Saturday, February 28 - Galatians 4
Where did God speak to you in this passage? For me, it in verse 9:
"But now that you know God - or rather are known by God - how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?"
Through Christ I am cleansed and forgiven. I am called by Christ to leave behind habits/practices/sins that turn my life away from God. The danger Paul alludes to is that I can slip back into those old ways. I may not plan to do this, but it is easy to justify to myself why an action that I know is wrong, is one I should do.
This is one reason it is so important for me to read the scripture on a daily basis. The scripture helps me evaluate my life, it gives me a standard. If I only have self-evaluation, I can justify what I want. But if I have the scripture pushing that evaluation, then it gives me a very different standard. A standard that reminds me there is a reason I once gave up that habit/practice/sin.
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Today’s passage, Galatians 4, particularly the last 8 verses, has some extremely difficult challenges in our age of political correctness, particularly in today’s world where our daily lives have been significantly impacted by radical Islamists who we believe to be the descendants of Hagar. Paul looks back to the births of Abraham’s sons, Ishmael and Isaac. He notes Hagar was a slave, her child was a slave and that she was cast out so she and her issue would not receive an inheritance through Abraham. Paul notes Hagar’s issue persecutes the issue of Sarah, through whose linage we think of ourselves as having descended. Although this is an difficult area of exegesis and one in which significant time can be spend, it is suffice to point out the some of the methods of scriptural interpretation* which might shed light on Paul’s thoughts when writing this letter, and then during this Lenten season, focus on some other part of the chapter.
ReplyDeletePaul starts this chapter by comparing the Christians in Galatia to heirs of the promise. Paul, being a well educated man, probably was aware of one of the principles of Roman property law, nemo est hæres viventis, i.e. no one is the heir of a living person. For us to be an heir of God’s salvation, flowing from the death of His son, there had to be that death. Praise God there also was a resurrection!
Burton Patterson
*William Barclay, Daily Study Bible—Galatians, Westminster–John Knox, 1975, states the Rabbis’ of Paul’s time looked at scripture from four viewpoints: a) literal meaning, b) suggested meaning, c) deducted meaning and d) allegorical meaning.
I am definitely not a scriptural scholar, but I agree with Burton that reading the passages about Abraham's offsprings is a bit like picking up a hot horseshoe - now that you got it, what can you do with it without making things worse? An easy way out (if that's what we want) is to merely accept that Isaac represented the promised seed and freedom. The fork in the road for descendents of Isaac and Ishmael can be credited for dramatic conflicts affecting our lives today. We can't change history - but maybe we can affect the future.
ReplyDeleteAnd we can, if we listen and follow Paul's urging to recognize that we are free (Jews, gentiles, everyone who believes!), that Christ died that we may be forgiven our sins and that we become heirs to the Father, and that we have the responsibility to live our lives as if we really are what we claim to be - Christians.
It must have been awfully confusing to Paul's listeners as they were urged to abandon established Mosaic law - and we are confused today by the zealous enticements and greed all around us. L bet Chapter 5 will be a l;ot more comforting.
humbly, Russ Logan