<p>4:30 <i>However, what does the scripture say</i>- Sarah's screaming indignation can be well imagined. Consider which words were probably stressed most by her: &quot;Cast out <i>this bondwoman</i> and her son: for the son of this bondwoman <i>shall not be heir</i> (just hear her voice) with <i>my</i> son, even with <i>Isaac</i>&quot; (Gen. 21:10). This is in harmony with her previous bitterness and aggression to Hagar and Abraham.&nbsp; Her attitude in implying that Ishmael was <i>not</i> the seed is gently rebuked by God in his subsequent words to Abraham concerning Ishmael: &quot;He <i>is</i> thy seed&quot; (Gen. 21:13).&nbsp; <i>And yet Sarah&rsquo;s</i> words are quoted in Gal. 4:30 as inspired Scripture Here we see the wonder of the God with whom we deal, in the way in which He patiently bore with Sarah and Abraham. He saw through her anger, her jealousy, the pent up bitterness of a lifetime, and he saw her faith. And he worked through that screaming, angry woman to be His prophet. According to Gal. 4:30, God Himself spoke through her in those words, outlining a principle which has been true over the generations; that the son of the slave must be cast out, and that there must always be conflict between him and the true seed. Sarah in her time of child-birth is likened to us all as we enter the Kingdom, full of joy (Is. 54:1-4); and yet at that time she was eaten up with pride and joy that she could now triumph over her rival. And yet Sarah at that time is seen from a righteous perspective, in that she is&nbsp;a type of us as we enter the Kingdom.&nbsp; God's mercy to Sarah and Abraham is repeated to us daily. See on Heb. 11:11.</p><p><i>Cast out </i><i>the handmaid and her son, for the son of the handmaid shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman</i>- Hinting at the need to eject the Judaist false teachers from within the church? Paul warns that the Galatian Jews had suffered so much but in vain, seeing they were returning to the Law (Gal. 3:4). It is no accident that Gal. 4:25 draws the contrast between the two Jerusalems- perhaps a reference to the Jerusalem ecclesia, who had returned to the bondage of the law, and the spiritual Jerusalem. And now Paul goes so far as to say that the Legalists must be cast out of the true ecclesia (Gal. 4:30). Circumcision shielded from persecution in Galatia (Gal. 6:12) in that it was the Jews and their &ldquo;false brethren&rdquo; who infiltrated the ecclesias (Gal. 2:4), and who were responsible for the deaths of many of the first century apostles and prophets. This suggests that the circumcision party within the ecclesias was linked with the Roman and Jewish authorities, and therefore &lsquo;satan&rsquo; is a term used for them all. It got beyond dirty politics in the church.</p><p>Paul here quotes the bitchy, unspiritual words of Sarah in Gen. 21:10 with approval and as &ldquo;scripture&rdquo;. God surely did not approve of her hot tempered nastiness; but He worked through that as we should see to work through others&rsquo; sin and weakness, and try to incorporate it into a far greater narrative.</p>