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Galatians 3:
Genesis 15:
1. AN UNALTERABLE COVENANT:
1. AN UNCONDITIONAL COVENANT:
"No man disannuleth, or addeth
"So shall thy seed be" (5).
hereto" (15).
This involves an inheritance:
This involves an inheritance:
"To Abraham and his seed were the
"To give thee this land to inherit it" (7).
promises made" (16).
2.
A STRANGE INTERVAL OF
2.
A STRANGE INTERVAL OF
BONDAGE:
BONDAGE:
"And this I say, that the covenant, that
"Know of a surety that thy seed shall
was confirmed before of God in Christ, the
be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and
law, which was 430 years after, cannot
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them
disannul, that it should make the promise of
400 years" (13).
none effect" (17).
3. THE INHERITANCE ASSURED:
3. THE INHERITANCE ASSURED:
"For if the inheritance be of the law, it
"Afterward they shall come out with
is no more of promise; but God gave it to
great substance . . . . . in the fourth generation
Abraham by promise" (18).
they shall come hither again" (14-16).
The following words of Rom. 4: 6 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 bondmen did enter the land of promise, and
Israel though under the law shall yet inherit the promise "by grace" (Rom. 4: 6).
A.--Am I to understand that you see a further parallel with Eph. 1: 3-14?
B.--Yes, let us examine Eph. 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 Gen. 15: and Gal. 3:?
Eph. 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?