Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson III)

English theologian and Bishop of Durham, J. B. Lightfoot (1828-1889), looked at both the Roman and Jewish laws on tutorship related to an underaged heir compared to what Paul describes here and finds that it fits neither one very well. Instead, it involved a procedure based on a special code in force in Galatia. But since there is no evidence to match either one, it appears that Paul simplified the process to make his point about coming-of-age.

Another point that Lightfoot makes is that this tutor assigned to mentor this child could not perform any act except that given to him by the dead father’s will and testament in compliance with the accepted laws of the land. It’s obvious that whoever the tutor might be, they came from the top tier of the servant roster because of the necessity for them to represent the heir to the State and whose sanction they needed to validate any contract given to them on his behalf. So, we are not to take the role of the tutor lightly, nor more than the Apostle Paul wanted to treat the Law, with little regard. We can only imagine where the Israelites might have ended up without the Law given to Moses. If they seemed prone to idolatry even as the chosen nation of God’s children, one can only guess what condition they might end up in.^[1]

In contrast to what Meyer said earlier about not interpreting the Greek noun epitropos to mean “guardian, Presbyterian minister and word study expert Marvin Vincent (1834-1922), disagrees, pointing to Luke’s Gospel where he mentions Joanna, the wife of Chuza – whom he identifies as the epitropos (same Greek noun as used here) of King Herod.^[2] Vincent calls this a general term, covering all to whom supervision of the child is entrusted, and should not be limited to paidagōgos  (as used in chapter three, verse twenty-four here in Galatians), where it is rendered by KJV as “schoolmaster.”^[3] In other words, the tutor that Paul is talking about had no specific authority to do anything but what they were told to do. Such was the Law given to Moses.

G. G. Findlay (1849-1919) imagines one fancy Jew replying to Paul’s previous argument on how the children of Israel missed their opportunity to become part of the kingdom of God because they refused to grow up into spirit adults by accepting the Messiah, and how that left them in bondage under the Law which possesses no power to save or forgive. Here’s the imagined conversation between this egotistical Jew and Paul:

As long as we are imagining, we might imagine this Jew asking: Well, then, how do we grow up? Paul would answer: By growing up in Jesus, the Messiah! And since they refused to do that, even when Yeshua the Messiah came to them in the flesh, they still refused to pay homage to Him and pledge allegiance to their new King. So, God sent out His laborers to cut down these dead branches on the Holy Olive Tree – Israel, and get some branches from the wild olive trees – the Gentiles, and graft them in as adopted children of God. Now they are the ones who flourish, bearing much fruit to the glory and honor of God.

American theologian and professor at Yale University Benjamin W. Bacon (1860-1932) focuses not only on the young heir but on his inheritance that Paul talks about here. He states that according to many contemporary writings, Jewish and Christian alike, they leave no doubt whatsoever as to the assumed content of the “inheritance.” It must be literally understood, as Paul says, “that God made Abraham heir of the world.”^[6] Intended originally for Adam and Eve,^[7] but when Adam proved his unfitness, God chose Abraham and his seed, including all faithful Israelites, to the exclusion of “sinners of the Gentiles” and “disloyal Jews.”

Bacon quotes from Esdras, who complains, “And after these, Adam also, whom You made lord of all your creatures: from whom all of us descended, and the people also whom You chose. All this have I’ve told You, O Lord, because You made the world for our sake. As for the rest of the nations which also came from Adam, You said that they are nothing more than spit and You likened all of them as a drop in the bucket.”^[8] But even the chosen stood in danger of losing everything because of Moses’ disobedience in obeying God’s command that he circumcise his son if it wasn’t for his wife Zipporah who did it for him.^[9] So, if God made the world for our sake, the ones you called to be Your own, why do we still not possess the world as our inheritance?

The Christian’s expectations, says Bacon, are not any less but even greater. Your “Son” must “inherit the earth.^[10] And if we still do not see all the things made subject unto Him, the Messiah’s triumph over the demonic powers which now control the world proves that He still waits for the day when all His enemies, visible and invisible, are made subject to Him.^[11] So we can say that the Gentiles vainly looked for the Creator in the objects which He made, and which Jews understand to be for their benefit, is, therefore, revealed in God’s Church, which takes Israel’s place as His heirs.

So, says Bacon, the Church’s conflict is not, like Israel’s, against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the world-rulers of darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places^[12] who now struggle to keep hold of the dominion they have abused,^[13] supplanting and subjecting the rightful heir. When the sons of God are manifested as God’s adoptive heirs, the creation, delivered from its bondage to “vanity,” will gladly revert to its intended owners, in spite of all that “death or life, angels or principalities, height or depth” can do to prevent it.^[14] When this happens during the Millennial reign of the Messiah on earth, the “adoption of sons” will be made manifest “to every angel and spirit,” revealing the hidden purpose of the Creator.^{[15] [16]}

Archibald Robertson (1863-1934), in his Greek word studies, tells us that under Roman law, the tutor was in charge of the child until he was fourteen when the curator took charge of him until he was twenty-five. Ramsay notes that in Græco-Phrygia cities, the same law existed except that the father in Syria appointed both tutor and curator, whereas the Roman father appointed only the tutor. Burton argues plausibly that no such legal distinction is meant by Paul, but that the terms here designate two functions of one person. The point does not disturb Paul’s illustration at all.^[17] In other words, Paul was more interested in understanding his allegory in the spirit of its use here as an example instead of taking every little part of it as being literal and attempting to match it to each part of the illustration he was using.

Richard Longenecker notes that there is a number of commentators who disagree on whether or not the two Greek nouns: epitropos (“tutors” – KJV) and oikonomos (“governors” – KJV) are separate positions or whether they can be used interchangeably. He notes that Greek statesman and orator Demosthenes (BC 384-322) in one of his speeches used these as a “double title” for one man named Nausicrates. It involves a trial where Aristæchmus, one of the guardians of minor sons Nausimachus and Xenopithes, was sued by them after they attained adulthood, for rendering a false account and breach of their father’s trust. In his opening statement to the jury, he talked about the compromise of the guardians, who, after his death took over the management of their property.^[18] Longenecker does not believe that Paul was all that worried about whether or not the terms were understood as a separate or as a double title.^[19]

Tim Hegg presents a table that may help us understand the role of the Law as the Pedagogue in chapter three and the Guardian and Steward of Grace in chapter four. The Law is for a minor child, Grace is for an adult. Even though the benefactor is dead and the legal minor is the owner of the inheritance, it cannot be given to him until he grows up. But once the minor becomes an adult, then everything is given to him.

[1] J. B. Lightfoot: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., pp. 264-264

[2] Cf. Matthew 20:8

[3] Marvin Vincent: On Galatians, Word Studies, op. cit., loc. cit., pp., 132-133

[4] Romans 9:4-5

[5] Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Galatians by G. G. Findlay, op. cit., Ch. 16, p. 244

[6] Romans 4:13

[7] Genesis 1:28; Psalm 8:5–7

[8] 2 Esdras 6:54-56

[9] Exodus 4:24

[10] Matthew 5:5; 1 Corinthians 3:22; Revelation 21:1, 7

[11] 1 Corinthians 15:27; Hebrews 2:8, 9

[12] Ephesians 6:12

[13] 1 Corinthians 2:8

[14] Romans 8:19-22, 38-39

[15] Ephesians 3:9-11

[16] Bacon, B. W: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., pp. 85–86

[17] Archibald Robertson: Word Studies on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., p. 1460

[18] The Orations of Demosthenes: Against Nausimachus, translated by Charles Rann Kennedy, Published by George Bell & Sons, London, 1892, pp. 245-246

[19] Longenecker, Richard N. Galatians, op. cit., Vol. 41 (Word Biblical Commentary) (Kindle Location 10394-10406)

NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson II)

Early church scholar Chrysostom (349-407 AD) sees a spiritual application here. Paul wanted his fellow Jews to understand that the word “child” does not denote age but a level of understanding; meaning that from the beginning God designed these gifts for us, but, because we reasoned as children in our understanding, He taught us through the laws of nature, that is, new moons and Sabbaths, for these days are regulated by the course of sun and moon. If then, we return to become subordinate to the Law again, we go from being grownups to become children again. As a consequence of observing days and months, our Lord and Master, the Sovereign Ruler, our lives are reduced to the rank of being tutored minors.”^[1] Again, we must remind ourselves that Paul’s use of the Law pertained to the Jewish converts in Galatia. However, Chrysostom sees how this can be applied to non-Jews when it comes to the laws of paganism.

One of Chrysostom’s contemporaries, Ambrosiaster, also shares his view on what Paul intends to say here. He notes that many of the laws they enforced in his day appear similar to those Paul speaks of here regarding the age at which a person is still considered a minor and when they reached adulthood.  In fact, we still see those laws on the books in most countries around the world today. As a minor, no child is allowed to exercise their rights and liberties as adults until they come of age, and as such lived under subjection to the authority of their parents. He then tells that by using this example, Paul shows that those who under the law seemed like children and did not enjoy their liberty because they found themselves subject to the law on account of their sin.^[2] In other words, as we say today: they continued to act like children instead of growing up in the Anointed One, where they acted like adults with all the privileges that gave them the ability to walk by faith and not by sight.

Over the years of my pastoral, missionary, and teaching ministry, I found this also to be the case in many churches I pastored or visited, and schools where I taught. I encountered those who, after they became born again, members of God’s family and learned the rules provided by the church for them to live in accordance with church teaching, they never grew past that. They remained children and, from time to time, required correction and discipline as children when they broke the rules. For those of you who’ve raised children, what would you think if after your child became a legal adult, they still lived at home, remained unemployed because they never applied anywhere for employment? You still needed to tell them how to dress, how to act, scolded them when they did wrong, and restricted their movements?

Believe it or not, there are some parents who still want to manage their grown children already out of the house, have a job, are married, and raising their own families. This illustrates the case of the believers in Galatia. Paul is telling them that when he left them, he considered them adults in the Anointed One. Yet, these false teachers came along and convinced them they’re still children and must abide by the rules of the Law they obeyed before they became born again in the Anointed One.

Early church theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 AD) shares his take on the designation of those whom Paul calls servants. He advises us it should be noted that among the Jewish people, some served as servants in the strict sense; those, namely, who observed the Law through fear of punishment and through a desire for the temporal things which the Law promised. But others only conducted themselves like servants but, in reality, stood as sons and heirs. Although outwardly, they lived as law-abiding citizens of Israel, worshiping in the Temple, making offerings and adherents to the Ten Commandments, they did not place their hope in the Law but used these things in a spiritual sense. So, while on the surface, they qualified as Jews inasmuch as they observed the ceremonies and other commandments of the Law, nevertheless, decided to freely live their lives according to the will of God. They saw in these things their spiritual meaning, whereas servants used them chiefly through fear of punishment and with a desire for earthly convenience.^[3]

Reformer John Calvin sees this relationship of a child (denied any inheritance) growing into adulthood (where inheritance is guaranteed upon the death of the giver) in a unique way. Calvin notices that some say that what Paul is saying here applies to a father leaving his estate to his sons who still are minors. They feel that Paul is speaking of two nations: natural Israel and spiritual Israel. What they say is, without a doubt, very true, says Calvin, but does not apply to what Paul writes here in verses one and two. The elect, although they are the children of God from the womb, yet, until by faith, they come into the possession of freedom through the Anointed One remain as slaves under the Law. Consequently, from the time that they came to know the Anointed One as their Lord and Savior, they no longer needed this tutelage of the Law.

Then Calvin says, granting all this that others use to interpret these verses as plausible, he will not accept that Paul sees this as involving individuals, or draws a distinction between the time of unbelief and the calling by faith. The matters in dispute are these: Since God’s congregation is one body, how come then our condition is different from that of the Israelite congregation? Since we are free by faith, how come that they, who shared faith in common with ours, yet are not partakers with us of the same freedom? Since we are all equally the children of God, how come that we are exempt from a yoke which they were forced to carry?

On these points, the controversy turns and not on the manner in which the Law reigns over each of us before we are freed by faith from its slavery. Let this point be first of all settled, that Paul here compares the Israelite congregation, which existed under the First Covenant, with the Christian congregation under the Final Covenant, that we may thereby perceive what points we agree on and where we differ. This comparison furnishes the most abundant and most profitable instruction.^[4] To give some clarity here, in referring to the Israelite congregation he focuses on those who believed and obeyed God before the Law came into existence, such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and after the giving of the Law: Elijah, Elisha, the faithful remnant, Isaiah, Jeremiah, et. al.

For Matthew Poole, the Apostle already determined that the whole body of those who believed in Jesus the Anointed One, where that seed of Abraham to which the promise was made, and so heirs of the promises made to Him; yet so, that, as it is among men, though a child be a great heir and lord of a great estate, yet while they are under age and seen as a servant; so the time of the Law is as it were the time of underaged believers’ lived in that time were used as servants.^[5] In other words, the Jews were still children under the tutelage of the Law when Jesus the Messiah came. But they refused to grow up in Him while the Gentiles, who knew nothing of the Law as their schoolmaster, were accepted into the same fold but as adults, because they now followed the Master Teacher.

Nineteenth-Century Roman Catholic writer George Haydock (1774-1849) gives us his understanding of the church’s interpretation of what Paul is saying here. For him, by using the term “child,” in this instance, the Apostle includes all the Jewish people, who, as long as they stayed children under the Law, remained subject to numerous restrictions, although God chose them as His favorite children. But when the fullness of time came, they received the adoption of children in possession of the liberty of the law of grace.  They no longer felt obliged to observe the legal rites. That’s why the Apostle Paul wishes the conclusion to be drawn that if persons once subject to the Law are now exempt from it, how much more will those excused from its yoke and never under its control be free.^[6] Most reformed scholars do not see the Jews as being part of the adoption process since God already considers them His chosen people. So, it seems that Haydock blurred the line here between the Jews and non-Jews.

German Protestant theologian Heinrich A. W. Meyer (1800-1873), does not believe we should interpret the Greek noun epitropos to mean “guardian” since the father of the child is assumed dead as it says in verse one. A better term would be “overseer” or “governor” without any more specificity. The term, says Meyer, denotes anyone, to whose governorship the child is assigned by the father in the arrangement, which was made as part of the family estate. It relates to the fact that in most households in those days, superior slaves were appointed as managers of the household and property,^[7] on whom the young heirs depended for money and other needs. This lasted until the time appointed by the father to release his heir from this state of dependence.^[8] So it should have been easy for the Galatians to see how this represented the placing of the children of Israel under the management of the Law until the appointed time when they were released to freedom by God through His Son, the Messiah.

Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893) makes a rather informative comment here on verse one that builds on Paul’s example of an heir who must wait until the fullness of time came for their release. He says that when we who once fell under the Law’s authority look back on the period of time when we fell under the tutelage of the legal and ceremonial laws of religion when we labored as servants in our own house when we owned nothing and were yet considered lords of all. Then we compare it with what Jesus said: “A slave does not stay with a family forever. But a son belongs to the family forever.”^[9] In other words, servants are not considered permanent members of the family; they come and go. But Jesus is not finished, He goes on to say: “But if the Son makes you free, you are really free.^{[10] [11]} It’s obvious that Paul is trying to tell these misguided Galatians that it seems senseless than that those chosen as sons and daughters in the family of God, now want to go back to being servants.

To those of us in the Final Covenant era who live in the freedom of God’s grace by faith, taking what Paul is saying here about the Jews being minor children of God under the Law, who can only become heirs when they accept Jesus the Anointed One, it is hard to apply this to our situation today. The one concept that does bear consideration is when a Christian who is still being tutored by the laws of the church they belong to, instead of God’s Word, can be considered as a minor. The Apostle Peter spells this out clearly when he says: but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Anointed One.[12] And the Apostle Paul states: For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.[13]

[1]Chrysostom, Homilies on Galatians, loc. cit.

[2]Ambrosiaster: Commentary on Galatians, loc. cit., p. 21

[3] Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Galatians, loc. cit.

[4] John Calvin: Commentary on Galatians, loc. cit., p. 95

[5] Matthew Poole: On Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit.

[6] George Haydock: Catholic Bible Commentary, loc. cit.

[7] See Luke 16:1

[8] Heinrich A. W. Meyer: Critical and Exegetical Hand-Book, op. cit. loc. cit., p. 166

[9] John 8:35 – Easy-to-Read Version

[10] Ibid. 8:36

[11] Benjamin Jowett: Commentary on Galatians, op. cit., loc. cit., p. 335

[12] 2 Peter 3:18

[13] Colossians 1:9-10

NEW TESTAMENT CRITICAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIAN CHURCHES

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson I)

4:1-2 Look at it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance to a child who is a minor, that child is in no better position to receive that inheritance than one of the servants. They too, must obey those appointed as guardians and caretakers until they reach whatever age their father designated.

 We see what Paul says here illustrated by Abraham, who had a long-serving servant named Eliezer.^[1] He took care of all that Abraham owned. Abraham made a vow to go back to Ur of the Chaldees where he once lived, and find a wife for Isaac. It became important that Isaac gets married and starts a family so that all the promises of God are passed on to his grandchildren. But the main point is that as long as Isaac remained single, he must obey his father’s wishes, as a son, just like Eliezer did as a servant.

From time to time, Paul speaks of what he feels is a well-known concept or standard of ethics among the Jews so that they need no further explanation. We find this same appointment as a tutor or overseer that occurred when they sold Joseph into Egypt. In one Hebrew paraphrase of Genesis, we read: “And it was from the time he [Potiphar] appointed him [Joseph] superintendent over his house, and over all that he possessed, the Lord prospered the house of the Mizraite [Egyptian] for the sake of the righteousness of Joseph.”^[2] And in the story of Esther, another Hebrew paraphrase tells how King Xenophon told his stewards to do as they pleased when it came to allowing the feast participants to drink as much as they desired in order to enhance their pleasure of being there.^[3] So we see that this position of manager, caretaker, superintendent, overseer, steward, etc., played a significant role in Jewish life.

This continued on up until the time of Paul, as we can see from the writings in the Babylonian Talmud, where we read an explanation of how the inheritance of an estate is handled. Rabbi Huna says that if a father dies while the son is still a minor, no next of kin is permitted to usurp authority over the estate. That’s because a minor cannot go to court and protest such an unwanted takeover of his inheritance. However, if a father is incapacitated and a next of kin is given full control of the estate, and that control continues uninterrupted for three years, then the next of kin may claim the estate as his own, and the minor cannot appeal that decision. But a senior Rabbi disputes Rabbi Huna’s dictum that any claim by a next of kin inheriting the estate based on being in charge for three years is faulty. This all goes to show that what Paul is talking about involved an established part of the Jewish manners and customs. So, the Jewish believers in Galatia knew exactly what Paul meant.^[4]

This concept of inherited acquisition examined by the renown Rebbie Moses Maimonides caused him to write that if a person dies and leaves behind a son who is a minor, the court must appoint a guardian to oversee the estate until the son becomes an adult.^[5] Before his death, if the dying person ordered: “Give the minor’s portion of my estate to the guardian. Let him do whatever he wants to do with it. Any license to deal with his estate in this manner belongs to him. The court is forbidden to appoint a woman, a servant, a minor, or an unlearned person who is suspect to violate the Torah’s prohibitions’ as a guardian. Instead, they should seek out a faithful and courageous person who knows how to advance the claims of the orphans and bring arguments on their behalf, one who is capable with regard to worldly matters to protect their property and secure a profit for them. Such a person is appointed a guardian over the minor whether or not he is related to them. If he is a relative, however, he should not take control of the property.^[6]

 Now that we’ve gained more clarity on why Paul employed this illustration; we may better comprehend how Paul applied this to the Law, and the Children of Israel made heirs of the Promised Land. But for Paul, the real inheritance involved the promises of Abraham now given through Jesus the Messiah. And until the Jews (still considered minors) finally accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, the Law served as a guardian until they grew up and became eligible to became joint-heirs with their Gentile brothers and sisters.

In 100 AD we read that the rebellious spirit of the Jewish Maccabæeans never burned more furiously than after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which kindled the inferno that broke out during the Bar-Kochba revolt that blazed between the Jews and Romans in the insurrection during the reign of Roman emperor Trajan (98-117 AD) and continued under Roman Emperor Hadrian (177-138 AD). Rumors went around that the Jewish Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, and elsewhere proved unable to liberate themselves from their national spirit, and accordingly, the old Judaizing, which St. Paul cursed and refuted, asserted itself again. In his epistle Barnabas says, this should be accepted as credible and taken seriously. He backs this up by pointing out that it is being accepted by the older faithful in the church. This should help us better understand why the converted Jews in Galatia seemed so easy to persuade in going back to their old ways under the Law.

The writer of this introduction to the Epistle by Barnabas in question goes on to say that it serves as an impressive specimen of their conflicts with a persistent Judaism which the Apostle Paul defeated and rejected to damnation, but which always seemed to be cropping up among Jewish believers in the church. Their own habits of interpreting Scripture as symbolic rather than literal, and their Oriental tastes, must be kept in mind if we find ourselves being disgusted by Barnabas’ fancies and refinements. Paul himself pays a practical tribute to Jewish modes of thought in his Epistle to the Galatians.^[7] This is the ad hominem form of rhetoric familiar to all Greek trained speakers, which made the Apostle Paul a target for slander by his enemies.^[8] accusing him of being “crafty” and confronting people with his cunningness. It is interesting, he says, to note the more Occidental spirit of Cyprian Bishop of Carthage (200-258 AD), as compared with Barnabas, when he also contends with Judaism. Doubtless, we have in this wannabe Barnabas, Paul’s friend, something of œconomy^[9] which is always capable of abuse, and which soon leaped over the bounds of moral limitations.^[10]

Origen (185-230 AD) gives his thoughts on this idea of a tutor by saying that every soul that reaches the stage of childhood on their way to full growth, needs a tutor and stewards and guardians, in order that, after all, is said and done, those once considered nothing more than bond-servants to the Law, once freed from a tutor and stewards and guardians, became master of their endowment, much like finding the pearl of great price,^[11] is rewarded because instead of holding on to something which only granted them this inheritance in part – the Law, they may now receive – by Grace, in full through the excellency of the knowledge of The Anointed One,^[12]

John Calvin believes that these two verses actually belong at the end of chapter three because it serves as the conclusion to that part of Paul’s presentation. Therefore, we can say that Brother Paul sees an opportunity to expand on the illustration he used in Galatians 3:24-25 to teach the Galatians how their status under Mosaic Law changed when the Anointed One came into the world to fulfill and complete the promise made by God to Abraham. For those of us in this modern world some of Paul’s wording may not strike a bell, because plantation slavery is no longer part of our society, praise the LORD, and even the role of household servants, common in the 1800s and 1900s in our country is no longer widespread.  However, since many of you are acquainted with it through reading and even watching films, it does not lose its impact.

I like the way one British commentator illustrates this section of Paul’s controversy with the Jews in Galatia. He tells how several nineteenth-century novelists faced the problem of their heroes and heroines getting into financial and family problems without any obvious solution. A preferred way out of the puzzle is to resolve matters by having someone previously unmentioned die and leave one of the characters a large inheritance. Near the end of the novel, a message arrives to say that a long-forgotten uncle or cousin, perhaps on the other side of the world, died and left them a fortune. Suddenly everything is resolved. We can breathe again. New hope is born, problems are forgotten, and everyone celebrates.^[13] The Apostle Paul needs no such fictional rescue by an unknown benefactor. Rather, he points out that this accompanied God’s plan all along.

Paul expounds on the status of the Jews and Gentiles under Mosaic Law. The Jews, who Paul refers to as “children,” and the Gentiles whom he identifies as “slaves,” continued in the same position when it came to Mosaic Law. The mortal descendants of Abraham, who spent their time trying to keep all the religious rituals and regulations issued through Moses, remained ineligible to inherit the promise God made to Abraham. They, too, are subject to God’s timetable of when the last will and testament will be put into effect. An heir may have a right to it, but is not yet in possession of it; therefore, the heir cannot demand or take control of what the will contains until the appointed time.

So, while the heir is growing up, the head of the household entrusts oversight to others and depends on them to carry out the instructions given concerning eligibility to the will. The NIV calls them “guardians, and “trustees.” In relationship to God’s estate, we might view these as the Law given by God to Moses and be carried out by the priesthood of Aaron. The guardians took charge of the child, and the trustees became responsible for the property. Paul wanted the Jewish Galatian believers to realize that they continued in the position of being under-aged children of God until Jesus came to elevate them to the status of qualified heirs. So why did they want to give up their sonship through the Anointed One, and go back to being unqualified children under guardians?  One wonderful thing about this new covenant proved to be that the non-Jewish slaves received an equal opportunity to become children of God through the Anointed One.

[1] Genesis 15:2

[2] Targum of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzzel on the Pentateuch, Translated by J. W. Etheridge, 1862, Genesis 39:4 – The newest Complete Jewish Bible translates the Hebrew abstract noun paqad as “manager.”

[3] An Explanatory Commentary on Esther by Paulus Cassel, translated by Aaron Bernstein, T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1888, Genesis 1:8, p. 24

[4] Babylonian Talmud, Seder Nezikin, Masekhet Baba Mezi’s, folios 39a-b

[5] The Jewish Mishnah specifies that two guardians are to be appointed, perhaps, for one to watch the other so that nothing illegal is done. See Mo’ed, Pesachim, chapter 8, section 1

[6] Moses Maimonides. Mishneh Torah, Sefer Mishpatim, Nachalot, chapter 10, sections 5-6. See also chapter 11.

[7] Galatians 4:24

[8] 2 Corinthians 12:16

[9] This spelling of “œconomy” in ancient documents translated into English basically means “the rules for managing shared space.”

[10] The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, Eds. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson, Introductory Note to the Epistle of Barnabas, written by an Alexandrian Jew named Barnabas, pp. 249-250

[11] Matthew 13:45-46

[12] Origen, Commentary on Matthew, Book 10, Section 9

[13] Wright, Nicholas T., Paul for Everyone: Commentary on Galatians, loc. cit.

While everyone is remembering what happened in 2019, there are some who already believe they know what will happen in 2020. For instance.

Justin Wallin CEO of Real Clear Politics says that:

Quality of life issues, especially homelessness, will rise to the forefront in 2020.

San Francisco’s streets become Trump’s 2020 rallying cry.

Democrats lose congressional seats, even in California.

A serious independent third-party candidate enters the presidential race.

You can agree or disagree with what is predicted. But one thing is for sure, by the end of 2020, we will see if they were right or wrong.

Brian Heater predicts that in 2020:

Homes connected to home technology will become Smart Homes with everything from the front door lock to the refrigerator, air conditioning, etc., will be remotely controlled by the homeowner.

Foldable cell phones will be available.

New high-tech TV screens will have weird TV form factors.

Sleep technology will assist people in sleeping longer.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems will give rise to more and more autonomous driving.

 And Innovation on NBC News offers 12 reasons 2020 will be an awesome year:

1. Japan will build a robotic moon base.
2. China will connect Beijing to London via high-speed rail
3. Self-driving cars will be the norm.
4. Biofuels will be cost-competitive with fossil fuels.
5. More and more “flying cars” will be seen in the air.
6. We will control devices via microchips implanted in our brains.
7. New TV screens will be paper-thin and placed on the wall like a piece of cellophane.
8. Commercial space will take us to the moon and asteroids so we can begin mining them.
9. A $1,000 computer will have the processing power of the human brain.
10. Universal translation will be commonplace in mobile devices.
11. We will finally see some decent AR eyeglasses including GPS.
12. A Synthetic brain will be created that functions like the real thing.

But here’s the one from Carey Nieuwhof that should get your attention. What is predicted concerning the Church and Christianity in 2020:

The potential to gain membership is still greater than the potential to lose.

Churches that love their traditional model more than their mission will die.

Christian gatherings are here to stay.

Consumer Christianity that promotes what you can get from God will die and more selfless discipleship of what can I bring to God will emerge.

Sundays will become more about what we give than what we get.

Attendance will no longer drive engaging in ministry; engaging in ministry will drive attendance.

Simplified ministries, not complex ministries, will complement people’s lives, not compete with people’s time and attention.

The online church will supplement the journey in cases of sickness, distance, etc., but not become the Journey itself.

The online church will become more of a front door to welcome people into real, live fellowship rather than a back door used to bypass actual attendance.

Gatherings will be smaller as neighborhood groups continue to expand which will then produce larger attendance when they all get together.

 But the real question is: What do you see? What do you expect? What would you like to see? What would transform you into a more productive Christian? I know who has all the answers to these questions. It’s YOU> – Dr. Robert R Seyda

HOW ONE PICTURE PAINTED A THOUSAND WORDS

Years ago, a hardworking businessman finally retired and wanted to take up full-time his life-long dream of being an artist. But the years of heavy labor and arthritis had so crippled his hands and fingers he was unable to pursue his dream. Therefore, he decided to have a contest for up and coming artists and guarantee the winner his full financial support to paint the masterpieces he could now only dream of.

So he rented a large auditorium and sent out invitations to all aspiring artists in the country to enter the competition. He announced a common theme for all artists to try and interpret in their painting, and that was, “Peace.” On the day of judging, along with several well-known art curators, he began walking down between the many rows of canvasses to see who portrayed “Peace” the best.

At one point, he stopped at the easel of a young lady to study her work. It depicted a scene high up in the Alps with untouched snow filling the valley, and a small cloud seemingly snared by the apex of the highest peak; as the sun shining through the pure air glistened off the undisturbed mountain landscape. With a smile on his face, he asked the young lady, “What do you call this painting?”  “Peace on the Mountain,” she replied.

He walked on and after a while came to a portrait done by a young man. As his eyes examined the canvass, he saw a beautiful vale with knee-high grass, blossoming flowers, and trees full of fruit; several deer were drinking from a slow-moving brook flowing through the lush meadow.  In the background sat a beautiful vine-covered cottage with a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney.  “My, my, what do you call this piece?” he asked the young man.  “I call it, ‘Peace in the Valley,’” replied the young fellow with a gleam in his eyes.

As he finally approached the end of the last row in the exhibition, he spotted a watercolor created by an older artist that immediately caught his startled eye. He walked over to get a closer look at the canvass just to make sure of what he was seeing. There was a portrait of a wild rushing river white with foam, roaring through a mountain gorge carrying everything in its way. The sky was pitch dark and flashes of lightning emitted from the clouds with brilliant bursts, as rain pelted down with horrendous fury pounding everything it hit with ferocity.

The philanthropist was taken aback, and looking at the artist exclaimed with a frown, “The theme was ‘Peace,’ I don’t see any peace here!” The artist asked the gentleman to get nearer so he could see a scene portrayed up on the side of a sheer cliff. There he saw a limb sticking out underneath an overhang holding a nest on which a small bird sat chirping away as she calmly covered her eggs. “What in the world do you call this” the philanthropist exclaimed! The artist smiled and said softly, “Sir, I call it ‘Peace in the Time of Storm.’”

The peace of the world is to sign a truce between enemies who agree to stop shooting at one another. In other cases, it is separating warring parties to the degree they cannot reach one another with their blows. And in other cases, it is the silence that falls on a room after the arguing and name-calling have ceased. But the peace portrayed by this painting is the kind of peace that only Jesus can give. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW YEAR’S ALERT

This is a sweet reminder that on Monday, January 6. 2020 we will resume our study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians by examining Chapter 4. In its verses, we see what happens the moment a person receives Jesus into their hearts. You think about it, you don’t really know what changed but you can feel it. You’re not aware of what it all means, you just know that in desperation you cried out to God and there was an immediate change in your heart. But sometimes it takes a while for us to fathom what actually took place the moment we received the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior. How awesome it is to know that we learned in chapter three that at the very moment of receiving Him, we became a child of God through faith.

At that same moment when we receive Him into our hearts, we are spiritually baptized into union with the Anointed One. We are totally immersed into His power, His passion, His presence, everything about Him. He is in us; we are in Him. We are immediately clothed with the garment of His righteousness. That’s an amazing thing. If you didn’t know it from Scripture you would not perhaps understand that. Paul says in chapter three that those who are baptized into the Anointed One have been clothed with the Anointed One. This is what Peter tells us in his epistle. He says we have been given everything for life and for godliness. It’s all in the Anointed One. And it was all received the moment that we were saved.

Now in chapter four, Paul wants to illustrate the spiritual immaturity of people like the Galatians who go back up under the old performance mentality of religion, when they would rather live by a set of rules than they would walk in the relationship they could have with the Father. And it’s a beautiful thing he does here. You see, by going back under the law the Galatians not only did a stupid thing; remember the word “foolish” in the early part of chapter three, it is an interesting word. Foolish things are done when you don’t know any better; stupid things are done when you know better and you do it anyway.

And the Galatians did a stupid thing. Not only did they do a stupid thing by going back up under religion, they did an intensely immature thing. You see, we don’t think about it that way. We think religion is maturity. Oh, no! It’s gross! Immaturity is what it is, and Paul’s going to show us that right here. Think about this as you walk through this life, as you choose to do things your way, how immature and childish you may have become. When we can walk as the adult children of God when we can live in maturity if we will just simply learn to relate to Him and walk by faith. This is your contrast. This is what Paul is trying to show us.

So I hope you will join me as we walk slowing through chapter four slowly but methodically to discover any and all other jewels and gems of spiritual insight from this chapter. I praise God over your commitment to know more about Him as you learn more about His Word. You are a treasure to God and a valuable part of the body of the Anointed One.

See you on Monday!!!

Dr. Robert R Seyda

Here are ten New Year’s Resolutions to consider for 2020.

1. Exercise more by getting up and changing the channel on TV instead of using the remote, and drinking more water and coffee and going to the upstairs bathroom instead of the one on the ground floor.

2. Lose more weight by fasting between meals and while sleeping.

3. Become more organized with time management as soon as you can spare the time to do it.

4. Learn a new skill or hobby that does not require getting too involved or takes you away from your favorite Soap Operas on TV.

5. Live life to the fullest by making sure you don’t leave anything on your plate, and getting rid of potato chips and tortilla chips before they get two days old.

6. Save more money by spending less money on ways to save more money. Remember, money is like time, once you spend it you can’t get it back so make sure you buy everything on sale before it goes back up again.

7. Quit some of your harmful habits like walking with your mouth open, eating while talking on the phone, falling asleep while watching so much television, and picking your nose while sitting in church.

8. Spend more time with family and friends by promising them to do so. Besides, the Council on Time Management has approved texting as a substitute for talking face to face.

9. Travel more like shopping three times a week instead of one, parking your car at the end of the driveway, instead of in the garage, and taking the escalator or elevator so you don’t waste so much time on the stairs.

10. Read more by surfing the web and looking for coupons in newspapers and magazines. And there are apps for your phone where you can listen to the Bible being read to you instead of hunting for hours trying to find the right book, chapter, and verse.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

YOU MUST HAVE GREAT FAITH TO BE AN EVOLUTIONIST –

For those still enthralled and mesmerized by the fairy tale named Evolution, here is something to offer them for contemplation.  David Limbaugh in his book Jesus on Trial, states that new scientific advancements have lent additional credibility to intelligent design theory.  Take human DNA for instance.  Professor Walter Bradley, Ph.D., at the University of Texas at Austin, and Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Baylor University suggests that the discovery of DNA is perhaps the most impressive scientific achievement of the 20^th century.

DNA is a tiny molecule that contains genetic codes with instructions for building and replicating all life forms.  Says, Dr. Bradley, “That such a remarkable information storage system exits, and that the DNA molecules have somehow come to be encoded with the precise information needed to sustain life is the climax to an amazing testimony from the science of God’s providential care of us in His creation.”

Imaginary evolution theory is like walking into a large auto parts store with hundreds of thousands of individual parts made up of thousands of thousands of smaller parts, and believe that over enough time and with enough earthquakes they could all somehow be thrown on the floor to accidentally form a smooth-running automobile.  Intelligent design simply says it takes someone with the knowledge to put those parts together in the right order in order for that car to exist and operate.  Bradley notes that for the origin of the cytochrome-C molecule to have accidentally acquired the required sequencing of the various amino acids has a probability of just one in ten.⁶⁰

Stuart Burgess, a reader in engineering design at Bristol University, England, in his book, Hallmarks of Design: Evidence of Purposeful Design and Beauty in Nature, notes that DNA contains information in a long sequence of four different chemicals “letters” that produces information somewhat analogous to Morse Code.  The characteristics of living organisms, such as eye color, are specified by information in this code contained in the DNA.  The code has also been compared to a complete set of engineering drawings with a copy found in the nucleus of every cell in the body.  Adult humans have trillions of cells and thus trillions of copies of the genetic code in their bodies.

Dr. Norman L. Geisler, Ph.D., and Dr. Frank Turek in their work “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist,” say that “The incredible specified complexity of life becomes obvious when one considers the message found in the DNA of a one-celled amoeba.  They note that even world-renown British ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author, Richard Dawkins admits, “that the message found in just the cell nucleus of a tiny amoeba is more than all thirty volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica combined, and the entire amoeba has as much information in its DNA as 1,000 complete sets of an encyclopedia.”  And these “encyclopedias” are not composed of “random letters but of letters in a very specific order-just like real encyclopedias.

The most frightening thing to an unrepentant evolutionist is that more and more is being discovered to repute their shaky theory, while more and more is being uncovered to support the divine design of the universe. And the two things that evolution cannot explain is what did God mean when He said, “Let us make man in our image,” and how Jesus was born of a woman through the fertilization of the Holy without going through the evolutionary process. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

Here’s the latest news out of Washington, D.C., that you won’t read anywhere else. In a news conference at an undisclosed location, four House Representatives were asked questions about their vote to impeach the sitting president. Their main goal was to charge him with high crimes and misdemeanors and then go look for evidence to convict him. They did not want their true identities to be revealed, so we gave them aliases so they would talk.

Representative Everybody was behind this effort, and so Representative Anybody was given the opportunity to say what they suspected or thought happened. Representative Somebody even claimed to have overheard incriminating evidence on a phone call, even they were not present when the call was made. But Representative Nobody was willing to stop making the charges even though no evidence of a crime could be found. There was an important job to be done and Representative Everybody was waiting for Representative Somebody to do it because Representative Everybody was too confused to do it.

They all agreed that Representative Anybody could have done it, but Representative Nobody actually tried to do it. Then, Representative Somebody got angry that no evidence could be found because that was really Representative Everybody’s mission to find it. However, Representative Everybody thought that Representative Anybody should have done it, but Representative Nobody realized that was because Representative Everybody couldn’t get it done.

Consequently, it ended up that Representative Nobody told Representative Anybody there was no “there,” there, so Representative Everybody blamed Representative Somebody for messing up the whole affair. Now, they don’t know what to do with the nothing they have. So, Representative Everybody is waiting for Representative Somebody to come up with a plan. – Dr. Robert R Seyda, Inspired by an article in The American Legion Magazine.

Here are ten New Year’s Resolutions to consider for 2020.

1. Exercise more by getting up and changing the channel on TV instead of using the remote, and drinking more water and coffee and going to the upstairs bathroom instead of the one on the ground floor.

2. Lose more weight by fasting between meals and while sleeping.

3. Become more organized with time management as soon as you can find time to do it.

4. Learn a new skill or hobby that does not require getting too involved or takes you away from your favorite Soap Operas on TV.

5. Live life to the fullest by making sure you don’t leave anything on your plate, and getting rid of potato chips and tortilla chips before they get two days old.

6. Save more money by spending less money on ways to save more money. Remember, money is like time, once you spend it you can’t get it back so make sure you buy everything on sale before it goes back up again.

7. Quit some of your harmful habits like walking with your mouth open, eating while talking on the phone, falling asleep while watching so much television, and picking your nose while sitting in church.

8. Spend more time with family and friends by promising them to do so. Besides, the Council on Time Management has approved texting as a substitute for talking face to face.

9. Travel more like shopping three times a week instead of one, parking your car at the end of the driveway, instead of in the garage, and taking the escalator or elevator so you don’t waste so much time on the stairs.

10. Read more by surfing the web and looking for coupons in newspapers and magazines. And there are apps for your phone where you can listen to the Bible being read to you instead of hunting for hours trying to find the right book, chapter, and verse.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!