Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: GALATIANS #5 - 4:12-31)
H. 4:12-20 A PERSONAL APPEAL TO RETURN TO FAITH IN CHRIST
a. 4:12a I beseech you brethren, become as I; for I also amas you.
GInes-the hos eGO, HOti ka' 'GOhos huMEIS, a-delPHOI, DEo-mai [1189]huMON.
b. 4:12b-14 REMINDER: THEY RECEIVED HIS TEACHING PREVIOUSLY!
ouDEN me e-diKEsa-te [91]: OIda-te de HOti di' asTHEnei-an[769]tes sarKOS[4561]
You did me no wrong: 13but you know that because of infirmity of the flesh
eu-eg-ge-liSAmen[2097]huMIN to PROte-ron:
I preached thegospel to you the former time:
kai ton pei-rasMON huMON en tesarKI mou ouk e-xou-theNEsa-te [1848], ouDE e-xepTUsa-te [1609];
14and the temptation to you in my :flesh you despised not, nor rejected;
alLA hos AGge-lon TheOU eDExasTHE me, hos ChrisTON IeSOUN.
but you received me as God's angel, as Christ Jesus.
c. 4:15 THE SPIRIT IN WHICH PAUL'S TEACHING PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED
pou oun ho ma-ka-risMOS [3107]huMON? mar-tuRO[3140]gar huMIN, HOti, ei du-naTON,
Where then is your :congratulation? for I bearyou witness, that, if possible,
tous oph-thalMOUS huMON e-xoRUxan-tes [1846]eDOkaTE [1325]moi.
you would have plucked out your :eyes andgiven themto me.
d. 4:16 So then am I become your enemy, by telling you truth?
HOstee echTHROS [2190]huMON GEgo-na, a-leTHEUon [226]huMIN?
e. 4:17 PURPOSE OF JUDAIZERS: WIN PAUL'S CONVERTS FROM HIM
zeLOUsin [2206] huMAS ou kaLOS;
They are zealous for you in no good way;
alLA ekKLEIsai [1576] huMAS THElou-sin, HIna auTOUS zeLOUte [2206].
but desire to shut you out, that you be zealous for them.
f. 4:18 PAUL'S DESIRE FOR THEM: ONLY GOOD
kaLON de zeLOUSthai en kaLO PANto-te,
But it is good to be zealously sought in a good matter always,
kai me MOnon en to paREI-NAI [3918] me pros huMAS.
and not only when I am present with you.
g. 4:19-20 PAUL'S REACTION: BIRTH PANGS AGAIN FOR CHRIST'S FULLNESS
TEKna [5040] mou, hous PAlin oDIno [5605]
My little children, of whom I am again in travail
MEchris mou mor-phoTHE [3445] ChrisTOS en huMIN - Ethe-lon de paREInai [3918] pros huMAS ARti,
until Christ be formed in you - 20but I could wish to be present with you now,
kai alLAxai [236]ten phoNEN [5456]mou; HOti a-poROUmai [639]en huMIN.
and to change my :voice; for I am perplexed about you.
I. 4:21-31 ALLEGORICAL APPEAL: LAW AND FAITH CANNOT CO-EXIST!
a. 4:21 Tell me, you that desire to be under law, do you not hear the law?
LEgeTE moi, hoi huPO NOmon [3551] THElon-tes EInai, ton NOmon ouk aKOUete?
b. 4:22 ABRAHAM'S TWO SONS
GEgrap-tai gar, HOti A-braAM DUo huiOUS ESchen,
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons,
HEna ek tes paiDIskes [3814], kai HEna ek tes e-leuTHEras [1658].
one by the maid, and one by the freewoman.
c. 4:23 But he of the maid is born after theflesh; and he of the freewoman, through promise.
all' ho men ek tes paiDIskes kaTA SARka geGENne-tai; ho de ek tes e-leuTHEras [1658], di' e-pag-geLIas.
d. 4:24 ALLEGORY OF TWO COVENANTS
HAtiNA es-tin al-le-goROUme-na [238]:
Which thingscontain an allegory:
HAUtai GAR ei-sin DUo di-aTHEkai [1242]: MIa men aPO Orous SiNA,
for these are two covenants: the one from mount Sinai,
eis douLEIan [1397]genNOsa, HEtis esTIN HAgar.
bearing unto bondage, which is Hagar.
e. 4:25 HAGAR AND EARTHLY JERUSALEM: MOTHERS OF BONDAGE
to de, HAgar, SiNA Oros esTIN teA-raBIa, sun-stoiCHEI [4960]de te nun Ie-rou-saLEM:
Now this, Hagar, is mount Sinaiin :Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem thatnow is:
douLEUei [1398]gar meTA ton TEKnon auTES.
for she is in bondage with her :children.
f. 4:26-27 HEAVENLY JERUSALEM ALONE BEARS SPIRITUAL CHILDREN
hede Ano Ie-rou-saLEM e-leuTHEra [1658]EStin, HEtis esTIN MEter [3384]heMON,
But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother,
27For it is written, GEgrap-tai gar,
EuPHRANthe-ti [2165], STEIra [4723]heou TIKtou-sa [5088]; 'RExon [4486]kai BOe-son [994], heouk oDInou-sa:
Rejoice, you barren that does not bear; Break forth and cry, youthat do not travail:
HOti polLA ta TEKna tes eREmou [2048]MALlon etes eCHOUses ton ANdra.
For more are the children of the desolate than of her that has the husband.
g. 4:28 27 Now we, brethren, are as Isaac children of promise.
heMEIS de, a-delPHOI, kaTA I-saAK e-pag-geLIas TEKna esMEN.
h. 4:29 But just as then who was born after theflesh persecuted the one after theSpirit, so also now.
all' HOSper TOte ho kaTA SARka gen-neTHEIS eDIo-ke ton kaTA PNEUma, HOUtos kai nun.
i. 4:30a But what says the scripture? alLA ti LEgei he graPHE?
j. 4:30b CAST OUT BONDWOMAN AND SON FROM INHERITANCE
EKba-le [1544]ten paiDIsken [3814]kai ton huiON auTES: ou gar mekle-ro-noMEsei [2818]
Cast out the maid and her :son: for the son of the maid
ho huiOS tes paiDISkes meTA tou huiOU tes e-leuTHEras [1668].
shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman.
k. 4:31 Wherefore, brethren, we are not a maid's children, but the freewoman's.
di' HO, a-delPHOI, ouk esMEN paiDIskes [3814]TEKna [5043], alLA tes e-leuTHEras [1658].
NOTE:In 2005 my wife Marie and I attended a 2 week conference on Mount Carmel, Israel. Out of the 4 times we've been to Israel, this in our estimation was the most fruitful and challenging. One of the teachers laid a foundation for understanding the present tension in the Middle East between Isaac and Ishmael, between the Jews and Arabs. It all goes back to the problem Abraham created by listening to his wife. God told Abraham that his heir would come through Sarah. He waited 13 years, and by that time both Sarah and he were past the age of child-bearing. It would take a triple miracle to fulfill God's promise to Abraham: barrenness reversed for both him and his wife, and a boy - not a girl. (It is interesting to note that there are but 8 people in the Bible named prior to birth. Ishmael was the first; Isaac the second; John the Baptist and Jesus the 7thand 8th.)
Sarah gave up in the interval, and invited her husband to take her Egyptian maid Hagar to fulfill the promise. But God said, “No, not Ishmael through Hagar, but Isaac through Sarah.” Ishmael started persecuting his brother Isaac when the latter was weaned at 2. Sarah responded by telling Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael, which he reluctantly did, for he loved Ishmael, his firstborn.
The persecution that commenced way back then (4000 years ago), continues yet today between the descendants: Israel and the Muslims.
But Paul then takes this account and makes it into an allegory, to set forth the enmity between the worldly people, and those born of the Spirit into God's Kingdom. Just as the non-believer in Jesus' day hated Him and persecuted Him, so all those of us in Christ, who have been born of the New Jerusalem above, suffer persecution. The Judaizers are represented by Hagar and Ishmael. The “One New Man” - Jew and Gentile born into God's Kingdom through Jesus - are persecuted by those on the other side. Paul's letter to the Galatians opens up many vistas, not just one.
But in 4:12-20, Paul is showing the danger Gentile believers were facing in his day because of the Judaizers. Those becoming first interested in their position, were now beginning to turn on Paul - the one God used to bring them initially into His Kingdom. And let us remember, the Gospel, the Good News, is the “Good News of the Kingdom of God” from Heaven! Some 100 times “the Kingdom” is mentioned in the NT, and always as “Good News”. It is “Good News” to confess with your mouth Jesus as your Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, following His great act of working out perfect redemption for us through His blood.
Is this “Good News” to Modernistic and unbelieving preachers? They hateit; and they likewise hate those of us who embrace it.
So - our Bible recounts a battlefield between God and Satan; believer and unbeliever; those in the Kingdom of God, and those yet in the world.
Look at the nation of America - the US today. We too are in a battlefield. Many want to take from us the foundations in God laid by our Founding Fathers! Islam would like to replace Christianity as the world's religion. If we cannot see this conflict, it is most likely that we are not yet in God's Kingdom - have not been born from above; have not confessed and made Jesus as Lord!
What an opportunity through this letter to the Galatians and reading, to rectify such a situation, and chooseto go God's way according to the Bible, not some esoteric false road. There isa way that seems right unto a man (New Age, bloodless cults, man-concocted religions) - but the endof them is death! I know. For 20 years I lived in such a church, never hearing the Gospel of God's Kingdom till God took hold of my life in answer to the prayers of others, and into a situation where He could reveal Himself to me through His Son, Jesus Christ! - J.A.W.