No Longer a Slave, but a Son - Week 8

Galatians 4


Note: The study related to these questions may be found at Catholic Exchange. Please go to their site for the complete material concerning this study. Below are my thoughts on the questions presented for the given study (Please see disclaimer at bottom).

Children Come of Age

Read Gal. 4:1-11

1. During the time of the custodianship of the law, the Israelites were children of God, but how was that period no different from being slaves?
Note: In vs. 3, Paul says that during the period of custodianship, they were enslaved to the elemental powers of the world. This refers to the fact that the entire Jewish system of sacrifices and religious festivals was based on the calendar -new moons, days, weeks, and months of the year. So it was really these elements of nature ( elemental powers ) that moved them through their liturgical year, and because the sacrificial system so tightly regulated their lives, it could be said that they were enslaved by it.
(a) Because even though they are heirs to the estate, as children they are still "under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father".

2. In vs. 4, what do you think the phrase when the time had fully come means? (For a very helpful teaching on the relationship between God and time, read the third chapter of 2 Peter)?
(a) From the Second Epistle of St. Peter:
1: This is now the second letter that I have written to you, beloved, and in both of them I have aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder; 2: that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3: First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions 4: and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation." 5: They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed out of water and by means of water, 6: through which the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7: But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8: But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9: The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11: Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12: waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! 13: But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14: Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15: And count the forbearance of our Lord as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16: speaking of this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures. 17: You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. 18: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Pet 3, RSV)
This phrase denotes when God's time for these events to occur came to pass. Paul wants the Galatians to know that while the Israelites have waited for many centuries for the coming of the Messiah, God did not make them wait out of malice, but in the hope of saving them.

3. Why does Paul describe Jesus in the way he does in vs. 4?
(a) Paul describes Jesus as the Son of God, "born of woman, born under the law" in order to underscore the nature of Christ. Christ's nature is divine in that He is the Son of God, and human in that He is the some of woman. Also, Christ is a Jew since He was born under the law and was circumcised. It is through all three of these that Christ released us from our bondage to sin, to the flesh, and to the law.

4. If the Israelites, even during the custodianship of the law, were children of God, why does Paul say, in vs. 5, that they received adoption as sons only through Jesus?
(a) Because the while they were children of God, the law brought no redemption.

5. How does the Holy Spirit prove that a person's relationship with God has changed from being a slave to a son (vs. 7)? What other part of Paul's letter does this remind you of?
(a) Because the Holy Spirit is in our hearts crying "Abba! Father!". (b) This is reminiscent of Paul's Epistle to the Romans:
15: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16: it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Rom 8:15-17, RSV)


6. In vs. 8, Paul speaks to the Gentile Christians about their lives before they knew God. What does he mean when he says they were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods ?
(a) Paul is referring the the pagan gods of element and animal. Both of these are created and as such cannot be God.

7. See how Paul re-phrases himself in vs. 9? Why is this re-phrasing so important to Paul's way of thinking about the Christian life?
(a) This re-phrasing is important because it illustrates Paul's belief that a true relationship with God, as with anyone else, requires acknowledment from both parties. In other words, though we "know" of God, God will not "know" us until we know Him and not just of Him.

8. In vs. 9, when Paul says, how can you turn back again , he isn't referring to reverting to pagan practices, because that's not at issue here. The issue is circumcision, a Jewish practice. What do pagan practices and the Jewish ceremonial works of the law have in common? (Hint: see note after question 1.)
(a) What they both have in common is that both are elements of nature.

9. In vs. 10, does Paul condemn the Catholic practice of holy days, feasts, and liturgical seasons? Some would most definitely say yes to this question, so what would you say in response? Read 1 Cor. 5:6-8 before answering.
(a) No, Paul is not condemning our practice of holy days, feasts and liturgical seasons. (b) From St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians:
6: Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7: Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. 8: Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor 5:6-8, RSV)
Catholic holy days, feasts, and liturgical seasons are celebrated under the "unleavened bread of sincerity of truth" (i.e. Christ's new covenant), than under the "old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil" (i.e the Mosaic law).

10. What is Paul worried about in vs. 11? What does this concern say about the possibility of losing one's justification?
(a) Paul is worried that he has labored in vain over the Galatians. (b) This clearly infers a that is possible to lose one's justification.

11. In this section of his epistle, Paul seems shocked that anyone would be tempted to exchange the joy of a Father-son relationship for that of a master-slave. What must a Christian keep in clear focus to preserve the joy of sonship and not let it turn into the fear that comes with slavery?
(a) We must remember that in addition to God being our Lord and Master, He is also our Father and as such loves each and everyone of us as His Son or Daughter. We are special because of God, not in spite of Him.

A Tender Appeal

Read Gal 4:12-20

12. Vs. 12 is a strange, seemingly convoluted appeal by Paul. What do you think it means?
(a) Paul wants them to become like him in the sense that he has placed his faith on the New Covenant of Christ instead of the Mosaic law. In doing this, Paul has become like a Gentile in that he does not need the law to be saved.

13. Paul recalls his initial relationship with the Galatians (vss. 13-16). How was it characterized?
(a) It was characterized by love, patience, and self-sacrifice.

14. Why, in vs. 17, were the Judaizers showing an interest in the Gentile Christians?
(a) In order to make much of themselves (i.e. the Judaizers).

15. Paul shows the full extent of his love for the Galatians in vss. 18-20. To what does he compare himself? To whom does he long to give birth?
(a) Paul compares himself to a woman in labor. (b) He wishes to give birth to those who have Christ formed within them, in other words, Christians.

16. Paul agonized over feeling that he had become an enemy to his friends by telling them the truth. Have you ever had that experience? If so, what was that like?
(a) Yes. (b) If felt as if maybe I'd done something wrong. I also felt alone and hurt.

Paul Pulls Rank

Read Gal 4:21-31

In this last section of chapter 4, before he turns his attention to a new theme, Paul tries one more method in his amazing assault on the idea that Gentile converts need to become Jews. In vs. 21, when he writes, Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? , he is saying, Look, for those of you who want to become Jews, would you like to hear distinctly Jewish teaching on this issue? At this point, he makes use of his training to become Rabbi Saul, using a methodology for teaching Scripture that was very common among the rabbis of his day.
To understand this passage, you will need to know that Abraham had a son, Ishmael, by Hagar, the Egyptian slave of his wife, Sarah (see Genesis 16). This was done at Sarah's suggestion since God had promised Abraham a son, but Sarah, for a time, remained barren. Ishmael would have been a child of the flesh, since he was conceived in the natural human way. Later, Isaac was born to Sarah. He was the one God always intended to be Abraham's heir and was a child of promise, because his conception in a barren woman of advanced age could only have happened through a miracle. It was, in that sense, a supernatural birth.

17. What does Paul say the two women in Abraham s life represent (vs. 24)?
(a) The two women represent an allegory. An allegory is the representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form. (American Heritage Dictionary)

18. By using a play on words, a technique very common among Jewish rabbis of Paul's day, he identifies Hagar with Mt. Sinai, where the law was given. Hagar is also a name of a region near Mt. Sinai. Mt. Zion, upon which Jerusalem is built, is also in that region. Why would Paul say the present Jerusalem is in slavery along with her children, as he does in vs. 25?
(a) Because in placing their hope in the law, the Jews have become slaves of the law. In the allegorical sense the Jerusalem is part of the land of Hagar, then as Hagar was the mother of slavery, so then Jerusalem is her offspring.

19. Sarah corresponds to the Jerusalem above, which is free and our mother (vs. 26). What does this mean?
Note: Read Gen. 21:9-13. There you will see that Sarah urges Abraham to send Ishmael and Hagar away from their home. Jewish rabbis traditionally taught that Ishmael was taunting or teasing Isaac over his status as the second-born son. In other words, by birthright and by being physically bigger and older than Isaac, he was bullying the younger boy.
(a) That as children of the promis of Abraham, and as such children of Sarah, our Jerusalem, or city of peace is God's Heavenly Kingdom.

20. Paul says that Ishmael, the child of the flesh in vs. 29, persecuted the child of the spirit. He says the same thing is happening among the Galatian Christians. How can he make that analogy?
(a) Because the Judaizers are analogous the son of Hagar, they are persecuting the Gentile Christians, who are analogous to the son of Sarah.

21. Continuing the analogy, what would be the appropriate response of the children of the spirit to the children of the flesh (i.e., the Gentile Christians to the Judaizers), in vs. 30?
(a) To assume the role of the first born, not by nature, but by grace.

22. In an earlier lesson, we considered the similarities between the Blessed Virgin Mary and Abraham. In this passage, there is good reason to think about the similarities between Sarah, the free woman, and Mary. What are they?
(a) The similarities between Sarah and the Blessed Virgin Mary are as follow:

Disclaimer: I do not wish to present myself as an expert in either theology, history, or scriptural interpretation. I am merely someone who is attempting to answer the call of Christ. The ultimate authority and interpreter of scripture is our Holy Catholic Church. If at any point I deviate from the teachings of the Church, please correct me, alfredo@nevarez.net, as this is my shortcoming and in no way meant to be an expression of my views superceding those of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

San Jose Bible Study
 Alfredo Nevarez
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