Galatians 4:8:20

Galatians 4:8-20

-          V. 8-11

o   V. 8

§  Cf. Acts 14:8-18; I Thessalonians 1:9-10; and I Corinthians 8:4-7; 10:19-22; 12:2

§  “those that by nature are not gods” could be a reference to participation in the cult of the emperor

o   V. 9

§  The reference to God acknowledging them is a statement of the divine initiative

§  Could Paul be saying that for the Gentile Christians to turn to the law is the same as their returning to the pagan worship of the past? 

§  The description of the elemental spirits as weak is a reference to their inability to save or justify, while their description as beggarly is a reference to their lacking of any spiritual riches or value

§  “knowing” in this context is not referring to an intellectual knowledge, but rather an intimate experience

§  “Relationship with God does not have its basis in [human] seeking (mysticism), or doing (legalism) or knowing (Gnosticism), but it originates with God…and is carried on always by divine grace.”

– Richard N. Longenecker

o   V. 10

§  The observance of days, etc. was apparently something they saw as obligatory, and to view it as such was effectively the same as worshipping the forces that dictated the calendar. 

§  Cf. Colossians 2:16

§  Observances of the calendar are generic, and thus can refer back to pagan or emperor worship, or forward to the Jewish cultic calendar if they seek to follow the law of Moses

o   V. 11

§  The Galatians are like “the dog who runs along a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, and deceived by the reflection of the meat in the water, opens his mouth to snap at it, and so loses both the meat and the reflection.”  - Martin Luther , “The Freedom of the Christian”  in Luther’s Works

§  Cf. I Corinthians 15:58, Philippians 2:16, I Thessalonians 3:5

-          V. 12-20

o   V. 12

§  He became as them by surrendering his claims as a Jew, so he asks them to become as he is by also surrendering their attempts to become Jewish

o   V. 13

§  Suggestions as to Paul’s malady include malaria (he would have retreated to the altitude of Galatia to recover), epilepsy (the reference to not scorning or despising literally meaning not spitting out, a typical response to ailments like epilepsy thought to be the result of evil spirits), and ophthalmia (the reference to the fact that they would have given him their own eyes)

§  No way of knowing if the ailment is the same as the one referenced in II Cor. 12:7

§  Evidence that eyes problems might have been Paul’s ailment: 1. He uses a scribe for many of his lengthy letters (Rom. 16:22; I Cor. 1:1; I Thess. 1:18; II Thess. 3:17) 2. He refers to his problem as a weakness of the flesh and not a demon 3. His bodily presence when preaching was described by some as being weak (cf. II Cor. 10:10) 4. We know he was blinded on the road to Damascus 5. Paul references sounds but not sights from when he was taken up into the third heaven (II Cor. 12:1-7) 6. He writes with very large letters (cf. 6:11)

o   V. 14

§  The welcome as an angel, or messenger of God is commendable given Paul’s physical state

§  Spitting would have been a popular way of attempting to ward off the “evil eye”, which someone in Paul’s state would have often been assumed to bear

§  Cf. Matthew 10:40; Luke 10:16; John 13:20

o   V. 15

§  Cf. Deuteronomy 32:10, Psalm 17:8, Zechariah 2:8

o   V. 16

§  Telling someone the truth is a mark of genuine affection, and yet here it seems to have alienated Paul from the Galatians

§  Cf. II Cor. 12:15

o   V. 17

§  “shut you out”- if the Galatians go over to a following of the law, ironically they will be shut out from the people of God because of their Gentile heritage

o   V. 18

§  Reference to the Galatians being made much of, or them pursuing the good?

o   V. 19

§  Cf. I Thess. 2:7

§  Cf. Mark. 13:8; Matthew 24:8; Revelation 12; I Thessalonians 5:3; Galatians 4:27

§  The fact that Paul is speaking to many different churches probably means that he is speaking of Christ being formed in them as individuals

o   V. 20

§  Written words are no substitute for conversing in person, and can sometimes be misinterpreted, or at the very least fail to communicate the intended sentiment

o   The desire to return to former worship practices would have been stronger if the Galatians felt socially isolated, or that they had lost economic or political opportunities by abandoning their previous form of worship.  Perhaps they sought a new social circle in the synagogue and through following the law?