Galatians 4:21-31.  If you read the “Old Testament Connection” you might remember that I mentioned Abraham.  I also mentioned how God had promised Abraham a son but after many years of waiting he and Sarah, his wife, took matters into their own hands and Sarah had Abraham get her servant pregnant (Genesis 16:1-16).  Did you notice that Sarah and Abrahams name were different.  (See the “What’s in a Name” page).  The servants name was Hagar and the child was Ishmael. Eventually Sarah did have a son who’s name was Isaac.  Both sons had several sons and produced large nations, but it was Isaac’s family that would produce the promised “seed” that would be a blessing to the nations.  Through his grandson, Jacob (Israel) the nation of Israel (Jews) would come and the promised  descendant, Jesus.  Now here is where it gets a little confusing.  The center of the Jewish nations was and is Jerusalem.  It was the capital and also the place where God’s one and only temple was built.  But worship of God under the Jewish system (the Old Testament Law or custom of Moses (Acts 15:1)) is what Paul is comparing to Hagar and Ishmael in the reading.  Hagar was a slave and her children were slaves and in a similar way the Jews are slaves too.  Why?  Because the rules that Moses delivered to the Israelites depended on the Israelites to obey them.  Laws need to be followed.  But Israelites did not follow them, they listened to their own internal wants and desires instead.  Just like all of us do.  The Bible calls our internal desires “the flesh”.  Hagar and Ishmael represent the desires of “the flesh” and the Jewish system works or doesn’t work really by “the flesh”.  So although Hagar and Ishmael have nothing to do with the Jewish religion their positions as slaves is bieng used by Paul as an example.  On the other hand Isaac was the son who was promised to Abraham and through him Jesus would come and God’s promise to bless the nations.  So even though Isaac’s descendants through Jacob would be the Jews who lived under the Old Testament Law Isaac himself is a reminder of the promise that God made to Abraham which Abraham believed by faith.  Just like Ishmael and his descendants were trouble for Isaac and his descendants through out history the Jews were now being trouble for the people who had put their faith in Jesus (Galatians 4:28-29).  So Paul compares Christians to the Jews and Jews to the Ishmaelites.  The comparison is about slavery and freedom, trying to live up to some rules on our own power to get to God or letting God help us, through the Holy Spirit, show our appreciation for the gift he gave us.  Our sins paid for by Jesus and adoption into His family.  I like the last verses of the reading, “so brothers we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.”  Lord help me show my appreciation for making me free.  I really was born a slave.  I did lots of things that made me happy and you sad.  Thank you for the Holy Spirit and the Bible which together help me see what makes you happy.  Help me listen to both and show my appreciation with my life for the gift of eternity in Heaven with you.