Both of their names begin with the letter
"I", but that is where the similarities cease. Outside the
common DNA of their father, these two boys are as diametrically
opposed as Heaven and Hell. By whom they were birthed is
key to the symbolism here. Hagar represents Hell, with
Ishmael the vivid byproduct of all of man's faithless efforts to
please GOD and render himself acceptable as is. Sarah
represents salvation, and the miraculous grace of living faith,
however weak it may appear at times; with Isaac (i.e. Laughter), the
joyous picture of HIS promise.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the SPIRIT is spirit."
The imagery here could not be more rich: From one seed come two
births, from two births come two sons, which ultimately lead to
two inheritances, and two destinations. The fork in the
road called Fatal is obvious, and the ends thereof very
depictive in the lives and heritage of these two lads.
"For in HIM we live, and move, and have our being; as certain
also of your own poets have said, for we are also HIS
offspring."
Similarly, in a strictly creational sense, GOD is the FATHER of
us all, and the GIVER of life to every person born of woman ...
man is simply the pro-creational tool.
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me."
Without exception, each of us were born of the fleshly seed of
Ishmael, dead in trespass and sin, bereft of any ability to
engage GOD, or save ourselves from the inevitable slopes of
eternal destruction.
"How then can man be
justified with GOD? or how can he be clean that is born of a
woman?" GOD, in
HIS grace however, intervened on the sad stage of humanity, most
visibly at Bethlehem; and by virtue of HIS SON'S sinless life,
selfless death, and supernatural resurrection, we are offered a
second birth on life.
"Marvel not that I said
unto thee, ye must be born again."
In spite of the obvious about us, and GOD,
marveled multitudes still choose to jump off Ishmael's cliff, in one
last defiant leap for the love of their sin. Only those
who face their fate honestly apart from CHRIST, and turn by faith to
accept this second birth, become the spiritual offspring of
JESUS, and thus partake of Isaac and the lineage of laughter.
"Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with
singing ... The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we
are glad."