|
||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
Commentary on "From Slaves to Heirs"
Day 6: Thursday, November 17, 2011 - Why Turn Back to Slavery?
Overview
Properly understood, Gal 4:8-20 is part of a continuing discussion about the nature or role of the law relative to a New Covenant believer. Paul has not suddenly changed topics, instead he is patiently continuing with the very same subject. Look ahead to verse 21 and it is clear that the subject is still the law. Resist the temptation (and the directions of the SS lesson) to treat Paul like a child with Attention Deficit Disorder who can't stay on the same subject. Understand that he is an inspired author carefully explaining a complex and controversial subject that was threatening to divide the early church.
Observations
The opening question is an excellent one. Paul takes the false teachings very seriously and these verses, particularly in modern translations, capture that seriousness quite well.
Unfortunately the excellent question is immediately followed by a misleading statement. The lesson claims that Paul does not describe the exact nature of the Galatians' religious practices. But this is only because the author of the lesson refuses to examine the surrounding context. What has been the topic for the last chapter? The Law. What is the very next verse after this section you were asked to read? "21Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?" The exact nature of the Galatians' abhorrent religious practices involved being under the Mosaic Law.
Thinking back to the earlier verses in the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4, it becomes even more clear what it means to move from sonship back to slavery. The son was no longer under the law once the time appointed by the Father came. To go back to being under the law would be akin to returning to a time when he was no different than a slave (Gal 4:1). We can also look forward in the chapter to understand the difference between the son and the slave. The slave is associated with Mount Sinai (verses 24-25), famous as the place where the law was given. The free son is associated with the heavenly kingdom (vs 26). When Scripture is allowed to speak for itself, it is clear that Paul is still talking about the Law in these verses.
The second question asks what the Galatians were doing that was so objectionable. If you ignore the clear links to the law, this question is hard to answer clearly. But if you combine the desire to be under the law (vs 21) with the observance of days, months, seasons, and years (verse 10) you come up with some clear answers. Does the Mosaic Law demand the observance of a specific day (each week)? Does the Law demand the observance of each new moon (a monthly observance)? Does the Law include times that must be observed in different seasons of the year? Does the Law include Sabbath years and a Jubilee year? The answers to these should be abundantly clear. Of course SDAism wants to deny that these could possibly be referring to the Seventh-day Sabbath. And the authors put forth several false arguments.
The first false argument is that "If observance of the seventh-day Sabbath subjects man to bondage, it must be that the Creator Himself entered into bondage when He observed the world's first Sabbath". There are several false aspects to this argument:
There is nothing to indicate that God observed a Sabbath day at the end of creation, or that the seventh day of creation week was a Sabbath for the whole world. God stopped (literally he "Sabbathed") creating at the end of the 6th day. God did not start again on the 8th day. Thus this was not a case of God observing the Sabbath.
Even if we set aside the argument above, something that subjected man to bondage would not automatically subject God to bondage.
Furthermore, observing the Sabbath when it was still a shadow of what was to come in Christ did not cause bondage. It is only clinging to, or returning to, the shadow AFTER the reality has arrived that creates bondage.
The second false argument put forward in the SS lesson is "Why would Jesus not only have kept the Sabbath but taught others how to keep it, if its proper observance were in any way depriving people of the freedom that they have in Him?" But Jesus never taught others how to keep the Sabbath, this is a blatant misrepresentation of Scripture. What Jesus did multiple times was to explain why the Sabbath law did not apply to Him or His followers. In one case He does this by comparing the Sabbath with a "ceremonial" law regarding the showbread (Matt 12:4). Laws regarding the Sabbath, such as the work of killing beasts and kindling a fire for their sacrifice, did not apply to the priests. Christ also pointed out that the Father in heaven worked every day as a means of defending His own work on the Sabbath.
Summary
The lesson ends asking the question "How could a wrong attitude lead us into the kind of bondage that Paul warned the Galatians about so vehemently?" The answer to that is very simple, but likely offensive to many SDAs. The belief that it is obedience to God's Law that ultimately determines salvation is exactly the same bondage that was being thrust on the Galatians.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised November 2, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 8
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 8
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 8
Search the Complete Published Ellen G. White Writings
Please Support This Project
