The Text
Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. (Galatians 4:1-10)
In verse 1, Paul describes the Jewish people under the law before Christ came. He calls them “heirs,” but their inheritance was still only a promise, not something they could yet enjoy. As long as the son was still a child, he lived no differently than a slave, even though everything ultimately belonged to him. He was a true son, but he still lived under the restrictions of a guardian. Those who remain under the law continue to die without ever receiving the inheritance—even now. It is because they have not embraced the Messiah, the true Son of Abraham, the True Israel. But for people who believe that Jesus was the Messiah, that He died for their sins, and that He rose from the dead so that they might be resurrected, they become sons by faith and thus heirs of the promises.
The Strict Babysitters
In v.2, Paul says that this child, even though everything ultimately belongs to him, he lives much like a slave. He is placed under guardians who direct his life and managers who handle his inheritance. Like a rugged babysitter who won’t allow the child to stay up past their bedtime, there is no leeway. His freedom is limited, and his situation can feel harsh. But this was never meant to last forever. The father had already set a day when the child would no longer be under such supervision and would finally receive his full inheritance. But they must receive it, not in fulfilling the demands of the law, but through faith in the Son of God.
Elemental
In vs. 3, Paul now compares himself and his fellow countrymen (we) with these children. These children being in a state of slavery. But this time, Paul doesn’t refer to them as being under a tutor but under “the elemental things of the world”. What does Paul mean by “elemental things of the world”? Douglas Moo points out that:
The word στοίχειον… can take on a wide variety of specific senses, depending on the context in which it is used. It can, for instance, refer to letters of the alphabet, the notes of a musical scale, or the propositions of geometry.[1]
The term is used 7 times in the NT where it seems to refer to either the fundamental elements of this world such as air, earth, fire and water as in 1 Peter 3:10-12. It can also refer to the basic principles of any area of study (Hebrews 5:12) or it can refer to spiritual powers/beings which were associated with material elements so that the material elements of the universe would almost certainly include some reference to the deities of spirits who were closely associated with the elements[2]. This could be the “gods” that he was referring to in v.8. It could also be referring to the angels who gave the law. While I appreciate many scholars who seem to point to this latter interpretation (such as Moo), I still feel, based upon the following verses that Paul is comparing the law to these elemental things, not necessarily only in terms of physical realties, but also in terms of the legal requirements that were to be fulfilled. The basic principles of righteousness were in the law, but the problem was that they couldn’t be fulfilled by human efforts.
The Great Adoption
In a similar way in what the apostle wrote in 3:25, where the end of the tutorage is described, in v.4, the end of the guardianship is described by the expression “when the fullness of time came”. This was the date set by the Father (v.2). The expression itself is also found in Ephesians 1:10 where it seems to denote a time of an administration coming to fruition where everything is summed up in Christ. Mark 1:15 grants us a view into that time when the Lord describes that “time” as “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
The introduction to that time came when Jesus was sent forth by God. The sending of the Son is an important theme to demonstrate the divine mission that the Son was tasked. He was sent into the world so that all who believe on Him might have eternal life (John 3:16) and so that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9). It was because of human incapacity to be justified on their own accord, especially the failure in achieving so through the law, that God sent Him.
The sending to grant salvation was firstly manifested in that Christ was born of a woman, born under the law. We see a similar thought from Paul in Romans 8:3-4:
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Jesus was fully human and had a literal birth. He was fully a Jew and a follower of the law (Luke 2:7,21). He was born under the law so as to become a curse on our behalf (3:13).
The fullness of time came in the coming of Jesus Christ and it brought redemption for those who were in slavery to the law. This verse is very similar to what we saw in 3:13-14. In this passage, instead of the result being that “in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, in order that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith”, it is paralleled with “we might receive the adoption as sons”. In Ephesians, the seal of sonship and inheritance is the Holy Spirit. The adoption is in terms of the rights and privileges that an adopted son possesses as he is brought into a family. Jesus is the Son, the great inheritor of the blessings of Abraham, and we, by extension, are inheritors as adopted sons, a practice that was popular in the Roman world during the time these words were penned. The amazing part is that it didn’t matter whether they were Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free, they were sons and what a change would come to our lives if we could get our minds around this.
Abba Father
This sonship wasn’t simply a title or a status that believers possess but it has an effect upon them. In the same way that God “sent forth” Jesus (v.4), He sent forth the Spirit. (See Romans 8:14-17). But in the text in v.6, it is not simply the Spirit but the Spirit of His Son (See Romans 8:9; Philippians 1:19). A Spirit that would bring salvation and an ability to walk in accordance to God’s righteousness (Ezekiel 36:26-27). There is a Trinitarian formula here of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the act of bringing about salvation and blessing!
But what is meant by the expression “crying, Abba Father”? When Jesus in Gethsemane, and asks the Father to remove this cup, He refers to Him as “Abba Father” (Mark 14:36). It seems to denote an intimacy with the Father and His Son, who is on good terms. In this same sense, we can cry out to the Father as “Abba Father”. We share in this intimacy and relationship with the Father as members of His family, not as slaves, but as true heirs in His house. When we pray, we pray to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and we do so with boldness because we are accepted in Jesus Christ. We belong in the house, and share in the family setting.
Verse 7 contrasts the sonship again with the slave. As we have seen, it is not the slave (those under the law) who inherits the Abrahamic blessings, but the Sons who have received the Spirit.
Slaves to Fake Divines
Paul now turns to the Gentile experience. He states that “However at that time” (NASB)[3] which denotes a past time frame. In their past experience, as pagans, they did not know God. (2 Thessalonians 1:8; Titus 1:16). This is probably speaking in a personal sense (Romans 1:19-21) and through the coming of Jesus to make Him known. The term “know” conveyed an intimate tone and more than just having head knowledge about God.
Not only did they not know God, but they were enslaved to those which by nature are no gods. They were under the harsh rule of their gods who dictated how they should live their lives and how they should worship. But who were these gods to which they were enslaved? They were probably local deities most likely that they inherited from the Romans and Greeks or even perhaps their ancestral deities. Paul states that they were “by nature no gods”. Did these gods exist? As Douglas Moo points out, these were probably gods that did exist but weren’t actually gods. He points to 1 Corinthians 10:19-20 where it states that the gods they were worshipping were in fact demons. Yes, when someone doesn’t worship the True God, Yahweh, they are worshipping a demon.
We should pause for a moment to consider that in Canada right now, we are being overrun by those who worship false gods much like the Israelites of old. A 55-foot statue of the god Hanuman, the commander of the monkey armies, has been erected in Bampton ON and one doesn’t need to look far to see the number of Mosques going up in our country at a much quicker rate than ever. They are worshipping demons and if we have ever needed Jesus to be revealed to these people, it’s now.
A Self-Inflicted Re-shackling
In v.9, Paul now moves to their former time to the present. These same idol worshippers experienced a miracle and a redemption from their former slavery into an unimaginable blessing. They have come to know the true and living God! But the apostle doesn’t stop there. He continues with an even greater blessing in that not only did they come to know God, but He now knows them. These two expressions are interwound together (1 Corinthians 8:3). They have finally come into the freedom and blessing in these experiences to consider going into slavery once again. They were in the midst of turning away from that which was the goal and turning again to the weak and worthless elemental things and be enslaved all over again.
Paul returns to the term “elemental things” which was what the Jews were held in bondage to (4:3). In this case, are the Galatians in danger of returning to their pagan gods or to those elemental things that the Jews were bound to? If the Galatians were being persuaded by Judaizers to receive circumcision and place themselves under the law, which is the whole context of this epistle, therefore, it is the Torah that they are in danger of heading towards. This, in turn, shows that the law and their former worship of idols are on equal par when it comes to acquiring justification and the inheritance of God. The law is God’s righteous standard and paganism is fundamentally a total contrast in essence to that righteousness but in terms of their effectiveness, Paul is arguing that they both bring slavery.
Continuing his argument on their turning to the elemental things, Paul points out to them that they observe (present tense) days, months, seasons and years. This doesn’t necessarily mean, as Moo points out, that they were observing them, but perhaps that they were on the verge of doing so. These observances are probably related to Jewish feasts and special festivals. As Herman Ridderbos points out:
The days presumably refer to the Sabbath-days, the months to the days of the new moon, the seasons to the Jewish feasts, and the years to the sabbath and jubilee years.[4]
There are a couple of parallels to work within this verse especially Colossians 2:16 and Romans 14:5. These festivals held no weight for the free man who could observe them or not while those bound to the law were required to do so.
Exhortation
We live in a time in Canada where idolatry, whether in the form of pagan worship, or in the lusts of the flesh (money, prestige, power) has become our detriment. We have forgotten our roots and in return forgotten out God. We were born as a nation based upon Christian principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we need to return to preaching God’s standard of righteousness in His law. This is what is right and good and that drives a society that will prosper. But most importantly, we need to show men and women in our country through this law that they are sinners. They need a teacher to demonstrate where they fall short to God’s standard. They need a tutor to show them their harsh reality. But they also need to be taken even further from this legal standard by demonstrating to them that there is a hope for them. There is the hope of being made right with God, having all the guilt of your sins taken away, and being brought into the family of God as an adoptive son or daughter. My exhortation to you is to share this gospel, bring men into an understanding that they are sinners in need of being made right with God.
[1] Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Galatians, Douglas Moo, Baker Academic, 2013, Page 260
[2] IBID Page 262
[3] This translation conveys the idea of a former time unlike the KJV or NKJV which simply state “but then”.
[4] St. Paul’s Epistle to the Churches of Galatia: New International Commentary on the New Testament, Herman Ridderbos, W.B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1953, Pages 162