Emmaus Road Ministries

Hidden in the story of these two boys are beautiful pictures of Jesus and also of the Church.  Some are in typologies and some in the Hebrew meanings of names and places.

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Isaac And Ishmael were brothers, though each had a different mother. Everything was going along fine until the day Isaac came of age and was to be weaned from milk to solid food.  The Bible doesn’t record any problems between the two boys until this point in time.  So what’s the big deal? Why was there trouble all of a sudden?  That’s what we’re going to study!

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Now, little Isaac would have been somewhere around 2 or 3 years of age when he was weaned.  That would make Ishmael 13 or 14.  Why all the contention over him graduating to solid food?

Because back in those days, being weaned was a really big deal.  It was such an auspicious occasion that Abraham actually threw a big party in honor of his son’s special day.

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From then on, Ishmael began to persecute Isaac. 😕 Can you imagine? A big kid like that persecuting a little baby!  Ridiculous, I know, but true…..but why?  🤔 The Apostle Paul explains it beautifully for us in the book of Galatians.

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He contrasts these two boys and their mothers in Galatians 4:29-30:
29” But, as he who was born according to the flesh {Ishmael} 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.”

Notice, LADIES, God calls her words “scripture!”

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Bear in mind now that this kid was young teenager, not a little baby, yet had to be taken care of by his mother. 😳  Usually, it’s the other way around:  The son caring for the mother.

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Look at the account below in Genesis 21.  It says, “…she {Hagar} departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and SHE PLACED THE BOY UNDER ONE OF THE SHRUBS. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.”

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“SHE PLACED HIM UNDER A SHRUB?” 😳  He was obviously very weak and sickly.

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Sounds very much like what Paul said in Galatians 4:9 about the very confused Galatians who had mixed the law in with the Gospel:

9 “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the WEAK AND BEGGARLY ELEMENTS, {the law} to which you desire again to be in bondage?” 

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He calls the law “WEAK AND BEGGARLY.”   He is saying that, if you are under grace but you go back to trying to keep the Law, you’ll be just like Ishmael: Weak, sick, hungry, poor, and destitute.  I wouldn’t recommend trying to keep the law…..unless that’s the outcome for which you were searching.

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Typologies Of Two Covenants.
Further on in Galatians 4 it says,
24 “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, {Hagar} which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.” {Sarah}

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Anyone who thinks they have to obey the Ten Commandments to be right with God, though they are brothers and sisters in Christ, THEIR MOTHER IS HAGAR.  You will find they are in bondage, weak, poor, sickly and destitute. Those who are under grace, however, have SARAH as their MOTHER of the Jerusalem above, which is FREE!  One is law–Hagar; the other is GRACE–Sarah.

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Your Ex Or Your Wife? 🤔
Inviting the law into the church is like allowing your husband to invite a former girlfriend…or worse, his ex wife….and with them, their child or children to come live under your roof!  How many of you women out there would agree to such an arrangement?  I’m guessing…….ZERO?  It’s STUPIDITY! 🤦‍♀️

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Here’s the deal, Church:  You and I, as Christian brothers and sisters, all have the same Father.  But we do not all have the same mother.  Some are children of Sarah and are free.  The others are children of Hagar and in bondage to the law. It doesn’t need to be so.

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All you need to do is recognize that no one can obey the law in every thought, word, and deed for our entire lives. NO NOT ONE.  One false move and we’re toast! The Law does NOT grade on the curve. That’s why we need a savior.

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As a believer in Christ, however, even though life will not be what God has promised you because of your unfortnate belief, you will still go to heaven because, whether you know it or not, ALL your sins for your entire life have already been taken away by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  There is nothing left for you to DO……..except believe. Your “Doing” did not nor cannot get you saved.     👇  👇  👇

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👉 If you remember nothing else, remember this: Salvation is JESUS…..plus NOTHING.👈

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The children of the bondwoman, HAGAR, cannot, WILL NOT, INHERIT THE BLESSINGS OF GOD with the children of the freewoman, SARAH.

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The Promises Come Through Isaac.
Romans 9 adds this bit of enlightenment:

“6 For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise {of Sarah’s son, Isaac} who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

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The promises are to Isaac, NOT ISHMAEL, though they both have the same father. Both groups are Christians but only one is blessed. Isaac inherits; Ishmael just lives an ordinary life OUTSIDE of the greatest blessings.  This group continually struggles with sickness, poverty, lack, hardships, breakthroughs that always seem just out of reach, even untimely death.  If God’s blessings come at all, they are usually not lasting. 😔

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Secrets In The Hebrew Language.

As much as I would love to see all our brothers and sisters in Christ flourish and prosper, only our Daddy can open the eyes of these confused brethren, who are supposed to be free, but are still under the law by their own ignorance of how much they are loved by God.

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These brothers and sisters, like Ishmael, are no fun at all.  Thinking they must measure up to some standard, they do not have the close, warm, and joyful relationship with their Father that Isaac has. Isaac means “laughter.”  Where the true gospel is, there is laughter, singing, dancing and joyous celebration.  

Ishmael means, “God hears.” Yes, He hears them but there is no warmth or closeness…..and certainly no laughter.  These Ishmaels not only don’t like those “grace people,” they often go around persecuting and tearing them down; yes, some with murderous intent. 🤯 They’ll hurl insults, send poison emails and texts, and cry “heretic,” thinking that somehow they are protecting ho-o-o-liness. 🤦‍♀️  (Sadly, they have never heard the REAL GOSPEL.)

So, Church:  What’s it gonna be?  Grace…..or Law?  You get to decide: Who is your Mother?