Historical Background
Let's begin with the historical background. Sarah was Abraham's wife, but Hagar was Sarah's slave, which Sarah gave to Abraham to sleep with, so that she might conceive and bear him a son, since Sarah was barren. Sarah knew that God had promised to bless Abraham and make him a great nation, and that his descendants would outnumber the stars in the heavens, so she took matters into her own hands and did this, rather than believe God's promise.
"Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, 'Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her.' And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight. And Sarai said to Abram, 'May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the LORD judge between you and me.'"(Gen 16:1-5)
"The angel of the Lord also said to her: 'You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward[a] all his brothers...So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.” (Gen 16:11-12, 15, NIV)
So before Ishmael was even born, he was destined to be a wild donkey of a man, whose hand would be against everyone, and against whom everyone else's hand would be. Later the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him that the heir of promise, through whom He would establish His everlasting covenant with his descendants, would be born to Sarah, and that his name would be Isaac. Here is the account:
"Then God said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.' Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, 'Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?' And Abraham said to God, 'Oh that Ishmael might live before You!' But God said, 'No, but Sarah your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year." (Gen 17:15-21)
The Lord later appeared again and repeated His promise that Sarah would bear him a son.
"He said, 'I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.' And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself, saying, 'After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?' And the LORD said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, "Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?" Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.'"(Gen 18:10-14)
She did conceive miraculously, even though she had been barren, and she bore him a son, whom he named Isaac.
"Then the LORD took note of Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac." (Gen 21:1-3)
"By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." (Heb 11:11-12)
"By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." (Heb 11:11-12)
As it turned out, in the course of time as the boy grew, trouble arose between the two boys as the angel had foretold.
"The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.' The matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, 'Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named." (Gen 21:8-12)
Apostolic Teaching on the Typology
The apostle teaches us the typology of these two sons:
"But the son by the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and the son by the free woman through the promise." (Gal 4:23)
Since Abraham and Sarah had sought to bring about the promise the Lord made to them by having him sleep with Hagar, her child represents the flesh, which always wants to do it our way, not God's way. But since Isaac was conceived supernaturally in fulfillment of God's promise to this couple, then he is a type of all those who are born free through the promise of God in Christ. Here is how Paul explained the typology of these two women:
"This is allegorically speaking, for these women are two covenants: one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar." (Gal 4:24)
In that verse, Paul specifically taught that Hagar represents the Mosaic covenant that God established on Mount Sinai. Even though we know that the Arabs as descendants of Ishmael do not follow the law of Moses, nor are they Jewish, we must understand that Paul is speaking allegorically. Hagar was sent into the wilderness with Ishmael, and he lived to the east of Isaac. Therefore, Paul is simply using this to teach that all those who live under the Mosaic covenant given at Mount Sinai are slaves, just as the descendants of the slave woman Hagar were. But all those who are born again in Christ through the promise given by God in the New Covenant are children of the free women like Isaac was.
"Now this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother." (Gal 4:25-26)
Here Paul compared Hagar allegorically to Mount Sinai in Arabia and Sarah to Mount Zion in heaven. He said that Hagar corresponds to the earthly Jerusalem while Sarah corresponds to the New Jerusalem above. All those in Christ are children of the Jerusalem above, which is free, and all those who are not in Christ and living under the law are children of the earthly Jerusalem, which is in slavery with all her offspring of Mount Sinai.
Paul wrote: "And you brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise." (Gal 4:28). This teaches that Isaac was a type of the Church in the sense that we are children of promise as he was.
Unfortunately the initial persecution between Ishmael and Isaac has continued to this day, as we can see the constant conflict between Arabs and Jews. But Paul uses this, too, to teach us.
"But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also." (Gal 4:29)
Here Paul is showing that those who are born again according to the Spirit will be persecuted by those born of the slave woman, who are living under the Mosaic covenant. The Galatians in Christ whom Paul was writing to were being persuaded by Judaizers that they could not be saved unless they were circumcised, and he was seeking to correct that. They had returned to observing the Law, keeping days and months and years, and observing dietary restrictions, but he was trying to use Hagar and Sarah as types to teach them that they were free from all that.
He wrote: "But what does the Scripture say? 'CAST OUT THE BONDWOMAN AND HER SON, FOR THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE AN HEIR WITH THE SON OF THE FREE WOMAN.' So then, brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman, but of the free woman."(Gal 4:30-31)
Side by Side Comparison
Let's summarize what we've just read by comparing the two women and their two sons side by side using Scripture in the following chart:
Let's summarize what we've just read by comparing the two women and their two sons side by side using Scripture in the following chart:
| Hagar and Ishmael | Sarah and Isaac |
| "bondwoman" | "free woman" |
| "son of the bondwoman" | "Son of the free woman" |
| "Law" | "promise" |
| "Mosaic covenant" | New Covenant in Christ |
| "the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the free woman" (Gal 4:30) | God established His everlasting covenant with Isaac the son of promise and his descendants |
| those under the Law are children of the slave woman like Ishmael | followers of Chris are children of promise "like Isaac" (Gal 4:28) |
| "he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit" (Gal 4:29) | "cast out the bondwoman and her son" (Gal 4:30 |
| Mount Sinai | Mount Zion |
| earthly Jerusalem (Gal 4:25-26) | New Jerusalem in heaven (Gal 4:25-26) |
| in slavery | free |
| "born according to the flesh" (Gal 4:23, 29) | "born according to the Spirit...through the promise." (Gal 4:23, 29) |
Which Mountain Have you Come To?
The apostle wrote to the Hebrews who had come to know Christ, telling them that they had come to Mount Zion and not to Mount Sinai. He described Mount Sinai like this:
"For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command, 'If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.' And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, 'I am full of fear and trembling.'" (Heb 12:18-21)
Then he went on to describe Mount Zion in this way:
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel." (Heb 12:22-24).
Mount Zion is clearly a better mountain than Mount Sinai. Which mountain have you come to?
Closing Words
Through the Scriptures, we have learned that Hagar was clearly a type of Mount Sinai and the Law, while Sarah was a type of Mount Zion and the New Covenant promise in Christ. All those under the law were typified by Ishmael the son of the slave woman, while those in Christ were typified by Isaac, the son of the free woman. As the apostle said, "if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise." (Gal 3:29). We who are in Christ have been born of the free woman above, which is the New Jerusalem in heaven, so we should not seek to go back to the bondage of living under the law, as if we were children of the slave woman.
Through our study of this subject, we can learn many truths that strengthen our faith in Christ. I trust this has helped to accomplish that objective in your life as you have read this article. I hope you will come back again later to enjoy more articles on the types in the Bible
[a] Gen 16:12 "live to the east of"
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
Author's note: Also see Adam as a Type of Christ, Noah's Ark a Type of Christ, and Moses as a Type of Christ. You can access the Main Directory for Biblical Typology, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
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