Monday, October 12, 2009

Galatians Journal: Chapter 4, Verse 30

Galatians 4:30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."

“But what dies the Scripture say?” All along, Paul has used the Old Testament Scriptures to buttress his agreements. Here, he uses such a reference to complete the “figurative” concept he started back in verse 24. It was vitally important for Paul to anchor his arguments in the Pentateuch – the “Law of Moses” – as he has done throughout the letter, to add the most support, as he continues to turn the very proofs the Judiazers relied upon against them.

Here, he cites to Genesis 21:10 – actually, he quotes it, to complete his Sarah/Hagar analogy. And once again, Paul turns the very words/arguments/beliefs of the Judiazers against them, as if a self fulfilling prophecy, or a spoken curse – or a bitter-root judgment, that comes back upon the person who speaks it, like when a child makes a rash vow such as “I’ll never by like my Parents,” and ends up growing up to be just like them. In this case, the Judiazers argued that uncircumcised Gentiles were not worthy to participate in the covenant. Paul proves its just the opposite, quoting Genesis 21:10. In that passage, it became clear to Sarah that Ishmael had to be put out of the camp. Ishmael and Isaac cannot and could not both inherit the promise. So it is with Paul’s opponents in Galatia. Hagar’s “line” cannot inherit with Sarah’s – and Sarah demands that Hagar’s “line” be banished. Paul is intimating the same here – the spiritual descendants of Ishmael – the Judiazers – should be put out of the church.

It is not clear in the scripture if this was an option for the Galatians, and it appears that this did not actually happen. And the literal application of this in the context of the modern church is problematic – being “drummed out” of the church is a severe remedy. But as far as a personal application goes, it would seem we need to be extra careful about who we fellowship with. I don’t recommend legalism about this sort of thing, but Proverbs 4:23 says “above all else, guard your heart.” There may be, indeed there probably are the modern equivalent of “Judiazers” in the midst of each church congregation, those who would focus on works, or culture, or ethnicity, or custom, or even personal taste – anything external – as a means of being acceptable to God, to the rest of the congregation, and even just being acceptable to them. They may be people of influence, or they may just be the person who happens to sit next to you during the worship service, or they might even be your very best friend. Its easy to get sucked in. Remember Paul’s example of Peter succumbing to this heresy back in Galatians 2:11. This is an easy deception to buy into. We need to guard ourselves and our hearts and minds and focus on Jesus, and the concept of Holy Spirit inspired relationships!

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