Hi Mike, Something keeps nagging at me about the wives of the patriarchs. Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel were all barren until the Lord opened their wombs. I can’t help but think this has some spiritual application that I am missing. It must have something to do with the elect or the chosen, but I can’t quite get a grasp on it. If you have any thoughts on it I would welcome any direction on how to study this out. Thank you, D____

Hi D___,
Thank you for your question. You say:
“Something keeps nagging at me about the wives of the patriarchs. Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel were all barren until the Lord opened their wombs. I can’t help but think this has some spiritual application that I am missing. It must have something to do with the elect or the chosen, but I can’t quite get a grasp on it.
Well, this question itself indicates that God is in the process of opening your eyes to see and your ears to hear the things of the spirit. You are so right. All the wives of the Patriarch’s were barren for a very good spiritual reason. What happened to them, happened and was written for one reason:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

So how are we being admonished when we read of all the wives of the three patriarchs being barren until they are older? The answer, as is usually the case, is that these wives of the patriarchs typify us.
What the world cannot see is that we are all the fruitful wife of the flesh, first. Then later, only after we have done all the flesh can do and we have demonstrated that the flesh cannot in and of itself, bring forth the manchild who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron, only then are we brought to see that it is only through Christ in us that we can now become the heir who is more than a servant:

Gal 4:1  Now I say, [ That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

There it is, we all “were children… in bondage.” But when the fullness of time was come, we became the sons of the freewoman and “received the adoption of sons.”
It is the previous verse to chapter 4:1 which talks of the sons of the qualifications of becoming “the seed of Abraham.

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [ to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Chris t.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

And it is at the end of chapter four that we are told that “When the fulness of time comes, we are no longer under bondage as we were to begin with. We are now ” the son of the freewoman.” It is here in Galatians four that we are shown that before we can be the son of the free woman, we must come to recognize ourselves as the son of the bondwoman, a child still under the bondage of the law, no better than a slave.
It is Galatians four which helps to open our eyes to what Christ meant when He said that we must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, we must be the bond servant before we can become the son of the freewoman, we must be the tares, before God sends his angels to bind all the tares in us and burn them in us, so that the good grain, the word of God in the children of God, is all that remains. We must come to see that “we all were… children of God’s wrath, even as others.” We must come to see that we must “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book,” not just the good sayings, but we must be careful “not to add to or take away from the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

We live every word, even the plagues of God’s wrath, if we hope to be part of and in His temple.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Rev 1:3  Blessed [ is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Notice, “the time is at hand… I come quickly.” This is not a book about events 2,000 years hence. Here are the ‘is, was, and will be’ words of God on this subject:

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Paul tells us that we are that temple:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

But both Paul and the book of Revelation tell us that we will not be in that temple until after God’s wrath has been poured out upon our unfruitful unrighteousness and ungodliness and rebellion:

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

This is first true of God’s elect:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Now suppose we think we can somehow avoid being “the children of wrath even as others,” what happens then? Here is God’s sober warning to all who subscribe to any of the many and varied versions of being raptured out of having to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4, Luk 4:4).

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

There will be no one in the kingdom of God who has not first had the “unfruitful works of darkness” reproved and burned out of them:

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

This is Mat 13, which has two parables of a sower in it. What does Christ tell us of his parables in this chapter?

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

That is a very legitimate question. Why did Christ speak in parables? What are Christ’s parables all about? Here is Christ’s answer to both of those questions:

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

That is right, Christ spoke in parables to keep the multitudes from “knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” That is His own reason for speaking in parables. In verse 34 we are told this:

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

And where was this “kingdom of God” the mysteries of which Christ is hiding from the multitudes? It is to come sometime in the future? No, all who think so will be sorely disappointed. I did not say that there was not a future time when “Our Lord and His Christ” would “rule the kingdoms of this world.” That will take place:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

What I did say, and what the scriptures teach, is that these sayings all “come quickly, shortly and soon.” So where then is this “kingdom of God” which is “at hand?” Both John the Baptist and Christ said “the kingdom of God is “at hand.”

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And we too, are to teach the same:

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

How can that be? How is it that the kingdom of heaven is at hand? There are two reasons why the kingdom of heaven, the mysteries of which Christ’s parables hide to this day, is “at hand.” The first is the fact that the King of the kingdom has come and is here:

Mar 1:14  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Joh 18:37  Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

But Christ was crucified that very day. How now would his disciples hear the “many things” they were not yet able to bear? Here is how that would be done:

Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

So where did the king of the kingdom go? Here is the part that has the orthodox Christian church baffled to this day. Here is one of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, which we hear but we don’t seem to know what it means. It is a lack of understanding of this Truth that answers your question about the spiritual significance of the wives of the patriarchs. It is failing to understand the spiritual truth and the depth of that spiritual truth which will keep us unfruitful and barren until the time appointed of the Father. Here is where the kingdom of God is at this time:

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Until we see that Christ spoke in parables to hide from the multitudes the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven within us, we will go around in this life looking for the coming of a physical kingdom. Indeed there will be a physical kingdom which will rule this earth with a rod of iron for a thousand years, but if you do not see that the parables are all about a kingdom which is within the hearts and minds of God’s people even now, then you will not be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, to rule over the people of this earth first, followed by the rulership and the purification of the spiritual bodies of all men of all time along with the great Red Dragon and all of his minions. The secret of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is not the rulership of this world by the saints of God. That is not the secret which Christ’s parables hides. Here is the secret mystery which necessitated Christ speaking to the multitudes in parables:

Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

What is it that keeps us barren for so many long years? Why can we not see this mystery? What is this mystery which had been hid for so long from the generations of mankind?

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

There it is for all the world to see and to know, and yet our eyes are blinded to the fact that all the prophecies of all the prophets deal with Christ and his kingdom of God within. We read Christ’s parables and we see only the words and not the message. We appropriate the good, and we put the bad on some other bad guy. But that is not how we come to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is the whole parable, the good and the bad, simply because that is what we do. It is you and I who stone the servants of our Lord when He sends them to get the fruit of His vineyard. It is you and I who kill His Son. It is you and I who are the Pharisee looking down on the Publican, the older son hating the prodigal, the ninety and nine sheep who need no repentance, and we are also the self- righteous Pharisee who drag the poor harlot to Jesus to be stoned for her weaknesses. That is what is the kingdom of God within before “the time appointed of the Father to bring us to sonship.
The wives of the patriarchs are us, until we are crushed to powder and brought to see that we of ourselves can do nothing but sin and commit the most heinous atrocities against our Lord and His Christ. We have no fruit of ourselves:
So we are admonished:

Eph 5:11  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them [ within and without].

Tit 3:14  And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.

2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope this helps you to see that the wives of the patriarchs were all unfruitful and barren for our admonition, simply to show us that we are all required of our Creator to come to see flesh for what it is and for what “we all” are guilty of being “chief of sinners:

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time pas t ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

1Ti 1:15  This [ is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 

Your brother in Christ,
Mike