Galatians 4:8-10
Paul's statement in very 8 has to be a reference to Gentiles; people who grew up outside the Covenant. The contrast is from verse 7 to 8. Verse 7 has the Gentiles as no longer slaves but children and heirs through what Yahweh has accomplished. Verse 8 then mentions their past, when they didn't know Yahweh. That couldn't be speaking of people who grew up in the Covenant, because in the past they certainly WOULD have known Yahweh. A Hebrew child, born to Torah Observant parents would have learned the Torah from childhood. A heathen child however would not have. They would have grown up with parents who served and worshiped other mighty ones.
This is what Paul calls "enslaved to things that by nature are not mighty ones." Paul is describing heathen mighty ones. Any mighty one that a person serves that is opposed to Almighty Yahweh. This was the past life of the Gentiles who were now forgiven of their sin, and placed in a relationship with Yahweh, through His Son Yeshua.
Paul mentions their relationship with Yahweh by faith in verse 7, their past in verse 8, and then their desire to turn back to something weak in verse 9. He then says in verse 10 that they're observing certain times in relation to them turning back. Do you see why the Torah Observant, Messianic communities interpret these verses as a turning back to paganism or heathenism? I can see it clearly. It makes sense in light of verse 8 where it speaks of a time when they didn't know Yahweh. At that time when they didn't know Yahweh, how could the heathen nations have been observing days like Passover of the Sabbath? How would they be keeping the New Moons or the Sabbatical year land rest? They wouldn't. They were heathens serving those things that by nature are not mighty ones.
So what's the problem here? Why would I just not leave it at that, and tell you that's the proper way to understand this text?
Well... it's because of the context of this entire epistle. Up to this point in Galatians there hasn't been a hint of these Gentile believers trying to go back to paganism or heathenism. The epistle is not a warning from Paul towards them about that, it's rather a warning against the influencers or Judaizers who were trying to persuade the Gentiles that they weren't really saved unless they submitted to certain Hebrew identity markers.
They were telling the Galatian gentiles, "You're not really forgiven of your sins unless you get circumcised." This was the distortion of the gospel. It was a gospel of salvation by becoming a Judahite through certain works of the law, and it was really no gospel at all. Some of the Gentiles were falling for it, and submitting to the requirements of the Judaizers, thus denying that salvation is a gift given by grace through faith, and submitting to salvation being because you became a proselyte Judahite. In light of the entire context of the epistle, it makes no sense that the Gentiles who were being influenced by the Judaizers would be trying to go back and celebrate pagan days. It makes more sense that they would be now attempting to observe and celebrate the feast days in Holy Scripture, and I believe, that's what Paul's talking about in verse 10. The festival times listed in Leviticus 23. Now you say, "Wait a minute brother Matthew! But you observe the festivals don't you? How can you then say that they are "weak and bankrupt" as verse 9 calls them?"
Yes, I observe the festivals, and I am not about to stop doing so. I believe they are holy times that Yahweh has given us. I'm here preaching on the Sabbath for goodness sake. I do not believe the holydays have been abolished. I believe in keeping them all to the best of my ability. I observe them as supplements to the Messiah, not substitutes for the Messiah. I keep the holydays because I have already obtained my forgiveness of sins, not in order to receive forgiveness for my sins.
Let me illustrate the idea of a supplement as opposed to a substitute. Suppose I tell you that the number one way to maintain good health is by eating healthy. You have to watch your diet. Then I tell you that you can supplement that with exercising for an hour a day, or going on a walk for an hour. Okay, you say, but then you decide that you will exercise or walk for an hour a day, but still eat trash. Instead of using the exercise as a supplement to a healthy diet, you've turned it into a substitute for a healthy diet.
I believe this is what I think Paul was rebuking the Galatian Gentiles for. They were being influenced by the Judaizers in this way: the Judaizers were telling them that they must keep the feasts in order to become one of them. They were holding the feasts up in the same manner as they were holding circumcision up - as prerequisites for salvation. Thus, when the Gentiles got circumcised or kept the holydays they would believe that this is what forgives my sin and puts me in right-standing with the Almighty.
If the holydays are observed properly they are beautiful, but if they are used as the Judaizers were using them, they are weak and bankrupt, because they do not have the power to save someone from their sin. If I'm out sitting under the sukkah this coming Feast of Tabernacles thinking, "Well, I'm doing this so I can be forgiven of my sins," that is the absolute wrong way to observe the feast. If I'm observing the Sabbath day and thinking that the Sabbath is what forgives my sins, I have missed the boat. "But the Sabbath is the fourth commandment brother Matthew." Yes, of course it is. But none of the commandments were given to forgive you. They were given to show you your sin and teach you how to live. They weren't given to be the method by which you obtain forgiveness. Certain tools have a purpose. You must use them for their purpose. When you attempt to use them for the wrong job, they are useless. It doesn't mean the tool is useless for everything, it's just useless for that job. If I want to measure the length I need to cut a board I don't get my car keys, I get a tape measure. Likewise, if I want to crank my truck up, I don't go get the tape measure, I use the key. If I want to screw in a screw I don't use channel locks. I use a screw driver. If I need to open a 4" PVC cap, I get the channel locks, not the screw driver. Tools must be used appropriately for them to be beneficial.
This helps to see why Paul could speak this way about the holydays. Paul observed the holydays himself (we see this through the book of Acts), but Paul knew that to place the holydays up here (instead of the Messiah) was detrimental. This is why he says in verse 11, "I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted." Paul had spent time teaching the Galatians the gospel message. The good news that through the seed of Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. That seed was Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of Yahweh. Paul had preached to them that he was the means by which they were justified and forgiven, and now the Judaizers had come along and said, "No, Paul is wrong. You're not really forgiven until you get circumcised and become one of us. You have to keep this feast day or this new moon in order to be forgiven." Paul was worried that all of his labor in the gospel was for naught. He feared for them, meaning he feared for their salvation. When someone places proselytizing to Judah the pre-requisite for salvation, they are in essence denying the plan of salvation that Yahweh laid out, and therefore denying the Messiah. That's why Paul got so serious here.
For more info listen to Sermon #657
This is what Paul calls "enslaved to things that by nature are not mighty ones." Paul is describing heathen mighty ones. Any mighty one that a person serves that is opposed to Almighty Yahweh. This was the past life of the Gentiles who were now forgiven of their sin, and placed in a relationship with Yahweh, through His Son Yeshua.
Paul mentions their relationship with Yahweh by faith in verse 7, their past in verse 8, and then their desire to turn back to something weak in verse 9. He then says in verse 10 that they're observing certain times in relation to them turning back. Do you see why the Torah Observant, Messianic communities interpret these verses as a turning back to paganism or heathenism? I can see it clearly. It makes sense in light of verse 8 where it speaks of a time when they didn't know Yahweh. At that time when they didn't know Yahweh, how could the heathen nations have been observing days like Passover of the Sabbath? How would they be keeping the New Moons or the Sabbatical year land rest? They wouldn't. They were heathens serving those things that by nature are not mighty ones.
So what's the problem here? Why would I just not leave it at that, and tell you that's the proper way to understand this text?
Well... it's because of the context of this entire epistle. Up to this point in Galatians there hasn't been a hint of these Gentile believers trying to go back to paganism or heathenism. The epistle is not a warning from Paul towards them about that, it's rather a warning against the influencers or Judaizers who were trying to persuade the Gentiles that they weren't really saved unless they submitted to certain Hebrew identity markers.
They were telling the Galatian gentiles, "You're not really forgiven of your sins unless you get circumcised." This was the distortion of the gospel. It was a gospel of salvation by becoming a Judahite through certain works of the law, and it was really no gospel at all. Some of the Gentiles were falling for it, and submitting to the requirements of the Judaizers, thus denying that salvation is a gift given by grace through faith, and submitting to salvation being because you became a proselyte Judahite. In light of the entire context of the epistle, it makes no sense that the Gentiles who were being influenced by the Judaizers would be trying to go back and celebrate pagan days. It makes more sense that they would be now attempting to observe and celebrate the feast days in Holy Scripture, and I believe, that's what Paul's talking about in verse 10. The festival times listed in Leviticus 23. Now you say, "Wait a minute brother Matthew! But you observe the festivals don't you? How can you then say that they are "weak and bankrupt" as verse 9 calls them?"
Yes, I observe the festivals, and I am not about to stop doing so. I believe they are holy times that Yahweh has given us. I'm here preaching on the Sabbath for goodness sake. I do not believe the holydays have been abolished. I believe in keeping them all to the best of my ability. I observe them as supplements to the Messiah, not substitutes for the Messiah. I keep the holydays because I have already obtained my forgiveness of sins, not in order to receive forgiveness for my sins.
Let me illustrate the idea of a supplement as opposed to a substitute. Suppose I tell you that the number one way to maintain good health is by eating healthy. You have to watch your diet. Then I tell you that you can supplement that with exercising for an hour a day, or going on a walk for an hour. Okay, you say, but then you decide that you will exercise or walk for an hour a day, but still eat trash. Instead of using the exercise as a supplement to a healthy diet, you've turned it into a substitute for a healthy diet.
I believe this is what I think Paul was rebuking the Galatian Gentiles for. They were being influenced by the Judaizers in this way: the Judaizers were telling them that they must keep the feasts in order to become one of them. They were holding the feasts up in the same manner as they were holding circumcision up - as prerequisites for salvation. Thus, when the Gentiles got circumcised or kept the holydays they would believe that this is what forgives my sin and puts me in right-standing with the Almighty.
If the holydays are observed properly they are beautiful, but if they are used as the Judaizers were using them, they are weak and bankrupt, because they do not have the power to save someone from their sin. If I'm out sitting under the sukkah this coming Feast of Tabernacles thinking, "Well, I'm doing this so I can be forgiven of my sins," that is the absolute wrong way to observe the feast. If I'm observing the Sabbath day and thinking that the Sabbath is what forgives my sins, I have missed the boat. "But the Sabbath is the fourth commandment brother Matthew." Yes, of course it is. But none of the commandments were given to forgive you. They were given to show you your sin and teach you how to live. They weren't given to be the method by which you obtain forgiveness. Certain tools have a purpose. You must use them for their purpose. When you attempt to use them for the wrong job, they are useless. It doesn't mean the tool is useless for everything, it's just useless for that job. If I want to measure the length I need to cut a board I don't get my car keys, I get a tape measure. Likewise, if I want to crank my truck up, I don't go get the tape measure, I use the key. If I want to screw in a screw I don't use channel locks. I use a screw driver. If I need to open a 4" PVC cap, I get the channel locks, not the screw driver. Tools must be used appropriately for them to be beneficial.
This helps to see why Paul could speak this way about the holydays. Paul observed the holydays himself (we see this through the book of Acts), but Paul knew that to place the holydays up here (instead of the Messiah) was detrimental. This is why he says in verse 11, "I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted." Paul had spent time teaching the Galatians the gospel message. The good news that through the seed of Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. That seed was Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of Yahweh. Paul had preached to them that he was the means by which they were justified and forgiven, and now the Judaizers had come along and said, "No, Paul is wrong. You're not really forgiven until you get circumcised and become one of us. You have to keep this feast day or this new moon in order to be forgiven." Paul was worried that all of his labor in the gospel was for naught. He feared for them, meaning he feared for their salvation. When someone places proselytizing to Judah the pre-requisite for salvation, they are in essence denying the plan of salvation that Yahweh laid out, and therefore denying the Messiah. That's why Paul got so serious here.
For more info listen to Sermon #657