Morning Message: Jazal - al - Lawz

Bobservations' Column
Titled - "Jabal - al-Lawz"
Written by: Pastor Bob Lawrenz

The traditional understanding of the location of Mt. Sinai has for the most part been one of several locations on the Sinai Peninsula. None of them are positively identified as Mount Sinai by evidence. Archaeologists have searched and searched without finding evidence of the location until they dug into God’s Word and found what we will read today.

It’s not on the Sinai Peninsula at all, but in Arabia, which makes perfect chronological sense. To get to the mountain, the Israelites would have had to have crossed the Red Sea twice if it was located on the Peninsula, and a third time to get to the Promised Land.

As part of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, is a finger of the sea extending northward to today’s City of Eilat, Israel. Your Bible maps of the ancient world variously identify the City as Aila, Elath, and Ezion-geber. At Eilat we find the southernmost tip of Israel, and within 40 miles east and west, we find the Sinai (Egypt) to the west, and Arabia to the east, governed now by the House of Saud, hence “Saudi Arabia.” The Gulf of Aqaba follows the land rift where we find the Jordan River further to the north. This is the “land bridge” between the continents of Africa and Asia.

Exodus is mostly chronological, where we read of the path of the Israelites as they made their escape from Egypt, and the Gulf of Aqaba makes perfect sense, for the Red Sea crossing is recorded in Exodus prior to Moses meeting with God atop Mount Sinai. And just north of the Red Sea, in the Gulf, there is a narrow section of the Gulf where the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba are slightly shallower. Chariot wheels have been discovered at the bottom of the Gulf, along with other metal pieces that were part of the horse bridles. and chariot hardware.

Then continuing inland to the East, we come across Jabel al-Lawz, with its blackened peak, and evidence at its base of a large ancient human encampment, complete with broken pottery and cooking utensils. Today’s chapter is the only record in the King James Bible that provides a location for Mt. Sinai. Archaeological digs at the sea, and at the base of the mountain affirm this location as the most likely location for the mountain climbed by Moses to meet with God.

Bobservations' Column:  Audio Version

Sunday Morning Message:

Galatians 4:15-31 - "Jabal-al-Lawz"

Summary/Additional Commentary & Definitions:

As we finish up Galatians 4 this week, Paul continues to emphasize that salvation comes through faith in Christ, not adherence to the law. Because of the false teaching the Galatians had been listening to, they had begun to see Paul and the gospel he preached as untrustworthy. Paul exposes the motive of false teachers, and that is that they only want to glorify themselves. As exasperated as Paul is with the Galatian church, he still calls them "My little children" as a protective parent desiring nothing more than to see them grasp the truth of the gospel and allowing Jesus Christ to transform their lives.

Paul's final argument is an appeal to the Law itself, addressed directly to those who desire to be under it. He reminds them of Abraham's two sons by Sarah and Hagar, and contends there are allegorical implications concerning the two covenants. Hagar, the bondwoman who gave birth to Ishmael, represents the covenant given at Mt. Sinai, and corresponds to physical Jerusalem and the bondage of those under the Law. Sarah, Abraham's wife who gave birth to Isaac, represents the new covenant and corresponds to the heavenly Jerusalem which offers freedom to all who accept it. With a reminder that those born of the Spirit can expect persecution by those born according to the flesh, Paul concludes his defense of the gospel of justification by faith in Christ by proclaiming that those in Christ are of not of the bondwoman but of the free.

Sunday Morning Audio Message:

Key Words and Definitions with Reference:

Blessedness You Speak of (4:15) - Blessed is translated as "happy" or "satisfied." 

Your Enemy (4:16) - Because of the false teachers influence on the Galatian church, they had become so confused that some had come to regard him as their enemy.  Paul reminds them that he had not harmed them, but merely told them the truth, the truth that had once brought them great joy.

They (4:17) - the Judaizers.

Zealously (4:17) - with a serious concern and interest, similar to Paul's former zeal for Judaism.  The Judaizers appeared to have a genuine interest in the Galatians, but their motivation was to exclude the Galatians from God's gracious salvation and win recognition for themselves.

Not Only When I am Present (4:18) - Paul encouraged the Galatians to have the same zeal for the true gospel of grace that they had shown when he was with them.

My Little Children (4:19) - Paul's only use of this affectionate phrase, which John uses frequently.  

Until Christ Is Formed in You (4:19) - Paul is seeking to bring the Galatians to Christlikeness.  This is the goal of salvation.

Doubt of You (4:20) - in other words, to be at one's wits' end. He is honestly perplexed about them. In other words, he doesn't get it! He struggles to understand what has happened to them.

Two Sons (4:22) - Paul continues to contrast grace and law, faith and works and presents them with the OT story as an analogy, or illustration of the things he has been teaching.  The two sons are Ishmael, son of Sarah's maid, Hagar, and Isaac, Sarah's son from Genesis 16:1-16; 21:1-7. 

After the Flesh (4:23) - Ishmael's birth was completely motivated by Abraham and Sarah's lack of faith in God's promise and fulfilled by sinful human means.

Through Promise (4:23) - God's miracle enabling Abraham and Sarah to conceive and give birth to Isaac, even though Sarah was well past childbearing age and was barren her entire life.

Allegory (4:24) - A better word here is symbolic.  In order to help the Galatians understand that faith in Christ is superior, Paul uses historical people and places from the Old Testament to illustrate spiritual truth about Christ and the law from the two sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael.

Two Covenants (4:24) - Two mothers, two sons, two covenants.  Hagar, Ishmael, and Mt Sinai (earthly Jerusalem) represent the covenant of law.  Sarah, Isaac and the heavenly Jerusalem represent the covenant of promise.  These are not different ways of salvation, the purpose of the Mosaic covenant was only to show all who were under its demands and condemnation their desperate need for salvation by grace. It was never to portray the way of salvation. Those who through Christ partake of salvation by grace through faith are freed from the law's bondage and condemnation. 

Mount Sinai (4:24) - A symbol for the Old Covenant where Moses received the law (Exodus 19).

Hagar (4:24) - Sarah's slave (Genesis 16:1), Hagar is a fitting illustration of those under bondage to the law.  

Answereth to Jerusalem (4:25) - There are two Jerusalem's. The law given at Mt. Sinai received its highest expression in the temple worship at Jerusalem.  The Jews were still in bondage to the law. 

Jerusalem Which is Above Free (4:26) - Heaven (Hebrews 12:18, 22).  Those who are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20) are free from the Mosaic Law, works, bondage and trying endlessly and futilely to please God by the flesh.

The Mother (4:26) - Believers are children of heavenly Jerusalem, the "mother-city" of heaven.  

Children of Promise (4:28) - Just as Isaac inherited the promises made to Abraham (Genesis 26:1-3), so too are believers the recipients of God's redemptive promises (1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Ephesians 1:3), because they are spiritual heirs of Abraham.

Born According to the Flesh (4:29) - Ishmael - conceived by means of human effort, not in faith and trust in the miraculous work of God. 

Born According to the Spirit (4:29) - Isaac - the promise of God.  Ishmael mocked him at the feast celebrating Isaac's weaning (Genesis 21:8, 9). 

Even So it is Now (4:29) - Ishmael's descendants (Arabs) continue to persecute the Jews (Isaacs descendants), the same way unbelievers have always persecuted believers (cf. Matthew 5:11; 10:22-25; Mark 10:30; John 15:19, 20; 16:2, 33; 17:14; Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12; Hebrews 11:32-37; i Peter 2:20, 21; 3:14; 4:12-14). 

Cast Out the Bondwoman (4:30) - Quoted from Genesis 21:10 to illustrate that those who are attempting to be justified on the basis of keeping the law will be cast out of God's presence forever (Matthew 8;12, 22:12, 13; 25:30; Luke 13:28; 2 Thessalonians 1:9).