The Practical Argument:
The Effects of Liberty
5:1 to 6:10

In 1:11 to 2:21, Paul describes his personal argument, that he received an independent revelation through Yeshua Messiah. Paul declared that he was appointed an apostle by Yeshua before he met the other apostles; when he did meet them he was received as an equal. In 3:1 to 4:31 Paul defends his doctrine of justification by faith alone against the Judaizers (to see link click Ag – Who Were the Judaizers?) in his doctrinal argument.

Here, in 5:1 to 6:10 the inspired apostle presents his practical argument designed to correct the havoc which the teaching of the Judaizers was causing in the personal lives of the believers in Galatia. In 4:19 Paul expresses the wish that the Galatians would be molded into the image of Messiah; however, as it turned out, the Galatians had left their first love (see the commentary on Revelation Az – The Church at Ephesus), which before the coming of the Judaizers had been so obvious. This was the direct result of the Judaizer’s legalistic teachings. The Galatian believers, instead of depending upon the indwelling of the Ruach ha-Kodesh to mold them into the image of Messiah, were depending upon the flesh in an attempt to perfectly obey the 613 commandments of Moshe. Accordingly, Paul’s practical teaching emphasis the ministry of the Ruach, and the Galatians were encouraged to put themselves under His control.¹²⁵

When we get to the fruit of the Ruach in 5:22 and 23, the first grouping of three, love, joy, and peace are God-ward, everything flows from that, and are all single syllable words; the second grouping of three, patience, kindness, and goodness are man-ward, how we treat each other, and are all two syllable words; and the third grouping of three, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are in-ward, it’s how we become what ADONAI wants us to be, and are all three syllable words.

Abraham had Two Sons,
Ishma’el by the Slave Woman
and Isaac by the Free Woman
4: 21-31

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael by the slave woman and Isaac by the free woman DIG: What is a Midrash? Why and how did Paul use it here? What does this parable have to do with the Judaizers? How are the Judaizers like Ishmael? What is Paul pointing to when he talks about the weak and worthless principles? Does Paul’s parable bad mouth Hagar or picture the Torah as bad in any way? How are the spiritual descendants of Sarah distinguished from Hagar’s? What was the promise? How did ADONAI fulfill His promise? Can you summarize the parable?

REFLECT: Can you identify with Sarah in any way? If you can, how does her experience comfort and excite you? Has your experience as a believer been more of a growing into freedom or living under a set of rules? Why? Has your joy in Messiah ever been crushed by someone else who thought you were breaking their set of rules? Have you ever imposed standards on others that limited their freedom? How so? What difference will the fact of your justification in the eyes of ADONAI and the fullness of the indwelling Ruach ha-Kodesh make in your life and witness this week? How often do you ask, “What does the Scripture say?” You can’t ask that question enough.

The parable of Hagar and Sarah illustrates the present status of legalism and grace. You can’t press the details of a parable, which makes one main point: As the son of the slave woman gave way to the son of a free woman, so legalism has given way to grace.

In a masterful stroke, the apostle turned to a scriptural illustration to conclude his theological defense of justification by faith. Paul’s Midrash (a rabbinic interpretation of the Scriptures) from the life of Abraham enabled him to review what he had already declared about the contrasts between legalism and grace, between deeds and faith. It also provided him the opportunity to verbalize to the Galatian believers that they should throw out the Judaizers (to see link click Ag – Who Were the Judaizers).¹¹⁹

The preface to Paul’s Midrash begins with the provocative: Tell me, you who want to be under Torah, don’t you understand the Torah? (Galatians 4:21; Deuteronomy 6:4, 18:15; Exodus 24:7). When Paul uses the phrase under the Torah, he means a Gentile becoming a proselyte and converting to Judaism, and in the context of the Judaizers, through circumcision (see the commentary on Acts Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53: The third level were Proselytes of the Covenant). It was as if Paul was saying, “You want to be a proselyte? You don’t know what it says in the Torah!” Then Paul offers us a brief parable in which he briefly retells the story of Abraham’s two wives (Sarah and Hagar) and his two sons (Isaac and Ishmael).

Paul used the story of Isaac and Ishmael to illustrate two different types of benei Abraham (sons of Abraham). He was not contrasting Jews and Christians, nor was he contrasting Jews and Gentiles. Instead, he used the Isaac and Ishmael story to contrast two different types of covenants, “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman” (Galatians 4:22; Genesis 16:15 and 21:2).

Hagar was a slave woman. She was Sarah’s maidservant (see the commentary on Genesis Ei – Sarai Took Hagar and Gave Her to Abram to be His Wife). But one – the son by the slave woman – was born naturally, while the other – the son by the free woman – was through the promise (4:23). Abraham went to Hagar, attempting to fulfill God’s promise by himself. Therefore, Ishmael was born in the normal, natural way: by human, physical means, according to the flesh.

Abraham and Sarah, however, conceived Isaac through a supernatural miracle because Sarah was well past childbearing age. The promise would be fulfilled through Isaac, the son of promise. What was that promise? God promised to give Abraham seed (see the commentary on Genesis Et – I Will Surely Return This Time Next Year and Sarah Your Wife Will Have a Son). Paul has brought up the promise several times in Galatians already. He dedicated most of the third chapter to the subject and equated it with the whole gospel message: The Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Good News to Abraham in advance, saying: All the nations shall be blessed through you (Galatians 3:8). And again: Now, the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your Seed,” who is the Messiah (3:16). The promise was that all the nations of the world would be blessed through Abraham’s Seed, the Messiah.

Now, to make [a midrash] on these things, the two women need to be seen as two covenants (4:24 CJB). The midrash contrasts two types of benei Abraham, or two types of proselytes. The Hebrew word midrash means study or interpretation. It comes from lidrosh, meaning to search. Most of the midrashic literature brings out ethical and devotional aspects of the Bible, sometimes drawing out and applying what is clearly there, and sometimes imposing meaning on the texts, although the norm in Judaism is not to make a midrash that violates the simple sense (Hebrew: p’shat) of the text. Here, Paul’s midrash goes beyond the p’shat of the Genesis texts, though without violating them. His application of them is bold, even shocking. For although the Judaizers claim physical descent from Sarah, Paul calls them physical descendents of Hagar. Revelation 11:8 has an equally surprising reversal of traditional Jewish identifications, but such shocking reversals are not limited to the B’rit Chadashah (see Ezeki’el 23-24, and Hosea 1-2 for comparable examples in the TaNaKh). The two women need to be seen as two covenants.

One is from Mount Sinai, the Torah of Moshe, and it gives birth to slavery, but not because the Torah is bad (for nowhere does the Genesis account badmouth Hagar); therefore, there is no need to demean the Torah on the basis of this passage. But this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem (that is, the non-Messianic Jewish community of the first century); for she is in slavery, to be enslaved by the weak and worthless principles (4:9) of legalism, because the people had perverted the Torah into a legalistic system of salvation through deeds (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law). It was the Judaizers who insisted that the Gentile Galatians follow those same weak and worthless principles. Therefore, Hagar, the present Jerusalem, or legalism, gives birth to slavery, along with her children, the Judaizers (4:24-25).¹²⁰

Paul likened the Gentile Galatians who underwent circumcision and pledged to obey the 613 commandments of Moshe to Ishmael. They had set aside the promise that God made to Abraham as a result of his faith – all the nations will be blessed through your seed. They forfeited that promise by being born according to the flesh – literally, circumcision, the removal of some flesh – the natural way of becoming part of Abraham’s family. The Judaizers wanted them to work their way to heaven. But that is the ultimate frustration because you can never reach perfection in this life. That is the first perverted covenant of legalism.

To establish his midrash, Paul quoted a proof text from Isaiah 54, a prophecy addressed to the city of Jerusalem which predicts the final Messianic Redemption, the ingathering, the building of Messianic Jerusalem, and the advent of the New Jerusalem in the world to come (see the commentary on Revelation Fs – The Eternal New Jerusalem). That prophecy depicts ruined Jerusalem as a barren woman because her children had gone into exile. At the time of the redemption, she realizes she has more children than she thought possible. The Jewish people return to her, and many Gentiles come as well. The rabbis interpreted the barren woman of Isaiah 54 as Sarah, the barren one who became the mother of the nation. Paul followed that traditional interpretation, by making Sarah symbolic for the New Jerusalem, and he proved it by quoting the first verse of Isaiah 54. For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman who bears no children! Break forth and shout, you who suffer no labor pains! For more are the children of the desolate than of the one who has a husband” (Galatians 4:27; Isaiah 54:1).

Next, Paul supplies the climax to 4:1-11 (see Bo – When the Fullness of Time Came, God Send Out His Son), where he has demonstrated that the Gentile Galatian believers have become God’s heirs through grace, apart from the weak and worthless principles of legalism. This brings Paul back full circle to his central argument concerning Jewish identity: Your seed shall be called through Isaac. That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of god; rather, the children of promise are counted as seed (Romans 9:7-8).¹²¹ Paul told the Galatian Gentile believers: Now you, brothers and sisters – like Isaac, you are children of promise (4:28). He contrasts them with the Judaizers. To Paul, the Galatian Gentile believers were the children of promise that God made to Abraham when He said: All nations will be blessed through your seed (Genesis 12:3b). That is the second covenant of grace.

But the Jerusalem above, corresponding to Sarah, is free – she is our mother (4:26), the mother of all who have the faith of Abraham and Yeshua (2:16c), whether Messianic Jews or Messianic Gentiles. Ultimately, the heavenly Jerusalem will descend from heaven to the earth, which will have been made new (Revelation 21:5), to serve as the perfect home for the redeemed throughout human history (see the commentary on Revelation Fs – The Eternal New Jerusalem).¹²²

Paul took the analogy a step further and said: But just as at that time the one born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Ruach, so also it is now (4:29). When did the one born according to the flesh (Ishmael) persecute the one born according to the Ruach (Isaac)? As Moshe describes: The child grew and was weaned – Abraham made a big feast on the day Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had born to Abraham – making fun (Hebrew: from tsachaq). So, she said to Abraham, “Drive out this female slave and her son, for the son of this female slave will not be an heir with my son – with Isaac” (Genesis 21:8-10, for more detail see the commentary on Genesis Fj – Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away).

While the practical application relates to the Galatians’ immediate circumstances, it is based on several midrashim to mean that Abraham’s natural son of the flesh (Ishmael) behaved maliciously and immorally towards the son of promise (Isaac). Thus, rabbi Akiba lectured: But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had born to Abraham – making fun (Genesis 21:9). Now making fun refers to nothing else by immorality, as with Joseph and Potiphar’s wife: The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool (Hebrew: from tsachaq) of me” (Genesis 39:17 CSB). Thus, this teaches that Sarah saw Ishmael rape young women, seduce married women and dishonor them. Rabbi Ishmael taught this term making sport refers to idolatry when the golden calf was formed: They rose up the next morning, sacrificed burnt offerings and brought fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party (Hebrew: from tsachaq) (Exodus 32:6 CSB). This teaches that Sarah saw Ishmael build altars, catch locusts and sacrifice them. Rabbi Eleazar said that the term fight refers to bloodshed, as in the verse: Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have some of the young men get up and fight (Hebrew: sachaq, meaning sport and in this context meant to wrestle hand to hand) in front of us” (Second Samuel 2:14). Rabbi Azariah said in Rabbi Levi’s name, “Ishmael said to Isaac, ‘Let us go and see our portions in the field,” then Ishmael would take a bow and arrow and shoot them in Isaac’s direction, while pretending to be playing. This is written: Like a madman shooting deadly arrows so is one who deceives his friend, and says, “I was only joking” (Hebrew: sachaq, meaning sport and in this context means playing around (Proverbs 26:18-19). But I say, this term sport [mockery] refers to inheritance. For when our father Isaac was born all rejoiced, but Ishmael said to them, “You are fools, for I am the firstborn and I receive a double portion.” You may infer this from Sarah’s protest to Abraham: Drive out this female slave and her son, for the son of this female slave will not be an heir with my son (Genesis 21:10) (Genesis Rabbah 53:11).¹²³ Therefore, as Ishmael acted maliciously and immorally toward Isaac, the Judaizers were acting maliciously and immorally toward the Gentile believers in Galatia.

And the Judaizers, who were behaving just like Ishmael, needed to have their claims rebutted. Just as Sarah had Abraham send Hagar and Ishmael away, Paul urged the Galatian Gentile believers to reject the pressure and persuasion of the Judaizers. He preached: But what does the Scripture say? What is the truth of God’s Word? “Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit eternal life with the son of promise, Isaac, born of the free woman, Sarah.” They had not lost their salvation, and Paul identified them as benei Abraham. So then, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, legalism, but of the free woman, grace (4:30-31).

Legalism and grace cannot coexist. But understand this. There is nothing legalistic or wrong with living a life based upon the teachings of God’s Word. There is nothing wrong with having a set of standards with which you live your life. That is not legalism. Legalism is when you think that’s what saves you. When you think that by your “being good,” or by you “keeping the rules,” will save you, you’re lost. We need to live godly lives, but that doesn’t save us; we live that way because we have been saved.

Summary of the parable: The passage contrasts two types of proselytes: the legal proselyte and the spiritual proselyte. The one becomes part of Abraham’s family by legalism, the other through faith in Messiah, the promised Seed of Abraham, in whom all nations will find blessing. The passage does not contrast the Torah against the B’rit Chadashah. It does not equate Judaism and the Torah with slavery, nor does it pit Christians against Jews.

It means that if you are a Jewish believer, you should be proud of being Jewish because you are a child of Abraham, legally, physically, and spiritually. It means that if you are a Gentile believer, you, too, are a part of the people, the spiritual child of Abraham, and this is remarkable – miraculous even. You are a child of the promise that ADONAI made to Abraham so long ago.¹²⁴

Dear Heavenly Father, How much we love You and are so grateful that Your love includes both Jews and Gentiles as Your children in the Kingdom of Your Son (Colossians 1:13). Praise You that in the genealogy of Your Son, you included Gentile women -Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah’s wife (Matthew 1:3-6).

Praise Your wonderful heart that by the blood of the Messiah you were able to create within Himself one new man from the two groups, making shalom, and to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross (Ephesians 2:13c and 16a).

Praise You that by reconciling us to the Father we now have access to Him! For through Him we both have access to the Father by the same Ruach. Also, you say that we are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household (Ephesians 2:18-19).

Wow – reconciled, access to the Father, fellow citizens and then you cap it off by including the Ruach in both Jew and Gentile! In Him, you also are being built together into God’s dwelling place in the Ruach. (Ephesians 2:22). After you heard the message of truth – the Good News of your salvation – and when you put your trust in Him, you were sealed with the promised Ruach ha-Kodesh (Ephesians 1:13).We desire to respond to Your gracious offer of love by offering to you ourselves our bodies (Romans 12:1) our thoughts, our time, money and everything that we can possibly give You. We joyously place our lives humbly in Your hands, for You to use for Your honor. In the name of Your Holy Son and by the power of His resurrection. Amen

Until Messiah is Formed in You
4: 12-20

Until Messiah is formed in you DIG: What does Paul want the Galatians to do? Why was he so disappointed? What justification did Paul give that he became like them – a Gentile? What was his purpose in doing so? What was Paul’s physical ailment? What did Paul discover on his second visit to Galatia? How did he react? But what happened to the Galatians?

REFLECT: Paul said, “To the Jewish people I identified as a Jew, so that I might win over the Jewish people.” Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the Good News, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who trusts – to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” What are you doing to win Jews to Messiah? How is the Messiah being formed in you? What difference has knowing ADONAI made in your life? Is your life with Messiah moving forward into liberty or backward into bondage?

Paul appeals in a touching way to the Galatians to maintain their freedom from the influence of the Judaizers. He reminds them of their enthusiastic reception of him and the gospel which he first preached, and tells them of his longing to be with them now in order that he might speak to them personally.

Paul was a wonderful spiritual father; he knew just how to balance rebuke with love. Now he turns from “spanking” to “embracing” as he reminds the believers in Galatia of their love for him and his love for them. At one point they were willing to sacrifice anything for Paul, so great was their love, but now he had become their enemy. The Judaizers (to see link click Ag – Who Were the Judaizers) had come in and stolen their affection.¹¹⁰

I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you (4:12a). Paul spoke of how he identified with the Galatians as non-Jewish believers, being equal brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is something the Judaizers, who demanded ritual circumcision and proselytization of them did not do (see the commentary on Acts Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53: The third level were Proselytes of the Covenant). It’s as if he was saying, “Become as I am, free from the bondage of trying to keep the 613 commandments of Moshe for salvation. I became as you are, Gentile.” He appealed to them to do this because he, who had possessed all the advantages of being Torah observant, had foregone those advantages and had placed himself on the same level in relation to the Torah as the Gentiles. He tells them that he gave up all those time-honored Jewish customs and those dear associations to become like them. He has lived like a Gentile so that he might preach to the Gentiles. He pleads with them not to abandon him, when he had abandoned all for them.

The Galatians could not fail to remember the occasion when at the close of Paul’s address at Pisidian Antioch, the Jews departed from the synagogue, but the Gentiles besought him to repeat to them the words of life on the next Shabbat. They could not fail to remember how the Jews had expelled Paul from the city (see the commentary on Acts Bo – Paul’s Message in Pisidian Antioch). They, the Galatians, had pursued Paul to maintain the freedom of the gospel. Now, he, in turn, was appealing to them to maintain the freedom of that same gospel.¹¹¹

Although Paul was primarily an apostle to the Gentiles (2:8), he never lost his passion for the salvation of his own people (Romans 9:3). To the Jewish people I identified as a Jew. Within scriptural limits Paul would be as Jewish as necessary when ministering to Jews. In Messiah, he was no longer bound to the ceremonies, rituals, eating kosher, observing special days, or traditions of Judaism. Following or not following any of those things had no effect on his spiritual life. But if following them would open a door for his witnessing to Jews, he would gladly do so that he might win over the Jewish people. To those under Torah I became like one under Torah (though not myself being under Torah), so that I might win over those under Torah (First Corinthians 9:20). But Paul was willing to live like a Gentile when he was ministering to Gentiles.¹¹²

To those outside Torah, like one outside Torah (though not being outside God’s Torah, but within the framework of Messiah’s Torah as upheld by Messiah), so that I might win over those outside Torah (First Corinthians 9:21). Paul was still under authority, but not still under the Torah. He was responsible to God (First Corinthians 3:9) and Messiah (First Corinthians 4:1), and was enabled by the Ruach ha-Kodesh to love (see Bu – Brothers and Sisters, You were Called to Freedom).¹¹³

To the weak I became weak, so that I might win over the weak. Paul was willing to identify with those, whether Jew or Gentile, who did not have the power of the Ruach ha-Kodesh in them to understand the gospel. When among those who were spiritually weak, he put the cookies on the bottom shelf. In other words, those who needed simple or repeated teaching, that is what he gave them. His purpose was to become all things to all men, so that by all means possible I might save some (First Corinthians 9:22). He did not compromise the gospel. He would not change the truth in any way in order to satisfy anyone. But he would condescend in any way for anyone if that would in any way help bring them to Messiah.¹¹⁴

You have done me no wrong. The Galatians might have easily spurned Paul and refused his fellowship. You know it was because of a physical ailment that I proclaimed the Good News to you the first time (4:12b-13). Apparently, Paul had not intended to evangelize that territory, but to go on to another place, but going through the lowlands of Pamphylia, a region through which he had just passed on his way to Pisidian Antioch, where an oriental eye disease called ophthalmia was prevalent. So, the inference should be clear that he needed a new pair of eyes. Paul mentions that if possible, they would have torn out their eyes and given them to him (4:15). His words in 6:11, “Notice the large letters – I am writing to you with my own hand,” confirm this, the large Greek letters being necessary because of his impaired vision. However, it must have made him somewhat repulsive in appearance, because he commended the Galatians for the way they received him in spite of the way he looked. And though my physical condition was a trial to you, you did not hate or reject me. No, you welcomed me as a messenger of God (see the commentary on Acts Bq – Paul’s Message in Lystra) – or even as Messiah Yeshua (4:14).

So, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? He refers to the fact that he had told them the truth, while the Judaizers had told them lies. It was probably on the occasion of his second visit to Galatia (Acts 18:23) that some church members had already come under the influence of the Judaizers and had begun to doubt the truth of salvation by faith alone, which they had learned and accepted from him. The doctrine of legalism had become more attractive to them than the gospel of grace, and the man who had been their friend had become like an enemy. Faithful are the words of a friend, but excessive the kisses of an enemy (Proverbs 27:6). Paul had proved his love to the Galatians by telling them the truth, but they had been deceived. They were enjoying the kisses of the Judaizers, not realizing that those kisses were leading them into bondage and sorrow. Messiah made them His children and His heirs. They had not lost their salvation (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), but they were rapidly becoming spiritual slaves and beggars.¹¹⁵ They had lost their joy in the Lord; they had left [their] first love (Revelation 2:4); they had lost the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

Paul told them bluntly: Others [the Judaizers] zealously court you – not in a good way. In contrast to his own frank truthfulness in which he risked incurring the displeasure of the Galatians, the apostle told them of the Judaizers’ dishonorable attempt to mislead them (see Bf – O Foolish Galatians, Who has Cast a Spell on You). Most cults show keen interest and even affection towards prospective members, promising them great personal fulfillment and happiness. But like the legalism of the Judaizers, the true nature of their spiritual enslavement is hidden. The Judaizers had no personal interest in the Galatian believers beyond entrapping them in legalism. They were like the scribes and Pharisees to whom Yeshua said: Woe to you, Torah-teachers and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel over land and sea to make one convert. And when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourself (Matthew 23:15). Paul spoke directly of his conflict with the Judaizers, his opponents in the theological battle for the allegiance of the God-fearing Gentiles in Galatia, saying: They wish to shut you out from God’s grace so that you will court them, and have nowhere else to turn (4:16-17).¹¹⁶

It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good. Paul went on to explain. He himself had been zealous for them when he first preached the gospel in Galatia. But his purpose was good, out of a love for Messiah and a deep desire to see them saved. And such enthusiastic concern was appropriate, and not just when Paul was there with them (4:18 NIV). He was not jealous of the Judaizers. He did not oppose them in order to preserve his own popularity but to protect the Galatians spiritual well-being. They were opposed to the glorious, saving gospel of Yeshua Messiah.¹¹⁷

Speaking like a mother, Paul addressed the Galatian believers: My dear children (Greek: from teknion, literally referring to a small child)! They were acting like infants who refused to be born. Again, I suffer labor pains. It’s like he was saying, “You have already experienced a new birth, but now you are acting as if you need to be spiritually born all over again. You make me feel like a mother who has to deliver the same baby twice. But however abnormal or tragic their spiritual condition, Paul would not abandon them until Messiah was formed in them (4:19). Being sanctified, being molded into the image of Messiah is the goal of every believer. As you received Messiah Yeshua as Lord, so continue to walk in Him (Colossians 2:6). ADONAI has predestined believers to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29a). We all, with unveiled faces beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory – just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit (Second Corinthians 3:18). The Father sent the Son to earth not only to die that we might be saved but also to live as the Divine example for those who are saved.

Paul’s wish was that he could deal more directly with these issues that would require him to be with the Galatians in person and be able to change his tone with them. He evidently regretted the severity of his language on the occasion of his second visit to the Galatian churches (Acts 18:23) at which time he had warned them personally in order that he might talk to them in a more tender and affectionate manner, however, still telling them the truth. For I don’t know what to make of you (4:20). He was literally at his wits’ end. He could not understand how they could have been taught the gospel so well, believed it so genuinely, and then appeared to abandon it so quickly (see Aj – No Other Gospel).¹¹⁸

Every believer experiences times when we come to an impasse and find our own resources are completely exhausted. After saying and doing everything under the sun to those we are trying to help – sometimes believers . . . sometimes unbelievers – they remain completely out of reach and sometimes even turn against us. In such times, we need to move over and let the Holy Spirit take the wheel of the situation, with a clear conscience, and knowing that we have done everything in our power. God is God and we are not.

Paul trusted the Holy Spirit to work in all things-in his health and in the hearts of the Galatians. He did not complain when he had a physical ailment, but he sought God’s help and looked at the situation from His eyes. I pleaded with the Lord three times about this, that it might leave me. But He said to me,” My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weakness, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me. For Messiah’s sake, then, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (Second Corinthians 12:8-10).

Paul knew that his life was not in the hands of anyone, whether a boss, person, spouse or friend, nor in the hands of a disease or even of a doctor; but his life was in the hands of the Almighty, Sovereign God, Ruler of the Universe, Controller of the Future – who cares passionately for each detail in His child’s life.

Dear Father God, I praise You when problems come and I look up, I see Your loving face and feel Your arms of love tight around me. Though the trials/ problems still hurt, I am comforted by knowing that You are working in my life to refine me and bring greater glory to Yourself, just as You have always done in the lives of each of Your children. You are the best daddy! You delight in guiding circumstances into Your child’s life that will polish them to shine great for You (First Peter 1:7) and bring them great joy for all eternity.

Praise You that just as a potter takes a lump of clay and fashions it into a beautiful vessel, so You, Father God, take us as Your jars of clay (Second Corinthians 4:7) who came from dust (Genesis 2:7 and 3:19) and mold us to be more like You. We can move from frustration because of trials – to peace and contentment in problems, for now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, (Romans 8:28 a-b). And we also boast in our suffering – knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope (Romans 5:3b-4).

Dear Daddy, the best gift that You could give us in any trial is Yourself, and how wonderful that You what You have given us – Your abiding presence Always with us for God himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” (Hebrews 13:5). There will never come a trial that we will have to go thru alone- for You are right there with us (Hebrews 13:5).
And hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Ruach ha-Kodesh who was given to us (Romans 5:5). That is such a wonderful comfort – You always with us, polishing us for your glory! Praise You! Thank You! Love You! In Your Holy Son’s name and power of resurrection. Amen

When the Fullness of Time Came,
God Sent Out His Son
4: 1-11

When the fullness of time came, God sent out His Son DIG: How is taking on the yoke of the 613 Commandments of the Torah like being an heir who is still a minor in 4:1-3? How has Yeshua changed all of that? Prior to their conversion, the Galatians followed the custom of honoring the Greek gods. How are they now doing the same thing with Jewish festivals in verse 10? What is the difference between celebrating the Jewish festivals (Pesach, Hag ha-Matzah, Rasheet, Shavu’ot, Rosh ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah and Purim) and what the Galatians were doing?

REFLECT: What are some contemporary barriers between people in our culture? What does 3:28 mean to you in that context? What do the images of being a “child of God” and “clothed with Messiah” say to you about living the life of a believer in Yeshua? Has your relationship with ADONAI slipped from being that of a child with a father to a matter of keeping rules? How did that happen? What can you do about it? How can you help someone with that problem this week? How does knowing God reassure you today?

Having established that the true “heirs” of God’s promise are those – Gentiles as well as Jews – who emulate Abraham’s faithfulness and participate, through spiritual immersion at salvation, in Yeshua’s own obedience in His death and resurrection, Paul proceeds to elaborate this statement through the example of sons (heirs) and slaves.

One of the tragedies of legalism is that it gives the appearance of spiritual maturity when, in reality, it leads the believer back into a “second childhood” of wilderness wanderings. The Galatian believers, like most of us, wanted to grow and mature in Messiah, but they were going about it in the wrong way Their experience is not too different from that of believers today who get involved in various legalistic movements (to see link click Ak – The Hebrew Roots Movement – A Different Gospel), hoping to become more mature. Their motives might be right, but their methods are all wrong.

This was the truth Paul was trying to get across to his beloved converts in Galatia. The Judaizers (see Ag – Who Were the Judaizers?) had cast a spell on them into thinking that obedience to the 613 commandments of Moshe would make them better believers. Their old sin nature felt an attraction to legalism because it enabled them to do things and measure external results. They measured themselves and their achievements, they felt a sense of accomplishment and no doubt, a lot of pride. They thought they were maturing, but in reality, they were regressing into childhood.¹⁰²

Life Under Legalism: Paul starts out with an analogy that everyone living in his day would understand. In the ancient world the division between childhood and adulthood was much more definitive than it is in most societies today. A Jewish boy was under the direct and absolute control of his father until his bar mitzvah. Now I am saying, so long as the heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, even though (one day after his father died) he would be the owner of everything (4:1). So, at his bar mitzvah, he would become a “son of the commandment” and take on the obligation of obeying the 613 commandments of Moshe as an adult in Jewish society.

In ancient Greece a boy was under his father’s control until about the age of eighteen. At that time a festival called an apatouria would be held in which the boy was declared an ephebos, a type of cadet, with special responsibilities to his clan or city state for a period of two years. During the coming-of-age ceremony, the boy’s long hair would be cut off and offered to the god Apollo.

Instead, he is under a foremen (Greek: epitropous, a general term for a person who cared for underage boys) and managers (Greek: oikonomous, or house stewards). Along with his guardian (see Bm – The Torah Became our Guardian to Lead Us to Messiah) the child could do nothing without their permission and go nowhere without their supervision. But at the date set by the father, the child’s status changed radically (4:2).

Paul now applies the principles of inheritance to his present argument. So also, when we were underage, we were subservient to the basic principles of the world (Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:8 and 20). Before his bar mitzvah the boy is merely a potential heir. He has not received his father’s estate and is not even considered eligible to do so. In a general sense, his status is like that of a slave. Until his bar mitzvah, the child cannot exercise his rights of inheritance. He is not the heir. Likewise, Jews and Gentiles were subservient to the basic principles of the world, or human religion. Specifically, in the case of the Galatian believers, the perversion of the Torah, legalism, or obedience to the 613 commandments of Moshe.

In Colossians 2:8 Paul warns: See that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men (Mark 7:8) and the basic principles of the world rather than Messiah. Here Paul clearly associates the basic principles of the world with deceptive human tradition and philosophy. Jewish society was dominated by legalism (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law), and in the Gentile world of that day, human philosophy and pagan religions were closely interrelated. Both Jewish legalism and pagan religions centered in man-made systems of deeds. They were fulfilled by rules and regulations, the obeying of which were thought to make themselves acceptable to God by their own efforts.

For an unbeliever there is potential salvation and fulfillment of the promise (3:29) given to all the world through Abraham (Genesis 12:3). But unless and until he spiritually “comes of age” through the saving trust in Yeshua Messiah, every unbeliever is a slave to sin (John 8:34), and is held captive through the basic principles of the world.

The Realization of Being Adopted: But . . . God marks the fact that divine intervention brought hope and freedom to mankind. Just as a human father in ancient times set the time of his son’s coming of age, so did God the Father set the time to send His incarnate Son to earth as our Redeemer. It was in the fullness of time that Yeshua Messiah came, exactly when the date had been set by the Father (4:4a).¹⁰³

Even the righteous of the TaNaKh died without receiving the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised (see the commentary on Hebrews Cv – Faith Through Trials). Like believers of every age, they will ultimately receive the fullness of the promise (see the commentary on Revelation Fd – The Resurrection of the Righteous of the TaNaKh). But during their lifetimes they also lived as merely potential heirs, not actual heirs.

But when God sent His Son (Galatians 4:4b; Philippians 2:6-8), He provided the guarantee that the righteous of the TaNaKh and all other believers after the cross would become joint heirs with the Son (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith). The Ruach Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, also heirs with Messiah who will receive full and complete adoption (Romans 8:16-17a).

The fullness of time refers to the completion of the period of preparation in God’s sovereign timetable of redemption. When the Torah had fully accomplished its purpose of showing man his utter sinfulness and inability to live up to God’s perfect standard of righteousness, ADONAI ushered in a new era of redemption. When He sent His Son, He also provided the righteousness for us that they could not provide for ourselves. When Yeshua was born, there were three reasons why everything was right for the coming of the Messiah.

First of all, the soil of faith had been tilled. During the Babylonian captivity (see the commentary on Jeremiah Gu – Seventy Years of Imperial Babylonian Rule), Isra’el once-and-for-all abandoned idolatry into which she had so often fallen. Despite their many other sins and failures, including the rejection of their own Messiah, no significant number of Jews ever again returned to Idolatry. Also, during the Exile, Jews developed synagogues, which they used as places of worship, schools, and as courts. In addition to that, they at last had the completed TaNaKh, assembled by Ezra and others after the return from Babylon. All that facilitated the proclaiming of Messiah’s gospel among the people of Isra’el.

Secondly, the time was right culturally. Believers who spread the Good News during the first several centuries had a common language with those to whom they witnessed and with whom they worshiped. Alexander the Great had thoroughly established the Greek culture and language throughout the known world, and these continued their dominating influence long after Rome succeeded Greece as the ruler of the world.

Thirdly, the time was right politically. Rome had instituted the pax Romana, or Roman peace, which provided economic and political stability. The apostles and other early preachers and teachers could travel freely and safely throughout the empire and could do so on the magnificent system of roads built by the Romans.¹⁰⁴

Born of a woman (4:4c), that is, He was fully human, yet fully God. Otherwise He could not have been the Savior of the world. He had to be fully God in order for His sacrifice to have the infinite worth necessary to atone for our sin. But, He also had to be fully human in order to represent us and take the penalty of our sin upon Himself. We were the ones who had sinned, we were under the curse, and we were condemned to eternity apart from God. Yeshua therefore could not have been our substitute on the cross had He not taken upon Himself our likeness (Philippians 2:7). He had to be God to have the power to save us, and He had to be born of a woman to be able to be our substitute.

To free those under the curse of the Torah (see Bi – All Who Rely of the Deeds of the Law are Under a Curse). As Paul explains: For what was impossible for the Torah – since it was weakened on account of the flesh- God has done. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh – so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach (Romans 8:3-4). Like every other man, Yeshua was born under the Torah. Like every other Jew, He was under obligation to obey perfectly the 613 commandments of Moshe; but unlike every other Jews, He satisfied all the requirements of the Torah by living in perfect obedience to it. And because He lived in perfect obedience, He was able to free those under the curse of the Torah, provided they had saving faith in Him.¹⁰⁵

So, both Jews and Gentiles, might receive adoption as His children (4:5). Adoption means being brought into the personal family of God, which implies eternal security if you look at God as the perfect parent (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). We have all the privileges due to us as if we were natural sons and daughters, not adopted sons and daughters.

In love He predestined us to be adopted as His [children] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5; also see Second Timothy 1:8-9 and Psalm 139). We are adopted into God’s family at the moment of faith. Notice the last phrase, which I will italicize for emphasis: In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Yeshua Messiah, in accordance with His pleasure and will. An even more literal rendering would be, “in accordance with the good pleasure of His will.” The point is that ADONAI planned to adopt us as His children because this gave Him pleasure. It made Him happy, to use casual language. Think of that! YHVH chose to adopt you because the thought of this gave Him joy. So, here’s something upon which to reflect today. Ha’Shem adopted you, not only because He loves you, but also because the thought of having you as His child gives Him great pleasure. He saved you from sin, for adoption.

There are only two families in the world. There is the family of YHVH and the family of Satan. There is no middle ground. Adoption expresses the grace of God and excludes works. When parents adopt a child, they don’t look at the good works of the child. They adopt out of love. Adoption is an act of the parents, not of the child. Additionally, we are given full status with Yeshua Messiah, the natural Son of God, even though we are adopted. ADONAI is our perfect heavenly Father who can care for His own children. Everything that is true of Him is true of us, minus His deity. We are going to inherit what the Messiah inherits.

God the Father not only sent His Son; He also sent His Ruach. Now because you are His children, God sent the Ruach of His Son into our hearts, who cries out, “Abba (Papa)! Father” (Galatians 4:6; Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15)! The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some remarkable birthday gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance.¹⁰⁶ The Ruach ha-Kodesh brings us into a personal intimate relationship with our heavenly Father, whom we may approach at any time and under any circumstances, knowing that He always hears us and lovingly cares for us, because we are truly His own.¹⁰⁷

So, you are no longer a slave but a child – and if a child, also an heir through God (4:7). Paul, therefore, sums up his argument here by repeating the logical sequence. Once Yeshua has come in faithfulness, those obedient to Him have reached the age of maturity, when sin no longer has power of bondage over them. At this point the child was neither a slave nor a minor, but had entered into the status of an heir.

This brings the argument full circle, closing on the subject of the Gentile Galatians being heirs through ADONAI. God’s calling of the Gentiles by name is His sovereign act, accomplished through Yeshua’s faithfulness to death on the cross, whereby God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the earth (Genesis 12:3) is fulfilled. It is through this means – and not by any other – that the rest of the world receives access to God, in that, being separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Isra’el and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, they had been brought near by the blood of Messiah (Ephesians 2:12-13).

Paul’s concern was that his Gentile Galatian believers were being persuaded to follow a different gospel (4:6b). In doing so, they were, in effect, turning the clock back and seeking to live as though Yeshua had never come. But at that time, when you [Galatians] did not know God, you served those who by nature are not gods at all, but idols (4:8).

But now you have come to know God – or rather you have come to be known by God. Paul asked in bewilderment: So how can you turn back again to those weak and worthless principles? Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again (4:9)?  He speaks in similar terms in Romans 8:15, declaring to his Gentile readers they had not received the spirit of slavery to fall again into the basic principles of the world (Galatians 4:3)

You observe (Greek: from paratereo, meaning a careful, scrupulous observance, an intent watching lest any of the prescribed holidays be overlooked) days and months and seasons and years (4:10). The days refer to Sabbath days and to the feasts which were observed just for a day. The months refer to the monthly recurring events (Isaiah 66:23), or to the seventh month and the sounding of the shofar (Numbers 29). The reference also could have to do with the celebration of the appearance of the new moon (Numbers 10:10 and 28:11). Times refers to the celebrations not limited to a single day, such as Pesach, Sukkot, and to the feasts of the fourth, fifth, and seventh months (Second Chronicles 8:13). Years was a reference to the Year of Jubilee or the Sabbatical year. But the Gentile Galatians observed those Jewish holidays neither out of joy in sharing what God has given the Jewish people, nor out of spiritual identification with them, but out of fear induced by Judaizers who had convinced them that unless they did so, Ha’Shem would not accept them.

John Newton, the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” was an only child and lost his mother when he was seven. At the age of eleven he went to sea as a sailor and became involved in the inhuman African slave trade. Soon hardened by his evil surroundings, he outdid his companions in immorality, vulgarity, and blasphemy. But when he was twenty-three his ship was caught in a severe storm, and when he began to fear for his life he cried out to God for mercy and was marvelously saved. Not wanting to ever forget the depths of sin from which he had been rescued by God’s grace, Newton later inscribed the words of Deuteronomy 15:15a above his mantel: You will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and ADONAI your God redeemed you.

Unlike John Newton, the Galatian believers did not remember what they were once like, and Paul was disappointed beyond words with their immaturity and lack of discernment. He was not able to understand how they could so quickly forget their former slavery in unbelief and so easily surrender their new freedom and blessings in Messiah. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored (Greek: kapiao, meaning to labor to the point of exhaustion) over you in vain (4:11)! The construction of the Greek does not give the impression that the apostle had fears about the future of the Galatians which may not be realized. It is clear that he suspected that what he feared had already happened. Paul was not apprehensive with respect to his own interests or his fruitless labors, but with respect to the spiritual welfare of his Galatian converts. They were the object of his anxiety.¹⁰⁸

We can all relate. There have been times in our lives when we have labored very hard at a job, a relationship, or a project, just to have it turn up as dust in our hands. But how sad for such a faithful servant of the Lord to believe that all the life-threatening, sacrificial service he had given on behalf of the people of Galatia was for nothing. All the travel, illness, loneliness, struggles, even the stoning he received in Lystra that left him for dead, was worthless if they reverted back in the slavery of a different gospel. No wonder it is such an impassioned letter, and compelled him to write as he did.¹⁰⁹

Dear Father God, How Awesome You are! We love You! When we love someone and want the best for them and then see them turning from You to other gods – to gods of popularity, or pleasure, or business – how it breaks our heart and Your heart also. Yet, we are so glad that You have given us the remedy which can turn it around and make all things right – the remedy of prayer.

Right now, each of us who are reading this are thinking of a family member or friend who is now on the right path. They may be far from you or just straying a little, but we earnestly praise your great power, love and wisdom. We place them (name of person) into your mighty, powerful and caring hands. We ask you to guide all that touches their lives. Please bring others who love you to them – friends, neighbors, business associates who speak to them of your love and guide them to want to love and follow You whole heartedly.

May You lovingly implant thoughts of You in their minds while they sleep, helping them to visualize how great you are and the great solution you are for them. May you cause them to seek you in Your Word and to desire to read it daily. Please give them understanding of Your Word and water these seeds that are planted by bringing to them a strong support system of loving friends and websites. May they always go to sleep and wake up with the “Joy of Jesus and the Hope of Heaven” on their minds.

As Paul did to those in Ephesus as he was leaving, so we now commit these family/friends into your care. We ask that even if they are still here during the tribulation – that you would move mightily their hearts so they have great courage to follow you. Now I commit you to God and the word of His grace, which is strong to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who have been made holy (Acts 20:32).

In Yeshua’s Holy name and power of resurrection. Amen

There is Neither Jew nor Greek
in the Body of Messiah
3: 26-29

There is neither Jew nor Greek in the body of Messiah DIG: What is the one condition to being a part of God’s family? How did Paul counter the Judaizers claim that they needed to be circumcised and obey the 613 commandments of the Torah to be a part of God’s family? How does being “clothed with Messiah” in verse 27 eliminate major cultural barriers in verse 28? How do some people confuse oneness with sameness? In what sense are we all one in the Body of Messiah? What distinctions still exist? How can Jews and Gentiles all be children of Abraham?

REFLECT: How do you feel about being adopted into the family of God? In which area of your life do you most struggle to remember that you’re “clothed with Messiah?” Did you have a paidagogos, a harsh disciplinarian, or hard time in your life that led you to Yeshua? When were you immersed into the Body of Messiah? What nine things did God do for you at the moment of faith? Can you undo any of the nine? What does that mean to you? If you are Jewish, do you attend a Messianic synagogue or a church? If you are a Gentile, do you attend a Messianic synagogue or a church? Why would a Jew attend a church? Why would a Gentile attend a Messianic synagogue? When you inherited the promise of God, you inherited the promise that God wants to bless you, so that you can bless others. Who can you bless this week?

When Paul declares that there is no difference between Jew or Gentile in Messiah, he does not mean to imply that Jews and Gentiles forfeit their unique identities and roles.

Paul’s vindication of the doctrine of justification by faith reached a climax here as he contrasted the position of a justified sinner with what he had been under the Torah. Three changes are noted.

First, all who believe in Messiah become God’s children: It was very important for Paul to make sure the Galatians knew what it meant for the paidagogos to have led them to the Messiah (to see link click Bm – The Torah Became our Guardian to Lead Us to Messiah). The invitation to be part of God’s family is universal, but there is one condition: For you are all children (Greek: huios, meaning someone of full age, no longer under a guardian) of God through trusting in Messiah Yeshua (3:26).

The Judaizers in Galatia had emphasized ritual proselyte circumcision as being necessary for salvation. Paul, however, declared: For all of you who were immersed at the moment of belief in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah (3:27). What Paul is talking about here is spirit immersion. This immersion into the Body of Messiah comes about not through getting wet, but through prayer to ADONAI in which one repents of one’s sinful ways of life and accepts Yeshua in Messiah’s atonement and Lordship: For in one Ruach we were all immersed into one body – whether Jewish or Greek, slave or free – and all were made to drink of one Ruach (First Corinthians 12:13).⁹⁶ The simplest definition of a believer is a person who is clothed with Messiah. One Heart now beats in all. The pulsating life of the Lord gives us a purpose driven life. One mind now guides all, the mind of Messiah. One Life is lived by all, the life of Yeshua Messiah produced by the Ruach ha-Kodesh in our lives.⁹⁷ At the moment of faith God does nine things for us (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith) There is no such thing as a believer who has not been immersed by the Spirit. Speaking in tongues, nor anything else, is not a necessary addition for salvation because salvation is faith-plus-nothing.

Getting back to the illustration of a guardian, when a child reached the age of maturity, as decided by the father, he would symbolize the transition to adulthood by clothing his son with a special toga, a mark of his manhood. In the same way, by believing in Yeshua we have been clothed with Messiah. He is the toga of our spiritual maturity. To go back to the 613 commandments of Moshe, meant that the Galatians were throwing off their togas and reverting to a state of spiritual immaturity.

Second, believers in Yeshua are all one in Yeshua: As far as justification is concerned, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free (in today’s language, the “haves” and the “have-nots”), there is neither male nor female – for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:14-18). This was not true in the Dispensation of Torah. Only the Jews could go past the wall of separation in the Temple compound (see the commentary on Acts Cn – Paul’s Advice from Jacob and the Elders at Jerusalem). If a Gentile entered in, he could be executed. Furthermore, slaves did not offer sacrifices under the Torah but freedmen did. The females didn’t have to bring sacrifice (although many did voluntarily), but the males did. These are references to a prayer that every Jewish man prayed every morning of his life, “ADONAI I thank You that I am not a Gentile, or a slave, or a woman.” Now, Jews made those distinctions, but the gospel of Yeshua Messiah does not. All are justified the same way. Therefore, Jewish and Gentile believers must treat each other as equals before ADONAI, as equal worth as human beings. So must believing slaves and freemen, and likewise believing men and women. In the Body of Messiah, we should all be as one today also. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

However, this verse is sometimes misused as an attack against Messianic Judaism in the following way when Gentile Christians mistakenly insist, “You Messianic Jews should not separate yourselves from us Gentile Christians by having Messianic synagogues! When Jews are saved, they need to come to church! Don’t you know that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek?” So be like us, give up your Jewish distinctives, stop observing the Torah and the Jewish holidays, and put it all behind you. Worship with us and live our lifestyle.” But they mistake oneness with sameness. Ironically, the Christian insistence on sameness between Jews and Gentiles has actually put up a dividing wall between Judaism and Jewish community.

Within the Body of Messiah certain distinctions continue. Differences in cultural background and religious heritage, differences that God has promised to the Jews as a people, and differences in what they are commanded to do. There will even be a Jewish branch of government and a Gentile branch of government during the Messianic Kingdom (see the commentary on Revelation Fi – The Government of the Messianic Kingdom). Therefore, Gentiles should not try to prevent Jewish believers from recognizing those differences and building their lifestyles in a way that reflects them, so long as the lessons of Galatians are heeded. Which is that equality and fellowship in the Body of Messiah between Jews and Gentiles must be nurtured and preserved. Nothing in the B’rit Chadashah prevents a Jewish believer from choosing to worship with Gentile believers in church; likewise, nothing prevents a Gentile believer from choosing to worship with Jewish believers in a Messianic Jewish synagogue. In either situation what the B’rit Chadashah mandates is fellowship and equality between Jews and Gentiles in the Body.

Third, believers in Yeshua are Abraham’s seed of the promise: What is the promise that Paul writes about here? To find out we need to go all the way back to the beginning, when ADONAI said: I will bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Any discussion of the seed of Abraham must first take into account his natural seed, the descendants of Jacob in the twelve tribes of Isra’el. Within this natural seed there is a believing remnant of Jews in every age, the righteous of the TaNaKh, who will one day inherit the Abrahamic promises directed to them. Not all those who are descended from Isra’el are Isra’el, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s seed . . . that is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God; rather, the children of the promise are counted as seed (Romans 9:6 and 8).⁹⁸

But there is also the spiritual seed of Abraham who are not Jews. And in this one verse, Paul summarizes his whole argument to his Galatian disciples: And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed – heirs according to the promise (3:29). Are Gentiles full-fledged children of Abraham, or are they second-class children? Maimonides answered a comparable question from a Gentile convert to Judaism. In his, “Letter to Ovadyah the Proselyte,” he answered, “You are to say, ‘our God and God of our fathers,’ because Abraham is your father.” This letter is quoted at length in Romans 4:16. Paul is equally insistent on the full equality of Gentile believers in the Messiah.⁹⁹

To suggest, as the Amillennialists mistakenly do (see Ak – The Hebrew Roots Movement: A Different Gospel), that Gentile believers inherit the national promises given to the believing Jewish remnant – that the Church thus supplants Isra’el or is the “New Isra’el” is to ignore the clear, literal, teaching of the Bible. Those who are a part of any such movement are in grave danger. For Yeshua declares: I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his share in the Tree of Life and the Holy City, which are written in this book (Revelation 22:18-19).

The Judaizers taught that by becoming subjects to the 613 commandments of the Torah that the Gentile Galatians would become the seed, or the descendants, of Abraham. Paul asserts that this privilege comes to one by belief in Yeshua. In Romans 4, Paul shows that Abraham was justified by faith, and was therefore considered the spiritual father of all who put their faith in Messiah, whether they were circumcised or uncircumcised. ADONAI made salvation dependent upon trust in order that it might be available to both Jew and Gentile alike. Since Abraham is the spiritual father of all believers, this does away with the false belief of the Judaizers that becoming a Jew by Torah observance brings one into divine favor and gives one salvation. By belonging to Messiah, believers are also Abraham’s descendents, for Messiah is the Seed of Abraham. Since believers have entered into a relationship with Messiah, they are heirs of the promise and are likewise Abraham’s seed.¹⁰⁰

In his vision on Patmos, Yochanan heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away . . . and the one who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be My children (Revelation 21:3-4 and 7).

We cannot come to Messiah to be justified until we have first been to Moshe to be condemned. But once we have gone to Moshe, and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must let Moshe send us to Messiah.¹⁰¹

Dear Awesome and Loving Father, How Great you are! Praise you that right from the beginning when You called Abraham, Your plan was to bless the whole world-and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

Praise You that the desire to bless all the families of the world continued with Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple, for he prayed: If your people Isra’el are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, yet when they return and confess Your Name, praying and making supplication before You in this House, then hear from heaven, forgive the sin of your people Isra’el and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and to their fathers (Second Chronicles 6:24-25).

Moreover, concerning the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but comes from a distant land for the sake of Your great Name and Your mighty hand and Your arm, when they come and pray towards this House, then may You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place and do whatever the foreigner asks of You. Then all the peoples of earth will acknowledge Your name and revere You, as your people Isra’el do, and they will know that this House which I have built is called by Your Name (Second Chronicles 6:32-33).

How awesome you revealed Your glory for when Solomon finished praying the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of ADONAI filled the House (Second Chronicles 7:1).

Praise God that Yeshua, He is our Shalom, the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation. Within His flesh He made powerless the hostility -the law code of mitzvot contained in regulations. He did this in order to create within Himself one new man from the two groups, making shalom, and to reconcile both to God in one body through the cross – by which He put the hostility to death. And He came and proclaimed shalom to you who were far away and shalom to those who were near – for through Him we both have access to the Father by the same Rauch. So, then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household (Ephesians 2:14-19).

We worship you and desire to give back all of ourselves to You in love. In the name of Your Holy Son and the power of His resurrection. Amen

The Torah Became our Guardian
to Lead Us to Messiah
3: 19-25

The Torah became our guardian to lead us to Messiah DIG: In what sense was the Torah temporary? What was the Torah able to do for people? What was it unable to do? What can Messiah do for sinners that the Torah cannot do? How would trying to obey the Torah make a person more willing to receive Yeshua Messiah? How is trying to keep all 613 commandments of the Torah like being held under guard? How does Messiah change all that? What is a paidagogos, and how did Paul use it as an analogy to the Torah?

REFLECT: What does all this discussion of the Torah have to do with you? When are you most tempted to look to your own efforts to make yourself acceptable to God? Is the Torah still valid today? In what sense? What should be your attitude toward Torah? How has the Word of God kept you under protective custody until you could fully understand it? Who was the human mediator that introduced you to Messiah?

Paul compares the Torah and Jewish status to a paidagogos, a guardian entrusted with the care and supervision of a child.

An indignant Judaizer (to see link click Ag – Who Were the Judaizers?) was sure to respond with objections to Paul’s insistence that the Torah would not give the Ruach ha-Kodesh (3:1-5); could not bring justification (3:6-9); could not alter the permanence of faith (3:15-18); but does bring a curse (3:10-12).⁹⁰ In light of Paul’s convincing arguments up to this point, the obvious question would be why then were the 613 commandments of the Torah added to the promise (see Bl – The Promises were Spoken to Abraham and to his Seed)? If salvation has always been by faith and never by deeds, and if the covenant of promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Yeshua Messiah, what purpose did the Torah serve?

Paul’s answer was direct and sobering: It was added to define and condemn sin, because of transgressions (Greek: parabasis, meaning to choose to sin, to intentionally and willfully disobey) until the Seed [Yeshua] would come – to whom the promise had been made (3:19a). Unless people realized they were living in violation of the 613 commandments of the Torah and therefore under divine judgment, they saw no reason to be saved when Yeshua would come. Grace would is meaningless to a person who does not realize he or she was lost. Such a one would see no need of forgiveness by God if they do not know they had offended Him in the first place. Such a person would see no need to seek God’s mercy if they were unaware that they were under God’s wrath.⁹¹

First, the purpose of the 613 commandments of Moshe was not to save, but to make us aware of our sin as clearly as possible. Consequently, you don’t have to wonder if you have sinned or not. Start reading the Torah and it won’t take you very long to discover that you have already sinned.

The Law spiritually is like a mirror physically. When you look into a mirror you may see that your hair is messed up, or that your shirt is on backwards, or that you look fat. But looking into the mirror doesn’t solve the problem, it only tells you that there is a problem. That’s what the 613 commandments of Moses do. The Law doesn’t fix the problem . . . the Law can’t save us. The Law only points to a need for a savior.

Secondly, according to Romans 7, the purpose of Torah was to make us to sin more. Our sin nature must have a base of operation. Torah said, “You shall not,” and our sin nature says, “Oh, yes I will.”

Thirdly, Paul uses the word, “until.” This shows that obedience to the 613 commandments was temporary. While the Abrahamic Covenant was eternal, obedience to the 613 commandments of Moshe was only temporary.

Fourthly, until “the Seed would come.” Once Messiah had paid the price for disobeying the 613 commandments of Moses, the Dispensation of Torah ceased. It was temporary to begin with, but it ended with the Dispensation of Grace.

How was the Torah given? It was handed-down through angels (Acts 7:53) by the hand of a human mediator, Moshe (3:19b). An often heard Jewish objection to the B’rit Chadashah teaching that Jews don’t need Yeshua because they don’t need a mediator between themselves and God. This verse refutes the claim with its reminder that Moshe himself served as such a mediator – as, for that matter, did the priests and the prophets (Hebrews 8:6, 10:19-21; First Timothy 2:5; Exodus 20:19; Deuteronomy 5:2 and 5).

Therefore, the giving of the Torah through angels wasn’t direct. It wasn’t from ADONAI to Isra’el. It went from God, to angels, to Moses, to Isra’el. But if you go back to where the Torah was given in Exodus you don’t find any mention of angels. It would appear that YHVH was speaking directly to Moses. However, while much of Jewish tradition is unfounded, some aspects of Jewish tradition are true – like the giving of the Torah by the hands of angles. But three times in the B’rit Chadashah we find Torah being given by angels (here; Acts 7:53 and Hebrews 2:2). But that truth was already contained in rabbinical writings before the B’rit Chadashah came into existence. There are many things of that nature that are true in Jewish tradition and confirmed in the writings of the B’rit Chadashah. This is just one example.

Now, while the Torah came through several mediators, God, angles, Moses and Isra’el, the Abrahamic Covenant came through just one mediator. The means by which covenants were ratified in the ancient world was that you would kill animals and then cut them in half, putting the halves in two rows opposite of each other. The two parties making a covenant with each other would walk together between the halves of the animals. Then the covenant was binding for both parties. But something different happened with the signing of the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 15. The animals were killed, cut up and placed in the ancient tradition. But Ha’Shem and Abraham didn’t walk through the pieces of the animals together because God put Abraham to sleep. YHVH alone walked through the pieces of the animals, pointing to the fact that the covenant was binding to ADONAI alone. Regardless of what Abraham would do, the LORD was going to keep His end of the promise. Now an intermediary is not for one party alone – but God is one (3:20).

Eventually, the Dispensation of Torah ended. It did not bring justification. If it were possible to be justified by legalism, then Messiah died for nothing. The very fact that it was impossible to perfectly obey the 613 commandments of Moses made Christ’s death necessary. The Torah did not justify. That wasn’t its purpose anyway (see four purposes above).⁹² Then, Paul asked rhetorically: Are the 613 commandments of the Torah against the promises of God? Do they contradict each other? Do they say different things? Does legalism offer life through deeds, while the unconditional promises to Abraham offer life through faith? May it never be! For if a commandment had been given that could impart life, certainly righteousness would have been based on the 613 commandments of the Torah (3:21).

But such a thing is unimaginable. Instead, the Scripture had locked up (Greek: phroureo, meaning to keep under lock and key) the whole world under sin (Greek: upo nomon, meaning under something that is not the Torah but a perversion of it, specifically, a perversion that tries to turn it into a set of rules that one can supposedly go through the motions, with neither faith nor love for either God, yet earn a right standing with ADONAI). The Torah includes both Jews and Gentiles in its condemnation of sin, so that the Abrahamic promise based on the faithfulness of Messiah Yeshua might be given only to those who continue to trust (3:22). Not until people smash themselves up against the demands of keeping the 613 commandments of Moshe perfectly do they recognize their helplessness, and sees their need for a Savior. Not until the Torah has arrested, imprisoned, and sentenced them to death will they be driven to despair in themselves and turn to Yeshua.⁹³

Fifthly, the Torah was to bring us to faith in Yeshua Messiah. Now before faith came, [the Jewish people] were being guarded (Greek: phroureo, meaning to keep under lock and key) under Torah because we are sinners, bound together and the Law doesn’t have the power to set us free. That is why the coming salvation by faith in Yeshua Messiah would be revealed (see the commentary on Hebrews Bp – The Dispensation of Grace). Before the cross, they looked forward to the Savior, as we look back. The Torah was their jailer who held them in protective custody, in order that they should not escape the consciousness of their sins and their liability to punishment (3:23).⁹⁴

In the ancient world a paidagogos was given authority over the son of his master to guard him from evil, both physical and moral. The paidagogos would actually have been a harsh disciplinarian, and the student was required to obey him. He was not a teacher, but was responsible to bring the student to the teacher. He had total authority over the son until the son reached adulthood, so his authority lasted only as long as the child was a minor. Once the child reached adulthood, his authority ceased to exist. It was a great day of deliverance when a boy finally gained freedom from his paidagogos. Therefore, the Torah became our guardian (Greek: paidagogos, literally a child under development by strict instruction) to lead us to Messiah (see the commentary on Exodus Dh – Moses and the Torah), so that we might be made right based on trusting in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Yeshua Messiah (3:24).

Just as the pedagogue brought the student to the teacher, the Torah brought the Jewish people to the Messiah. And just as the pedagogue was not the teacher; neither is the Torah the means to earn salvation. But now this mature faith has come. When Paul said: we are no longer under a guardian (3:25), he did not mean that the Torah is done away with (see the commentary on Exodus Du – Do Not Think That I Have Come to Abolish the Torah or the Prophets). He meant that we should not look to the Torah or legal conversion to Judaism, as the Judaizers were saying (see Ag – Who Were the Judaizers?), as a means of earning salvation. Salvation is, and always was, through faith for both Jews and Gentiles. 

The Gentile believers to whom Paul was writing had already been led to the Teacher of Righteousness. They were already sons and daughters through faith; they had already come to the Teacher. In previous generations, prior to the revelation of Yeshua, there were valid reasons for Gentiles to become Jewish and thus under the Torah. Doing so brought them and their children inside the circle of blessing, protected, and preserved by the Torah along with the rest of the Jewish people until the coming Messiah would be revealed. But now that He had been revealed, conversion under the Torah no longer served that purpose. The Law couldn’t fix their problem. Only the Messiah could save them from their sins.⁹⁵

Dear Heavenly Father, How Great You are! We love and praise You for giving us Your Spirit to live in us (Romans 8:9). We cannot conquer sin by ourselves. We need Your Ruach. The Torah is like a broom trying to sweep up a dried and hard stain on the floor of our heart, but you have the power to make pure and clean even a scarlet stain,” Come now, let us reason together,” says ADONAI. “Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they will become like wool (Isaiah 1:18). Water cleans so much better than a broom, which can only push the dirt aside. The water of Your Spirit has the power to completely clean and defeat the stain of sin. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture says, “out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” Now He said this about the Ruach, whom those who trusted in Him were going to receive; (John 7:38-39a).

Thank You that You live in your children (Romans 8:9) and are always there with us to help us conqueror any temptation. No temptation has taken hold of you except what is common to mankind. But God is faithful – He will not allow you be tempted beyond what you can handle. But with the temptation, He will also provide a way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it (First Corinthians 10:13).

How great that Your gift of salvation is – not only right now with You living in us, guiding us and helping us to please You – but also for a wonderful eternal life with You forever in heaven! It is with deep joy that we love and serve You! In Your holy Son’s name and power of resurrection. Amen

The Promises were Spoken to Abraham
and to His Seed
3: 15-18

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed DIG: Why did Paul use Abraham in his argument for salvation equals faith-plus-nothing? What is the distinction here between seeds and Seed? What is the parallel Paul wants to make between the types of covenants people make, and the covenant-promise in 3:8 that ADONAI made to Abraham? Since the Torah was not to take the place of the promise, how do verses 19 and 23 explain what the Torah’s purpose actually is (also see Romans 3:20)?

REFLECT: What is significant to you in Abraham’s story? How would you use this passage with someone who thought that keeping the Ten Commandments is enough to save their soul? What experience helped you see your need to let the religious rules that you might have been trying to keep drive you to Yeshua to find mercy?

Paul now presents an argument to show that the covenant God made with Abraham was still in force, basing it upon the priority of the covenant and its irrevocable nature.

After describing how the blessings of Abraham had come through Messiah for the Gentiles by faith (Galatians 3:14), Paul gave the Galatian believers a concrete example. While the previous verses have addressed the Gentiles’ status in relation to the curse and the blessings, here Paul speaks to the legal form of the inheritance. Four reasons are given for affirming the superiority of the covenant of promise.

First, the covenant of promise was superior because it was confirmed as irrevocable and unchangeable. Brothers and sisters, let me make an analogy from everyday life: when someone swears an oath (Greek: diatheke in its verb form means to place between the two), no one else can set it aside or add to it (3:15 CJB). The oath spoken of here refers to the act of one of two individuals placing between them something to which he obligates himself. It is a commitment on the part of one to do so-and-so.⁸⁴

When God made the covenant with Abraham (whose name was Abram at that time) He promised, “I am your shield, your reward [will be] very great . . . this one [Eliezer] will not be your heir, but in fact, one who will come from your own body will be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Look up now, at the sky, and count the stars – if you are able to count them.” Then God said to him, “So shall your seed be.” Then Abraham believed in ADONAI and He credited it to him as righteousness. Then He said to him, “I am ADONAI who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans, in order to give you this land to inherit it” (Genesis 15:1, 4-7).

When Abraham asked: My Lord ADONAI, how will I know that I will inherit it (Genesis 15:8)? God ratified the covenant with a ceremony common in the ancient Near East. On Ha’Shem’s instructions, Abram took a young cow, a she-goat, a ram, a turtle-dove, and a pigeon, then cut them in half and laid the two sides of each animal opposite one another, with a path in between. As the sun was about to set, ADONAI caused a deep sleep, as well as terror of great darkness, to fall on Abraham (Genesis 15:12-17).

Ordinarily, both parties to a diatheke would walk between the slain animals, whose blood would symbolically ratify the agreement. But in this case, God alone walked through, indicating that the covenant, though invoking the promises to Abraham and his descendants, was made by ADONAI Himself. The covenant was unilateral and entirely unconditional, the only obligation being on Ha’Shem Himself.⁸⁵

Therefore, Paul presented the argument that the covenant YHVH made with Abraham was still in force, basing it upon the priority of the covenant and its irrevocable character. He asserts that it is common knowledge that when people make a contract, and that contract is once agreed upon, it cannot be changed or modified except by the mutual consent of both parties to the contract. Therefore, Paul applies that basic understanding to God’s Covenant with Abraham (see the commentary on Genesis, to see link click Fp – The Abrahamic Covenant). It had the priority because it was the original. It was given to Abraham and to a specific seed. Isaac was the son of promise, not Ishmael (see the commentary on Genesis Fi – The Birth of Isaac). Not through the Torah, but through Yeshua Messiah. The Torah could never annul the Abrahamic Covenant, which means that salvation equals faith-plus-nothing.⁸⁶

Second, the covenant of promise was superior to the Torah because it was Messiah-centered. Paul begins to explain the analogy stated in the previous verse. The promises were made to Abraham and to his seed, Messiah. Now, the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed. Under the guidance of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, who inspired the writing of both Genesis and Galatians, Paul exegesis the quoted Genesis passage. He declares that the term seed in Genesis 22:18 is singular. It doesn’t say, “and to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “and to your Seed,” who is the Messiah (3:16). The fact that the promises were made to Abraham and to all believers down through the ages who follow Abraham in his act of faith, indicates that the way of faith existed before the Torah was given, continued through the Dispensation of Torah, and is still in effect after the cross. So, the giving of the 613 commandments of Moses had no effect on the covenant at all.⁸⁷

Third, the covenant of promise was superior to the Torah because of chronology. What I am saying is this: Torah, which came 430 years later after God’s promise to Abraham was confirmed to Jacob (see the commentary on Exodus Ca – At the End of the 430 Years, to the Very Day), was an addition and does not cancel the covenant previously confirmed by God, so as to make the promise ineffective (3:17). The word confirmed is a perfect passive participle, pointing to the lasting authority of the covenant. The Torah, our blueprint for living, did not cancel out justification by faith. During the entire Dispensation of Torah (see the commentary on Exodus Da – The Dispensation of the Torah), people were saved on the basis of faith. For if the inheritance is based on the legal part of the Torah, which is the halakhah, or the rules governing Jewish life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law), it is no longer based on a promise; therefore, it no longer comes from a promise (3:18a). The Judaizers (see Ag – Who Were the Judaizers?) were not only attempting to retain the 613 commandments of Moshe for the Jews, but tried to impose them on the Gentiles, to whom the Torah was never given. That was what Paul was fighting against.

Therefore, Paul’s argument is as follows. If a covenant once in force cannot be changed or rendered void by any later action, God’s covenant with Abraham cannot be changed or rendered void by the addition of the 613 commandments of the Torah. If this principle holds good in a human covenant, how much more is it true when ADONAI makes the covenant as He did with Abraham in Genesis 15, since the promises of God are more reliable than any human could ever make.

Fourth, the covenant of promise is superior to the Torah because it is more complete. But, God gave [the covenant] to Abraham by means of a promise (3:18b CJB). The Greek word gave (charizomai) means a gift given out of the spontaneous generosity of the givers heart, with no strings attached. The Greek word for grace (charis) has the same root and the same meaning. As a result, the word gave here does not refer to an undertaking based upon a mutual agreement, but upon the free act of one who gives something, with no expectation to be reimbursed in any way. God graced [the covenant] to Abraham by means of a promise. This at once shows the difference between having to obey the 613 commandments of Moshe and grace. If salvation were by obedience to God’s statutes (Hebrew: hachukkim, meaning to write into law permanently) and ordinances (Hebrew: hammishpatim, meaning a judgment of the court as seen in Deuteronomy 4:1), that would mean that it would be based upon a mutual agreement between Ha’Shem and the sinner whereby God would obligate Himself to give salvation to any sinner who would earn it by obedience to His statutes and ordinances. But the very genius of the word charizomai works against the teaching of the Judaizers, namely, that salvation is by deeds. There is a Greek word huposchesis which is used of an offer based upon the terms of a mutual agreement. But it is not used here.

Not only that, the verb gave is in the perfect tense here, which speaks of a past completed action having continuous results. The past act of ADONAI giving the inheritance on the basis of a promise, has present results to you and me. God gave the inheritance to Abraham by promise around 2,000 BC and that promise was still good after the Torah was given around 1,500 BC, and the promise was still good after the cross.⁸⁸

By definition, an inheritance is not earned but simply received, and to work for that which is already guaranteed is foolish and unnecessary. Trying to earn the inheritance of God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) in His one-and-only Son (John 3:16) is much worse than foolish. To add obedience to the 613 commandments of Moses to faith in the promise of God is to nullify His grace and to cause Messiah to have died needlessly (2:21)!⁸⁹

Dear Great Heavenly Father, How Awesome You are! Praise You that we can trust every one of Your promises, For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ (Second Corinthians 1:20).The promise of your always being with your children is so comforting-Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.(Hebrews 13:5 NIV).

Praise you for Your promise of guiding Your children’s lives even when things don’t seem to be working out; for when I trust and follow You, I know that You are working all things for my good. Now we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Thank You that the good that You promise to give us is not things, not even very good things such as: a job, a marriage partner, or a family; but the very best thing that we could ever hope for is being conformed to You – and that is exactly what You do to Your children! For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)

And You are polishing my character so I may have the joy of shining bright for You. You rejoice in this greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, You have been distressed by various trials. These trials are so that the true metal of your faith (far more valuable than gold which perishes though refined by fire) may come to light in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Messiah Yeshua. (First Peter 1:6-7).

When I look at trying life situations, I must remember to look at them through Your eyes, for You who know the future always guides what is the very best for me. For I know the plans that I have in mind for you,” declares ADONAI, “plans for shalom and not for calamity – to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11).

Praise You that nothing will ever be able to separate me from Your love! For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

I rejoice in loving You! In Yeshua’s Holy name and thru His power of resurrection. Amen

Cursed is Everyone Who Hangs on a Tree
Galatians 3:13-14
and Deuteronomy 21:22-23

Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree DIG: What does the word Talui mean? Did the Jews hang people on the tree? Where does it come from? Why and how do the Jews use it today? How is the word Talui ironic? How does the Talmud interpret the word “live” and why was that important to Paul? If anyone hung on a tree is accursed, why isn’t Yeshua accursed? How did Paul take this taunt and put a new spin on it?

REFLECT: How do you feel about Yeshua being the Hanged One for you? When you think of what He went through, both physically and spiritually, on the cross, how does that image motivate you to tell others about Talui? How would you explain the promised “Ruach” in verse 14 to a seeker? Do you believe, and practice, Romans 1:16? Which truth in Galatians 3:13-14 excites you the most?

Paul reinvents a popular anti-Yeshua taunt derived from Deuteronomy 21:22-23 to argue that Messiah’s suffering and death releases those who rely upon him from the curse of the Torah.

Within Judaism, Yeshua of Nazareth has often been known by the name Talui, or ha-Talui, which literally translated means the Hanged One, or contextually, the Crucified One. In old anti-Christian writings, this belittling name is sometimes combined with other unflattering descriptions, but in general Talui means Yeshua, the crucified one.

Ironically, the word talui is also a Hebrew word used in the Talmud that is still used today for uncertainty. Because it means hanging, it is used to express a matter hanging in doubt. For example, in English we sometimes speak of a hung jury. Something hanging swings back and forth, so hanging cam mean uncertainty. In the days of the apostles, Jewish people offered a special kind of sacrifice called an asham talui, which literally means a guilt offering hanging. One who was in doubt as to whether he had committed a sin or not, brought a guilt offering of uncertainty. The Talmud says that Bava ben Buta brought as asham talui to the Temple every day because he thought, “Perhaps I have sinned and did not realize it.”

Today, the anti-missionaries contemptuously call Yeshua, Talui, meaning the crucified one, but ironically the name also implies uncertainty. Might He not be the promised Messiah? What if His claims are true? Even more ironic, Isaiah 53:10 predicts that the Messiah will suffer on behalf of the nation when His soul makes an offering for guilt (asham). Yeshua, the crucified one (talui), went to the cross as an asham talui, so to speak.

However, those Jews who do not believe that He is the Messiah today, call Him Talui as an uncomplimentary taunt; but the Ruach ha-Kodesh inspired the human author Isaiah to record it in a positive light. The term comes from the Torah: If a man is guilty of a sin with a death sentence and he is put to death, and you hang (talita) him on a tree. His body is not to remain all night on the tree – instead you must certainly bury him the same day, for anyone hanged (talui) is a curse of God. You must not defile your land that ADONAI your God is giving to you as an inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

The Torah says that if a corpse is hung on a tree, it is not to be left hanging overnight. Instead, the corpse must be taken down and buried that same day. This passage is relevant to Messiah’s death. However, the Torah is not speaking of crucifixion. In Tractate Sanhedrin 46b, the Talmud points out that the man hung on a tree in Deuteronomy 21:22 was not crucified. He was already dead prior to being hung on the tree. In the ancient world, authorities sometimes hung the corpse of an executed man as a public warning to others (see the commentary on the Life of David, to see link click Bw – Sha’ul Takes His Own Life: The Desecration of the Bodies). Hopefully, those who saw the executed man’s body on display would resolve not to commit the same crimes. The Torah does not actually demand such a grisly method of warning. Instead, the Torah aims to ensure the dignity of the corpse by requiring a timely burial.

Hanging on a tree is not found as a means of delivering the death sentence in the Torah. Crucifixion was never a Jewish mode of execution and would itself be a violation of Jewish law. In Roman law, however, a person could be crucified for piracy, highway robbery, assassination, forgery, false testimony, mutiny, sedition, or rebellion. The Romans also crucified soldiers who deserted to the enemy and slaves who denounced their masters. A cross could be a tree or simply a post embedded in the ground. The condemned carried the crossbeam to the place of execution with the titulus (an inscription identifying his crime) hanging from his neck (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ls – Then They Brought Jesus to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull). Rome introduced this cruel means of execution in Judea as a way of punishing zealot rebels. Routine crucifixions had been going on for as long as three decades before the birth of Yeshua. Thousands and thousands of Jewish men died by crucifixion. Josephus claims that by the end of the Jewish revolt, the Romans had cut down all the trees in Judea for crosses.

The Romans did not observe Deuteronomy 21:23-23. The bodies of the crucified might be left hanging indefinitely. In the case of Messiah’s execution, however, the Jewish authorities pleaded with Pilate that the bodies should not remain on the execution stake during Shabbat (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Lx – The Burial of Jesus in the Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea). Regarding the commandment of taking down the body and not letting it hang overnight, Rabbi Meir said, “There is a parable about this matter. To what can it be compared? It can be compared to two identical twin brothers. Both lived in a certain city. One was appointed king, and the other became a bandit. At the king’s command they hanged the bandit. But everyone who saw him hanging there said, ‘The king has been hung!’ Therefore, the king issued a command and he was taken down” (Sanhedrin 46b).

Deuteronomy 21:23 says: Anyone hanged (talui) is a curse of God. This passage explains why the name Talui, the Crucified One, the Hung One, became a common title for Yeshua in Judaism. As the Jewish people struggled under the attacks and persecution of the Church, the Talui nickname became an inside joke. Who is Yeshua? He is Talui. And what does the Torah say? Talui is accursed of God.

Anti-missionaries (the counter-proselytization of Jews) still use the passage today, and I suspect the joke goes all the way back for centuries and centuries. As the apostles proclaimed “Messiah crucified” within the Jewish community, the early detractors who resisted their message probably responded with Deuteronomy 21:23. Talui is accursed of God. The Crucified One is Accursed of God!

The most learned and most vicious anti-missionary who ever lived was Sha’ul of Tarsus. Paul knew this passage. He used it in his debates against the early believers in contempt of Yeshua haTalui, the Crucified One. Reflecting on this matter, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: I make known to you that no one speaking by the Ruach Elohim says, “Yeshua be cursed,” and no one can say, “Yeshua is Lord,” except by the Ruach ha-Kodesh (First Corinthians 12:3). He brought it up again in the book of Galatians.

In Galatians 3:13-14, Paul returned to his old anti-Yeshua, Talui-attack and cited Deuteronomy 21:22-23 in reference to Messiah again. This passage was always popular with the anti-Yeshua crowd. But this time he put a new spin on it. It was as if Paul was warning the God-fearing Gentiles not to listen to what the Judaizers (see Ag – Who Were the Judaizers?) were telling them, saying, “Do not suppose that becoming Jewish is the easy ticket to salvation. In fact, it’s just the opposite. If you become Jewish, the standard goes up. You place yourself under responsibility to the whole Torah, all 613 commandments, and under a curse if you fail to obey them perfectly!”

According to Paul’s view, the curse for failing to keep the whole Torah extended beyond this world and into the next. He said: The righteous shall live by faith (Galatians 3:11CJB). The word live in the Talmud means the olam haba, and describes a time after the world is perfected under the rulership of Messiah. This term also refers to the afterlife, where the soul passes after death. In that respect, to fall under the curse for disobedience is to forfeit the resurrection and the olam haba. Like Moshe, Paul sets before his readers a choice of blessing and cursing for Jew and Gentile alike: The faithful are blessed along with Abraham, the faithful one. [But] all who rely on the deeds of Torah are under a curse – for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is anyone who does not keep doing everything written in the scroll of the Torah” (Galatians 3:9-10).

Messiah liberated [Jewish believers] from Torah’s curse because it was never given to Gentiles, it was only given to Jews. Christ didn’t merely die for our sins. His death was a penalty. Furthermore, Yeshua Messiah became a curse for us. His death was a penalty which the Torah required for breaking it. Now, obviously Jesus didn’t break any of the 613 commandments of the Torah. In fact, He was the only person who ever lived not to do so. His death was a substitutionary one. We deserved to die on the cross, but He took our place.

According to Paul, the final curse of the Torah is condemnation in the eternal court of judgment (see the commentary on Revelation Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment). Elsewhere, he points out that the Torah brings about wrath (Romans 4:15). It does so because it defines sin. He said: Now the Torah came in so that transgression (meaning choose to sin, to intentionally and willfully disobey) might increase (Romans 5:20). In other words, one of the functions of the Torah is that we would be made more aware of our sin. In fact, Paul identified the Torah as the ministry of condemnation (Second Corinthians 3:9). When Paul spoke of the curse of the Torah here in Galatians 3:13, he referred to the Torah’s condemnation of sin.

Yet, there is now no condemnation for those who rely on the faithfulness of Messiah Yeshua. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what was impossible for the Torah – since it was weakened on account of the flesh – God has done. Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh – so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Ruach (Romans 8:1-4).

When Messiah came, he accomplished what the Torah could not accomplish. Paul reasoned that since Messiah was completely sinless, without spot or blemish as the Lamb of God, He had not earned the condemnation (curse) of the Torah. Still, the Torah clearly says: If a man is guilty of a sin with a death sentence and he is put to death, and you hang (talita) him on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:22). Despite the fact of His innocence, Yeshua had committed no sin, much less a crime punishable by death, the Master was put to death and hung on a tree. The one who is hanged (talui) is accursed of Ha’Shem.

If Yeshua was accursed of God and yet had not earned that curse through His own transgressions, where did He acquire the curse of being hung on a cross made from a tree? Paul believed that Messiah took the Torah’s condemnation for the sins of others upon Himself. He took upon Himself the curse due to Jewish believers, who were previously included under the curse of the Torah, and He also opened the Abrahamic blessing to the Gentiles.

Messiah liberated [the Jews] from Torah’s curse, having become a curse for [them], for it is written, “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.” Yeshua Messiah’s death satisfied every claim of Ha’Shem’s holiness and justice so that He is now free to act on behalf of sinners in order that through Him the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, and also that [the Jews] might receive the promise of the Ruach through trusting faith ( Galatians 3:13-14).

Paul took an old taunt, a taunt that he himself had probably used against believers in Talui . . . and turned it around. Our Master became, so to speak, accursed, in that He took upon Himself the accursedness of His people and suffered on behalf of all those under the curse of the Torah – and not only for the Jewish people, but for all who will believe in Him and rely on His faithfulness.⁸³

Dear Heavenly father, We love You! Praise You for satisfying sin’s demand of death and in great power rising from the dead (First Corinthians 15:4) “Death is swallowed up in victory” . . . thanks be to God who keeps giving us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah! (First Corinthians 15:54c, 57).

You are our slain Passover Lamb (John 1:29, First Corinthians 5:7). How awesome to run to our strong daddy for protection, deliverance, and salvation for: The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalms 18:2) I will say of ADONAI, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalms 91:2). He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalms 62:2).

Praise You for being our solid rock and fortress that we can always go to for protection from the storms of life. Your power is so great that You can still any storm (Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25, Mark 4:36-41); or You may choose to allow the storm to howl, but we are safe in You, For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you,” . . . “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.” (Hebrews 13:5c, 6b). We love You! In Jesus holy name and power of resurrection, Amen.