe 1:5-10. During the Millennium and on the new earth there will
still be many earthy nations over which the divine bride people will rule eternally,
Rev 20:4-10; 21:23-26; 22:1-2. The difference between the nations in mere flesh bodies,
and the bride in divine bodies is inexpressible.
DO WE HAVE IT MADE?
4 "Do
not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to
shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach
of your widowhood anymore," Isa 54:4.
The projection here is two fold: 1) the victory is assured. The Holy Spirit is given as an "earnest" or guarantee that if we walk in the Spirit by grace
through faith and thereby retain the indwelling of the Spirit, we will receive what is
guaranteed. And the thing guaranteed is the new birth into a divine heavenly body (2Co
4:17 thru 5:5; 1Co 15:1-2,29-58; 2Pe 1:5-10; et al); 2) the
new birth into the "free son" status of the
allegory is therefore conditioned on continuing in Christ. Observe that those who do
not continue in the "freedom wherewith Christ has made us
free," will be cut off from Christ and Christ will profit them nothing as
far as the free son (firstborn sonship of the free woman) is concerned, Gal 4:19 thru
5:5. We must give all diligence to make that calling and election sure, 2Pe 1:3-10. We
must take this matter very seriously.
THE ALLEGORY
19 "My
little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,
20 "I would like to be present with you now
and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.
21 "Tell me, you who desire to be under the
Law (Covenant), do you not hear the Law?
22 "For it is written that
Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
23 "But he who was of the bondwoman was born
according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
24 "Which things are symbolic. For these are
the two covenants: the one from.
Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar
25 "For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia,
and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children –
26 "But the Jerusalem above is free, which is
the mother of us all.
27 "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.'
28 "Now we, brethren, as
Isaac was, are children of promise.
29 "But, as he who was born according to the
flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 "Nevertheless what does the Scripture say?
‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir
with the son of the freewoman.'
31 "So then, brethren, we are not children of
the bondwoman but of the free," Gal 4:19-31.
The Holy Spirit through Paul defines briefly but
precisely the symbolic significance of the allegory. Abraham represents God (Elohim of
the Old Testament, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit) as the allegorical Father of two
strikingly diverse peoples. The first wife described is Hagar, who represents God's
slave sons in their earthy enslaved environment and state of being, whereas Sarah
represents God's elect covenant people in their divine state of being.
By grace through faith, severe discipline, and holy
living, God is choosing for Himself a uniquely faithful and obedient people to be His
bride people over and above many nations of the other servant sons. "As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter,'" Rom 8:36.
APPLICATION OF THE ALLEGORY
19 "My
little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,
20 "I would like to be present with you now
and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you," Gal 4;19-20.
The allegory (Gal 4:21-31), quoted above, springs
from this grave mistake the Galatian churches were in the process of making. They were
going back under the Law Covenant which, in its finality, would constitute them mere
slaves to the physical laws of the universe for eternity, Gal 4:3,9,19-31. God, in the
person of Christ, became a lowly human being in order to bring the faithful covenant
people into a heavenly, spirit, and divine state of being, possessing all the fullness
of God's divine attributes, Eph 1:22-23; 3:19; Col 1:19; 2:9-10; Jn 10:30-36;
14:8-11; 17:21-23. However, in brief, and contrary
to our sinful nature, God's covenant requires that we labor in birth pains to be
transformed (a metamorphosis) into the glorified image of Christ, Gal 4:19; 2Co
3:18-19; Phi 3:7-14,20-21; Rom 12:1-2. For us this is impossible, yet God has given us
His Holy Spirit as a guarantee that we can make this transformation by grace through
faith – by letting the Spirit rule our daily lives, 2Co 3:18 thru 5:5; Rom
8:17-30.
YOUR MAKER IS YOUR HUSBAND
5 For your
Maker is your husband, The LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One
of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth," Isa 54:5.
The bride of Christ (of Jehovah Elohim) is the same
faithful covenant people in both the Old and New covenants. We in the church are wild
olive branches grafted into the tame olive tree, which is Israel. We are in this age
the Israel of God, Gal 6:16; Eph 5:23-32; Rom 2:28-29; 11:1-32; Eph 2:10-22; et al.
The idea that God the Father will have Israel as
His bride and Christ will have the church as His bride, constituting two bride peoples,
is foreign to the Scriptures. All the faithful covenant people of all ages are
predestined, by grace through faith, to be one with the
Father, one with the Son, and one with the Holy Spirit. All humor aside, there will be
no split bride. The same bride city, the New Jerusalem, is promised to Abraham and his
descendants, Heb 11:8-16; Rev 21. This will not be a split city. Christ, as God in
deified flesh, will sit on the throne of David and rule all nations for the Millennium,
Isa 9:6-7. The faithful covenant people in the church will share that bridal
relationship with Israel, Lk 22:28-30; Rev 2:26-27. Again, there will be no split bride
ruling with Christ. The faithful covenant people in Israel will be the top nation (the
head and not the tail) to rule over all nations (Ex 19:4-6; Deu 7:6-11; 26:16-19), and
the church (made up chiefly of wild olive branches) has been grafted into that holy
bride position to share that bridal glory, Rom 2:28-29; 11:11-22; 2Co 11:2; Eph
5:23-32; Rev 2:26-27.
A WOMAN FORSAKEN
6 "‘For
the LORD has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful
wife when you were refused,' says your God.
7 "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but
with great mercies I will gather you.
8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a
moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," says the LORD,
your Redeemer," Isa 54:6-8.
These words were written to Israel as a nation, and
as the bride people. When we think of the many eons to some, the casting off of Israel
for two thousand years appear only a very short time; and when we think of the divine
glory promised to those who are faithful for eons to come, the anguish of Israel for
this these thousand years will be as for only a moment. A whole lifetime of the
bitterest persecution will be as nothing once the resurrection and the new birth takes
place.
A COVENANT STANDING
9 "For
this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah
would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you,
nor rebuke you.
10 "For the mountains shall depart and the
hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of
peace be removed," says the LORD, who has mercy on you," Isa
54:9-10.
As God swore to Noah (Gen 9:1-17 and above), to
Abraham (Gen 11:15-18; Heb 6:13-20) to David (Ps 89:35-37), so God swore to Israel that
His justice and mercy would not depart forever from Israel, but he will receive her
back, as stated above and many other places.
THE NEW JERUSALEM
11 "O
you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your
stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 "I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your
gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones," Isa 54:11-12.
The Holy Spirit through Isaiah is still speaking to
the forsaken and divorced wife, but she is being addressed as a city, a beautiful city
indeed. But that is the way Sarah is addressed in the allegory of Gal 4:21-31. This is
clearly the New Jerusalem, the city promised to Abraham and his faith descendants of
both Old and New Testaments – a city that has foundations whose Builder and Maker is
God.
8 "By faith Abraham obeyed
when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And
he went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 "By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as
in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the
same promise;
10 "For he waited for the city which has
foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 "By faith Sarah herself also received
strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she
judged Him faithful who had promised.
12 "Therefore from one man, and him as good as
dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand
which is by the seashore.
13 "These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of
them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the
earth.
14 "For those who say such things declare
plainly that they seek a homeland.
15 "And truly if they had called to mind that
country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 "But now they desire a better, that is, a
heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has
prepared a city for them," Heb 11:8-16.
In the allegory Sarah represents the New Jerusalem,
the New Covenant, and the freedom that resides only in the divine nature. This heavenly
bride city is for her descendants. Hebrews 11 describes the bride people, the firstborn
sons; but God is preparing many other nations of mere flesh born sons.
YOUR CHILDREN
"All
your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your
children," Isa 54:13.
Sarah and her children are ultimately seen as one
and the same. She is the New Jerusalem and she is the bride, but so are her children.
All the faithful covenant people will be in the bride and in the New Jerusalem. This is
the teaching of the allegory, and it is the teaching of the whole Bible. We will
continue to demonstrate that all the faithful covenant people of all ages will be one
and the same covenant people in the resurrection. They will all be the bride and will
all be firstborn sons. But there will be nations of saved people who will not a part of
the bride people (Rev 21:23-26), and will not be firstborn sons. They will be servant
ons, as set forth in the allegory and numerous other passages.
THE NEW BIRTH
"In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from
oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near
you," Isa 54:14.
Isaiah is still speaking to Sarah, the mother in
the singular – the mother and her children are "one" and the same bride in the context of Isa 54, as the city
and the bride are the same in Rev 21:9-11.
54 "No weapon formed
against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You
shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me, Says the LORD," Isa 54:17.
Compare this with the application of the allegory
in Gal 4 & 5.
5 "For we through the
Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith," Gal 5:5.
Justification (the new birth, the divine birth of
the body) is the theme of the scriptures with explicit emphasis from Abel to the
resurrection. Abel was justified (with a view to the resurrection) by his offering, Heb
11:3; Rom 4:24-25. Adam and Eve were clothed in the skins of animals (Gen 3:21), which
must be associated with the clothing of the bride, Rev 19:7-8.
Gal 5:5 is a part of the application of the
Allegory of Gal 4:19 thru 5:1-5, and on. As the covenant people, we are in the proper
position to be earnestly and eagerly waiting for that
"hope of righteousness" (Gal 5:5), which is the
clothing of our house from heaven, 2Co 5:1-5. At the same time that the faithful
covenant people will receive that divine clothing, their earthy bodies will be
"swallowed up of life" (divine life), 2Co 5:4. The
righteous clothing and the divine life are attributes of the divine nature, along with
the many other diviner attributes.
Paul gave up all and counted it as nothing in order
to gain Christ (Phi 3:7-8), which would result in being clothed in God's
righteousness in the resurrection, Phi 3:9-11. This would further include his vile body
being fashioned into the same image of Christ's glorified body, Phi 3:21. God's
righteousness must reign through the Holy Spirit in our daily lives in order to receive
that divine life, Rom 5:21.
QUESTIONS AND WORK TASKS FOR CHAPTER SIX
1. God has used a great host of symbolic ceremonies and ordinances in both Old and New Testaments to both conceal and reveal His eternal purpose. Explain why
He has done this.
2. Trials of hardships and disappointments are a necessary part of covenant training. Why is this required by the Lord?
3. Indicate some of the major benefits of godly discipline, both current and eternal benefits.
4. A metaphor is a figure of speech such as: Christ is the Lamb of God, the church is the body of Christ, etc. Name some other metaphors, especially of
the crucifixion cycle.
5. The faithful testament people are to be filled with all the fullness of God. Define what this means.
6. In the allegory of Galatians 4:21-31, define thoroughly who and what Hagar and Ishmael represent prophetically.
7. Again, in the allegory, review carefully who and what Sarah and Isaac represent prophetically.
8. God created the nations with an eternal purpose in mind. Define how God is saving people, "so as by fire" (1Co
3:15), to make up the nations on the new earth. Remember, there are no national
distinctions within the covenant people, Galatians 3:28; Genesis 17:14; Exodus
12:43-49; Luke 7:29-30; Col 2:11-12.
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