My home group leader pointed out today that in Galatians 4 when Paul is explaining how the Jews were sons of the slave woman (Hagar's son Ishmael) instead of the chosen sons of Abraham (Sarah's son Isaac), that actually he was saying to the Jews that they were Arabs. That was surely explosive then, and it is probably even more explosive now.
Also explains why Paul says that "Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia", a seemingly superfluous addition otherwise.
Wow. Going to be studying Galatians this term, and I'm pretty sure that this rabbit hole goes a lot deeper than I thought it did. It's all got to do with "the ages" (aionia, translated "world" in Eph 2). Compare "as a plan for the fullness of time" in Ephesians with "when the fullness of time had come" in Galatians. there is no longer Jew/Gentile/slave/free... but now all are Sons in Christ Jesus. (Crikey, I've just realised that slave/free is probably about redemptive history not human rights).
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think the NT is saying that since Messiah died for both Jew & Gentile alike and killed the hostility, there literally is no such thing any more as Jew/Gentile. Both of those are dead categories, not spiritual/life categories, so if you're trying to be either a Jew or a Gentile, you're following the course of the elementary principles of the present/passing age, and are captive to hollow and deceptive ways
- ie presumably, you may as well be back in Arabia...in other words, that's a temporal reference ("we've moved on, dont go back!") more than geographical ("we've moved away, dont go back").
What do you make of Tom Wright on this passage? He compares Paul with Elijah in 1 Kings 18-19.
http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Paul_Arabia_Elijah.pdf
Should've linked it properly. Here you go: NT Wright, 'Paul, Arabia & Elijah'
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
ReplyDeleteRe Wright. Its an ok essay. I've read it before and just read it again. I like the connexion with Elijah. I'd also want to draw connexions with Moses as well. I think he would benefit more from thinking more about revelation and meeting Christ at Sinai, than zealots and commissions. I don't really disagree with it, just don't think its as good as it could be.
Basically agree with you too. Challenge with studying Galatians seems to me is to broaden the application for people. As we've been going through it as a home group we come again and again to the question of how we fall back into slavery and works. I've realised how important it is to see through the religious works (keeping up appearances at church, keeping traditions, etc), through even the redemptive history, to how humanity relates to God either through the promised seed or in unbelief. Only then do we feel the full weight of it.
Redemptive history is fundamental to understanding Galatians, but we do have to ask why did God set up redemptive history this way, not just observe that he did. Of course a lot of people have problems getting to the redemptive history part, nevermind through it.
Which is not to say that we leave redemptive history behind once we see the dynamics driving it. The story is not left behind once we get to the systematics or anything horrible like that.
... do you see what I'm trying to say? I don't think I'm being clear. But those are the challenges that I am trying to grapple with as I deal with Galatians these days.
"through even the redemptive history, to how humanity relates to God either through the promised seed or in unbelief...we have to ask why did God set up redemptive history this way, not just observe that he did"
ReplyDelete- thanks dave, thats really heplful
Glad some of what I said made sense.
ReplyDeleteYou're always both challenging and encouraging. A rare combination but I'm very thankful.