Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #2 of Genesis, chapter 16 and we are going to read Genesis 16:1-3:

Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, JEHOVAH hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

In our last study, we were discussing some of the historical problems that would have been part of Abram and Sarai’s lives. They had received a promise from God regarding a seed that would come forth from Abram’s bowels. It had been 10 years and even before that time they were already old. Sarai came up with a plan to fulfill the Word of God so her husband could have a seed that came forth from his bowels, but it would not come from her womb, but it would come from the womb of another woman, her handmaid, who was said to be an Egyptian.

We went to Galatians, chapter 4 last time and we saw that God had a spiritual picture in view by allowing these circumstances to develop and by allowing Sarai (by lifting His hand of restraint) to develop a sinful idea and to follow through with it. He also allowed Abram to participate in this sinful course of action. God permitted it because He had a purpose for the historical event that would paint a specific spiritual picture. For instance, it is like when God allowed Jonah to flee to Tarshish. Historically, Jonah rebelled against the Word of the Lord because God had told him to go to Nineveh. So, it was a sinful act on Jonah’s part, but through his fleeing to Nineveh, it pictured the Lord Jesus Christ as He would enter the world and go with mankind that was fleeing from JEHOVAH. So, here and in other parts of the Bible, God allows true historical situations to happen with men and women to develop a spiritual truth.

Galatians, chapter 4 is very clear regarding what this truth is, as Sarai and Hagar represent two covenants and the children they produced would represent these two covenants. This why it is so important that in Genesis, chapter 16, God points out in verses 1 and 3 that Sarai’s handmaid was an Egyptian. He mentioned it twice and the second time it was said in verse 3: “And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian.” We wonder why the focus on her being Egyptian? The answer is clear. Let us look at how God typifies the land of Egypt in the Bible. It says in Exodus 13:3:

And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage…

Also, it says in Exodus 13:14:

And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand JEHOVAH brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

It also says in Deuteronomy 5:6:

I am JEHOVAH thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

It says in Deuteronomy 6:12:

Then beware lest thou forget JEHOVAH, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Then it says in Deuteronomy 13:5:

And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from JEHOVAH your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage…

And it says in Deuteronomy 13:10:

And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from JEHOVAH thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Of course, there are many more references to this and I am just reading a few of them. In the New Testament, it says in Acts 7:6-7:

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place.

We see a strong connection between “Egypt” and “bondage.” It is the “house of bondage” and that is why it is such a terrible thing when God says this regarding the death of the “two witnesses” at the end of the church age that had the testimony of His Word, as typified by the Law and the prophets or Moses and Elijah, and they were “killed” and their dead bodies were lying in the street, in Revelation 11:7-8:

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Of course, if you read in the Old Testament about Sodom, that was not the place the Lord was crucified. Or, if you read all you can about Egypt, you will not find that as the place the Lord was crucified. Where was our Lord crucified? It was outside the city Jerusalem. So, God is connecting the fallen church to “Jerusalem,” which typified the corporate church and when the “two witnesses” ended their testimony and were killed, spiritually the church became “Egypt.” Why did it become Egypt? It was because all that remained after God commanded His people to come out of the midst and flee to the mountains were the unsaved that would remain in bondage to sin and to Satan. All the while people were going to the corporate churches during the Great Tribulation, Satan (typified by Pharaoh) was ruling in the churches and congregations and it was as if Pharaoh was ruling over Egypt and “professed Christianity” were before him, like Israel of old, in bondage. They were under cruel taskmasters and in the case of the New Testament churches, that would be the pastors and elders and deacons and spiritual leaders in the congregations; they were emissaries of Satan that would not let the people go.

When news about the end of the church age came forth from the Bible to those in the congregations, these leaders said, “Oh, no, do not listen to that – it is all heresy. You stay where you are at and keep your families here. Do not leave.” It was just like when Moses came before Pharaoh and brought God’s message, “Let my people go,” and Pharaoh refused to let the people go. So, too, Satan worked through his emissaries in the corporate church to command, “Do not let the people go,” and they taught against the true teaching of the Bible that God had ended His relationship with the corporate churches.

God’s people did come out because they heard the voice of Christ and followed Him. They went to safety by coming out of the corporate church, which had returned to “Egypt.” There is a verse in Deuteronomy, chapter 28 that only has fulfilment in the spiritual realm. There has been no historical fulfilment of this verse, but there has been spiritual fulfilment of this verse in Deuteronomy 28, a chapter where God went into detail about His wrath upon a rebellious people. We can understand this to mean the judgment that came upon the house of God because of their rebellion. It says in Deuteronomy 28:68:

And JEHOVAH shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

There was a return to the “house of bondage.” They were sold to their enemies as bondmen and bondwomen and no “man,” referring to the Lord Jesus Christ, will “buy” them. In other words, they would not be redeemed. There is no more salvation possible there.

The churches and congregations, typified here by ships, told the members of their congregations that they were sailing to the Promised Land: “Come travel with us. We are going to set sail and we will take you to heaven.” This was said, as it were, by the Presbyterians, the Episcopalians, the Catholics, the Congregationalists and every other type of church. “We are going to the Promised land of the new heaven and new earth. This is the way to the kingdom of heaven. Come, set sail with us!” They set their course, but God had broken the ship, as depicted in Acts, chapter 27 and it was not going anywhere. But in this figure in Deuteronomy, chapter 28 God does indicate the “destination” for the ships – it was a return trip to Egypt and to the house of bondage. So, whatever you do, do not think for a second that in these days after the Tribulation and in this Day of Judgment, that anyone is being blessed or doing something good for themselves or their families when they return to the churches or to church doctrines that brought down the wrath of God upon the churches in the first place.

And now, because some people do not know what they are doing and have lost sight of God’s timeline and His times and seasons, they have turned away from sound doctrine that pinpointed the Day of Judgment and laid out the duration of the Great Tribulation and many other truths along with these things. They have rejected truth and things are unraveling for them and the clear vision they once had acknowledged regarding these end time events have been removed and they have returned to a place of darkness and spiritual ignorance. That has made it easy for them to get on board a “ship” that is sailing, not to the Promised Land, but back to Egypt and back to the house of bondage as bondmen and bondwomen, servants of sin and not a servant of God. It is not the way into the kingdom of heaven.

However, God laid out the way. After coming out of Egypt, the way into the Promised Land is through a grievous and extremely difficult path of wandering 40 years while being severely tested. It would be about as difficult an experience as anyone can imagine and, yet, that is the way. Historically, that is what Israel had to do before they could cross Jordan into the land of Canaan. Spiritually, it is what God’s elect must do. We must endure this testing program God has established at the time of the end before we can enter into the kingdom of God. It is not sailing on a “ship” anywhere. It involves walking around under a “hot sun,” but God is feeding us with manna from heaven and water from the Rock. This is the pathway that leads to the eternal kingdom of God and it is the way the Bible has established, but just like Israel of old, some loathe that “light bread,” the manna, and they do not like the hot sun beating down upon them and scorching them. They are very distressed and uncomfortable and, in that condition they desire to return to Egypt. “Let us make us a captain and go back to Egypt.” For the few meager things they had there, like the cucumbers, the leeks and the melons, they fantasized about it and it began to look wonderful to them, compared to the desolate wilderness and the hot sun, so they turned around and went back. They have returned to bondage.

This why Hagar was spoken of as an Egyptian and a bondservant or handmaiden. She was a bondwoman. In Galatians, chapter 4 there is a verse that came before the verses we looked at regarding Hagar, where God speaks of being in bondage, in Galatians 4:1-3:

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

Now I should say it is necessary to read the previous chapter (Galatians, chapter 3) where God likens being under the law to being under schoolmasters. It says in Galatians 3:23-25:

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Who are under schoolmasters but children? When they go to school they have a teacher or schoolmaster to instruct them. Prior to faith coming through salvation, God’s elect were under the law, just like everyone else. We were under a schoolmaster. In the case of God’s chosen elect people, the “end of the law” was Christ, because God used the law to direct us to Christ or salvation and faith came in that case. So, in Galatians, chapter 4 it is picking up that idea of the heir or the seed of Abraham being all those in Christ. Again, it said, in Galatians 4:1-2:

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

That is, we were under the commandments and statutes of the law, which were our “tutors and governors” or our schoolmasters. Then it said in Galatians 4:3:

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

In this case the “children” are those to be saved, but not yet saved, and we were like a child under a schoolmaster or the law. Here, to be in bondage under the elements of the world relates to being under the law of God. But then it says in Galatians 4:4-5:

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

This is often misunderstood. It is not referring to the “fulness of time” when Christ came in history, but it is referring to when Christ came in salvation. Remember, chapter 3 said that we are under a schoolmaster until “faith” comes and Christ is Faith. So, in the fulness of time for each of God’s elect, God sent forth His Son to save them. It is really explaining the point in our personal lives when God delivered us from bondage to the elements of this world, which means to be under the law of God. To be in bondage is to be held captive by sin. And what is the “strength of sin,” according to the Bible? It is the law, so we were in bondage until the point that God delivered us through the sending of faith or the sending of His Son, because “faith” and “Jesus” are one and the same. So, this is the context and idea that led to the discussion of Hagar and Sarai later in Galatians, chapter 4. It says in Galatians 4:9:

But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

It is just like the churches today that have returned to bondage. They have gone back to Egypt, spiritually, because they did not follow the Spirit of God when He commanded them to come out, where salvation could only be found outside of the churches. But, again, bondage has to do with being under the law. Yes, the churches have the Bible and the Bible is the law of God, but they no longer have a Redeemer. They no longer have a Saviour or Deliverer because God will not violate His own Word. He commanded His people to come out of the churches, but most refused to obey and now the churches are a “house of bondage.” This is where Hagar comes in to view in chapter 4 in Galatians 4:22-23:

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

This is Agar (Hagar), the Egyptian. At mount Sinai God gave the law and it says here that it “gendereth to bondage.” The word “gendereth” is Strong’s #1080 in the Greek Concordance and it is also translated as “begat” or “born.” So, the law is that which “begat” bondage, which is Agar. Ishmael was the son of Agar, the son of the flesh, born to an Egyptian bondmaid and he was born in bondage, because she represented the law and he came forth from her. To look at it another way, it is like the gospels – there is the Gospel of grace and the gospel of works. Sara represented the Gospel of grace and Agar represented the gospel of works. People respond to both. The elect are saved and born again – they are born of the “freewoman” and they are free. But there is a gospel that perverts the Gospel of grace and introduces work along with it. They say, “Will you accept Christ? You have to be (water) baptized and you need to do this or that.” When people follow this gospel, they take the name of “Christian” and they say they were born again. However, they were born of the “bondwoman” and they are born in to bondage.