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This is a story dealing with Sarah and Hagar, her handmaid, and we've been going through Sarai and Abram. Chapter 17, we're going to get the names that we all know by, which is Sarah and Abraham. So you just have to go through one more chapter before we finally get into those names. But this is really talking about this conflict between Sarah and Hagar. And notice that it wasn't Abraham that asked for Hagar. It definitely wasn't God saying to do this. So this is something that Sarah does wrong. And obviously Abraham did wrong by going with it. And so I want to talk about that for a little bit here. But in verse one there it says, Now Sarai, Abram's wife, bare him no children, and she had in handmaid an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. So this Egyptian woman, Hagar, was her handmaid and she was a bond woman. She was bound to Sarah. And so it basically is saying that Sarai is telling Abram that she can't have children but her handmaid can. This kind of reminds me obviously of Leah and Rachel where they'd have their handmaids bare children unto Jacob. And so it's kind of like they were using them in order to bare children. And in verse three there it says, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. And it says that she became Abram's wife. Now it says here that he'd been dwelling in Canaan for ten years. Now do you remember how old he was in chapter 12 when he went into Canaan? He was 75 years old. And so he was 75 years old when his dad died. And this also validates, remember we were talking about when his dad died that that was when he went into Canaan and stuff like that. So anyway, he was 75 years old, that would mean that he would be 85 years old at this point. And actually at the end of the chapter, how old was he when he had Ishmael? 86 years old. Makes perfect sense because it takes about a year, a little less than a year for the time of life, so to speak, as far as once Hagar got pregnant and when she had the child. So 85, somewhere around there. Obviously when he was 75 years old it wasn't like on his birthday. And when it says that he was 85 it didn't necessarily have to be on that birthday either. It was ten years and it doesn't mean that it was ten years to the day. So all that's saying is that this all lines up. We see that from Genesis chapter 12 up to this point it's been ten years. And so you can see 13, 14, 15, that was all ten years of stuff going on there. That he was sojourning going into Egypt, the whole thing with Lot and Melchizedek and the slaughter of the kings. That happened within a ten year period from when he went into the land. Now the first thing that I want to point out here is that it is not right to have more than one wife. Now most people know this, but there's people out there that really try to somehow say that it's okay in biblical to have more than one wife. So I want you to know that this is the first place where it's really talking about the situation of having more than one wife and you can go back to Cain's, I believe Cain's descendants to Bulcain and maybe had more than one wife way back then. So I'm not saying this is the first place in history this has ever happened, but this is the first place that we really see a case where he has more than one wife and what's going on here. And is this a good story? Is this something that you're just like, man I wish this was my situation, right? This whole story is about a strife between two women and it's not a good thing. Obviously there's something going on here. Now I just want to prove to you first of all that it should be just two people together and not three or four or five. And so when you go on throughout the rest of the Old Testament here you're going to find places where men have a lot more than one wife and it's always bad. Every time you find that to be the case with David, with Solomon, with all these other people that have more than one wife it always ends badly. You think of Jacob, the strife that they had. And we're going to go into that just for a second, but in Genesis chapter 2, the very first mention of marriage, it says in Genesis 2, 24 it says, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh. But when this is quoted in Ephesians chapter 5, go to Ephesians chapter 5, and so I believe this goes all the way back to the very beginning with man and wife as far as that it's always been one wife for one husband, those two are to be one flesh. Not three, not four, not five, I know that there are still Mormons out there that want to practice polygamy, but Ephesians chapter 5 verse 31 it says, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. Notice two, not three, four, five, six, seven, eight, whatever, and with Solomon you'd be counting for a while, but all I want you to see with that is that it says that they too and other places Jesus says those twain, now twain and two are the same thing, they both mean two. Now Deuteronomy, you know people say, well where does it say that, you know, where does God command us not to have more than one wife, well I believe that there's an Old Testament reference and there's also a New Testament reference. So go to Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verse 17, Deuteronomy 17 and verse 17, and this is talking about the king, like if they were to make a king and have kings and all this stuff he's basically telling them things that they shouldn't do or things they're supposed to do and shouldn't do and this is one of the things that the king shouldn't do and we know it was the downfall of all these kings to have more than one wife. In verse 17 of Deuteronomy 17 it says, neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turned not away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And so here's a straight out command not to multiply wives unto yourself, you say well that was for the king, how about we're made kings and priests unto the Lord, how about this the royal priesthood of the believer and so that's all of us and so that covers all of us anyway but if it's good for the king, if it's good for the goose, it's good for the gander so to speak, if the king is held to that standard then that's the right standard and that same thing applies in the New Testament so go to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and we're going to see what a requirement is to be a bishop or a deacon in a church and you say well that's for the bishop and deacon, I guess the bishop is the only one that should be blameless, I guess it's the bishop that's the only one that should be sober, the bishop's the only one that should be of good behavior, right, is that you're going to tell me that this whole list is only for pastors and so what I'm showing you with this is that if it's a standard for someone to be a leader then that should be the standard for everybody but it's basically just saying that hey these are the requirements and you know what that tells me is that having more than one wife is not a good thing because if a pastor shouldn't have more than one wife or a deacon shouldn't have more than one wife you know what that tells me is that that's not good, that's a bad thing and so I believe it's a sin, now you can have the argument as far as whether it's adultery, you know I guess if you didn't put them away and you had two wives that were with you and living with you and all that stuff then I guess technically it wouldn't be adultery but it's still sin, I believe that's still sin and it's weird, okay, it's just strange to me, I don't see how they did it, I don't see how women would even put up with that, now I guess back then you know you think about the fact that kings, they're saying this mostly to kings because kings could afford it, so you think about why was that commandment even given to a king because they're probably some of the only people that could even do it because you got to think about you got to support those women so you're not going to have, you know that's kind of why Solomon could have a thousand wives, you know 700 wives and 300 concubines because he had the money to support all of them and so a normal person is probably only going to have one wife anyway because he can only afford one wife with kids and everything so anyway but in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 2 it says a bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, I get all these calls on that phone and they're all like telemarketers, I never answer it, so if anybody's ever calling me on my church number I never answer, leave a message if you actually want to talk to me, anyway so that's your public service announcement, anyway so the husband of one wife, notice verse 12 in the same chapter for 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 12 it says let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children in their own house as well, so for the bishops, for the deacons and you're going to tell me that everybody else in the church is, you know it's okay, now I'm not saying, you know it doesn't say that they'd be kicked out necessarily from the church but they definitely couldn't be a leader, they definitely couldn't be a bishop or a deacon and so you look at this rest of this list when you look at the bishops and deacons and you'd be like yeah we need to follow all that, like none of that stuff would be like yeah no I shouldn't be doing, you know I don't have to do that, just look through the list on there and you would say every single one of those things every church member should be trying to do, there's nothing on there like well that's above me, that's too high for me to attain too, now all that stuff's basic stuff and that list is pretty basic, you know because I'm not that special okay I know you may think I'm really special, no the thing is I'm not that special I'm just a normal guy and so normal guys can fit those qualifications and obviously you have the novice aspect so you definitely need to know your bible and stuff but really a lot of this stuff is just pretty basic stuff as far as being sober, being vigilant, being apt to teach all that stuff and so I just want to show you that hey what they did here was wrong, Sarah should not have given Hagar to her husband and she immediately regrets it okay and so in verse 4 back in Genesis chapter 16 and so first of all Sarah's the one that did, she's the one that said hey Abram do this so she can't really take it out on her husband too much because she's the one that was like basically saying to do this and coaxing him to do it but notice what's said here in verse 4 it says and he went in unto Hagar and she conceived and when she saw that she had conceived her mistress was despised in her eyes so Hagar was despising Sarah because she had conceived child now in verse 5 it says and Sarai said unto Abram my wrong be upon thee now does she recognize that that was wrong yeah she realizes that what she did was wrong and so the case that we see here at the beginning as far as like someone having more than one wife we see that it's wrong that's what the Bible teaches Sarah is saying this is wrong what happened here was wrong and it says I have given my maid into thy bosom and when she saw that she had conceived I was despised in her eyes so if you had any doubt of who the hers were mentioning there in that verse before that as far as her mistress was despised in her eyes you may be a little confused as far as well who their pronouns apply to well the next verse is very clear that Sarah says I was despised in her eyes so it's very clear that Hagar was despising Sarah because she had conceived a child and so basically what you got to understand and this isn't a whole sermon on concubines and wives and all this stuff is that basically if someone were to marry a servant their lower status now they still had to do the duties of a husband and wife but their lower status so when you see in the Bible a concubine it's technically a wife in some cases it may actually just be a living girlfriend but in a lot of cases it's a wife but it's a lower status that's why it says 700 wives princesses and 300 concubines talking about Solomon he married them all but 300 of them were not princesses they were just you know kind of like they were a wife but they were lower status and that's what you have here with Hagar she was lower status because Sarah was still reigning supreme and this you know she was still her handmaid still Sarah's handmaid and so she was lower status and I think the fact that she had a child she was looking at Sarah like I should be above you I think that's what's going on here and that's why she despised Sarah because she had a higher authority as far as the wife goes she was the legitimate wife of Abraham and so that's where I see this going on here now and you see this happening throughout the Bible and this is kind of the first place where it happens and then everybody kind of follows suit down this and this is where you got to really as parents you need to remember that your children are watching because we'll see with Abraham remember he went into Egypt and he said that Sarah was her sister well Isaac does it right after him so and then Abraham had two wives well then Jacob has two wives and so it kind of goes down you know the sins of the fathers into the fourth the third and fourth generation where let me say this if you're an alcoholic your children are more likely to be an alcoholic if you smoke your children are more likely to smoke if you do certain things that are not right your children are more likely to do that and so this is kind of like what starts that snowball effect in this family line as far as having many wives and so you see it going down the line and then David does it David does it a little bit Solomon does it much right David had a lot he had a lot of wives but not not 300 or not not a thousand he didn't have 700 wives and 300 concubines and so that's intense I mean that's that's ridiculous is what that is that's just somebody I mean at that point why do you I mean if you got married to somebody they had I mean think about if you were they a thousand you know the one number one thousand okay be like you have 999 wives you know can you imagine that wedding ceremony how pathetic that has to be as far anyway I just can't fathom it it's just kind of weird to me but anyway this has happened also in other places so Genesis chapter 29 dealing with Jacob when he married Leah and Rachel now obviously he was tricked into marrying Leah and that's a whole nother story we'll get there eventually but so because he loved Rachel and and he didn't love Leah like he loved Rachel the Lord opened up Leah's womb and shut Rachel's womb and so in Genesis chapter 29 verse 31 it says and when the Lord saw that Leah was hated he opened her womb but Rachel was barren so you see the strife that's going on here and this is not unprecedented this isn't something that happens just in one place first scene of chapter one you know you deal with this with Peninnah and Hannah of Alcanah in first scene of chapter one in verse four it says and when the time was that Alcanah offered he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions but unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion for he loved Hannah but the Lord had shut up her womb and her adversary also provoked her sore for to make her fret because the Lord had shut up her womb I wonder who that adversary was now it doesn't exactly say so you may look at that and say well you know maybe that's someone else but if I were to guess on who that adversary was it was probably Peninnah because Peninnah had all these sons and daughters and it says that Hannah was loved it's kind of like the same thing with Leah and Rachel where Leah had all these sons that he was giving that she was giving Jacob but he still loved Rachel more than Leah and it's probably the case with Hannah that he loved Hannah more than Peninnah and so she was basically like probably prodding her all the time as far as like hey you can't have children and so that's obviously very evil to do to somebody but that that just shows you that hey every single time it's kind of like when you look at other things in the Bible where people are like well why wouldn't this be bad to do it's kind of like drinking alcohol show me in the Bible where there's a good case where someone drank alcohol and something bad didn't happen I mean it's like just over and over and over again someone drinks alcohol and it's just something bad happens either marry the wrong girl or you know or they're just stupid thing or someone dies you know like something something happens usually the where it's just not a good situation and so going back to Genesis chapter 16 Genesis chapter 16 verse 6 so she was the Sarah was despised by Hagar so Hagar was despising Sarah because basically she was with child and she's probably you know despising in her heart and the fact that she probably thinks she should be above Sarah now because of this and so this is this is something that happens throughout the Bible after this so it's not this is kind of like the president to that but verse 6 there it says but Abrams said unto Sarai behold thy maid is in thy hand due to her as it pleaseth thee and when Sarai dealt hardly with her she fled from her face now Sarah did not just kick her out she just dealt really hardly with her so she probably just tell tell her this sit down and shut up pretty much is what she told her to do and put her in her place and and she so she fled so Hagar fled now there's gonna be another story dealing with Ishmael and Hagar where they were kicked out basically they cast out her and her son and so that hasn't happened yet in this case she's just basically being really hard with her and she flees and then and then basically when she flees from from her mistress she goes out into the wilderness and the angel Lord meets her now this is the first time that angels even mentioned in the Bible like the word angels ever mentioned in the Bible this is the first time that the angel of the Lord is mentioned in the Bible so this is kind of like the first deal when we're dealing with angels here and so in verse 7 notice what it says it says in the angel Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness by the fountain in the way to sure and he said Hagar Sarah's Sarai's maid whence comest thou and whither wilt thou go and she said I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai and the angel Lord said unto her return to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands so that the angel Lord is saying hey listen you need to go back and just submit yourself unto your mistress and so I see this as you know when you think first of all the angel coming and talking to Hagar this really shows us what is the purpose of angels what are they meant for go to Hebrews chapter 1 and so angels are lifted up and obviously Colossians talks about this of voluntary humility and worshipping of angels which is not good right it's talking about how that's a bad thing to do and today we have a lot of people that that's more than God so much they're like looking at angels and like in deifying angels and all this stuff and most of the time the angels are nothing like what the Bible talks about you know they're always women you know that you see these pictures of or they're babies that are naked which is really weird baby cherubs or something I don't know what they are but but there's always like these these images of angels that don't depict anything of what the Bible teaches on angels I mean first of all angels are always men like you always seem like appearing as men but if they're not appearing as men they're appearing as like basically they have four wings or six wings and then they have like four different faces or they have a face of a man or they have a face of an eagle ox or or or lion so yeah that's not the beautiful flowing blonde hair woman with the the stork like wings and all this stuff so all that to say is that you need to put out your mind what you see in pictures and you see what the Bible shows us here because a lot of times the angels that they see look like men and a lot of times they'll just call a man and so they appear like one of us when they come down here and so the angel obviously is transformed into a minister of light and so the angels obviously can look like men and stuff like that so but anyway in Hebrews chapter 1 it gives us a little insight about what the purpose of angels are in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 7 and all this is quoted from you know Hebrews 1 is pretty much just a quote from Psalms but Hebrews 1 7 it says and of the angels he saith who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire now that shows us something is that the angels their spirits so they're not flesh and blood like we are but they're also ministers but not just his ministers go down to verse 14 so the last verse in the chapter there it says are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation now obviously it just said right before that but unto which the angel said he at any time sit on my right hand till I make that enemies like footstool so he's basically saying you know you didn't say that the angels he said that to the Son of God but he's basing of the angels they're ministering ministering spirits to minister unto those that shall be heirs salvation so what's their sole purpose to minister unto us to minister unto the saved and so they're ministers of the Lord so he can use them to talk to anybody but they're specifically meant to be ministers unto those that shall be heirs of salvation and so that's the purpose of angels and that's why when you look at Daniel when it talks about Michael your prince you know talking to Daniel because Michael the Archangel was Daniel's personal angel okay and that's a big honor you know they have the Michael the Archangel or Gabriel and you think about Gabriel coming to not only Daniel but Gabriel came to who came to both Elizabeth and came to Mary and so that's a big deal to get and I believe I believe Gabriel is also an Archangel doesn't calm an Archangel but I believe he is I believe him and Michael are archangels and they're kind of higher up you know chief but anyway that's another story for another day but I just want you to see that as far as angels angel just means messenger so when you look in the Revelation for example and you see the angel that is giving this information to John and he starts to bow down and worship the the angel that was talking to him and he says see thou do not and he says I am of thy brethren so in Revelation when it's talking about angels sometimes and especially the angel that's giving him this information it's actually a saint it's actually a believer that had already died and was giving him this information the seven angels of the seven churches are the angel is not an angelic being but I believe is actually the pastor of the church because he's the messenger of the church because he says unto the angel of the church of Ephesus I write I have a few things against thee so whoever he's talking to he's got something against that angel and the church that's there and so angel just means messenger and why I say this is because there's angelic angels as far as like the elect angels so when you see the the holy elect angels I believe you're talking about like the ones that are up in heaven that are before his throne like Gabriel and Michael and how Satan was an angel and his fallen angels right you had those but God's people can be called angels in certain situations think of the word evangelist in the word is the word angel but obviously when you couple that together as a messenger of the gospel and so but in this passage you know this could very well be the Lord talking to her because the angel of the Lord sometimes and I'm not 100% positive on this but I'll give you a reason why it could be because of how it uses the first person pronouns when it says I'll multiply thy seed and it says the angel Lord said that now that could just very well be just the messenger is kind of like if I were to say thus saith the Lord and said that you know I just didn't say thus saith the Lord I just said that right so that could be the case so this could very well just be an angel like Gabriel or Michael or somebody like that but I just want you to see that so when you see angel you know it's not always an angelic being like something you know like something like that could just be a messenger of some sort right so but also we see here that is she says to return to thy mistress and submit thyself unto her hands go to Ephesians chapter six Ephesians chapter six Ephesians chapter six I just want to touch on this real quick because obviously with Hagar she's a bondmaid and so therefore she is literally bound to serve Sarah but in the day and age we live in we're not dealing with indentured servants and like servitude as far as what they used to have now it'd be more biblical instead of you know if someone stole a whole bunch of stuff or they went into bankruptcy that they'd actually have to pay off their debt instead of like going to jail which they can't pay it off you know that's another sermon for another day so servitude is not a bad thing it's not slavery slavery is something where basically you basically just take somebody unwarranted and you and you basically kidnap them and sell them okay that's called kidnapping and the Bible is against that it says that if you do that you should be put to death but servants of the Bible a lot of times are referring to bond servants but it could also just refer to someone that just works a job okay and so when you're reading through Ephesians six and Colossians three which I'm going to show you here you got to think about our realm of things most people work a job and some people you know our bosses and they own their company which is great but you still kind of serve whoever you're doing work for right you still have clients that you work for so you're you're still a servant to somebody and so but in Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5 notice what it says it says servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh which fear with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart as unto Christ not with eye service as men pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free so so obviously in this case you could be bond or free but this case I believe could be talking about you know just working a job the borrower servant to the lender and if you're if you're borrowing any money you know which probably everything person in here is to a certain extent if you have a house or have some kind of payment we're all we're all borrowing to live your servant to somebody as far as paying off bills or paying something and so we just don't we're not in chains right and in the way our country is in the way the welfare state is you could basically just step out of everything and the government will just take care of you but still your servant to the at that point you're just a slave to the government so tomato tomato when you look at that Colossians 3 says the same thing in verse 22 it says servants obey and all things your masters according to the flesh not with eye services men pleasers but in singleness of heart fearing God and whatsoever you do do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the of the inheritance for your you serve the Lord Christ so the key with this is is that let's say you have somebody that you're working for and you just can't stand them you just got to work for them like you're working for the Lord okay and so obviously that master is not going to be as the Lord but you just need to look at it that way and if you suffer wrongfully God's going to reward you for it and so you just need to look at it in those aspects that you're not serving them as the person you're doing it for you're serving them as unto the Lord and so there's many places Titus covers this first Peter covers this this is a big deal to obey your masters as far as servitude goes and so I apply it to work okay obviously I'm not a bond servant to my job and most people that work you're not like chained there and if you said I'm not gonna come in they're not gonna like haul you off somewhere and chain you up in their basement okay so we're not going into this type of details but we still are kind of the servant to the boss and so these these verses really do apply to us and obviously Hagar is going back to a mistress that doesn't like her okay that spoke very hardly to her and so she's going into a situation where the her master is not like the best situation in the world and so that's something to think about now going back to Genesis chapter 16 Genesis 16 in verse 10 like I said this is where you could say well maybe the angel the Lord that's that's talking to her is just the Lord and it's kind of like the appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament kind of thing because in verse 10 there it says an angel Lord said unto her I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not be numbered for multitude so that's interesting that it says I but that doesn't necessarily mean that's true because sometimes in the Bible it'll say things like that that an angel said but it's actually the Lord saying it and they're just the messenger it's kind of like they're just repeating what God said so obviously it could just be an angel and not God himself and and I was kind of looking at this too because you think of the burning bush it says the angel Lord appeared in the burning bush and then God spoke to him out of the burning bush but you can't really pin it down doesn't say that the angel of the Lord is God because the angel Lord could have been in the burning bush and then he used the angel to speak on his behalf kind of thing and so anyway that's an interesting study but I've had I've heard a lot of people talk about the angel Lord being God I don't I haven't seen I haven't found a verse that really just is like yeah that one's no doubt so I'm not convinced that the angel Lord is is an old attempt I definitely saw some because we did that with Melchizedek I showed you some passages where it's definitely the Lord but doesn't call him the angel Lord in those passages and even where if you were to say well Jacob wrestled the man it doesn't call him the angel Lord just says that he wrestled with a man and they said that he saw God so all I'm saying with that is that I'm not against you if you think that the angel Lord is the appearance of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament I just don't see any definitive proof of that so but as we go on here in verse 11 it says in the angel Lord said unto her behold thou art with child and shall bear a son and shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy affliction so notice in the Bible the names have meanings and usually when it names the name if it's if it's a big name as far as you know Ishmael here because the Lord has heard my by affliction I think that the name has to do with the Lord hearing someone's affliction and so that's what that name would mean and so you think of Israel it says as a prince thou hast has power with God so think of what Israel means like power and then you think of you know Edom it says that he was faint and therefore his name was called Edom and so a lot of times the Bible gives you that definition of what their name even means or why they were named that and so in this case I believe is because he heard the Lord heard her affliction and it says in verse 12 and he will be a wild man and his hand will be against every man every man's hand against him and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren so that's interesting as far as being a wild man it's just he's gonna you know he's just gonna be a man of war it looks like but he actually has 12 sons that's what's interesting interesting about Ishmael is that he beats Abraham too with the 12 patriarchs because it takes actually to another generation for Jacob you know to do that see because Isaac he only had he has Esau and Jacob and so it's interesting the story of Ishmael but I believe Ishmael was was a saved man and we haven't got to really Ishmael yet but Ishmael was circumcised he grew up with Abraham I believe he's saved and so and what we're gonna get into at the end of this this lesson which we're here in a minute is dealing with the allegories now remember we were talking about those with Esau with Jacob and Esau how Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated I don't believe he literally hated Jacob the person or Esau the person I'm sorry I don't believe he literally hated Esau the person but they represented nations right it was the allegory of nations and more so the allegory of the saved and the reprobate and so that's what that whole thing was about because it says in thy belly are two nations and so I believe Esau was saved I believe he definitely did some stupid things right but I believe he was saved I believe Ishmael was saved and so I believe it doesn't really say that Ishmael was like this horrible person now they made some mistakes you know Ishmael at 13 years old made some mistakes and made him make makes a big mistake and that's obviously why they get kicked out but anyway in in Genesis chapter 16 verse 13 notice what it says it says and she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her thou God seest me for she said have I also here looked after him that seeth me verse 14 wherefore the well was called Beer-Lahiroy behold it is between Kadesh and Beared so what's Beer-Lahiroy mean thou God seest me so you can see like the definitions of words because it says thou God seest me and it says wherefore the well was called Beer-Lahiroy and remember when she went and when she fled where did the angel of the Lord meet her at the fountain of water as she was going towards Shur or whatever that was and so basically the well and the fountain I believe it the same thing so basically that well was called Beer-Lahiroy and there's another place where there's gonna be a well that's gonna be called Beer-Sheba and they make a covenant and we haven't got there yet but Abraham is gonna make a covenant with Abimelech and they're gonna name it the place Beer-Sheba and so obviously there's something to deal with that as far as you know what all this stuff means but in this thou God seest me you God see see me and that's why she called the well Beer-Lahiroy and so anyway you look at these words you're like what in the world they mean well it usually defines it's like Melchizedek now in the Old Testament doesn't really define what Melchizedek means but in New Testament it says which being by interpretation is king of righteousness so we know that Melchizedek means literally king of righteousness and so it's I always say you'll find it good to kind of remember these words and maybe write down the definitions beside them because sometimes it'll help you sometimes you're gonna find other words and you're like what in the world is that talking about or you'll see suppose the contradictions one one and this is just a you know a side note but when you go into Daniel and it talks about the writing on the wall it says Mini Mini Tikal Ufarsin and it obviously Daniel gives the interpretation but when he says those words back he'll say Mini means this and also Tikal means this and then I'll say Pires means this you're like wait a minute I thought it was Ufarsin but if you understand that when when God killed Uzzah it said that he made a breach upon Uzzah and what did they call the place Pires Uzzah unto this day so there you have Pires means breach then you have where Judah remember where Tamar had two sons the twins and the one put out his hand or whatever and they put the scarlet thread around it and and then the other child came out first and the other child was Pherez and they named him Pherez because he made a breach upon the womb you know so basically it's basically how the world this even happened that this other child came out first when the other one had the handout first so that's crazy story but anyway all that to say is that Pires and Pherez and you can see in Ufarsin it's the same word and so words sometimes have different spellings depending on how you're using it especially different languages meaning that if you were to say like that what's the word the infinitive or you know if you were to write out a word for the definition like different different languages have in Greek if you were to put a definition they always put it in the personal like I state state of saying it and so it has different spellings and it looks differently depending on how you use it in a sentence so that's all that means is that basically in a sentence meaning meaning to equal Ufarsin to mean breach on whatever that statement was meaning if you were just to say the definition of Ufarsin you would just say Pires and so anyway all that to say is that I know that's deep and you're like what in the world we're not in Daniel I know but what I'm saying here is that when you go through here and you see Bir Leihiroy and you see Ishmael and you see like these different names and it tells you why they named them that it's not a bad idea to maybe make a little note of that saying Ishmael means this or you know Beersheba means this or Bethel means this Bethel means the house of God then when you get into Bethlehem you say okay well Beth if El means God and Beth means house and Bethlehem must meet the house of something and so all I'm saying with that is that that's a little a nice little trick to use your Bible to figure out some definitions now what I want to get to here and I knew you probably knew I was going to go to this but I want to talk about the allegory between Sarah and Hagar because in the New Testament Hagar is only really mentioned one time in Galatians chapter 4 and so anytime you're reading a story and it's mentioned in the New Testament you want to go to the New Testament and see what it's talking about because the New Testament is the revealed Word of God I mean this is where you're gonna see exactly what that was about so in Galatians chapter 4 Paul's really rebuking these the the church at Galatia the churches at Galatia because they were that little 11 was coming in of this false doctrine of like that the fact they had to be circumcised on top of believing you know they were adding all the they were adding works to salvation so he's ripping their face off and he even says I'm afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain he's basically saying if you really believe this then I I must have not even got you saved you know that's pretty much what he's saying it's kind of like in first Corinthians 15 that if unless it says if you keep in remembrance what I preached unto you lest you believed in vain meaning that if you don't remember what I taught you about salvation and you can't even remember that it's that he rose from the dead then you believe in vain and if if if they believe that they have to be circumcised also to be saved and that's literally a part of the gospel then he's saying I've bestowed labor upon you in vain meaning you didn't get saved and so he's afraid of them he says I'm afraid of you lest I have bestowed labor upon vain so he's rebuking them here saying hey listen you know I I I I showed you many times in it if you've read Galatians you have chapter 3 well actually really chapter 2 3 that's really just hammering in the fact that it's by faith and not by works you get to chapter 5 and it just hits it more but notice what it says here in verse 21 it says tell me that desire to be under the law do you not hear the law for it is written Abraham that Abraham had two sons the one by a bondmaid the other by a free woman so he's basically making a point here that he had two sons he didn't just have Isaac and so that's what we saw here is that who's the first son that he had he had Ishmael of Hagar and he's basically saying hey one of them was by a bondmaid that's Hagar and one was by a free woman that's Sarah and so you go to verse 23 there but he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh but he of the free woman was by promise and so he's showing you here that hey that was by the flesh meaning that the one with Hagar that wasn't the promised seed to come that wasn't what God promised that was according to the flesh obviously that was in the flesh right because that wasn't right that was wrong to do in verse 24 which things are an allegory so you see me saying this all the time we're kind of talking about these different things with Obadiah and the children of God children devil with Esau and Jacob and how it's an allegory well the Bible uses that word and it's gonna explain that that Sarah and Hagar are an allegory and Isaac and Ishmael are an allegory and so in verse verse 24 which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants so here's the allegory now Sarah is not literally a covenant and Hagar is not literally a covenant right it's an allegory it's a picture so they two represents something right Sarah represents a covenant and Hagar represents a covenant what we're gonna see is that Hagar represents the old covenant and Sarah represents the new covenant and so when you get in after this it says these are the two covenants the one from the Mount Sinai which gender at the bondage which is agar so who's what's Mount Sinai talking about it's talking about the first covenant that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai and obviously you had the law that was given to them and all the ordinances that were given to them it says that is agar and so Hagar is Hagar they just dropped the H in the New Testament notice verse 25 for this agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answer it to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children so the Jerusalem the physical city of Jerusalem especially back in their day what was it likened unto what was the allegory that is Hagar now is Hagar the legitimate wife of Abraham and is Ishmael the legitimate son of Abraham no those were all the flesh and they are not the promised seed to come and he's basically saying hey all those that are in Jerusalem now Jerusalem which is now is Hagar why because you know that's they're in bondage because they're not saved okay so that's what he's saying here in verse in verse 26 it says but Jerusalem which is above is free which is the mother of us all what Jerusalem is that talking about the heavenly Jerusalem new Jerusalem that's in heaven and so what's who's represented there that doesn't say it but we know that's that would be Sarah then because these are the two covenants you have two different Jerusalem's then if you have two different covenants yet there's a Jerusalem which is now which is now which is in bondage with their children that's over that's the one that's over there in the Middle East right now and then you have Jerusalem which is above which is the mother of us all and so and he's obviously talking saying mother of us all including those who he's talking to assuming they're saved okay and so in verse 27 for it is written rejoice thou bearing that bearers not break forth and cry thou that travails not for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath and husband that's quoted in Isaiah 54 right after Isaiah 53 talking about Jesus dying for our sins and remember it says who shall declare his generation because his generation we're gonna be all those that believe on him and so I don't have time to come into that study when we hit that some other time Jesus's generation but but that's quoted from there and then verse 28 now we notice this now we brethren as Isaac was are the children a promise so the children those that live that are in Jerusalem that are following you know the that are supposedly following the law of Moses and all this stuff he's saying that's agar that's Hagar that's Mount Sinai and they're in bondage but Jerusalem which is above that's Sarah and those are the ones that are the children of promise so you see the allegory between Hagar and Sarah and then the allegory between Isaac and Ishmael because Isaac is the child of promise Ishmael is not Ishmael is the the child of the flesh and so this makes perfect sense and obviously we haven't got to this point yet but we're gonna get to it and and when Isaac's born but in verse 29 it says but as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit even so it is now nevertheless what's that the scripture cast out the bond woman and her son for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman so then brethren we are not children of the bond woman but of the free so this is all an allegory talking about the children of the flesh compared to the children of God and it's showing that representation between Isaac and Ishmael see how Ishmael represents the children of the flesh and Isaac represents the children of promise or children of God and and so that's something that we're gonna get to but see you see the allegory between the mothers but you see the allegory between the sons as well and so the one of the mothers represent the city the little you know like the cities of Jerusalem the physical city the spiritual city and then you have the the sons where they represent the physical sons and then the spiritual sons so all this fits like a glove but with that in mind go to Romans chapter 9 Romans chapter 9 you know you think about this really does spell it out for us here but Romans chapter 9 really just hits it hard hits it hard that just because you're children of Abraham you know Abraham had a Ishmael. Ishmael is a child of Abraham but he wasn't the seed promised to come and so he's just making a point here that hey in Galatians 4 he's making a point hey he had two sons so you want to say you're children of Abraham all day long Ishmael was circumcised but he was a child of the flesh he wasn't the child of promise again I believe Ishmael was saved these are allegories these are examples these are something that are showing us something bigger and so you're just kind of seeing the surface of it Romans chapter 9 and says in verse 1 I say the truth in Christ I lie not my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God bless forever amen not as though the Word of God had taken none effect for they are not all Israel which are of Israel see how that makes sense when you have Galatians in your mind they're not all of new Jerusalem which are of Jerusalem right does that make sense because there's a spiritual Israel and there's a physical Israel there's a spiritual Jerusalem and there's a physical Jerusalem and he's saying there is a difference between the two and just because you're of that physical nation of Israel or you're in that physical city of Jerusalem that does not make you automatically the children of the heavenly and so now obviously he gets into chapter 11 of Romans and says hey listen he hasn't cast off all of us because I am too I see see Paul and a lot of the Jews that got saved they're both right they're literally of the of the seed of Abraham and they're also of the actual seed of Abraham that that really matters which is Christ and so and as you go on there it says in verse 7 neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is they which are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted for the seed for this is the word of promise at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son see how that that fits in you know hand in glove with Galatians chapter 4 the allegory of Hagar and Sarah and their their sons and how that just matches up perfectly and Galatians really just drives that in and saying hey listen if you're of the physical Jerusalem you're Hagar and you're of the children of Hagar and you're Ishmael that's what he's liking them to you're the children of bondage and of the flesh but if you're if you're saved then you're of Sarah and you're of the you're with Isaac you're the children of promise we as Isaac was are the children of promise why because it's by faith and it's not by you know it's not by the will of man it's not by blood it's not by you know by by flesh it's by God that we're born again and so it just shows really just how simple it is okay and you get into this dispensational garbage as far as you know people are saved differently in the Old Testament New Testament it's just a bunch of garbage and so but Jerusalem is not only called Hagar but it's also called Sodom and Egypt so go to Revelation chapter 11 so you know when it says it that Jerusalem which now is it says that you know they look to Hagar it's talking spiritually right it's not literally a woman okay it's like when you look at the great whore in Revelation it's a city but he's describing it like you describe a woman right and so it's it's showing us that and also the bride of Christ is not literally a big giant bride you know that's wearing a wedding gown the bride of Christ is all believers and that's that city of New Jerusalem and so it's not it's not out of the ordinary to kind of spiritualize that type of thing so Sarah is New Jerusalem so to speak and you know then cities are always likened unto women just a pretty little thing there you know when it's talking about like her it's always a woman's sense so it's it's interesting that Jerusalem which now is likened unto a woman Hagar and Jerusalem which is above is likened unto a woman Sarah and why the great whore which is obviously Babylon is like an unto a woman and you have New Jerusalem or the bride of Christ is obviously a woman okay so anyway so Revelation chapter 11 verse 8 is the last thing when we get to here it says it says in their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt which also our Lord was crucified so we know where was Jesus crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem so we know that we're talking about Jerusalem so Jerusalem is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt the Jerusalem which is now right we know that the Jerusalem which is in heaven above is the mother of us all that's the heavenly Jerusalem that we're looking for and so the Jerusalem which is now is Sodom and Egypt and Hagar and they're in bondage why because they're all unsaved okay because that that city and it's been that way since Jesus you know since they rejected Christ it's been just a big pit of people that are in bondage and so but is it interesting is it a coincidence that Hagar is an Egyptian and Jerusalem is likened unto Egypt which now is I just thought that was a little you know kind of I don't think it's a coincidence that she's an Egyptian and that she's the allegory for the Jerusalem which now is and now spiritually called Egypt but anyway so to kind of wrap this up it's it's basically the allegories go like this Sarah would represent the New Testament Hagar would represent the Old Testament Sarah would represent the mother of the saved Hagar would represent the mother of the unsaved or those that are in bondage remember with that we're escaped out of bondage we're made free in Christ stand fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free that's right after Galatians 4 that you get in Galatians 5 that's what it's talking about and so and it says so Sarah is free Hagar's is bound she's a bondmaid the the New Testament and Old Testament too is an allegory of salvation by faith and condemnation of the law if you think about that what is the Old Testament really represent the law and how we're condemned by the law what is the New Testament represent salvation by grace now it's always been that way right it's always been in the Old Testament they were condemned by the law and they were saved by grace New Testament hey guess what we're still condemned by the law and we're saved by grace even though the Old Testament's vanished away but it's an allegory and you always have the physical before the spiritual notice which son was first Ishmael the physical before the spiritual which would be Isaac Old Testament physical before the spiritual where you have the you know and there's so many elements to that obviously with the high priest and Jesus Christ himself being the high priest and so you always have that when Christ came remember add there was two Adams the first Adam was earthy of that was physical but then the spiritual we're all physical but then we're gonna have the resurrection which is spiritual first Corinthians chapter 15 covers this it's always first the physical then the spiritual and that's exactly what happens in this chapters we first have the physical seed of Abraham which is I which is Ishmael the fleshly seed which represents those that are of Abraham but not saved not believers and so but then you have Isaac that represents the children those that are believers and if you be in Christ then are you Abraham seed and heirs according to the promise so that's what that's talking about being the children of promise is by faith you're all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus and so hopefully all that makes sense this is a great chapter to really see you know something you know really deep as far as you know the allegory between Sarah and Hagar so this chapter is really dealing with those two women and just a strife between them and that strife will continue but the stripes gonna be more so with the sons in chapter 21 this is the strike between the women and so you can kind of see how that happened physically with them but it also shows us how that happens spiritually you think of the strike between the Jerusalem which is now and Jerusalem which is above we see that all in the New Testament so Genesis chapter 16 great chapter and let's end with a word of prayer dear heavenly father Lord we thank you today and thank you for everybody that came out and pray to you be with us as we go home and give us safety in our travels and be with us as we go back to work help us to get everything we need to get done I pray to be with those aren't feeling well pray for brother David and Lord just anybody that's not feeling well I pray to be with brother McCloy with what this job situation again I pray to be with the Slagle's Lord just still be with them give them comfort and consolation and we'll just be with everybody here be with those that couldn't make it for whatever reason and Lord just pray that that you would give us safety but help us to bring glory to your name in this coming week and Lord we love you and prayers in Jesus Christ's name amen