Well, it’s just as I suspected yesterday. A group of people from outside the church have infiltrated the Galatian church and are trying to get them to follow them instead of Paul.
I would bet that Paul would take offense at that statement. He would say “don’t follow me, follow Christ”. Of course, Paul also believes that he is the one following Christ, and the new “teachers” are not true believers. He is right, and he proves his point in today’s reading.
I really liked the comparison of the two sons of Abraham to the two covenants that God made with man. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael because Abraham wanted to “help” God fulfill His promise of descendants. Some time later, Sarah (who was barren up to this point, and now in her 90’s) gave birth to a son and called him Isaac. According to Paul, the old covenant is represented by everything religious that existed on the earth up until the time of Jesus. The old covenant was given by God, true, but it depended on human effort. Of course, we always fell short of doing what the Law said…no one ever lived up to it, not even the most righteous prophets. The Old Testament Law (and all of it’s regulations) were simply a promise of what was to eventually come. Paul compares them to the will that says “on their 21st birthday my children will inherit my estate”. The legal document doesn’t do anything for us, it doesn’t make us wealthy or prevent us from scrounging for food. It simply points to another day when the situation will change drastically in our favor, and a huge blessing will be poured into our lap. That’s the Law, it just points to the future. Once the future arrives, then the document is no longer necessary, since it has been fulfilled and the money has been disbursed. In fact, what would be the point in keeping it around? It’s outdated, like yesterdays newspaper.
On the other hand, we have Isaac, born by way of a miracle to his mother Sarah. Isaac was the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham, and when Isaac came, Ishmael had to go. It’s a fact that Ishmael and his descendants created problems for Isaac and his descendants down through history. The two families were often at odds with each other. The same is true for the Old and New Covenants. Those who follow the Old Covenant (the Law…meaning Jews who do not accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord) are causing problems for believers. It started with the religious leaders and Pharisees who wanted to kill Jesus, and has continued on throughout history. Nothing was different in Paul’s day. There were people coming to churches that he planted that were false teachers, and Paul is doing his level best to root them out. When the false teachers came, the first thing they did was try to drive a wedge between Paul and the body.
I have found in my ministry that one of the first signs of a false teacher is that they will begin gathering “disciples” behind the scenes, creating discontent with the Pastor. They may realize that they cannot be the Pastor themselves, but they want to select someone new, who will see things their way, and do what they want. Perhaps someone who will not remind them of something that is wrong in their own life….maybe, I’m just guessing at that. I just see Paul having the same problem that I have witnessed many times before….except that these days people aren’t creating problems based on doctrine so much…it’s more about preference, and control.
I don’t want to miss the wonderful, powerful verses in today’s reading.
4:7 and 4:31
5:1 and 5:13-16. Especially verse 16. Okay, you know what….all of chapter 5. Wow.
6:2-7 and 14
Every single one of those is worth days of meditation. I’m sure that rolling those thoughts over in my head would bring insight and blessing for days to come. That’s the only real problem I have with reading the Bible in a Year. You cover so much content that you can’t meditate on any of it. Next year I think I will try something different.
Faithfully
PR