A SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLE
OF INTERPRETATION
9
Genesis 15
Galatians 3
1. AN
UNCONDITIONAL
1.
AN
UNALTERABLE
COVENANT: `So shall thy seed
COVENANT
`No
man
be' (5).
disannuleth, or addeth thereto'
(15).
This involves an inheritance:
This involves an inheritance:
`To give thee this land to inherit
`To Abraham and his seed
it' (7).
were the promises made' (16).
2. A
2. A
STRANGE INTERVAL OF
STRANGE INTERVAL OF
BONDAGE: `And this I say, that
BONDAGE: `Know of a surety that
the covenant, that was
thy seed shall be a stranger in a
confirmed before of God in
land that is not theirs, and shall
Christ, the law, which was 430
serve them; and they shall afflict
years after, cannot disannul,
them 400 years' (13).
that it should make the promise
of none effect' (17).
3. THE INHERITANCE ASSURED:
3. THE INHERITANCE ASSURED:
`Afterward shall they come out
`For if the inheritance be of the
with great substance -- in the
law, it is no more of promise:
but God gave it to Abraham by
fourth generation they shall come
promise' (18).
hither again' (14-16).
The following words of Romans 4:16 are a fitting commentary on these passages -- `sure to all the seed'. The
bondage of Egypt is parallel with the bondage of the law. The redemption by the passover is parallel with the
redemption from the curse of the law. The blessed fact is established in both cases that the interval of bondage
could not alter the original purpose of God. Israel though bond men did enter the land of promise, and Israel though
under the law shall yet inherit the promise `by grace' (Rom. 4:16).
A. -- Am I to understand that you see a further parallel with Ephesians 1:3-14?
B. -- Yes, let us examine Ephesians 1. Do you agree as to its threefold division?
A. -- Yes, I see in verses 6, 12 and 14 the recurring words, `to the praise of His glory', which I take to indicate the
structural division.
B. -- Having the divisions marked for us, do you observe the parallel between them and those of Genesis 15 and
Galatians 3.
Ephesians 1:1-14 parallel with Israel's experiences
A. -- Let me see. The first section was either an unconditional or an unalterable covenant.
B. -- That coincides with the great revelation of the will of the Father, choosing some in Christ to a position of glory
before the foundation, or rather, the overthrow of the world.
A. -- The second division is that of bondage. I suppose you will say that such is the condition of man now?
B. -- Yes, and so for the first time in Ephesians we read of redemption. Here the great Kinsman-Redeemer is seen
delivering his brethren from the bondage of sin and death, and redeeming the forfeited inheritance.
A. -- Where do we read of an inheritance in the first section?
B. -- It is involved in the word `adoption' which we must consider separately, and it is further implied by the balance
of the two occurrences of the word `predestinate':